Accommodations:
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What follows is intended for search engine robots and spiders and not necessarily for human beings.
Further information concerning charter gulets sailing Turkey and Greece may be obtained by clicking
on the gray links immediately above. Thank You. You may be searching for an Italian sea view,
perhaps along the Amalfi Coast or from the back side of Isla Capri or of Calabria from the slopes of
Etna. Fortunately for us, however, you have found an oak-framed, teak-decked, mahogany-appointed charter
gulet sailing Turkey and Greece in considerable comfort. A motor-sailing gulet on Blue Cruise in the
eastern Mediterranean. Cruising among Aegean islands of Greece. Cruising along the pine-clad coast of
Turkey, the Calabrian Pine-clad coast of Turkey. Sailing through history at the crossroads of history.
Fortunately for us, yes, and fortunately for you, too. If you weren't thinking before of a charter
gulet sailing Turkey and Greece, think about it now. Think about a crewed motor-sailer with
accommodations for five couples. Think about the charter gulet Vista Mare II. Think about a crewed
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yacht chartering Greece and Turkey in the
wake of corsairs and privateers, in the wake, for example, of Aruj Reis. Cruising the coast of Asia
Minor and among neighboring Aegean islands. Aruj Reis (Aruj Captain) was the eldest of six children
born to Greek parents on the Aegean island of Lesbos, the father a former Ottoman janissary, the mother
Greek with Andalusian roots. Four of the six children were boys, two later known as Barbarossa, Aruj
the first. Born circa 1473, Aruj got his sea legs fishing the waters off Lesbos and his habit of command
in service to the Mamluk sultans of Egypt. He may have learned even more as an oarsman in the galleys of
the Hospitaller Knights of Rhodes. Ransomed for far too little by Prince Korkud, son of Ottoman Sultan
Beyazid II, Aruj went on to become a scourge of the Latin Aegean, his victims Venetians and Genovese
and, occasionally, his former captors. Motivated by a wish to improve his circumstances, of course, he
was also influenced by a history of Latin persecution and despoliation of all things Greek, including
the Fourth Crusade sack of Constantinople and subsequent establishment of Latin duchies throughout the
Aegean. Commissioned and financed by Mamluk Sultans Janbalat and al-Ghawri as well as by Prince Korkud,
Aruj went from Hospitaller oarsman to command of a galliot (small galley) with 18 oars to a side, and
from command of a galliot to command of several galliots. Operating out of Lesbos and Smyrna under the
aegis of Korkud, then governing Antalya Province from nearby Manisa, and out of Egyptian Alexandria, he
rested his crews between forays among the small islands just south of Naxos in the Cyclades. Reflecting
an inbred rage against Venice's fatal 1204 knife in the Byzantine corpus, from these islands Aruj and his
brother Khizr wreaked havoc on everything Venetian including Naxos and neighboring Paros, nearby Ios and
Santorini, and the larger Venetian island of Crete among others, doing so much damage and growing so much
bolder that by 1503 Latin pickings in the Aegean had become less attractive than those in the western
Mediterranean. And so Aruj Barbarossa moved on. Thirteen years later he founded the kingdom of Algiers
and became its ruler, the kingdom's income derived from raids on Latin Italy and Spain. While the
Barbarossas had moved on, Prince Korkud continued to finance a string of anti-Latin privateers,
including Sinan of Smyrna, future brother-in-law of the Barbarossas, and the famous Dragut (Turgut Reis).
Korkud, paradoxically, was more widely known for patronizing the arts than for patronizing privateers. He
also was a writer of poetry and musical compositions. He had even designed a tambour called a
ru h-efza for which he wrote eight pieces of music. Furthermore, he wrote at least seven treatises
in Arabic concerning Islam. Himself a 1510 target of the Hospitallers, narrowly escaping death or
capture while at sea between Alexandria and Antalya, Korkud met his end in 1512 at the hands of his brother
Selim, a victim of the Ottoman Empire's fratricidal succession policy. Why not charter
Greece and Turkey in the wake of Prince Korkud? Or in the wake of Aruj Reis? While you holiday in
style and comfort aboard a prestigious yacht. While you proceed from pine-encircled cove to remote
island. Why not have an extended-family holiday aboard a crewed sailing yacht cruising through history
in these waters. Or have a group of friends holiday with you aboard a charter gulet proceeding
leisurely from fascinating locale to fascinating locale. Perhaps cruising into the Venetian Cyclades
as did Aruj Reis. Starting in Bodrum. Are you searching for Bodrum in Turkey? Well, it is eleven
nautical miles NE of Kos Town on the north shore of the Ceramic Gulf. There or elsewhere we can put
you aboard a charter gulet with an experienced crew able to show you tracks left by Aruj Barbarossa,
able to show you tracks left by Prince Korkud sailing to and from Antalya and between Lesbos and the
mainland. Vista Mare II, a superb charter gulet sailing Greece and Turkey in comfort. And
knowledgeable, as well, of local history. Contact Blue Cruise Yacht Charters today at