Crews Letter #2003 01 Delay, Deadly Delay

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen:

In the original order of things, I am already in Turkey and Phyl is coming next week.  Word from the owners/crew of Traumerei, a US yacht at Yat Marine in Marmaris, that was and still is a good plan.  The US Embassy in Ankara has recently stated a different, more cautious view.

Unfortunately, maybe for the better, my eye doctor has not released me to leave Dallas.  Two weeks ago, I had a pterygium removed from my left eye  It required a graft of the conjunctiva.  This graft is slow to take and removing the sutures at this time is not to be. The surgeon knows that I'm on a short fuse.  I know that having two healthy and functioning eyes is nice.  I am not interested in trying to find a doctor in Turkey or Greece to remove the sutures.  We wait in Dallas for him and my eye to complete the job.

What is a pterygium? you ask.  Check this url (Universal Resource Locator) on the Internet for a description: http://www.stlukeseye.com/Conditions/Pterygium.asp

The 20th of April is likely to be our fly to Turkey date.

The day my surgery was scheduled the driveway looked like this:

The white stuff is sleet. Most of Dallas, including the out patient surgery was closed. Delay, another week lost.

As for the war in Iraq and its consequences in Turkey, we expect that the major fall out will be an even further decline of the tourist trade.  For the people who we deal with, this is very sad.  They have invested time, money and effort to build businesses that demand hard work, long hours and a good spirit.  Their window of opportunity is less than six months of each year.  9/11 2001 hurt this industry in Greece and Turkey last year by as much as 40%.  This year can only be worse. 

The terrorists of 9/11 continue to destroy lives and freedom.  The sudden death of being in a building that crashes to the ground in flames and ashes may be preferable to having your business, career and life slowly crushed into the ground by fear.  Imagine the horror of trying to cope as a resident of Kabul, Baghdad, Tel Aviv, or Gaza  for the last 20 years.  This is not a new war. Prior to 9/11 it was bearable from the US perspective to deal with it in detente.  The pain was isolated and a long way away. The terrorists of 9/11 have probably started the end.  To date they are winning. 

This url: http://www.link4u.com/kissedmyson.htm is worth visiting. No matter who you are, war is the grinding up of lives.

The 2003 season get a late start. We still hope to cruise Greece, Croatia and Slovenia.

Keep a Tight Luff,

Phyl & Fred

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