EMYR
Monday 19th May 2008
(About to depart from Girne towards Mersin)

On Saturday morning, some of the rally yachts arrived at Girne early and went on the hook ready for the remaining yachts to start arriving mid-morning. Two groups berthed in the Old Harbour , beneath the castle and four groups berthed in the relatively new Delta Marina, in the Commercial Harbour, on the east side of Girne (Kyrenia). Once again, under the supervision of Commodore David (s/y Mashona) berthing at Delta Marina went like clockwork, whilst Dorothy (s/y Big Easy 2) took charge in the Old Marina doing a spending job as well.
Delta Marina is very modern and can berth about 80 yachts in the water. The same number on the hard. Being on the outside of town, Delta Marina is very quiet and has excellent security. The only potential hiccup is when a ferry enters the harbour producing a bow wave, which can be unsettling. That said, this only happened the once and fortunately no one reported any damage.
In the evening everyone met for cocktails in the castle grounds, hosted by His Excellency, the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The next day most people took-off for the organised tours. Sue & I stayed on board for a relaxing day. (Sue did the washing!) Everyone dressed up for the evening Pirate Party at the Dome Hotel. This came as a bit of a shock. You have to imagine 280-odd wan-a-bee pirates (some armed with swords, some with dangerous parrot-like creatures and some carrying their rally national flag) parading along the Old Town coast road, watched closely to the amusement of both tourists and locals. It was quite an experience to be on the receiving end of so many cameras. Star prize goes to Jan Eriksson (s/y Sansipapp) for the best adaptation of an extremely jolly pirate with distinguishable tummy portrait painting. (The mind boggles eh?)
This morning people are getting ready for another overnight passage towards Mersin (Turkey). This is about 108 sea miles. It is expected to take just short of 24 hours for the smallest yachts and say 16 hours for the speedy big-uns. With light winds forecast the donk will probably be needed again. There being no local safe anchorage outside Mersin, which is reported to be a major commercial harbour in Turkey, the rally hierarchy are asking everyone to arrive on time and not before (drat!).
Robert & Christina (s/y Quest) need to leave the Rally so it's good bye for now. (s/y Quest, a thoroughbred 'Swan 47' successfully completed the Fastnet in the much talked about 1979 race. Robert & Christina sailed her across the Atlantic and are presently based in Kemer Marina. They are lovely people and we look forward to seeing them again when we return to Kemer).
Best wishes and regards to all our friends.
Sue & Alan
All ticketeeboo on s/y Ticketeeboo.