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The rally secretary reports that liveaboard community who are in Park Marina / Kemer are enjoying the sunny winter life, movies, concerts, Sunday outings, aerobics, fitness centre, Turkish baths, and about any kind of lesson that you can think of. Many have received the e-mail from Umut Tepe. telling us that he is leaving the staff of Kemer Marina. Fortunately, he will still be involved with EMYR 2005 as our Rally Coordinator and we will be working very closely with him. His new e-mail address is: umut@emyr.org . We are pleased to announce that The XIV Eastern Mediterranean Yacht Rally is close to being fully booked. It is very exciting for us as Committee members to plan the events that we will be sharing together. There are now 75 yachts from 19 different countries registered for the rally and we are waiting for the last 5 applications which will bring us to the 80 yacht limit for this year. Finally we have established the EMYR foundation and set up a method for credit card payments. You can complete the credit card payment forms on the web site www.emyr.org to the name of “EMYR Association “as it is written on the form and forward by e-mail to the Rally secretary Faruk Günlü. It is essential that we receive the final confirmations from many of you by receiving your entry fee payment and your crew lists. If we do not hear from you with payment by the end of February, your name and registration will be taken off the list. If you are already registered, please inform us if you will NOT be able to participate in EMYR 2005. It is also important for our planning to know if you will be going with the Rally to Egypt. With your co-operation, we hope to have a fairly accurate count of yachts within a few weeks in order that we can inform marinas, harbours, and tour companies of our plans. Most all of your questions can be answered by reference to our newsletters and manual which are posted on the web site and we ask you to refer to this rather than sending emails to the committee. The Rally Committee is monitoring the political situation in the Middle East, and will make appropriate decisions to ensure the enjoyment of the Rally. The Rally leaves Istanbul at Ataköy Marina on 24 th April 2005, as announced. Depending on Commodore's plan there may be a change as to stop at a port in between İstanbul & Bozcaada. This change will be announced later. The second change is to sail in to new D-Marine at Bodrum peninsula for a night. The manager Ali will be very happy to welcome you in his new Marina. The day after in the morning the rally will sail to Milta Marina in the centre of Bodrum City for the second day. The rally representatives are also acting as the manager or department manager of the marinas where we will visit or they are related to the sailing clubs. Hakan in Çesme, Kemal in Kusadası , Metin in Bodrum, Ercan in Martı –Orhaniye, Onur at Gocek Hakan at Kekova, Çağlar at Finike Levent at Kemer, Aydın at Alanya Gülden & Mustafa at Girne, Atahan at Mersin, Mahmut at Iskenderun Meisa & Raed at Lattakia, Syria, Nemaa & Michael at Jounieh , Lebanon, Shabtay & Giora at Haifa, Israel, Armen & Hillel at Ashkelon, Isreal, Nagib at Port Said, Egypt and Amir at Herzliya, Israel will be very happy to welcome you to their marinas. We are checking the prices of fuel, tours, and entry taxes of every country that we will visit. You may find the samples of 2004 in our web site and we believe that the prices will be very similar to 2004. All information will be posted on our website and forwarded in the March Newsletter. You can visit the web site of the rally to find information about the rally, ports, tours, and articles written by past Rally participants. www.kemermarina.com (EMYR section), and www.emyr.org the new official website. The Rally Committee will be happy to respond to any of your questions. Please check
that: EQUIPMENT: All yachts will be checked at Kemer, if not before, for any missing or not working pieces of equipment meaning the yacht's entry will be cancelled. INSURANCE: For you own benefit, it is wise to check with your yacht insurance agency about coverage in some of the Eastern Med countries since they may be on the company's list of 'war territories.' We recommend that you receive written confirmation from your insurance company that you are covered in these counties. Other participants have received approval by sending their company a letter of request for coverage explaining that we are a large group, that this is the 16th year for this rally, and include a copy of the rally brochure. VISAS: An important point about entry into other countries. Rally participants will be issued with Shore Passes in Syria and Lebanon. These are valid only for entry and exit by yacht during the period the Rally is in the Country. Where yachtsmen plan to leave the Rally or make trips without the Rally organisation in either of these countries a Full Visitors Visa must be obtained. It is best to obtain this visa in your home country. Note: In Girne, Cyprus, and Israel, passports will not be stamped but a separate paper is issued which is held until leaving the country. The Rally agent arranges for the visas in Egypt. Participants’ passports must not contain an Israeli stamp for Entry into Syria and Lebanon. You must have a Turkish Visa valid through May 25 th. Turkish visas are available upon entry into Turkey. GROUPS: For organisation and safety the Rally fleet is divided into Groups each led by a Group Leader. Groups consist of about 10 yachts of similar size. FUEL: A fuel availability list for the various ports on the Rally is included and listed on the website and the information will be updated with the March Newsletter. COSTS: Most of the tours in which the Rally participates
are of the highest quality with modern air-conditioned buses, multilingual
guides, entry fees and lunches often included. Joining in these tours
is as much a part of the Rally as sailing, enabling the participants
to see more of the countries visited and sharing the experience with
like-minded people. There are also some fees for entries into countries
/ visas / shore passes. MONEY: US dollars, not Traveller's checks or Euro Cheques, are necessary for all payments. Credit cards are of no use for Rally expenses but can be used in some supermarkets and some diesel supplies. Dollars should be brought to Turkey as they are expensive here (your own currency to lira and lira to dollars) and should be of varied value as change is always a problem or will be given in local currency. It is useful to have some Israeli shekels, if you plan to prolong your stay in Israel. We are checking to see if any of the countries are now accepting the Euro and will let you know. CHARTS: There are of course charts published by other countries Maritime Agencies covering the same coastline and more detailed charts are also available. COURTESY FLAGS: Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt flags are needed during the Rally. Note: Charts, flares, country courtesy flags and code flags to 'dress' your yacht can also be ordered through the chandlery at Kemer Marina. Please contact the yacht chandlery at Kemer directly at fatihakar1@hotmail.com Country courtesy flags Dressing flags Flares DRESS: Dress is variable. A jacket and tie is required for the men for formal dinners such as in the Hilton Hotel at Mersin and the Dome in Girne. A shirt and long trousers are required for visiting religious sites and tee shirts and shorts the rest of the time. The ladies, of course, dress to match with dresses, slacks or skirts and shorts. Please remember that this is a rally organised by yachtsmen for yachtsmen, not a professional profit-making concern and that we are guests at the ports we visit. As guests of our generous hosts, it is incumbent on us to respect the laws, customs, and navigation rules of our hosts. Our hosts have gone to a great deal of effort to put on planned events. We should make every effort to attend all sponsored activities. As yachtsmen, we should always leave a clean wake and be especially sensitive to discharging heads in the harbours. The conduct of the yachts is controlled by the Rally Manual, which is issued to each yacht at the port-of-entry to the Rally or at Kemer and will also be announced on the web site. REMINDERS!!
The Committee members look forward to meeting you in the Rally where you will be sure of a warm welcome. Until that day, we wish you good sailing. If there are further queries, please do not hesitate to E-mail or fax your questions ( info@emyr.org or fax +90 242 814 15 52). Our hope is for good weather, friendships, hospitality,
and great experiences as we make the 15th Eastern Mediterranean Yacht
Rally a wonderful event for both the sailors and our hosts.
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