Sailing Stories » EMYR Updates » Ko-Ko 23rd May
"The EMYR boats started to arrive in Kemer Marina from 14.00 and all trough the afternoon and we had a nice view of all the boats coming in. We had a nice evening cocktail where we could meet all the other participants and meet all the people in our group – Group 6 – dark blue.
The next day we had an information meeting about the rest of the rally and in the evening there was a formal rally dinner Lovely view over the sea, nice weather and a great atmosphere we were seated on the beach. Delicious food, nice wine and a great band made us all dance. It was a memorable evening."
EMYR Sailing
There are 9 sailings from Kemer totalling 950nm. Kemer to Alanya is the only day sailing. All the rest are night sailings.
The boats are divided into 6 different groups after the size of the boats. Ko-Ko is in group 6 (dark blue), the group with the biggest boats. The smallest boats start first and the biggest start last. Into the marinas the biggest boats go in first and the smallest go in last. So in a short time all the 70 boats will have their berths and "The Big Boss" who is organizing the whole thing is Dave. His word is law.
There are 2 more Najad boats in the EMYR Norwegian “Balder” Najad 490 with Inger and Karl Olav Holm and the English “Serafina” Najad 460 with Sarah and Rob Bell.
We woke up early next morning ready to get started – and we left Kemer Marina at 05.30 just when it started to get light. The first boats already started at 03.30. The distance to sail was 68nm.
At first there was only a little wind from the north (a bit chilly) so it was motoring the first hour. But after a while the wind increased and we had some hours with nice wind abeam giving us 10-12 knots. The wind calmed down for a bit and then come back from the SW. Some more hours with nice tack(beat).
We arrived in Alanya at 15.20 together with 3 other boats as the first group but had to wait until 16.00 to be let into Alanya Marina by Dave. Nice start for Ko-Ko on EMYR!
Alanya & Cappadocia
The Alanya Marina is a new marina and it has not yet officially opened. So far it looks very good. We had a nice welcome cocktail in the bar area by the swimming pool.
The next day we had to get up early for the Cappadocia trip and the buses left at 04.00. There was a long drive but first we had a stop in Konya to visit Mevlana Tekkesi, the home of the whirling dervishes founded around 1231AD.
Then we headed for Cappadocia. It is famed for its lunar landscape, astounding underground cities and spectacular rock churches. We had a fantastic hot-air balloon trip over the area. It was just incredible to see the size of the area, the beautiful stone formations and all the different colours in the mountains.
We also went to a Dervishes performance where the male dancers try to find a mystic union with God through song and dance.