Bodrum’s 500-year-old schooners go down in history
Bodrum wooden schooners, which are built at the shipyards in the Muğla district of Bodrum and exported all over the world, are in danger of extinction.
While at least 20 schooners were launched each year at the Bodrum shipyards, which had their heyday in 1990 and 2010, the industry was hit hard by the loss of life of master builders of wooden schooners, the lack of new and increased costs
‘SCHOONER CONSTRUCTION HAS REACHED A STOPPING POINT’
The last schooner master, Muhittin Kızılağaç, 62, who is married with two children and two grandchildren, who lives in Kızılağaç village of Muğla’s Bodrum district, told SÖZCÜ that schooners are in danger of extinction. at the shipyard where he works.
Kızılağaç stated that the schooners, which were built in Bodrum at the beginning of the 16th century and have been used for commercial purposes for about 500 years and for the last 40 years for tourism and blue cruise purposes in the tourist district, face the danger of extinction;
“Schooners, which have been built in Bodrum for exactly 500 years, were frequently built until 2010. In recent years, the death of masters and the exponential rise in the cost of wooden schooners has led to a sharp decline in the industry. I am the last boat builder on the schooner, unfortunately there is no one behind me, no one to catch up with me”.
Muhittin Kizilagac
THE COST OF THE GULETA IS BETWEEN 3-12 MILLION EUROS
Kızılağaç continued with his words, stating that he has been building schooners since he was 10 years old in the shipyards and that he finally launched the schooner he built in 2016;
“The schooners built between 16-50 meters in length were widely used in the blue voyage and exported from South Africa to Ireland, from New Zealand to all the Mediterranean countries for their voyage comfort, wide structure and resistance to all types of waves.
These schooners have been used for commercial purposes in the Aegean and Mediterranean for hundreds of years. It is used both with sail and motor. However, at the point where the industry has reached, it lost its charm because a gulet costs between 3 and 12 million euros. At this rate, we now see schooners in museums.”
‘DISORDERLY’
Kızılağaç also said: “No one has ordered schooners from the shipyards at this time. If the relevant institutions and the ministry take action in this regard, the disappearance of a 500-year history will be avoided.”
In order to keep Bodrum schooners alive, the Bodrum Cup international wooden yacht competitions have been held in Bodrum for some 34 years. About 150 wooden boats and schooners and 2,500 sailors and tourists participate in the regattas each year.