Horror with agents and transit logs in Turkey

[Polux]

Originally Posted by yeloya

Hi Polux,

...

The biggest advantage of Turkey over Greece or anywhere else in the Med, was the skilled people in boating industry. Unfortunately, most of these people have lost their job and even if one day Turkey becomes popular again, it will take years to regain its competitive edge in this respect. Yes Polux, that is pitty.. because you will have to pay more money for poorer quality works and worse marinas in this part of this world..


Cheers

Yeloya

I agree on that and I do believe that apart from the several incidents that were reported on this thread if one stays on the highly touristic spots the chances of problems are very small, otherwise those of being on a country where justice is in the shaky side (to say the least), for Turks and for the rest of us, I mean if some real problem takes place.

The problem is that many here like to sail out of the touristic places were isolated and very beautiful places can be found and that's there that the problem arrive. I talked with several sailors that know Turkey and like me don't like to hang on marinas or highly frequented places and they all think the same:

On those places you are not going to find the highly ocidentalized people that you will find on touristic places but mostly deeply religious Muslim. You will rarely find women at the beach and even female children to have a bath go to the sea fully dressed. Even on the beach they have their prayer mat and pray at regular periods.

But most of all all you feel you are not welcomed: You say hello and don't get a reply.... and I would say that is comprehensible. It is their land and they are entitled to live in it the way they see fit and certainly a bunch of (in their view) half naked women and man is kind of offensive while that goes against their code of dressing and way of living.

Fact is that they are entitled to live the way they find fit and I think it is me and my wife that should conform with the local way of life....but we don't want to do that , so unfortunately, for the time being, Turkey is not in our plans while cruising.

That does not mean I will not visit the country by airplane, conforming with dress code and all, but for a short period, not for 5 months, not while on a boat where we dress pretty much a swimming suit.

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by Polux

I agree on that and I do believe that apart from the several incidents that were reported on this thread if one stays on the highly touristic spots the chances of problems are very small, otherwise those of being on a country where justice is in the shaky side (to say the least), for Turks and for the rest of us, I mean if some real problem takes place.

The problem is that many here like to sail out of the touristic places were isolated and very beautiful places can be found and that's there that the problem arrive. I talked with several sailors that know Turkey and like me don't like to hang on marinas or highly frequented places and they all think the same:

On those places you are not going to find the highly ocidentalized people that you will find on touristic places but mostly deeply religious Muslim. You will rarely find women at the beach and even female children to have a bath go to the sea fully dressed. Even on the beach they have their prayer mat and pray at regular periods.

But most of all all you feel you are not welcomed: You say hello and don't get a reply.... and I would say that is comprehensible. It is their land and they are entitled to live in it the way they see fit and certainly a bunch of (in their view) half naked women and man is kind of offensive while that goes against their code of dressing and way of living.

Fact is that they are entitled to live the way they find fit and I think it is me and my wife that should conform with the local way of life....but we don't want to do that , so unfortunately, for the time being, Turkey is not in our plans while cruising.

That does not mean I will not visit the country by airplane, conforming with dress code and all, but for a short period, not for 5 months, not while on a boat where we dress pretty much a swimming suit.

Interesting - but last year we sailed the entire Turkish Black Sea coast and were more than welcomed everywhere - we had a couple of groups of men break Ramadan to make and have chi (tea) with us -- Of course no one up there ever sees a sailboat so we were like men from Mars and people were intrigued by us.
But that was last year so who knows now.

[Ahmet Erkan]

Originally Posted by anthonyp0808

Hi Ahmet

I am happy for you to reference my name, postings, blog or whatever when dealing with Turkish agencies. I can also provide emails from the agent in Antalya which proves the fees.

As the forum is a public forum, I cannot see how the CF administration can have issue.

The Datca agent wouldn't provide a receipt- I can complete a statutory declaration if it helps.

