Hello...

It seems to me that seafaring culture is gradually being forgotten. I guess we don't make an effort to keep it alive, we don't write, we don't read. I thought that every sailor should talk a little bit about what they know. I thought that may be the drops of each person would merge and the lake would be saved from drying up. Shellback Tanil Tuncel used to compare the cooperation of sailors to "filling the piggy bank of goodness" and wrote that those whose piggy banks were full would always encounter help and goodness. Here is a seafaring culture that can be adapted to all of life...

Seafaring is already so ancient that it has influenced, shaped and pioneered almost all human life. It has given its colors to the politics of the left-right views that emerged after it; green for the rightists, red for the leftists. The same colors were given to airplanes. Even police cars by making a slight tonal difference in green. That's why when you see a police car from a distance, sailors know if it is facing you, if it might be radar...

Seafaring culture has taught respect even to sailors, who are always shown to us today as uneducated, rude men in the difficult conditions of the past. The concept of a sailing school ship was born. Have you ever heard of a double trailer school truck or a steam school locomotive?

I have always seen sailors who live or spend a long time on their boats smiling and saying hello to you with a bright face. But in people who bought boats to say "look how big my boat is", I have always seen faces that are sullen, worried, distant and even angry with the captain, as if it were a rule if he employs a captain. One of our important and sailor businessmen (I couldn't write his name because I forgot who he was) used to keep two stones on his desk. To those who asked him what they were, he replied, "This is a sharp-edged land stone, and this round one was taken from the sea; the sea polishes the hard edges of a person". How beautiful, how true...

Today, if big companies ask their managers to cross the ocean on a sailboat to develop team spirit, it is to benefit from the teaching and healing power of the sea. Because they want their managers to become what the olders used to call a wise human being after the sailing.

The wise man is also calm and patient. The sea teaches patience and serenity, not to solve problems by bickering. Sometimes the big fish dive in to eat the small ones in the net and the net gets so tangled that it can no longer be untangled. Do you know what fishermen do then; they lay their nets in the sea. The sea untangles them in time, opening the tangled places beautifully...

The speed of city life does not work at sea. Try not to start the engine when the weather gets lighter out of habit on land and say "oh, we are so slow". Or even try waiting for the wind by taking a book and reading or meditating in zero weather. The olders used to call engine power "propulsion power"; the power that drives nature. Anyway, a boat with an engine sinks into the water, with a sail it rises. You won't believe how happy the stirring of the sails in those first breezes that come while you are waiting with the feeling that I will not provoke you, O sea.

Anyway, I don't want to dive too deep and make the article too dense. Do you know that double-breasted men's jackets are actually sailor's coats? I'm talking about the jackets that are buttoned by overlapping the flaps on each other. You know that in the old square rigged sailing ships, there were spars on the masts. The upper collars of the rectangular sails were made of these spars. When hoisting the sail, the sailors lined up side by side on the spar would pull the sail up and tie it to the spar with a reef knot. When they were going to unfurl the sail, they would release these ties and the sail would drop down and unfurl. This is the origin of the command "unfurl the sails", which is still familiar to our ears today. These sailors, who went out there and worked hard under the wind, should not get cold and their movements should not be hindered. With this need, the sailor's coat was invented. A coat that is not too long and covers the buttocks at most and whose front wings can be buttoned either from the collar or only from the bottom, leaving the collar open, and pay attention to the engineering here; a coat that can be buttoned up by overlapping the right or left wing on the other, depending on which side it is blowing from so that the wind cannot enter through the buttoned gap. Very clever, isn't it? Maybe that's why the captain's drawings are always in navy blue double-breasted jackets...

There are also forms of politeness in seafaring. For example, it is a shame to travel with fenders dangling. It may not be possible to pick them up because there is not enough locker space, at least it is enough to take them in from the guardrail and prevent them from falling again with a hauling line.

For example, it is not polite to listen to music loud enough to be heard outside or to talk or laugh. Silence is essential on boats. If you have to start the engine because of a battery charging problem, never ever do it at the crack of dawn. Preferably do it when the neighbors are having dinner and the dock is empty. And for some reason, everyone leaves the engine idling. However, if the engine is run at high speed like 1200-1300 (with the gear in neutral, of course), the sound of the diesel engine will become a more acceptable hum and the alternator will charge more efficiently and the process will be completed in a shorter time. In the same vein, the sound of the halyards banging on the mast all night is also very annoying for light sleeper sailors. It is necessary not to be insensitive, but to tie them to a cross with a piece of hauling line and move them away from the mast. Experienced sailors even tie wind generators so that they do not make noise at night.

