Girne North Cyprus

friday the 19th around 2pm, we had an overnight passage from Alayna with The EMYR, 54 boats total. N Cyprus is located 64 km from the shores of Turkey, 96km from Syria, and 400km from Eqypt. It was our first attempt at med tying, which is stern to the dock and anchor out. We managed to pull it off without any  trouble, what a relief, not an easy task. The Marina we stayed at was The Kyrenia Marina in Girne Northern Cyprus. We were welcomed with a nice cocktail party at an ancient Kyrenian Castle. The N Cyprus University students performed an authentic Turkish dance for us, the music was pleasant, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset looking over the ancient walls. N Cyprus has a rich heritage with influences from The Venetians Lusignans, Byzantines and Ottomans. We took in the sites the next couple of days seeing St Sophia cathedral built in the 14th century, we walked through the streets of the walled city of Nicosia, The Bellapais Abbey built 1267, A neolithic settlement dating back to The Ottoman Empire that dominated the area. We have had a wonderful time, everything is so old, it's difficult to grasp it all. The old history is fascinating, but the recent history between the North and South is interesting also. The North has been very repressed due to the 1983 fighting between the Greeks in the south and Turks in the North. The more you learn about the conflict, you understand what has been going on in this area of the world for hundreds of years. We didn't go across the border in to the south, we didn't have the appropriate visa's. We did see several areas that the Turks refer to as the green zone or no mans land. The green zone has been left vacant. The hotels, houses, schools and various business's have been neglected for ears, they show bombed out areas and bullet holes, really sad.

We are sailing west at this point to Finike, a small village on the southern coast of Turkey, to check back into customs. We will spend the night and then continue west along the coast of Turkey.