 Tosun
Sezen is a native of Istanbul and a graduate of Robert College. He
is a "peoples man", considerate and kind. He left Istanbul
for Bodrum in the early 60's to fulfill his dream of sailing and diving
for sponge in the Aegean and Mediterranean. That dream he certainly
accomplished when he assembled his own sponge crew on several boats,
and sailed for months at a time for a decade to distant places such
as Libya, Eastern Asia Minor, and to many Greek Isles. He mastered
the seas of his own neighborhood around Southwest Asia Minor while
he made an adventurous living from sponge fishing. During this time
he was acclaimed "the
inventor of modern diving in Turkey" by coastal villagers. He
introduced Turkish sponge divers the use of hookah diving, and more
importantly, thought US Navy decompression techniques. He is the designer
and builder of the first Turkish made decompression chamber, a service
that was utilized widely during sponge fishing expeditions in and around
Bodrum and the North African coast. In later years, Tosun moved back
to Istanbul, owned and operated a business in underwater construction
including salvage and pipe-laying work. This he successfully continued
for many years until retiring as the captain of Cavurali. Tosun is
married to a Swiss woman named Josette, and they reside in Olympos
- Cirali near Antalya.
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 Enver
Lucas is a Turkish American who introduced adventure travel to
Turkey. After graduating from TED Ankara Koleji and college in San
Diego, he lived in Yosemite National Park for over a decade. Here
he learned about the hospitality business and became an avid mountaineer,
skier and naturalist. He became a professional whitewater rafting
guide and worked many Western US rivers before returning to Turkey
to navigate the first descent of the Coruh River. Enver remained
in Turkey to climb mountains and to author his book Trekking In
Turkey for Lonely Planet, he married Tosun's daughter, and then started
his own company specializing in adventure travel tour operations
in Turkey. Enver realized the potential for tourism along the beautiful
Turkish Coast at a time when pleasure trips there were unheard
of so he researched the area from that perspective.
He is considered the pioneer of classic, ecologically safe, and culturally
interactive sailing itineraries in Turkey such as "The Turquoise
Coast" and "The
Sapphire Seas". Enver is an accredited professional guide
and tour operator for connoisseuırs, and works with leading American
adventure travel firms such as Geographic Expeditions and Wilderness
Travel. |