Likewise, a dirty and untidy boat is a shame. For example, it is necessary to place the classic mainsail in its holster and close it before clinking drinks because we have tied up safely. After the mooring is over, it would be a respectful and responsible behavior to check whether the fenders facing the neighboring boat are at the proper place and height. It is essential that our fenders are clean and do not stain the board, especially the board of the neighboring boat.

It is not possible to bring pets on board in Yelkenli Yachting boats. We have a very strict principle on this issue. If you are taking these friends on your own boat, be sure to clean their mess when they meet their needs on land. Doesn't that sound redundant? It is not. Our civilized (!) people who clean up their friend's mess around their house in case their neighbors complain, unfortunately leave it in the garden of the restaurant on the shore.

The main thing is respect for the environment. By environment I mean both nature and other people. We human beings live a little differently from nature, we can harm it, for example. We behave as it suits us. That's why I separated respect for nature and respect for human beings. Unfortunately, as people move away from nature, the rate of unhappiness increases. You must have noticed that there are more books and seminars on human consciousness, and that spiritual teachings are being talked about more. I think seafaring culture is a panacea for this problem; it is based on the philosophy of making human beings a part of nature. A teaching that will save nature and man from being separate concepts...

Do you pay attention to the flag? Do you pay attention to the fact that the flags of the navigational waters showing the nationality of the boat and, if different, attached to the starboard crosstrees are clean, intact, not worn, not faded? Since Yelkenli Yachting shows the utmost rigor in this regard, there is no problem with the boat you rent. But maybe you will want to pin a pennant you brought with you to the port crosstrees. It may be a sports club you volunteer for, it may be an association pennant. Please please be careful that the flag is not bigger than the Turkish flag!!!....

The mention of the flag reminded me of a forgotten custom. If we come across a Turkish warship while sailing, we have to salute it with a half mast. Now you will say "what is half mast?" It has been forgotten, so I should remind you. When you see a warship, you lower the Turkish flag on your boat to half-mast, and after 15-20 seconds you raise it back. Do this even if the warship is far away, the lookout notices it. The salute whistle coming from the ship afterwards always gives me goosebumps and fills my eyes. Have I become too much of a crybaby...

I observe a hesitation among our captains about "who is in charge" when it comes to mooring at a port or pier. When we look at the international rules, we see two important signs. If there is a helicopter or a ship coming to rescue you, the command passes to the rescuer, and all crew and captain on the rescued boat are obliged to obey the orders and directives of the rescuer. The second example concerns the entry of commercial ships into port. The captain of the ship is obliged to obey the instructions from the port and, if he is receiving assistance, the instructions of the tugboat captain.

In this context, if you are mooring to a port or a pier, it is necessary to act in accordance with what the officer at the pier says by getting rid of "I am the captain, what I say goes". Of course, the maneuver to be made to realize the mooring described by the officer is again the responsibility of the captain. If the way of mooring described by the officer is not suitable for the conditions of your boat, it is necessary to politely tell this situation to the officer and find a solution in compromise. For example, "My keel is too long, my draft is this much, is it possible for me to moor on the deep side of the pier?", "I am alone on the boat, I cannot anchor, is it possible for me to moor alongside?"...

If you cannot come to an agreement with the harbor or pier official, or if it is not possible for you to actually carry out his/her instructions, or if you think that carrying out the instructions will damage your boat, it is best to leave the place. Just because you are the captain and you are in charge of the boat, you do not have the right to dictate to the world outside the boat. It may sound strange, but I have witnessed so many discussions on this path that you cannot imagine...

Keeping the seas and nature clean is a fundamental element of seafaring culture. I am not saying here to keep the seas clean; I wouldn't even think otherwise. What I am going to say here is all about being more naive. It's like throwing a banana peel into the sea during a cruise because it is organic, but don't throw it among the swimmers in a bay. Don't shave while your boatmate is swimming around the boat without warning him or her, and don't put your hairy lather against his or her nose. If you washed dishes in the harbor, clog the sink, release the foamy water in the open sea...

Let me also remind you of the old sailors' maxim "there is soundness in the high seas". In a storm, the land will damage the boat, you can get out offshore and sail through the storm in an appropriate manner and get out of the trouble safely.

With the wish that you enjoy your joy and happiness in the safe waters offshore in all your life, an ancient sailor's farewell to you, "godspeed!". Wishing you soundness...

turgut ilhan