Turkey Blue Card

[chuckr]

For those coming or sailing Turkey this year they are pushing the Blue Card system. When we came in in Oct no word about it but all of a sudden we got a note from the marina that the CG is now enforcing it again. As a heads up.

[hoppy]

Apr 2, 2016 8:49:29 GMT chuckr said:

For those coming or sailing Turkey this year they are pushing the Blue Card system. When we came in in Oct no word about it but all of a sudden we got a note from the marina that the CG is now enforcing it again. As a heads up.

Just did a quick google and only found old articles about it.

Sounds like it's for grey and black water. No dumping at sea even if you sail offshore or cross into Greek waters when sailing between two Turkish destinations.

I have a holding tank, but it's only for black water... No Turkey for me then.

[chuckr]

We don't either - and be careful of looking at old data and assuming it applies to the current situation. We got our blue card and we will get a pump out before we leave but we wash dishes ect but use our holding tanks - had a pump out before we pulled and will do it again when we head out in a couple of weeks.


I think they may have lightened up a bit but not sure.  Time will tell but so far no one has said anything -- I think they are much more intent that you use your holding tank for black water. 

[hoppy]

Yeah, that's why I mentioned "old" and asked the question

Do keep us informed as you find out more info....

Grey water restrictions would be pretty stupid and destructive to tourism as many sailors would find it too difficult/costly to modify their yachts to conform. Then they would also have to ban people using soap when showering on the transom etc..

It should be enough to enforce blackwater tanks and dumping only more than x miles from shore and no paper.

[vasko]

Before forcing the visiting yacht things like that - they need to make sure they organize all the crap left by the broken fishing boats and all the gullet type crap....   I'm not going to Turkey anymore after I have seen the difference between the cleanliness of Greek waters and the Turkish one - Just compare the once best bay in the world - Marmaris - with Rhodes ( or Simi if that matters) and there is nothing more to say - I vividly remember how difficult was to clean myself from all the oil and rubbish on my skin after jumping in the water in the Marmaris bay... not good memories from the Fethyie also and around - all the small islands once been like gems are smelly and barren and full of rubbish and crap... and I also remember the huge marina charges and forcing me to use a agent to be able to get clearance to get out to Greece ...passport stamps etc.  I also remember paying 10-20 EUR to fill my tanks with fresh water - regally available in only one place around Geocek area...  and if I need a pontoon ( actually a rusted metal with broken wood planks) forcing me to eat in pubs that I do not like and seriously overpriced dishes just because my boat is with Britsh flag and the Brits has money to spend...   I love spending money in tavernas and pubs onshore, I may spend 100's of Euros and steel extremely happy - just really hate been forced to do so !)

honestly I do not believe at all all this rubbish in the water has anything to do with visiting boats...

[chuckr]

Vasko -- have not found anything like you mentioned -- we did all the checkin ourselves - could have used an agent but decided to do it myself and no issues - as for trash - so far from Kusadasi up to Canakkale we have had nothing but clean waters - even with some wind blowing stuff in it is clean - much cleaner than we found some Greek ports.

The tie up so far have been very clean and well laid out and the locals helpful when doing a Med mooring by catching a stern line and  helping to tie up -  


as for the Blue Card we do not mind it -- I  Greece we had a couple of boats dump their holding tanks or not use their holding tanks in the harbors - yuck --


We have not gone south yet - where the majority of cruisers hang out so it will be interesting to see. 

[vasko]

my experience with Turkey is from 5 years ago and from Goceck/Fethie/Marmaris area - thing may have changed now - and the comparison with Greece is with Rhodes/Simi ... re shopping in Turkey - which shop you are using for provisioning ? how you managed to find some decent salami, pork chops and sausages for the barbecue ? wine ? bier ?  compared with the usual things that I'm used-to find in LIDL/Carefour in EU/Greece my provisioning experience in Turkey was not very good....  but this is just my personal feelings.. I may be well wrong and things may have changed alot...

[mehmet]

I keep my boat since 2004 in Gocek and goecek bays are most of the time very clean and the water is really clear. Just by eastwinds few deep bays get all the stuf carried by the wind and need some time to get clean again.
Probably you did not know the right markets. In Migros, Macro or Gourmet Shop you can find any drink or food and the quality is really good.
I hope this helps next time.

[vasko]

at the time I was searching for hypermarkets and found only Kipa - most likley you are right and I just don't know the area well enough...

[erkan]

As a local, what we do about the bllue card: once you buy it from a marina (6-7 euros?), you give your black water to marinas when possible. For small boats (in practice) gray water tanks are not checked by CG. The authorities know that it is not possible to have a gray water tank for us. The law may be modified according to needs in the future. The main issue is to protect bays like Göcek, Marmaris,... which are easily poluted due to low circulation and cannot clean themselves.

What do I do: buy my blue card, use marinas if/when possible. No problems so far. And if you think that authorities are more tolerant to locals, the answer is wise versa.

Nietche says: all generalizations are dangerous, even this one

P.S. I like Greek waters as much as Turkish waters. As Chipras says, the Eagen sea belongs to fish
I add sailors

[tedp]

Remembering my 2013 cruise I can confirm that the Göcek area and the coast all the way to Fethiye, Cold Water Bay (Gemiler Island), Kalkan, Kaş and Kekova bay is a wonderful area to sail in. I don't know about Marmaris as I didn't go there.

At the time there was no blue card in force, but the use of a holding tank was obligatory in every harbour or anchorage. Only out at sea it was allowed to dump the contents, which obviously now is banned as well. We made one slip over into Greek waters, calling at Kastellorizo island which is opposite Kaş.

Wherever we went, the water was very clean - even in crowded anchorages, you could see right to the bottom and the fish almost ate out of your hand. Eating ashore was fair to excellent and the evening atmosphere in Kaş was great fun, with families enjoying the cool evening all over the place. The Greek island of Kastellorizo is very different in character, but another great place to visit.

My only concern right now would be the consequences of the refugee crisis - people trying to reach Greek islands from Turkey in unseaworthy craft. I would feel very uncomfortable relaxing on a yacht whilst people nearby were in danger of drowning.

[chuckr]

we used our Blue Card all the way to Istanbul and no issues and all were appreciated that we did it.  When we did our last pump out in Istanbul we asked about the Black Sea and were told there are no pump out facilities on the Black Sea yet. So we close our heads when in port and once 3nm off shore we empty them each day we are out. that way not a lot at one time --

[chuckr]

Got back to Turkey and had to get a new Blue Card. Lost my wallet in Samsun and in it was the Blue Card. Cost me 50T/L as a fine for losing it as it had to be reported lost to the Gov't and we had to buy a new one. But to us no big issue and helps keep the harbors clean.

just our thoughts

chuck