Snow White is currently laying at Ayvalik Marina.

2010 sailing plans were to go though Dardanelle strait into Sea of Marmara on to Istanbul. From there, we were planning to sail to Black Sea East all the way to Georgian border and return.

Snow White family and friends will be able to share part of this trip with us. We will have two aft cabins available (2 persons each).

Typically, we have a general direction and general itinerary, depending on the weather and crew consensus, we move or stay at each location. Sailing only during the day, we plan to anchor at places where supplies are available and occasional dinner out with plenty of sight seeing.

Yes, we plan to have our Daisy, the golden retriever, with us most of the time.

Preparation, launching of Snow White at Ayvalik Setur Marina. Sail to surrounding areas: Burhaniye, Altinoluk, Assos (Behramkale), etc. Seen here is historical site of Temple of Athena and eating grilled blue fish at my sister's place with Becky, sister and brother in law (they are both retired pharmacists).

Heading out to North. Visiting places such as

Bozcaada to Dardanelle and Canakkale. Perhaps we will visit Gallipoli  where allied forces were stopped by Turks in fierce fighting during World War I and ancient historical place of Troy.

Sea of Marmara, Marmara Islands, Istanbul

Istanbul and Bosphorus (or Bosporus)

There is so much to do in Istanbul. So, we are not going to have any schedule, just sight seeing for a week. Seeing here is a view from the Sultan's place at Topkapi Palace.

Heading out to Black Sea. Black Sea region is relative untouched and unexplored by the sailing community. One of the reasons is that Black Sea is known for its ferocious weather changes (especially in winter) in a short time. The other reason is probably that it is less developed for tourism which makes it all the more interesting. Almost every town along the coast line has water breakers build by large rocks which are sufficiently deep enough to allow sailboats to anchor in. Whenever possible, we plan to have local trips into the land and explore historical and natural sites.

Here is an example of the voyage that can be followed in a week's time:

Poyraz --> Sile --> Kefken --> Akcakoca --> Eregli --> Zonguldak

Some websites are given below for pictures and further information.

Sile, Akcakoca, Zonguldak. Zonguldak is also our hometown (Becky's).

Here is a view from her condo unit.

Zonguldak, Amasra, Inebolu, Sinop

A picture from Amasra.

We will probably follow the footsteps of the Canadian sailboat Veleda and visit the following towns before arriving in Sinop.

Zonguldak --> Amasra --> Bartin --> Kurucasile --> Cide --> Doganyurt --> Inebolu --> Abana --> Catalzeytin --> Ayancik --> Akliman --> Sinop

Rize and surrounding areas, mountains, hot springs, high plateaus. Rize is my (Al) hometown, so we have a three bedroom apartment just by the Black Sea. Shown here is part of the land that our family owned for 300 years.

Cayeli, Pazar, Findikli, Arhavi, Hopa, Sarp and back to Rize

Inebolu, Zonguldak

Istanbul

Istanbul

Sea of Marmara, Dardanelle