Regards
Anthony

Hello again Anthony,
Mr. Cevdet Yilmazer is surprised and offended with the accusations and he says the bulk of the 400 euro included a 1% state sales tax for the purchase of the boat (which I thought was very reasonable compared to what I had to pay here in the USA)
Not sure if you can communicate with Mr. Yilmazer directly but he says all transactions were legal and he has the records and has nothing to hide.
Now I will pre-investigate the 200 Euro penalty you were charged in Datca. Taking the payment and not providing a receipt clearly indicates an illegal action and we will get to the bottom of that.
Three of my classmates in Turkey have gone back to school and earned law degrees (attorneys) after we graduated the naval academy and served in the Turkish Navy. My career was very short compared to theirs because I just couldn't get used to taking orders :-)
Getting back to the subject, yes please send the "statutory declaration" for the 200 euro event in Datca and although a lawsuit would far exceed 200 euro I will ask one of my classmates to do some pro-bono work and even if no monies are returned to you, the bad apple in the cart will be thrown out and fellow cruisers will not suffer the same injustice.
All the best
Ahmet

[De.windhoos]

Originally Posted by Polux

I agree on that and I do believe that apart from the several incidents that were reported on this thread if one stays on the highly touristic spots the chances of problems are very small, otherwise those of being on a country where justice is in the shaky side (to say the least), for Turks and for the rest of us, I mean if some real problem takes place.

The problem is that many here like to sail out of the touristic places were isolated and very beautiful places can be found and that's there that the problem arrive. I talked with several sailors that know Turkey and like me don't like to hang on marinas or highly frequented places and they all think the same:

On those places you are not going to find the highly ocidentalized people that you will find on touristic places but mostly deeply religious Muslim. You will rarely find women at the beach and even female children to have a bath go to the sea fully dressed. Even on the beach they have their prayer mat and pray at regular periods.

But most of all all you feel you are not welcomed: You say hello and don't get a reply.... and I would say that is comprehensible. It is their land and they are entitled to live in it the way they see fit and certainly a bunch of (in their view) half naked women and man is kind of offensive while that goes against their code of dressing and way of living.

Fact is that they are entitled to live the way they find fit and I think it is me and my wife that should conform with the local way of life....but we don't want to do that , so unfortunately, for the time being, Turkey is not in our plans while cruising.

That does not mean I will not visit the country by airplane, conforming with dress code and all, but for a short period, not for 5 months, not while on a boat where we dress pretty much a swimming suit.

I've been bumming around the Turkish coast for 5 seasons and did not stay in marinas and I've never experienced orthodox religious towns/villages on the coast. You find those if you go inland. However I do agree with you that when you are a guest you should conform to the rules/habits of your host.

[anthonyp0808]

Hi Ahmet

Yet more bull. Below is the wording from Mr. Cevdet Yilmazer, which I have copied from his email to me when I queried his fee.

"Before start to your boat i was explain you. This is not only transitlog renewals. Boat was sale and need to transfer from previous owner to you. Normal transitlog renewals is 175 eur. But this boat has 2 diffrent work as i told you first close all previous account. After open own your name. İts a sale procedure what we do first than taxes formalities which i follow for this boat and you dind pay any taxes."

No 1% tax, just more rip off.

A 1% tax would mean I paid just €40,000 for my boat, which is a Lagoon 450, 2015 model. Which is of course a nonsense.

He say I didn't pay taxes, so it was all his fees.

Btw, he never provided any receipt to me either, but I do have an email trail.

If he is offended, I am more so. He originally quoted €200 to 325, but billed €400. CROOK.

Foreigners are easy prey.

[Stakaman]

When we sow winds ,we will reap hurricanes !!
And at east med hurricane season is coming closer and nobody see them , blinded by outward selfishness and nationalism created from those who presented as saviors of the nation !!!!

Turkey -Greece and Aegean Sea is safe enough and if we pay attention to that it will remain one of the most beautiful places to cruise

[David B]

Originally Posted by De.windhoos

On the homepage of the group you have a blue Join button. This will send a request to the admins.

Thanks - could not see that on my phone, but found it via the laptop

[Saleen411]

But most of all all you feel you are not welcomed: You say hello and don't get a reply.... and I would say that is comprehensible. It is their land and they are entitled to live in it the way they see fit and certainly a bunch of (in their view) half naked women and man is kind of offensive while that goes against their code of dressing and way of living.

Interesting the difference in perspectives. I found that the people in Turkey were VERY friendly and welcoming....more so where we cruised.

