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EMEK MARIN GULETS
Since the time of its most famous resident King Mausolous (4th Century BC) Bodrum has been an important local boat building centre. King Ptolemy of Egypt had warships built here in the 3rd century BC in the area now occupied by the present day marina. The bustling activity of Bodrum's boat yards is little changed from the ancient industry that built Ptolemy's fleet. Many of the boats seen today are modern versions of much older craft. With its symmetrically pointed bow- and stern and huge outboard rudder aft, the tirhandil is a direct descendent of an ancient Aegean design and once the favourite of area sponge divers. More recently, the boat of choice is the gulet, taken from the Italian gouletta, ketch rigged with broad beam and rounded stern, and the ayna kic (similar to the gulet but with a squared off stern, hence its name in Turkish—mirror back). Gulet is ideal for private use or chartering, her broad beam and spacious decks provide room for comfortable cabins below and generous alfresco living above decks.
Should you wish to have the yacht of your dreams, we can build a tailor-made yacht specific to your needs up to 30 metres or more.
There are three systems employed for wooden boat construction:
System A (traditional): Frames, floors, stempost, sternpost constructed of oak or black wood with mahogany or iroko traditional planking.
System B: Frames, floors, stempost, sternpost, keel, keelson are of laminated mahogany or iroko. Traditional mahogany or iroko planking.
System C: Frames, floors, sternpost, stempost, keel, keelson are laminated mahogany or iroko. Planking is diagonal veneering.
The Gulet Building Process
The procedure of building boats today has changed very little over the centuries. The changes to the basic plank-on-frame method are superficial but significant: advanced tools now allow craftsman to design and deliver far more precision than they used to be able to by hand, and laminated epoxy materials allow for fantastic durability.
 
Inside the boat, design changes over the years have increasingly leaned towards larger dining and lounging facilities, well designed cabin layout, including air conditioning, and even on-board jacuzzis. In the cargo hold below deck where amphoras of wine were once neatly stacked in the ancient vessels of the Aegean, a shiny engine awaits to deliver 350 horsepower to the helm.
 
A properly maintained gulet can last over thirty years. Each winter, boats need to be taken out of the water and the hulls scrubbed and given a thick coat of varnish in addition to other routine maintenance.
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