In Turkey, every year, almost 4 thousand certified sailors roam around the world seas by sailboats. Being surrounded by water on three sides, the history of Turkey is full of great sailors. Here is another example: Professional diver and underwater guide Sibel KARASU and OSMAN ATASOY -who has always had the passion to travel around the world and who made a world tour in 1992 with a boat named “Uzaklar” (Farther Afield)- inspired many people by reaching the Antarctica Continent by their 14 meter sailboat “Uzaklar-II” (Farther Afield-II) constructed by the Chamber of Shipping.
The couple departed by Uzaklar-II from Marmaris on 22 October 2008, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, sailed in the Atlantic Ocean and moved towards the Canary Islands by taking breaks on the coasts of Atlantic. Heading towards open seas again, the sailboat reached the Brazilian coasts. On their route to Argentina, they got prepared to cross the Cape Horn -the Mount Everest of Sailing- and they achieved it on 9 March 2011, and then, being unable to stand its attraction, they set their route to the Antarctic. They started this part of the journey, which required a painstaking work and serious reconditioning and furnishing, on 10 January 2012 and crowned their journey by putting their stamp on history as one of the first Turkish sailboats reaching the Antarctic. They planted the Turkish flag on the glacier and returned to the Ushuaia Port at the southernmost end of Argentina, the starting point of their Antarctic journey, on 23 March 2012. They finalized this world tour of 22 thousand miles in total by returning to Turkey on 10 December 2012.
Atasoy and Karasu made a documentary film of their Antarctic adventure out of the videos they shot during their journey in 2012. The documentary film, full of joy for everybody, especially for the youth, with a sense of curiosity and the passion to travel around the world, is available at the following link:
Documentary Film “Uzaklar-II” (Farther Afield-II)