Whilst we had our passport stamped at midnight, the Carpe Diem V was not allowed to leave the harbour before 6 am in the morning. We thus lost a day and had to come up with an alternative plan for Cyprus where we planned to stay for two days.
It would be a long day of sailing - the transfer from Iskenderun to Kyrenia or nowadays Girne in Northern Cyprus takes about 12 hours. We had to cut this too and decided to go to the Karpaz Gate Marina, a new Yacht Harbour on Cyprus long tail. We would win almost 4 hours but would miss the Kyrenia Ship - the 2'300 year old Greek freighter which was found in 1965
Our crew had fun thought - from left to right : Omar, one of our deckhands, Captain Mihrac, Genem, our hostess, and Rose, the cabin lady.
So did the Coast Guard of the Republic of North Cyprus who was clearly aware that we were coming. Impressive boat for a small republic and such unimportant visitors like us!
We were boarded by two officer who looked very stern and asked for all our paper. They did not like the idea to taking a group photo with us. But after 15 minutes, they left happy and chatty. Clearly, there are no cruise ships in these waters
At 4 pm we made it into the new Karpaz Gate Marina - can't be older than 5 years - full of yachts registered in Turkey. But it was a safe place to stay for the night.
The day ended with a perfect sunset which we enjoyed in a completely empty beach resort - the waiters were so happy that we ordered plenty of drinks!
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