We flew from Kiel to Istanbul on Monday. The transport to the airport and the flight were excellent - German efficiency at its best. Upon arrival in Istanbul we were to be picked up by someone from the Yacht Club. Unfortunately after an hour of waiting we did not find this person, so we took a shuttle bus to the ferry, where we had difficulties figuring out the token purchasing system. Once across the Bosporus we were ripped off by our taxi driver. So we arrived a bit tired and cross at the Yacht Club. It turns out the individual we have been dealing with through email about arranging our accommodation at the Yacht Club no longer works here. Awkward! So there were some things lost in communication and we had a place to stay - just not a very nice one. Our room resembles a garden shed with bunk beds shoved in. There is air-conditioning and bedding and pillows and one electrical outlet, for all of this we are glad. The nearest toilet is 800 meters away in behind the boat storage area - a bit of a trek if you have to go at 3 am.
Tuesday we headed into Sultanahmed and walked around. We walked through the spice bazaar and Grand Bazaar and haggled over scarves. We tried to find a restaurant with Fish for Jen for lunch. She thought she was ordering a "small fish meal" with the small describing the size of the meal. Turns out it was describing the fish - lots and lots of small fish deep fried! So we had an interesting lunch what with the owner trying to show Jen how to eat the fish properly and Jen trying not to throw up as she ate the fish. Then we went to the Turkish Bath where we were scrubbed and massaged which was excellent.
Wednesday we hung around the club until our boat arrived at around 2. We unloaded it and started putting it together and I had a rather dis-organized dinner at the club. With German and Israeli and Canadian sailors and the waiters not speaking any English (or German or Hebrew).
Today we finished rigging the boat and headed on the water. We had a good session in some light to medium breeze. The air and water are both very warm here; which makes the wind very unstable as it doesn't want to attach to the water. Very different from sailing in England or Germany. We came back in and checked the tuning numbers as this was the first sail with the new mast. Everything has to stretch and settle into place, so we expected the numbers to be different. (
Before sailing: tension - 35.5, rake - 101 cm, prebend - 55 mm After sailing: tension - 34, rake - 102 cm, prebend - 45 mm)
We re-tuned the mast and did a bit of boat work and socialized with other sailors in the boat park. One of the younger turkish teams who Jen befriended last year were trying to tie an extra bit of line onto their spinnaker halyard, so I helped them splice it properly while Jen advised on gasket replacement.
We met our German friends Sanni and Tina for dinner at the same place Jen and I ate last night. The waiter seems to like us as he brought us some lovely fresh fruit for dessert free of charge.
I have taken some photos and tried to upload them to the picassa web albums but Turkey seems to block most google products so they may not have appeared. If you are on facebook I have also uploaded them to our facebook page "Jenanderinsail.ca". I will try and get a link to the facebook photo album up soon.
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