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Old 05-09-2011, 23:45   #1
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Karpas Gate Marina, Northern Cyprus - The Truth

There are various rumours being banded about and we have received a number of e-mails etc. asking us about Karpaz Gate Marina and what is going on or has gone on. I must point out that the marina is lovely, clean, and modern and set in a beautiful and scenic area. But the rest of it well read on.

The below details are based on fact and not hear say. I was there, I was involved and at time of writing I am still there.

On 24th August 2011 a staff member of the Karpaz Gate Marina was electrocuted and died despite efforts of other members of staff and yachties to resuscitate him. Since then all pontoons at the marina have been without electric and water (the water is controlled via electronic valves, no electric no water).

It would appear (subject to confirmation from the official investigation report) that the sub mains cables supplying the pontoon feeder pillars had been installed in such a manner that the insulation had been chafed /worn away exposing the live conductor which ultimately had made contact with the pontoon metalwork. Unfortunately, the pontoons were not correctly bonded to earth and the earth protection relays were not set correctly. The member of staff stood (barefoot) on the metalwork of the pontoon and grabbed hold of the handrails of a steel boat, thus creating the path to earth. One person received a shock releasing him from the boat (he and the rescuer then fell into the water). At least 3 other persons (including myself) received electric shocks whilst in the water and grabbing hold of the pontoon during the rescue attempt.

The MD and another Director of Sea Alliance Group (the marina management company) were at the marina at the time and for a number of days following the incident. I personally spoke to the MD who in my opinion was very blasé about the whole affair but did tell me that the installation had been tested by the local authority and given the all clear just a few days before the incident and that once they had sight of the official report they would hold a meeting with all berth holders and explain what had happened, what KGM would do to resolve the issue and ensure all its customers safety.

On 27th August I wrote (via the Marina Office Manager) to the Directors of KGM requesting various information: Copy of Official Report, Details of Actions KGM will be undertaking to make safe and re-supply, How KGM will ensure access to Electric and Water in the interim period, details of KGM First Aider and location of First Aid Station, Copy of KGM Health, Safety and Environmental policy which according to the T’s & C’s should have been provided at the time of granting the Berth Licence.

After numerous e-mail back and forth between myself and Office Manager (who has stated that she forwarded my e-mail to the Directors on 27th August – no I don’t believe her) to date the Directors have not even had the common decency to respond, even to say they had received my mail.

Yesterday 5th Sep we had a meeting with the Marina Harbour Master who informed us that:
1. KGM have carried out their own investigations and that:
a. Some of the cables are damaged.
b. The Earth to the Pontoons is not correct.
2. KGM will be carrying modifications to the system to make it Safe.
3. The official Report should be issued this week but then it may be next week or even later.
4. KGM will need to review the official report and instigate any of its recommendations that KGM have not already covered.
5. The local authority had tested the installation prior to the incident and passed it as safe to operate.
6. The local authority will re-test the installation after all the remedial works have been carried out and approve re-energisation.
7. He anticipates taking some 3 days per pontoon for the remedial works (that’s without knowing what is involved).
8. He confirms that should all the cables need replacing (quite likely looking at them) there is sufficient cable on site and having to wait for it to be shipped from Spain is not an issue.
9. The original design had the cables enclosed in a PVC trough which was omitted on review by the local authority. All the cables are single sheath insulated unarmoured.
10. The rest of the Marina (Showers, toilets, office, and restaurant) are all still live and working and are deemed safe as the local authority has tested and approved it.
11. He is 1st Aid trained and that all staff will be undergoing 1st Aid Training.
12. The KGM Health, Safety and Environmental policy is in Turkish and needs translating.

We have suggested that communication between KGM and berth holders is improved and that regular (weekly) e-mails to all berth holders (those here, those away and those still to arrive) should be sent out giving updates of the situation and when facilities will be available. (There is still no Laundry, Mini Market, Chandlers, and Travel Hoist etc). I doubt this will happen but no harm in asking.

