Turkish Blue Card

[Norman_E]

Has anyone in Turkey had problems, other than the difficulty of getting a pump out? I ask because the Marmaris Bay Cruisers website has a post by a yachtsman who states that he has been made to pay a very large fine for not pumping out, despite his efforts to do so.

 

[macd]

This link should take anyone interested to the post in question (although it's a very clunky and rambling website):
http://cruisingtips.net/mbc/?p=2382#comment-469965

 

[Chris_Robb]

This link should take anyone interested to the post in question (although it's a very clunky and rambling website):
http://cruisingtips.net/mbc/?p=2382#comment-469965

Mac, I have now read the link. It would seem that I will have to be a bit more diligent about pump outs, though it is difficult to believe that a yacht has such huge holding tanks as to be able to survive that long without pumping.

In respect of the pump out boats, how far do they come out from, say, Marmaris? or are they just confined to the Bay of Marmaris?

 

[Norman_E]

I may be wrong but I don't think there is a pump out boat in Marmaris. Yacht Marine has pump out, but I don't know about Netsel. There is one operating out of Gocek and covering the Gocek bays. You need to give your position by text a day in advance. There is also a pump out station near the fuel dock in Gocek, mostly used by Gulets and trip boats but it can pump out yachts. It has a screw in fitting for your waste points to which the hose is clamped. In Fethiye you can usually get pumped out at Ece Saray Marina, though it was not working on the day when I tried in June. In Hisaronu Korfesi there is a pump out boat that I have used, but it was not operating in June and I had to get a pump out at Marti Marina fuel dock.

I would caution that although we have the story of the heavy fine imposed on one yacht we don't know if there were any other circumstances that led to that situation.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Kas has a DIY pump out . Yacht marine last year said their pump out wasn't working and didn know when it would be .
Netsel charge us for a pump out , althou we did fill with water at the same time , so wasn't too bad

 

[Chris_Robb]

I may be wrong but I don't think there is a pump out boat in Marmaris. Yacht Marine has pump out, but I don't know about Netsel. There is one operating out of Gocek and covering the Gocek bays. You need to give your position by text a day in advance. There is also a pump out station near the fuel dock in Gocek, mostly used by Gulets and trip boats but it can pump out yachts. It has a screw in fitting for your waste points to which the hose is clamped. In Fethiye you can usually get pumped out at Ece Saray Marina, though it was not working on the day when I tried in June. In Hisaronu Korfesi there is a pump out boat that I have used, but it was not operating in June and I had to get a pump out at Marti Marina fuel dock.

I would caution that although we have the story of the heavy fine imposed on one yacht we don't know if there were any other circumstances that led to that situation.

Norman - according to their website http://turmepa.org.tr/page/deniztemiz-iv_100 . this is the Marmaris boat. Whether it is operating or not - does anyone know?

As I said in respect of the heavy fine - I was amazed at the size of their tank. Nothing is as it seems.

 

[crisjones]

Not saying the report about the fine is inaccurate but it is worth remembering that when you first get your Blue Card you can tell the person entering the info on the computer anything you like with regards to number of berths and size of tanks - they do not check any of these details.
This means that anyone can "pretend" to have 500ltrs holding tank capacity or more if you like!!
Last summer you could get a "virtual" pump-out enetered on your Blue Card by the harbourmasters office in Bozborun, cost was 20TL. There are a few others who will enter virtual pump outs if you ask around - a pretty easy way to keep yourself out of trouble since Turkey does not have anything like the amount of pump-out stations that are required to service the number of yachts in their waters.
Marti Marina, Turgetries, Bodrum, Finike, Kas, Gocek, Yakilavak and Port Iassos marina all have pump-out facilities so it would seem the yacht that got into trouble did not really try very hard to meet their obligations re the Blue Card. They left Antalya in June heading to Datca so they passed at least four suitable pump-out stations before getting to the Datca area. The report is dated Aug2nd so they went between 5 and 8 weeks without a pump-out - seems like huge holding tanks - how big is the yacht?? As far as I know Datca has never had a pump-out facility.

As above - nothing is as it seems.

 

[Resolution]

Just to confirm that Port Iasos Marina has a mobile pump out that will come to your berth and do its stuff. We are based there and have a pump out each month, (whether we need it or not...........), costs TL 30 or 40, and staff are very competent and helpful.

 

[Pete7]

A report on Cruisers Forum suggests all may not be quite as stated on Noonsite:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f17/more-turkey-problems-170522.html