Horror with agents and transit logs in Turkey

[David B]

Originally Posted by De.windhoos

Please provide the names of the 2 agents so we can avoid them.
Also post your story with the names on Facebook "Med Sailing" group.

Thanks for the tip. I have just gone to that group and it is a closed group. how does one join, or apply to join?

Thanks,

David

[ErikFinn]

So sad to hear this about Turkey. It sure does NOT encourage visiting.

[Stakaman]

Scamming tourists are global situation !!
Bravo for Ahmet for interesting about your case ,
I don't believe he will manage to bring those scambags to justice because you can't provide him with proof of what you claim because you have already left turkey !!
The best thing is publish their names for other people to avoid them!!
For the police officers in turkey , yes some times you can say there is some little problem, because Education, and the cultivation of the mind aren't in their Police academy standards .
That maybe is their current government policy and it doesn't represents the real hospitality of Turkish people ..which is kind of weird some times for western people to understand cause of lack of knowledge for their culture !!
The majority of people are honest and polite .

I face similar cost guard police harassment in south Spain coming from marocco , me ,my wife and my little childrens was lined up on the dock and police dogs sniffing my boat and there was a stupid officer asking the some question all the time : where are the drugs !!'
How can you resist and don't answer to him : hey you are unlucky I had smoke the last one just before you came !!
That particular incident doesn't change how I feel about Spain and Spanish people !!

[Chalifour]

Hummm! Your post is quite timely since we are scheduled to check back in Turkey next week through Datça with the same agent youv've used (an agent we used a few times in the past with no problem, namely when we checked out of Turkey last May). So let's see what happens!
Regarding your flag issue, well we, and some friend sailors we met later in Greece experienced the same problem with the same women who relayed a phone call presumably from port police authorities asking us to replace our courtesy flag. In our case they claimed that our (brand new and courtesy size) Turkish flag was disproportionate to our home country flag. We found this quite awkward since we have been sailing in Turkey for the last 4 years and never had an issue. So they asked us to either to reduce the size of our flag or increase the size of the Turkish courtesy flag. While very suspicious of a scam, we did not challenge the request and went to buy a new larger flag. We ended up replacing a hand woven 30 € flag that we proudly flew in respect to the Turkish people and country by a cheap 3 € oversized courtesy flag!!! So if that's what they want, that what they got!

[Stakaman]

Well all that come down to the question ... does size make a matter? It seems that for some people does matter !!!! Yours can't be bigger than mine....[emoji23]

[De.windhoos]

Originally Posted by David B

Thanks for the tip. I have just gone to that group and it is a closed group. how does one join, or apply to join?

Thanks,

David

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

[yeloya]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

It would be too expensive and too much hassle to fit holding tanks and grey water tanks just to satisfy this nonsense... then still have trouble.

I agree that grey tanks are nonsense and they are not required in Turkey. Holding tanks are compulsory and makes all the sense for me; I don't like to swim over the s..t of the neighboring boat while anchored.
If you do like, there are many countries where the holding tanks are not required.


Cheers

Yeloya

[yeloya]

Originally Posted by anthonyp0808

I have just completed 3 months cruising in Turkey, having bought my boat there in December.

The Antalya agent who set up my transit log charged me €400 (yes Euro, not Lira) because "boat had new owner".

When I left Datca yesterday, the agent there claimed there was a stamp missing on the paper work, so I must pay a penalty of €200 plus his fees. When I asked for a receipt I was told it would take time and I would have to stay longer.

So €625 in fees.

At the same time as going though exit prodedures, the local harbour police started hassling me, forcing me to buy a new Turkish flag (old one was ok but had a minor fray). I suspect in cahoots with the agent so I didn't challenge the "penalty".

If this expense wasn't a scam, then the fees are shocking.

By comparison, I entered Greece in Symi, did all clearances myself in less than an hour, total costs €45, and really helpful and friendly immigration staff and harbour police.

Dear Anthony,

I am really sorry to hear what happened in Datça.

You know that we did some work for yr L 450 in Marmaris, you also stayed on our jetty in Orhaniye and had a dinner. You always told me that how much you were pleased with our service and how helpful we were to you.
Nevertheless, every time you post something on CF you never mention those positive aspects of the country but always manage to find something negative. You had my cellular, my private mail and you could have called me and I could have probably help you again.

This kind of people and horror stories unfortunately are not only in Turkey (I've sailed in more 30 different countries) but for some reason while in Turkey, you always fell on the wrong marinas (unjustifiably expensive) , wrong agents, wrong officiers whereas you find the cheapest and best way to check in and possibly the cheapest and best marinas in Greece, for example. Hope it goes that way for you for the rest of yr cruising..

Cheers

Yeloya

[Ahmet Erkan]

Originally Posted by anthonyp0808

Hi Ahmet

Thank you for your kind words.

The agent in Antalya is
Cevdet YILMAZER
email is info@yilmazeryatcilik.com
gsm +905457711907.

His office is in the Setur Marina, Antalya - I think address is Büyük Liman Mevkii, Liman Mah. Liman 2 Cad No. 40

The agent in Datca has office is on the habour front, right next to "The Yacht Club" restaurant. He keeps a sign on the waterfront outside his office.

