This handsome iroko planked and mahogany paneled schooner
Holiday Sailing With Two More Cabins Holiday Sailing With Three More Cabins Return to Motor-Sailer Summary This page last updated on 05/11/2012 Dear Homo Sapiens, There is no need to continue reading this
page. What follows is intended for search engine robots and spiders and not necessarily for human
beings. Further information concerning holiday sailing in Greece and Turkey may be obtained by
clicking on the blue links immediately above. Thank You. Laguna is a charter gulet
holiday-sailing the Turkish and Greek Aegean. Schooner-rigged with two masts the taller mast aft,
she has a classic low-to-the-water profile, while esthetically pleasing accommodations for a limited
number of guests provide both a sense and reality of space. A 450 hp diesel engine enables Laguna to
cruise at a fast nine knots giving her a four-hour range of forty nautical miles, more than sufficient
to make interesting port after interesting port along the coast of Turkey and among neighboring Aegean
islands of Greece. Laguna's is a gulet sailing holiday cruising the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean.
A holiday cruising Greece, a holiday cruising Turkey, or a holiday cruising both Greece and Turkey.
Hers is a holiday cruising Greece and Turkey with frequent swim stops and other recreational pauses.
She is ideal for a family or an extended family of eight. She is equally ideal for a group of friends
numbering eight. Should you be thinking of sailing between Greece and Turkey as, for example, did Mesih
Pasha in 1480, beating a path between Marmaris, Turkey, and Rhodes Town, Greece, Laguna might be the
yacht for you. A holiday catered in comfort while you are transported |
from one destination of your choosing in Turkey to another destination of your
choosing in Greece. These destinations are all at the crossroads of history, whether city, village, or
pine encircled clear-water cove. Mesih Pasha, or Misha or Michael, was then the Ottoman Empire's
kapudan pasha or grand admiral. He was directly descended from the Greek Palaeologue rulers of
the Byzantine Empire and had entered Ottoman janissary ranks through the devsirme conscription
of Christian youth. Educated at the elite Enderun Kolej within the sultan's palace, and by 1480 a
battle-scarred veteran, Mesih Pasha was appointed kapudan pasha by Mehmet the Conqueror. That year,
1480, he led 70,000 of Sultan Mehmet's troops in an unsuccessful 89-day siege of Hospitaller Knights
within the walled city of Rhodes. That's him on the white stallion to the right. During the final
assault after the walls had been breeched, and with elite janissaries pouring through the gap, Mesih
Pasha announced there would be no rape and pillage, the traditional spoils of war. With plunder sacks
tucked into their finery, the janissaries then did an abrupt volte-face and poured back through
the walls. The siege was over. The entire Ottoman force soon re-embarked, the transports sailing for
Marmaris just to the north while Mesih Pasha's war galleys headed for Bodrum where they bombarded that
city's Hospitaller castle before continuing on to Kostantiniyye as Constantinople was then known. By
the end of 1480, of course, the sultan was looking for another kapudan pasha, and Mesih Pasha had been
dispatched to Gallipoli to re-learn the association of war and reward. Whether he did or did not is
uncertain because Mehmet's son Beyazid II in 1499 elevated Mesih Pasha not back into the ranks of
warriors but rather to the position of Grand Vizier, highest appointed position in the empire and a
position he held for two years before retiring to a villa on the Bosphorus. Laguna destinations are
characterized not only by historical association but by turquoise blue sea glinting under a warm sun,
as well. Whether you enjoy history more than fun, or fun more than history, Laguna offers the optimum
sailing holiday at the crossroads of history. And all the while the optimum sailing holiday is
complemented by haute cuisine. Come see for yourself. Sail with Laguna from Foca to Antalya, from Lesbos
to Kastellorizon, let her show you Alexander's 333 BC path down the coasts of Turkish Caria and Lycia,
let her show you Cleopatra's 32 BC route up the same coasts and among Greek islands. And let her crew
discuss with you Alexander, Cleopatra, and Mesih Pasha. Laguna, a fine charter gulet holiday-sailing
Greece and Turkey. Contact Blue Cruise Yacht Charters
today at