When we arrived here (19th Aug) we were told that the Laundry and Mini Market would be open at the beginning of Sep, people here before us were told an earlier date. To date neither is open, although we have been told the laundry will open in the next few days. No new date for Mini Market. The Travel Hoist we are informed will be approx 3 weeks, however the hard standing is not complete so at present no where to park boats. As for Chandlers well don’t ask. The nearest is 50+ mile away. Despite what they are and have said the Marina is NOT a port of entry and is unlikely to be for the foreseeable future.

It is my opinion that the electric and water will still not be on this time next month (I’d love them to prove me wrong).

The restaurant / bar are open. Beer 8TL, Wine (glass) 10TL, Coffee 8TL, Club Sandwich 20TL and a Fillet Steak 40TL.

The nearest shopping is in a village called Yenierinkoy 7km away with no bus service. There are buses to Famagusta (6am & 7am going there, 11am, 1pm & 5pm coming back) takes 1.5 hours each way and costs 8Tl per person each way.

Car hire at present is around 15 – 20 Euro per day and only one company(the most expensive) which allows the car to cross the border to Southern Cyprus but you need to purchase additional insurance. You can hire cars (even more expensive) from Southern Cyprus and travel to Northern Cyprus but again you need to purchase additional insurance.

So anyone on route, unless you intend to park up and go home I suggest you slow down until there is electric and water and at least a mini market. Those intending to stay over winter need to seriously think about transport (car share etc.) as this place is very very isolated. Not even any safe and comfortable anchorages that you can sail out to.

If anyone wants any further info by all means contact me. But please contact the Marina and let everyone know what they are willing to come up with. Remember the RATS which the Marina stated were “Mouses”. Well yesterday they confirmed they were BIG RATS.
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Old 06-09-2011, 03:45   #2
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Re: Karpas Gate Marina Northern Cyprus - The Truth

Thanks for that info , I will be heading that way at the end of the month- Do you feel its a safe place to leave your yacht for the winter , fly home and come back in the spring?
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Old 06-09-2011, 04:00   #3
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Re: Karpas Gate Marina Northern Cyprus - The Truth

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, miyagimoon.

Thanks for sharing your first-hand experiences.
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Old 06-09-2011, 06:01   #4
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Re: Karpas Gate Marina Northern Cyprus - The Truth

Ram,

The marina will in my opinion be a safe place to leave ones boat. The lack of electric and water will not effect the boats safety. the question was asked about the safety of the marina during storms. Below is the response recieved from the Harbour Master:

"I am the Harbor Master of Karpaz Gate Marina. With over 12 years experience in the yachting industry as a captain =nd a sailor, I can understand very well your precision about safe =ooring.

Unlike Alanya Marina and the vast majority of the marinas around the =orld this marina was initiated, designed, built and will be operated by =he same private company and nothing was left out to be done by others =ith different interests or agendas.

The marina is protected from all directions while the north part is =rotected by a 5.5m high breakwater covered with 15 tons concrete cubes, =xtending 16 meters to the north of it. The design wave height for =he main breakwater is 5 meters and the max. waves inside the marina =ill be 40cm in extreme conditions. The marina is very well =rotected, sheltered, safe and quiet. Furthermore we have a state =f the art mooring system that allows two bow lines for every boat =oored stern to (Med type). The pontoons are anchored on Piles =hich makes the all marina very stabilized although floating. =o>

As part of the design process the marina was modeled both physically =nd mathematically to verify the stability, protection and efficiency of =he structures and the water inside the marina all were very successful =nd was the basis for the final design and construction of the =arina.

Last but not least the marina entrance is designed both to allow the =sage of it even in heavy weather and also to minimize the currents and =urge entering the marina during such weather.

At this moment I can confirm that there are no limitation on the amount of duty free =uel.

I hope it makes you feel better but please don’t hesitate to =ontact with us if you have any questions."

Hope that helps.
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Old 06-09-2011, 22:13   #5
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Re: Karpas Gate Marina Northern Cyprus - The Truth

I would like to add some information and give a different view on some of the points in the original posting in this thread.

