Inebolu: A traditional Turkish town with a modern commercial port

The view from the hillside above the harbor in Inebolu.

Black Sea Logbook Entry

Date: 6/12/2010
Distance: 16.4 nm
Sailed from: Doganyurt
Lat: 41° 58.8'N
Long: 33° 45.9'E

On the Black Sea, everyday brings something different in the docking department.  After motoring the entire way from Doganurt today, we moored Gyatso alongside the north quay and just behind a freighter in Inebolu's commercial harbor which gave us easy access ashore through a security gate.  The commercial harbor sits on the east side of a steep bluff topped by traditional Ottoman-style houses.  The houses are perched at the top of the hillside town which stretches along the coast to the west of the harbor.  From the top of the hill, the town has beautiful views over the red tile rooftops down the coast.  Along the shore, a long promenade includes ice cream and pastry shops, cafes and mini-markets catering to summer visitors.  

We were lucky enough to arrive in time to visit the busy Saturday market.  Vendors lined one of the main shopping streets near the river, and it seemed that everyone from the surrounding villages was in town.  We bought some fresh yogurt from a couple of older women who wore white gauze-like headscarves and looked like they were from another time in the distant past.

Little remains of the town's ancient history, so Lisa set-out on her own the following morning to just wander around the narrow lanes and admire the interesting architecture in various stages of decline or renovation/repair.  One of the people who greeted her, a young man who spoke good English and a student of architecture in Cypress, was home for the summer to help his father build a new house in the style of the traditional ones.  He explained how the houses in Inebolu are unique to this area.  One of the special features is the use of locally available slate for the roofing, but the pieces are left uncut and come in various shapes and sizes, creating a rustic look.

After a lot of motoring and not much sailing this past week, we re-filled our jerry cans with diesel fuel just to be sure we had enough to get us to Sinop where we planned to re-fuel.  This required a short taxi ride to the filling station in town before we set-off again.

Our Black Sea voyage continues in Çaylioglu, Turkey...