For Sale: 1978 NZ built in timber 12 ton Gauntlet

[jasbee]

We have an unusual dilemma. We sailed our Gauntlet (Tiare Taporo III) from New Zealand in 2011 and arrived in SE Asia in 2013. Then, because the market for classic wooden boats is just about non-existent in SE Asia, we decided to ship her to the Med. (Fethiye, Turkey) where there is more interest.
However, we have now run into a big problem. We were recommended to haul out at the Hakan Yatcilik Boatyard by the Fethiye Port Captain and we duly did so. We had the rudder removed and a new bronze top rudder bearing made. The rudder is now re-installed.
We personally painted just about everything above deck and the yard painted the topsides - not to our high standards but nonetheless acceptable.
The yard owner (Levent) was insisting on payment in CASH (Euros and Turkish Lira), although to date (2 months after hauling out) we have still never received an invoice. He also said that they would not issue receipts - all for obvious reasons!!!
However, we did eventually manage to agree to meet to hand over 5,000 Turkish Lira (USD1,100), but not without a receipt! However, the meeting was abruptly cancelled and, as we were due to fly out of Turkey 2 days later, no payment has been made to date.
We are both now 71 and we made the decision to leave because we had concerns for our personal safety and health and sanity and we were getting nowhere with Levent. In the meantime we have employed a Bodrum based broker with instructions to sell at a very reasonable price. We are open to ALL OFFERS. A buyer would have to pay the yard's charges which shouldn't amount to more than USD4,000. This would be deducted from any eventual sale proceeds. And then you would have one of the best Gauntlets in the world! We have much more information available should you be interested. Our email is tiare.taporo3@gmail.com. We can then put you in touch with the broker and give all the information you would be likely to need.
We would love to hear from you in what has become a very sad situation for us.
Cheers,
Jim Donald