We arrived at Karpaz 25 August. We were at the meeting that you refer to. I believe that you omitted or incorrectly posted a few things:
  1. Mini Market: Yes, it is not open; but the Marina Manager said that if you provide a list of things that you need, they will get the items delivered to your boat.
  2. Electricity and Water: Yes, they are off on the floating pontoons due to the situation you mentioned; but you failed to mention that electricity and water are available at berths located on the sea wall and that the marina management offered to move any boat to the wall if a yacht needed electricity and water. They also offered to deliver water jerry jugs to any yacht requesting these and I believe you have had water delivered to your boat.
  3. Regarding isolation, car rental and border crossings: Yes, Karpaz is isolated. We knew this when we decided to winter here. We asked the marina management to arrange a rental car for us for 3 days. They did and the marina management picked it up and delivered to us at the marina. The price for the 3-day rental was $31USD/day, all inclusive except for fuel. Obviously, crossing international borders is a challenge in most places with all sorts of regulations. The marina management informed us of this situation before we rented the car.
  4. Truthfulness: You stated that you "do not believe her." Of course this is your opinion. Opinions are not fact. You stated that your posting is "based on fact and not hear say." I think that you may be a little reckless in calling someone untruthful because you think so.
Karpaz is a construction-in-progress. Unfortunately, most construction projects are limited by many factors that are not in the direct control of the managing company. Projects, like Karpaz, are greatly influenced by the quality of workers and subcontractors that are available where they are being built. We assumed this when we took advantage of free berthing. That said, it is no excuse for the obvious poor practices employed by the electrical contractor.

As far as accuracy of the management's estimates on completion, we all know that an estimate is an estimate...how many times has your ETA changed while you have been cruising?

Summary: Of course we understood that there would be challenges and difficulties with a new marina...this is not our first experience. We also understood that was the primary reason for free berthing...again, not slighting the accident that occurred here.

We would rank the Karpaz marina management and staff very high on our list that includes marinas in many of the 48 countries we have visited. In our opinion they are forthright, truthful, friendly and just fun to be with.

If this marina did not meet our expectations, we would ask for a refund ($0.00) and move on. Frankly, it has met our expectations in terms of work-in-progress and location. It has exceeded our expectations in terms of its management. We will not be asking for a $0.00 refund.

Bill
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Old 06-09-2011, 23:49   #6
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Re: Karpas Gate Marina Northern Cyprus - The Truth

svBeBe,

Firstly, you were not at the meeting with the Harbour Master on 5th Sep that I refer to. It was a private meeting between us and them and consisted of myself, my wife, the Marina Office Manager, the Marina Technical Manager and the Harbour Master himself. Therefore you nor anyone else were privvy to what was said and or discussed. Fact.

The original thread gives the facts as they are and as given by the Harbour Master.

Yes, the Marina Management has offered to get some basic provisions for you. But we are talking basic. Would you trust anyone else to get your meat and veg etc.

I have not mentioned the possible use of the breakwater. But then that is diesigned for Mega Yachts with a very high rough edged concrete wall of which your mooring ropes chafe on. Also when the wind blows from the West the boats snatch and it is very uncomfortable. Ask those who are on there. When the breakwater is full which right now it appears to be,how does one get electric and water. We are okay, we have a generator (not everyone has). The Marina staff have provided water in jerry cans, how long can they do that for as more and more boats arrive.

Did you really, and I mean really think Karpaz Gate was this isolated. I doubt it. As for car hire etc what I stated was correct. $31 at todays exchange rate equates to approx 22 Euro, I quoted 15 - 20. Oh the Marina provided you with the most expensive car hire.

She (being the Marina Manager) will not give me proof of the e-mail being sent to the Directors and in previous correspondance told us that there was no RATS at the Marina. The harbour Master has confirmed there were RATS and have you not noticed all the RAT traps. One confirmed lie, one refusal to prove. What am I to think.

With respect to it being a construction site, yeah we all accept that. Bearing in mind that this incident happend before you arrived and on the pontoon you are now on. If it were a member of your boat who had recieved a shock or been killed would you have the same attitude. I doubt it.

