Sunsail/Moorings in Turkey

[Irish Rover]

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 .

The poor bugger must have been knackered after carting that on his bicycle all the way from a cave high in the mountains.

 

[mjcoon]

The poor bugger must have been knackered after carting that on his bicycle all the way from a cave high in the mountains.

When we were first there the latest glaciation was long gone, but the local fisherman's ice factory was prepared to sell us an ice block or two!

 

[Skellum]

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.

I seem to recall Portway used to be quite a decent outfit. I did the season skippering on Setsail Holidays Turkish flotilla and I remember hearing about the Sunsail problem, which I recall started when one of their shore team lost his passport while out on the town and gave the “wrong” answer when the local police asked him what he was doing in Turkey - ie said he was working there. Cue visit to the base from the authorities and everyone booted out PDQ. There might have been a problem involving some new sails that entered the country without going through customs, but I’m not 100% on that.

 

[mjcoon]

I seem to recall Portway used to be quite a decent outfit. I did the season skippering on Setsail Holidays Turkish flotilla and I remember hearing about the Sunsail problem, which I recall started when one of their shore team lost his passport while out on the town and gave the “wrong” answer when the local police asked him what he was doing in Turkey - ie said he was working there. Cue visit to the base from the authorities and everyone booted out PDQ. There might have been a problem involving some new sails that entered the country without going through customs, but I’m not 100% on that.

What season with Setsail in Turkey? We were there with them in 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008. (Subsequently his estranged partner Sunscape.)

 

[Skellum]

What season with Setsail in Turkey? We were there with them in 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008. (Subsequently his estranged partner Sunscape.)

2008. Previous year I was in Croatia. Hope you had a good holiday that year!

 

[mjcoon]

2008. Previous year I was in Croatia. Hope you had a good holiday that year!

I'm afraid the blog on my web site is a bit terse, but it seems to have been a good trip, thanks:Turkey, October 2008 cruise track

 

[LiftyK]

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 recall a Sunsail holiday in Turkey where the staff were mostly young and cheerful. Some had come from Australia. While expert in sailing, they were no match for me in the baclava eating contest.

At the end of the week the staff ran a dinghy regatta for their guests. When the race was over we approached the shore where a Sunsail staff member would be waiting to take the bow while we exited. “Jump off now” said the staff. We did, and plunged down to shoulder depth. The staff party trick was to stand on a metal chair, hidden underwater, giving the illusion that they were stood in shallow water. Most excellent.

 

[merjan]

If you are still looking for a charter in October, last year we used Dragut Sailing in Turgutreis and they were excellent.

 

[Frogmogman]

If you are still looking for a charter in October, last year we used Dragut Sailing in Turgutreis and they were excellent.

Thanks. Unfortunately the planets did not align for this to happen after all.

 

[benjenbav]

The poor bugger must have been knackered after carting that on his bicycle all the way from a cave high in the mountains.

Not quite so bad as taking it all back up the mountain if no-one wanted it.

 

[Irish Rover]

Not quite so bad as taking it all back up the mountain if no-one wanted it.

Yeah. A slippery slope that.