Wonder Stuck

As we see the first of the season's ships coming into port, the town is beginning to wake up. I've seen 5 or so ships come in since my return and most come and go silently ...well except for the horn blasts of thank you as they leave. I've figured out the 'thank you' blast code. It goes like this:

Ship - Ship - Ship
Tug - Tug - Tug
Ship
Tug

And that's the basic 'thank you' in cruise linish. FYI if the horn is facing directly at my balcony, it can also be an instant relief from constipation (like constipation is ever a problem in Turkey).

One ship has yet to say thank you, however. That's the Sky Wonder. It arrived in the evening to a rather nasty storm with winds that were creating roof terraces where people didn't necessarily want them.

I heard a general rumour that ship had been run aground over by the yacht harbour and so ventured out on the balcony. Sure enough, Sky Wonder was blown away from the port by the winds and onto a sand bank just the other side of the bay.

According to the Telegraph, the ship was full of Spanish tourist and some Aussies. Most of which have now been evacuated to land but some chose to stay with the ship (why would you do that?).

Well it's been over two days now and the ship is still sitting there like, as the Turks would say, an 'armut' (meaning 'pear'. The term armut is used for anything or anyone that is stationary and useless).

On the first day they had one tug boat trying to pull the ship into deeper water. The second day saw the second boat join the action. Both desperately trying to dislodge the ship from its sand bed but still nothing.

I woke this morning to see that a large fishing boat had pulled up along side to, presumably, offer it's support. There is an air of flogging a dead horse about that whole procedure. At dinner last night, my relatives offered their own advice. "Just leave it there as a home for fish". Now, I thought they were joking but they then went on to tell me that this area of the coast is mainly sand which doesn't provide safe hiding places for fish to lay eggs. "Many people throw their old cars into the sea for the fish". Ecological salvation by polution. I hope you're listening Mr Gore.

I will keep you updated on the plight of the cruise liner but, in the meantime, here are some pictures from the balcony:


**NEWS FLASH**
They've sent a marching band out to entertain the tourists. Hmmm trapped in a Turkish bay to the sound of the Turkish military. I'm not sure the Australians onboard will appreciate the irony.
**ENDS**