As for the Marina, I've already stated "that the marina is lovely, clean, and modern and set in a beautiful and scenic area."

So between you and I all yachties who view this forum now have a full understanding of Karpaz Gate Marina.
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Old 07-09-2011, 03:06   #7
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Re: Karpas Gate Marina Northern Cyprus - The Truth

It helps to have different opinions and I appreciate them -, as we all know 2 people witnessing the same events- if later asked to describe what happened , both usually give different views of what they saw , Thank you both , I’m planning on coming the end of the first week of Oct and look forward to meeting you all!
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Old 07-09-2011, 05:42   #8
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Re: Karpas Gate Marina Northern Cyprus - The Truth

Hi Miyaagimoon,

I tend to agree with what svBeBe is saying.. If you decide to take a marina in the phase of construction, (and probably for free) you should be prepared to some kind of inconveniences.. Maybe, the accident that happened is a bit on the extreme side, but I would still expect some other minor (hopefully) or major problems..
On the other hand, Northern Cyprus has a special status; it's a country that is not been recognised officially by any country other than Turkey. This may pose additional problems, ie. crossing to the south is not like crossing the border beetween Germany and France. UN forces are still there, green line has been established and either part of this small island is hating the one coming from the other side..(I have visited both sides several times)
There will definately be issues associated with this political situation, particularly if you plan to rely on having to cross the border often.
I am sure the marina will improve significantly over time, but never expect to get to the level of marinas in Turkey or elsewhere in as shortwhile.. I understand that svBeBe has accepted this trade offs and is less frustrated. Moreover, in other marinas, even on the well established ones, there will be things to complain about.. And when Karpat will be to the level of other marinas, so will be its berthing prices; you get what you pay for.

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Old 07-09-2011, 06:55   #9
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Re: Karpas Gate Marina Northern Cyprus - The Truth

Miyagi Moon,

You will see two responses in this posting because there are two of us on BeBe. The first is from Bill and the second is from Judy.

From Bill:
I do not believe in back-and-forth disagreements of two people in a public forum such as this. You have your opinions and so do I. I will not jump to conclusions in a public forum. For instance, concluding that someone has lied, or concluding that the marina sourced us with "with the most expensive car hire" is not something that I would do. We cannot know that someone lied to us...we can only know that they may have been wrong, or in error. You cannot know that they stuck us with "the most expensive care hire"...you only know the price of the car that we chose, and it may very well be more expensive than others. It is the one that we chose...and we like it and the price.

Hopefully what Cruiser's Forum readers will get out of this is that you and I have different expectations with our free berth and that I may be more cautious in jumping to conclusions than other people. I will not argue which of us is correct because only time will tell. I am expecting a good stay here and I am hopeful that we will meet new people and find new friends while we are here. If I felt as you apparently feel about Karpaz, I would ask for a termination of the docking contract and leave.

If you respond again, you will have the last word between you and me because I will not post on this subject again. However, the next time we are both at the bar I would like to buy you the beverage of your choice and get to know you better.

Bill
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From Judy:
Quote:
Originally Posted by miyagimoon View Post
svBeBe,
Did you really, and I mean really think Karpaz Gate was this isolated. I doubt it. As for car hire etc what I stated was correct. $31 at todays exchange rate equates to approx 22 Euro, I quoted 15 - 20. Oh the Marina provided you with the most expensive car hire.
Yes, we knew how isolated this marina would be. We used Google Earth and Google Maps prior to making our decision to come here for the winter. While in Malaysia for a year we berthed at an extremely discounted rate in a similar situation. That marina was also remote, requiring almost an hour's drive to the nearest supermarket. We dealt with that just fine for 10 months, so being isolated here in Karpaz shouldn't be too uncomfortable for us. Others might find the isolation unbearable. We are all different.

As for the car hire, we are satisfied with the $31 USD rate, or 180TL for 3 days, and do not consider this excessively expensive. It is less than the 110TL that we paid in Marmaris for a car rental for one day in April 2011. Others might consider this too expensive. Experiences and expectations vary. Now everyone reading these postings knows what car rental costs to expect and can make their decisions accordingly. Our thoughts are to hire a car for 3 days once each month or so to enable us to explore the northern side of this island, and to do major shopping for provisions at the same time.

