David's Diary: Wednesday, July 9, 2003

A Mishap in Bozburun, Turkey

We left Kuyulu Buku this morning before the wind had really picked up for the day and had a quiet sail to Bozburun. As we approached Bozburun, we motored past some small islands before entering the large bay. It was just after noon when we entered Bozburun Harbour. It was a good time to arrive because all of the charter boats had left for the day and there was room to side tie on the quay.

The wind was blowing a steady twenty knots right off the quay. I knew that it would be a challenge to helm Dragonsinger close into the quay and I warned everyone to use lots of fenders. I had to carry a lot of speed to be able to go broadside into the wind. We carried our speed into the stone quay and as we threw our docking lines to people waiting ashore our fenders started popping out one by one. They had all been tied a little too high. As the final fender popped out Dragonsinger rolled into the stone quay and a one metre (three foot) gash was the result. This is the second time in two years that we have misjudged the height of a stone quay and ended up scraping the gel coat. It just goes to show how hard it is to make the judgement from the water.

Evil Eyes

After lunch, Karalee and I went for a walk through the small tourist town. The beach didn't appear that appealing, so we wandered by the shore side stores. We saw several "evil eyes" for sale. You see these everywhere in Turkey. They are always painted with a white circle and a dark blue iris. The Turks believe that hanging these on walls will ward off evil spirits and provide good luck to the owner.

Bozburun Harbour

We continued on our way and followed the waterfront until we started to leave town. It was another beautiful day (we last saw a cloud about a month ago in Greece). We stopped and looked back at Bozburun admiring the tall masts of sailboats in the harbour and the Mosque in town.