As a person who travels for a living I've noticed one thing I can generalize about....NON city people are generally friendlier than city folks. We had no issues in Istanbul, the vibe was generally positive. However, in the smaller towns and villages the locals were over the top nice and welcoming...literally...."Welcome"....even after we accidentally trespassed on a farmer's property when we were walking back to the marina.

One last thing....I NEVER bring up religion or politics. When speaking with the locals about the drop in tourism, several mentioned their frustration with the govt, but were "What can we do?" A bit sad actually.

We would go back in a heartbeat....

PS...As for dress......Yeloya told me we could wear the same attire that we wear in the Caribbean....which is what i basically saw. Shorts and bathing suits everywhere.

[Catapault]

I used Agent from Offshore Yatching (Yeola's merry men !) in Marmaris multiple times now, not only no issues, but organised and straightforward. Agent met us a the customs wharf, everything completed in hand, and walked us through the various officials. Berthing to the customs wharf was by far the harder part !.

I also used their recommended agent in Rhodos, Katrina, and they were equally excellent. Even easier there in that they met the boat at the marina, took paperwork and passports, and came back 2 hrs later with it all done. For 100 Euro or so, and I didn't even step off the boat. !

I don't mind paying for quality service. Probably a good thing given how much I've paid Yeola recently


As for Turkey, great place. Safe, nice people, good national road network, nice cruising ground, especially in the southern part of the county. Turkey gets a bad rap in my opinion. Have I had issues with people trying to rip me off ? yes, Taxi's mainly in Istanbul. Is it any different than elsewhere in the world for the odd person taking a tourist for a ride ? heck no.

We drove from Istanbul to Marmaris, and several other places whilst there. Frankly it was little different to a long distance drive at home (Australia) Freeways, towns, a few police speed traps, nice places to stop along the way etc.

No where in the world is 'safe'. I was in borough market in the UK 2 days before the attack. Frankly we felt safer in Turkey or parts of the middle east than I ever did in downtown Houston whilst living there.

The political situation in Turkey is unfortunate, but as a tourist and visitor to someone else's country if you aren't an idiot, respect the locals, including local authorities and take reasonable personal safety precautions that you'd do anywhere, there really should be no problems.

Regards

Mark.

[Chalifour]

In light of the event in Datça that triggered this post, I choose to enter Turkey last week via Bozburun using Lodos Yachting. Easy docking in the harbour, nice man, efficient. Cost 40€ for agent fee and 60€ for the transit log (gov change) total 100€. No hassle!!!
Beside there is no need to use an agent in Greece unless you are a commercial vessel. Save 100€ easy.

[meirriba]

We )my wife and I) have over 20 years of experience in Turkey. We have not covered entire possible coast, but still considerable area from Kusadasi to Antalya.
Very rarely we have met hostile responses or rip-off costs. It happens, but no more than in other countries in the Med (or around the world).
One thing though - the population, especially inland and in smaller towns on the coast, is getting slowly but noticeably more and more religious, and people are more and more cautious when speaking about the political/cultural matters.
They do freely complain about economical situation, especially in tourist areas.
The people we met around the coast are almost always happy to assist, this was true even when our home country (Israel) was in very bad relations with Turkey.

[Chalifour]

My wife & I have been sailing the same costal area since 2013. We are generally of the same opinion. Turks remain mostly kind and helpful. In the more touristic areas however we find that the decrease in business of 50% and more sheds a certain pessimism in their attitude and occasionally the need to sell at higher prices their product and services to try and make up for the loss of revenues. So it call for remaining alert on prices in markets, shops and restaurants.

[davehen]

I would say this is a very one-sided experience.I checked into Turkey in May 2016,Kas marina.I paid €140 to agent via the marina and that covered Blue card,log etc.I cleared out at Bosborun,in July,no charge,very obliging harbour master.I have no holding tanks,but got Blue card processed a few times explaining that i had emptied tank at sea,charged €3. we met the nicest of people,saw the most beautiful of places,ate the best food...Compared to the western Med and it's crazy overpricing!I feel so sorry for the Turkish people as they depend entirely on tourist income along the coast.Be careful of wrong impressions and media hype.