I also look upon the 8TL bus to Famagusta apparently a bit differently than you. I will consider a weekly bus trip to Famagusta for fresh produce and bakery products to be a nice break from the isolated marina life.

All readers can take whatever they chose from our interchanges on this forum about this topic. Obviously, an isolated marina will not appeal to everyone and some might find it intolerable. Having once spent 6 weeks on anchor in one spot with not a single human around in Kuna Yale, I know from experience that my tolerance level for isolation is fairly high. YMMV. BTW, yesterday while we were in the marina office another of the yachties berthed here signed his contract to extend another full year after his year of free berthing expires. Just goes to show that not everyone here has a negative opinion of this marina.

Judy
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Old 07-09-2011, 07:21   #10
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Re: Karpas Gate Marina Northern Cyprus - The Truth

Folks,
Wow, berthing in the Med for free, and all it costs you is a car rental a few times a month. Where do I sign up!!!

Sorry to hear about the accident there.

Chris
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Old 08-09-2011, 10:49   #11
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Re: Karpas Gate Marina Northern Cyprus - The Truth

IMHO this kind of thread, with actual experiences and feelings being relayed to help others to benefit, is probably what this site is all about.

Well done everyone.

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Old 19-09-2011, 01:45   #12
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Re: Karpas Gate Marina Northern Cyprus - The Truth

Update: The laundry facilities are now operational in the marina. Machines use tokens which are purchased at the marina office. 2 Euro per wash; 2 Euro per dryer.

FWIW, BeBe moved out to moor on the breakwater wall so we could connect to shore power (air-conditioning!!!) and have dock water to clean the boat. We are tied side-to against the concrete wall. The edges are concrete and normal chafe protection solves any potential problem of chafe to dock lines. The marina is not charging for electric and water while yachts are temporarily berthed on the wall awaiting repair and restoration of power to the floating docks. We certainly did not expect to receive free electricity or water, so this was a very pleasant surprise for which we are thankful.

We have entered into a monthly car rental agreement sharing with 2 other boats. This works very well for us and alleviates any possible issues of location isolation. By splitting the cost of a car 3 ways it cost each boat only slightly more than independently renting a car for 6 days per month, and the car is available basically any time we might need or want it. We did purchase the additional insurance to allow driving into Southern Cyprus. This cost 25 Euro per month for the vehicle, not per driver.

Judy
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Old 19-09-2011, 06:15   #13
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Re: Karpas Gate Marina Northern Cyprus - The Truth

-Anyone-Any Turkesh Warships being seen? The Turks are talking tuff to Israel do you think that is a concern?
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Old 19-09-2011, 08:26   #14
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Re: Karpas Gate Marina Northern Cyprus - The Truth

Ram,

I don't see an ATM, I don't see a Mini market, I don't see a Gym, I don't see a operational travel Hoist, I don't see any completed hardstanding, I don't see electric or water on the pontoons and so far NO WARSHIPS have come in to take up the free berthing offer. Went for drive this aternoon and did'nt see any out at sea either.

Otherwise life is just great, the sun is shining, the water cool and clear but most of all the beers cold.
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Old 20-09-2011, 01:18   #15
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Re: Karpas Gate Marina Northern Cyprus - The Truth

The mini market is not yet open (and IMHO probably will be expensive when it is), but produce and bread can be purchased at the marina restaurant. Their veggies are good and the breads are superb. The best breads we have found since arriving in the Med. A local baker supplies the breads. Unfortunately, this baker is not open to the public unless you visit his home to place an order between midnight and 03:00. Much easier to just purchase from the restaurant.

An ATM probably won't materialize out here until the casino and/or hotel opens as there are just not enough people in this part of TRNC to warrant an ATM.

So far, no warships spotted by us either. But the TRNC coast guard boat comes almost daily. Who knows what will happen with Turkey and Israel. But I don't worry about being located here on the northern side of the island. YMMV.

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