Military History Tours          On Tour - Swim the Dardanelles and Sponsored Surf Clubs Tour of Turkey 21 August 2010

Lives Saved

Today Turkish lives were saved by our presence. A kite surfer got into difficulty, his lines were fouled, and he was being dragged under. He was behind a small wreck, and his plight was not obvious to those onshore. Our IRB was doing a demonstration run along the beach, discovered and rescued him.

The life saved was that of the kite surfing franchise operator at Burc Beach. He has organised to buy the IRB from Yamba, and keep it here to save lives next summer.

Later, Paul Cooper from Tamaramma, one of the Gallipoli 100 founders was walking along the beach with his family. He spotted a number of locals in the water and in serious difficulty on a non-patrolled area of the beach. He entered the water, and got them safely to the shore.

In the past eight days there have been two beach deaths in the area of Burc Beach. The surf can be dangerous here.

Final Preparations for the Carnival

Today was the day for final preparation for the first surf carnival in Turkey tomorrow. The Surf (chop) was up! Turkish Crews, Bogaziçi University students rowing club and Galatasaray rowing club were given final training. Australian and New Zealand crews polished their performance, and the TV3 New Zealand crew positioned their waterproof camera for some great shots of tomorrow's action.

Tomorrow the first surf carnival in Turkey. This will be covered by Turkish Telecision, TV3 New Zealand and Channel 7 Australia. Watch-out for the programmes.