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Ünlüata Cruises: SESAME EMed 1 
Day 6
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We entered Antalya harbor at night. The chief scientist and some members of our former cruise departed the ship in the morning, to be replaced by others for next Leg.
After checks for weather, we untied and departed for Fethiye harbor, west along the coast. Once on our way, we hope to meet again the two Cuvier whales that we had seen at sunset yesterday, but were not close enough to take pictures of them.
As it is now customary for Sundays, we had a meal of beans at lunchtime.
Around Antalya Üçadalar, our expectations were fulfilled when a whale started to play games with us riding in front of the ship’s bow.
We had rough weather off Kaş, with winds exceeding 55 knots. We had to spend the night at anchor near Kalkan. Our attempts to catch fish during the night were not very successful.
Day 5
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Finally better weather meets us north; however, we learn that bad weather expects us for the next two days. We spend extra effort to finish work today and reach safe haven near Antalya.
Day 4
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It was not possible to work for the whole night, and we continued south under very strong winds. At dawn we arrived at station C56M57. Work continued under very difficult conditions due to rough seas with high swell. Because the forecasts indicated weather would soon get much rougher in this area we turned ships head north towards Antalya. Forecasts were corrects, waves and winds kept following us.
Day 3
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We arrive at our first station F10N00 at 05:20 in the morning. Forecasts imply that we should be able to work. We steered our course south towards Alexandria. By the second station we occupied, the winds became stronger and the sea more rough. We decided to continue south anyway, because we do not really have a place to hide in these open waters. When we arrived at our third station in the evening, we encountered an unfortunate accident that threatened the successful continuation of the cruise: we lost the entire CTD system to the sea at dark. The hydro wire failed under the action of opposing winds, currents and waves. Our mood darkened with the setting of the night, but we continued to collect data with spare systems. Included in data collection, was our common intercalibration station with the Israeli ship Shikmona.
Day 2
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We were getting waves from bow side, and the ship was rolling like a cradle for the entire night. When we arrived off Anamur in the morning, we had the weather forecasts for the next three days, which appeared not too bright: strong winds are expected in the eastern Mediterranean for the next few days. Because we are not very busy yet, the subject that seems to attract everyone’s attention seemed to be the menu of the day prepared by our cook Mehmet Ali – spinach, pasta and strawberries.
Day 1
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At about 20:00, we sailed off the Mersin/Tirtar harbour under a sky with shining stars. If the weather is fine, we expect to reach the first station in about 36 hours. However, we will have more exact information about the weather from weather reports in the next 12 hours. We will continue with our preparations during this period, and will take sediment samples near the mouth of the Göksu river. Communications with the Institute are continuing thanks to our new satellite and internet link on board the RV BİLİM.
