Boat Hitchhiking, Sailing in the Mediterranean sea from Israel to Turkey [around the world by bike]

After I traveled in Israel, Palestine territory, and Jordan,

I had to decide where to go next.

I had two options.

Syria or Egypt.

The problem was that both of them were not very safe.

I was confused where to go, because many people were dying in Syria and Egypt.

It was not very good time to travel by bike there.

Some people said, 

"Go to Syria, Syria is fine. The war is only on TV. Do not trust them."

And the others said, 

"No, no. Are you crazy? Go to Egypt. 

The situation in Egypt is better than Syria.

If you go to Syria, I think you are going to die."

I was close to Syria geographically.

I saw only negative news on TV.

And it was forbidden for Korean people to go to Syria,

because it was dangerous. I guess still it is. 

If Korean government will know that I've been to Syria,

I will have to pay a lot of money or I will have to go to jail.

But I also saw the news that Korean people were kidnapped in Sinai peninsula Egypt.

Where should I go then ? 

I tried to find a boat to any countries in the Mediterranean sea.

Greece or Italy was perfect, Turkey was fine. Libya? NO.

Basically boat hitchhiking is not easy always.

I'm not insulting girls,

but if I was a girl, I may get more chances.

But I know it's also risky for them.

Sorry, this is one of my prejudices, 

but I thought If I'm not a girl, he will not take me.

If you know how to sail or how to repair boats,

or how to cook, it will help you to hitchhike a boat.

But unfortunately, I didn't know how to sail, how to repair, how to cook.

I know only how to eat!

And normally you need to pay at least for your food when you are sailing.

But you know I'm broke.

I couldn't pay for anything.

I was not a girl of course.

I didn't know anything about sailing.

I couldn't pay.

I had a bicycle with 50kg stuff.

I was the worst person, very problematic. 

Who wants take me ?

It doesn't make sense at all.

Sailors didn't need me.

I felt I was very miserable.

What I can do is just TRY always.

I don't want to think about possibilities before I try. 

I came here Jordan from South Korea without money,

Does it make sense ?

I thought if I didn't find anyone who could help me,

I could go to Syria, I didn't want though.

I found a website called findacrew.net.

I found only one person who had a boat in Israel, 

He was heading to Turkey, I've sent an email to him.

But I didn't expect very much to have a reply from him.

 You know, I didn't send 1,000 emails, I just sent only one.

If he wouldn't answer, Syria was waiting for me.

But he did!

When I read his reply, 

I was so startled that my heart almost stopped beating.

He was the captain David, from the United States, 

77 years old man(couldn't believe his age, because he was so energetic and healthy).

He was not sure if he could take me or not.

He was waiting for an answer from somebody else.

I was not a priority for him.

Because he might want to take somebody who was better than me.

Somebody who can pay money, more experienced, more helpful and so on.

Apparently, many people applied for him in the beginning. 

But all of they canceled in the end.

Oh, Thanks God!

David found only me.

He couldn't sail alone, he needed someone's helps.

He decided to take me to Turkey for free! Yeah!

Now, I can survive!!

David told me he liked my email.

Because I said I know nothing about sailing, 

but I'm willing to learn.

David said, many people like to present themselves. 

"I know sailing, I know this, I know that..."

But many times, they knew nothing in practice.

And it was a problem for David.

He said it's better to be empty.

If you know something incorrectly, it will bother everyone including the captain.

He said he could teach everything to me.

So, dear my readers,

Sorry for my long introduction,

Are you ready to sail ?

I used to cook here.

You can say this is a "kitchen",

but as I heard, it's better to say "Galley".

David taught me about some sailing words kindly.

The name of boat was Sea Symphony.

This is my left hand.

We call the left side of boat PORT.

Right side is STARBOARD.

David wrote this on my left hand fingers for me not to forget.

I learned how to tie knots

Our plan

Wake up early in the morning, prepare to sail

Fuel and water are the most important things when you are sailing

I spent most of the time here in front of steering

Dinghy

I don't know why, but It sounds lovely in Korean

It used to make me busy

I'm not very good at cooking, 

but I tried to cook Korean food for David.

This is Bibimbop, the most famous Korean food.

Not all, but many Korean food is spicy.

David said he liked spicy food.

He seemed he was enjoying(?) my Bibimbop.

But he had to drink much water after our dinner.

The lights over the port hole

I left my bike near the generator next to my cabin.

Whatever you eat on the boat,

it tastes awesome.

David told me that even if you don't do anything on the boat,

your muscles are working a lot.

That's why everything tastes so good.

We docked in Cyprus on the way to Turkey

in order to get more fuel and water.

At the end of each days, we used to enjoy wines.

It couldn't be better.

The Captain David

Sometimes, we were sailing all night long.

It was very hard physically,

but it was fantastic.

Such a quite peaceful time.

The moon,

Calm,

Many stars in the sky.

No worries.

I can't describe very well,

I was falling into a trance.

I felt time stood still.

I couldn't hold my camera properly,

I got funny shapes of the moon.

We worked few hours shift,

navigated by the stars,

the stars were more correct than the compass.

Sometimes it was freezing, and adventurous enough.

Actually, in the beginning, 

I spent very hard time, because of the seasick.

I vomited a lot, and I almost died on the deck.

I couldn't move at all in the boat.

It was getting worse when I tried to go to my cabin and the galley.

After I took the pills, I felt better

But still I was not in good mood.

David didn't let me go under the deck.

He prepared food for me every time.

But I felt guilty, I really wanted to do something for him.

In Asian culture, if you are older than me,

I'm supposed to work more.

I found It very ridiculous when he served food for me.

It tasted very good though. 

In fact, food which cooked by somebody else is always tasty. :P

The island looked like a turtle.

For fun

We were only two people,

We used to talk a lot about everything.

He also used to correct my English.

I don't like my English, 

but he encouraged me very much,

he said my English was excellent. 

He decided to take me to Turkey without pay.

He taught me how to sail.

He taught me how to speak correct English.

He cooked delicious food for me.

He told me about many interesting stories 

when he was working as a lawyer before he retired.

I can't thank him enough.

I felt very sad, because Turkey was around the corner.

It meant time to say goodbye was coming.

Finally we arrived in Marmaris, Turkey.

It took us one week from Israel.

He said Marmaris is like his home.

He had many friends in Marmaris, he was going to meet his friends.

I celebrated my own victory!

With a glass of wine and Basamic sauce. 

I decided to help him little bit more for his next sailing.

Sailing with David was really great time,

I can say it was one of the best memories in my trip.

I was definitely lucky to meet him, I truly appreciate him.

And I miss him very much.

Dear David,

I think we were wonderful shipmates!

Now the situation is the same.

I tried to find a boat from Algeciras, Spain to South America  for one month.

Unfortunately, I found nothing.

But I think I was lucky again,

Because at least, I've tried and I learned that nothing is easy. 

And I came to Dakar, Senegal.

Now, I'm trying to find a boat again,

but as always I have to hear only negative news.

To be honest, it makes me very depressed.

I don't want to worry,

because my worries can't solve the problems.

But it's true I'm just a small person,

I really don't know what to do.

Should I finish my adventure here and go home ?

Is this my dead end ?

I always want to be positive.

I want to say to people and myself,

If you never give up, nothing is impossible,

You will see a ray of light at the end of a dark tunnel 

as I found it before in Jordan . 

I don't know if I will be lucky again,

Nothing is sure, 

it makes me excited and nervous too.

I will see what will happen to me.

This is the adventure!