Sunsail/Moorings in Turkey

[Frogmogman]

We are planning a little late season charter in Turkey from 10-17 October. I was surprised to see that Sunsail/Moorings no longer seem to operate there. We have chartered there a number of times over the years from both companies in that stable. Anyone know what is behind this ?

 

[Irish Rover]

We are planning a little late season charter in Turkey from 10-17 October. I was surprised to see that Sunsail/Moorings no longer seem to operate there. We have chartered there a number of times over the years from both companies in that stable. Anyone know what is behind this ?

I think they've been gone from Türkiye for around 10 years. No idea why. Maybe the huge taxes levied on import of foreign built boats?

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I think they've been gone from Türkiye for around 10 years. No idea why. Maybe the huge taxes levied on import of foreign built boats?

Are there no suitable Turkish built boats? We have big ones here, I think Wightlink have theirs made in Turkey.

 

[Frogmogman]

I think they've been gone from Türkiye for around 10 years. No idea why. Maybe the huge taxes levied on import of foreign built boats?

It hasn’t stopped them in other countries where import duties are high.

Can’t help wondering if it’s to do with Sunsail/Moorings boats belonging to people from many different countries and thus variously flagged. Did the Turks crack down on non-Turkish flagged boats being used for charter maybe ?

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Or maybe because it’s outside the EU VAT zone?

 

[Tranona]

From memory I think it is to do with not issuing work permits for non Turkish staff who ran the local offices and the sailing school beach club activities.

Most of the operators now seem to be Turkish owned and boats booked through brokers.

 

[ashtead]

In the days of yore the Sunsail clubs seem to attract plenty of young keen gap year workers from the UK yedi tepi I seem to recall was also popular with children and generally they were well run if basic fare .. not much local labour apart from the cooking and cleaning I suspect. The day boats were ropey but the dinghies and windsurfers were fine . I also recall on flotilla the 3 crew in lead boat always worked hard even when things went wrong . Male belly dancers was one evenings local entertainment I recall from flot days and carpet salesmen.

 

[Irish Rover]

Are there no suitable Turkish built boats? We have big ones here, I think Wightlink have theirs made in Turkey.

Plenty of boat building here and the high taxes on boats is to promote and protect the local industry.

 

[Irish Rover]

From memory I think it is to do with not issuing work permits for non Turkish staff who ran the local offices and the sailing school beach club activities.

Most of the operators now seem to be Turkish owned and boats booked through brokers.

Work visas are definitely an issue. The authorities make it extremely difficult, but then again so do most countries to protect local employment.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

In the days of yore the Sunsail clubs seem to attract plenty of young keen gap year workers from the UK yedi tepi I seem to recall was also popular with children and generally they were well run if basic fare .. not much local labour apart from the cooking and cleaning I suspect. The day boats were ropey but the dinghies and windsurfers were fine . I also recall on flotilla the 3 crew in lead boat always worked hard even when things went wrong . Male belly dancers was one evenings local entertainment I recall from flot days and carpet salesmen.

I did the equivalent in my university summer holiday. But that was in the late 70’s, nothing like the Sunsail heyday.

 

[Frogmogman]

From memory I think it is to do with not issuing work permits for non Turkish staff who ran the local offices and the sailing school beach club activities.

Most of the operators now seem to be Turkish owned and boats booked through brokers.

That makes sense.

My daughter and her boyfriend have a dive centre in Sulawesi. They have to confine themselves to the running of their business, while the staff are pretty much all local.

 

[mjcoon]

From memory I think it is to do with not issuing work permits for non Turkish staff who ran the local offices and the sailing school beach club activities.

Most of the operators now seem to be Turkish owned and boats booked through brokers.

Yes, I half-remembered that there was a fuss from authorities that led to Sunsail pulling out, but could not find a reference by Googling...

 

[mjcoon]

If I may start a bit of thread drift...

The Googling led me to Sunsail's version of their company history. Of how they "invented" flotilla sailing in 1974 although, as they explain, the company was actually formed 14 years later by the merger of the two primary competitors (both of whom I had sailed with).

They do not mention that 1974 was the year of the invasion of Cyprus by Turkey and of the collapse of the Junta of the Greek Colonels. An exciting time!

I believe the flotillas started under the Junta but the one I sailed with was after the collapse, in September. I don't remember being aware of any unrest!

 

[Irish Rover]

They do not mention that 1974 was the year of the invasion of Cyprus by Turkey and of the collapse of the Junta of the Greek Colonels. An exciting time!

You don't mention that 1974 was also the year the Greek junta set up a coup in Cyprus in response to which Türkiye sent troops to the island to protect the Turkish Cypriots.

 

[mjcoon]

You don't mention that 1974 was also the year the Greek junta set up a coup in Cyprus in response to which Türkiye sent troops to the island to protect the Turkish Cypriots.

That's because it was not mentioned in the Wikipedia pages I found! I read that (as I hope I indicated) that the invasion was a reason for the collapse of the Junta, in which case they were the architects of their own downfall! I gather the subsequent treason trials were messy...

 

[Irish Rover]

That's because it was not mentioned in the Wikipedia pages I found! I read that (as I hope I indicated) that the invasion was a reason for the collapse of the Junta, in which case they were the architects of their own downfall! I gather the subsequent treason trials were messy...

Wikipedia is not a great source of historical fact. That said, the events of 1974 are still hotly contested. What is certain is that terrible atrocities were committed by, and against both communities and their respective armies and militias.

 

[TSB240]

We are planning a little late season charter in Turkey from 10-17 October. I was surprised to see that Sunsail/Moorings no longer seem to operate there. We have chartered there a number of times over the years from both companies in that stable. Anyone know what is behind this ?

It is quite a while since Sunsail pulled out of Turkey.
We found we had fantastic service with Homepage | Portway Yachting Worldwide
We chartered two yachts for 4 couples for a late summer break out of Gocek. They have a luxury airport taxi for transfer from Dalaman. The onshore apartment facilities for the first night were superb. both made a big impact on our enjoyment of the short break.. I remember all too well the contrast with previous holidays of being dumped out of the cattle class Sunsail bus to queue outdoors to get into an overloaded and sweltering old airport building.
From memory the charter cost worked out at about 1k per person for 1 week. 2 couples per boat made for a lot of space.
Bareboat charter only excluding own meals or eating out.
They handled all local documentation. The only hassle was sorting refuelling and getting black water pump out and certification.
A nice touch was the provision of a skipper to help us back into a very compact marina at the end of the holiday.
Great way to relax.

 

[ashtead]

I seem to recall in the past high tec facilities in Turkey for cooling in gocheck etc was a man on a bicycle bringing a block of ice to the cool box .

 

[Lucky Duck]

My memory of fotillla sailing in the mid 1980s was none of the boats had a depth sounder (or any electronics bar a VHF) so the skipper’s handbook gave tips on how to approximate the depth via visual clut

 

[mjcoon]

I seem to recall in the past high tec facilities in Turkey for cooling in gocheck etc was a man on a bicycle bringing a block of ice to the cool box .

And smashing up the block bare-chested was one way of getting personal cooling!