Summer 2006- An Overview
Home, tied up at our berth in the Kishon, things are strange. We left a country expecting nothing worse than a hot sticky summer and maybe another hike in the price of ice-cream, and arrived in Turkey to hear that war had broken out. As we gently swayed at anchor in tiny deserted bays with crystal clear water, or sat enjoying the company of other cruisers in Captain Ibrahim’s restaurant as Chasamba sat tied to his pontoon, we wondered constantly what was happening in Israel. News was sometimes hard to get, and most evenings, at dusk when reception was best, we took turns trying to decipher the garbled radio broadcast of Galai Tsahal. We managed to hear about half the news- 150 katyushas fell, but where? soldiers were killed, but how many? Nasrallah said something, and Olmert replied, but what they said remained in the realm of speculation.
We were lucky- our children and other relatives were all in relatively safe places, which helped us to push the news to the back of our minds and enjoy Turkey. Even so, there was always a feeling hanging in the air that things weren’t quite as they should be.
The events in the Middle East apart, Turkey is experiencing problems of its own. Until we got home, we didn’t understand why Turkey was so quiet. Restaurants stood empty, gulets waited tied to the city docks for tourists who never came, and souvenir shops loaded to the brink with all kinds of trinkets, leather goods and “designer” t-shirts reminded us of modern day versions of the Marie Celeste. Now we realise, looking at the hysteria in the American and British media about terrorism, that things are changing rapidly. As though a critical mass has been attained, suddenly there is an unstoppable process of alignment. Politicians who were critical of anti terrorism measures in the past, or were percieved as being pro-muslim, are scrambling to identify themselves with the prevailing mood. In the British media, the phrase ” war on terror” has become acceptable and is in common use, and ordinary people seem to have very little choice but to accept that the rules have changed.
The problem for Turkey is that most westerners see it as nothing more than one of the Muslim nations, and therefore feel that visiting may be risky. Kurdish terrorism just makes things worse, even though it is directed against Turks. This is actually a big shame, since Turkey is crying out for western help, and could easily become the bridge connecting moderate east to west. After all, this was Turkeys traditional role in the past, simply because of its geographical position, and the Turks are both overwhelmingly secular and overwhelmingly pleasant people, hard workers and very capable. We really hope that they don’t get pushed into the position of having no choice but to give in to fanaticism, and would recommend to anyone wanting a pleasant, if rather hot, holiday to try Turkey (they have almost no air-conditioning). After all, then you could say that you spent your holiday working to reduce Islamic fanaticism!
I’ll be updating the site gradually over the next few weeks with pictures and a log, including the ongoing saga of our shaft, which eventually fell out 4 times, including once on the way home, after it had been “fixed” .
Heres a picture of my shaft fixing gear, meanwhile;
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