Agent's stamp on paperwork is Knidos Yachting, Ahmet Ozturk, gsm +90 532 066 0380 and GSM +90 532 416 55 06. Amount collected in dues on transit log says 0 so clearly a rip off.

I think the address is Iskele Mah. YAT Oimani No 4/A

The questionably police person was a female who worked out of the waterfront office, aged around 40.

I enjoyed my stay in Turkey and was generally impressed by the kindness and welcoming I received from the locals.

Some of the cruising areas are stunning.

The officialdom around Transit Logs, Blue cards (up to €20 for pump outs), organizing phone Sims, the blocking of internet sites such as Wikipedia etc does reflected poorly on the country.

Hello Anthony,
I have been trying to contact Yilmazer and other people who have given you a hard time in Turkey and find out their typical fee for the "transit log" paperwork but not getting a response.
As the next step I am planning to contact the Turkish Embassy in Washington DC, and ask them to notify the Turkish Ministry of Tourism. I will also ask the prominent boating business and charter companies in Turkey to complain about the "transit log" process and what a negative effect it has on their customer's. So far I have not mentioned your name, your blog or your original post in this forum, so my first question is do I have your permission to do so? Provided you are OK with your post being sent outside the forum, does the CF management have any issues with a member copying and pasting a message from the forum and sending it to a government agency? (ie Turkish Embassy, Ministry of Tourism etc.)
By the way, I enjoyed reading the information in your blog, watching the videos and your catamaran looks like a gorgeous vessel.
All the best my friend. We will get to the bottom of this.
Ahmet

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

We'll visit Turkey eventually, but probably without the boat. It would be too expensive and too much hassle to fit holding tanks and grey water tanks just to satisfy this nonsense... then still have trouble.

Turkey sounds like it's almost as much trouble for boaters as California, but many thousands cheaper.... even if I do install holding and grey water tanks.

Just fit one holding tank to one head and forget the grey water.

It made my cruising better having a holding tank as it meant I could do my morning business and go for a swim immediately after. It also meant I could be guilt free when tied up at a town quay.

Never pumped out as I would unload and feed the fish between islands

The holding tank was one of my better upgrades.

[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

[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

Fantastic,
Another piece of good news is Mr. Cevdet Yilmazer responded this morning, evidently I did not get his messages to the first message I sent via his website.
I have invited Mr. Yilmazer to join the Cruiser's Forum if he wished to read the complaints from one of his customers and explain any misunderstandings and make things right.
At this time, I am just trying to help a fellow sailor (you) get in touch with a service provider from my country of origin and help with the communication if needed.
It is my belief that contrary to some suggestions in this thread Turkey is a country of law and if foreign sailors have problems visiting ports in Turkey the government will not be oblivious to our complaints or requests for improvement.
Mr. Yilmazer asked for the name of your boat and I have sent the information (with your permission) for him to review his records from 2015 and close the loop.
I hope we can make things right.
Fair winds.
Ahmet

[Chalifour]

In light of your incident with the agent in Datça I was planning to use to reinter Turkey yesterday, I decided to reinter via BosBurun using Lodos agent. The process was quick, simple and sraithforward. Cost was 60€ for the transit log and 40€ for the agent fee, minus 10% if you are a member of the Cruising Association. Agent fee can vary from agent to agent and from port of entry to port of entry. In Datça, I was quoted 150€ including the agent fee for the same work. Saved 50€!

[Polux]

Originally Posted by Flyingriki

https://travel.state.gov/content/pas...l-warning.html

That says it all and also explains with Greece waters are much more crowded as they use to be and some marinas that used to have places for staying on the hard are now full...and with prices increasing. A pity all this but unavoidable.

Well, bad for Turkey, good for Greece but in the end bad for all cruisers because Turkey has beautiful coasts.

[yeloya]

Originally Posted by Polux

That says it all and also explains with Greece waters are much more crowded as they use to be and some marinas that used to have places for staying on the hard are now full...and with prices increasing. A pity all this but unavoidable.

Well, bad for Turkey, good for Greece but in the end bad for all cruisers because Turkey has beautiful coasts.

Hi Polux,

I've read twice the warning that you've quoted and couldn't find anything related to cruisers and or to the south west side of Turkey which is the basing cruising area. Am I missing something ??
The reason why the cruisers left Turkey is not terrorism but the political situation.
At least, this part of Turkey is as safe as anywhere in the world and by far safer than some places in the US. If anybody thinks otherwise , please let me have some facts, ie, number of crimes against cruisers, any boat being boarded, stollen, piracy, whatever..

Yes, the prices in Turkey are going down whilst the prices in Greece, Montenegro and Croatia are increasing. Nevertheless, some marinas in Greece can still be cheaper than some highly demanded (mostly by locals) marinas in Turkey.
I had met a russian cruiser in Kotor Montenegro last October. He said "3 years ago I came from Turkey to here because the marina was 1/3 of what I was paying there. Now, because of you guys , I am paying to the marina 3 times what I used to pay because everyone came here.." And I said "well, it's then the time to go back, you would probably be paying half of what you are paying here.."

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