The Blue Voyage, Bodrum
why BLUE CRUISE ???
The one or two weeks lasting holiday trip on the Mediterranean Sea from bay to bay and island to island is called here “blue cruise”, Blaue Reise, blue voyage, or in Turkish “mavi yolculuk”. Really: the sky and the sea can’t be more blue than here.
But the origin of the expression blue cruise has its own story. Bodrum is very proud of the poet Cevat Sakir Kabaagacli, for whom some memorials were build. Cevat gave himself the nickname “fisherman of Halikarnassos”. He was born in Crete in 1886 and died at the age of 87 in 1973 in Izmir and was buried in Gümbet near Bodrum
In 1925 he wrote an article for the magazine “Resimli Hafta” (pictorial week) which created obviously too much sympathy with army-deserters. The title was really shocking: “How the prisoners who are sentenced to death are going in full possession of their consciousness to the gallows?” For this article he was sentenced to 3 years arrest in the tower of Bodrum.But the exile in Bodrum made him happy. He made friendship with the fishermen and sponge divers and went crazy by going with the fishing boats to the many bays and ancient places. But when military got wind of his pleasures they took him back and he had to suffer the rest of the punishment in Istanbul.
In 1957 he returned to his beloved Bodrum and spend the rest of his life there. Cevat had studied history in London and was a passionate poet. He began to make poems about the time he spend in Bodrum calling it “blue exile” and the journeys on the sea “blue cruise”. He wrote stories about the fishermen of Bodrum and about the ancient history of the Careans, the nation which lived in this area 2000 years ago. In the 1980s the clever fishermen of Bodrum began to make their boats fine and finer. So began the era of holidays on the nostalgic wooden boats of Bodrum.
What could inspire a man like Cevat to write such a shocking article? So I read that he murdered his father in 1908 because both fell in love with the same woman. So if you are a father don’t fall in love with the sweetheart of your son. It may be the last mistake you do. Cevat came to prison and had the opportunity to learn the sentiments of his cell mates deserters and what they felt on their last walk to their execution. Those are experiences you will never forget.
As mentioned in the beginning the indignation about Cevat meanwhile has passed into unlimited admiration of his person. In 1998 they celebrated in Bodrum two days lasting commemoration with many speeches. Also his daughter Ismet Noonan held a speech entitled: “My father the fisherman”. In those days they emphasized that Cevat brought his sad experiences into verses. On these days especially his merits were stressed. Cevat boosted the export of sponges which the divers gathered near the coast and imported lots of seeds, plants and trees which enriched the flora of Bodrum for instant the Grapefruit. The people tell that he took always some seeds in his pockets and put them into earth at places he liked very much. He also met regularly with highbrows from Istanbul with whom he dreamed up new philosophies.
At the entrance of Bodrum they put up a big board with Cevat’s “advance warning” about Bodrum:
“Hello, if you come to this top of the hill you will see Bodrum. Don’t think that you will return as the very same person as you came. To all those who came before you happened the same. They lost their heart in Bodrum and left it.”
over 5 years ago
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