during a Blue Cruise There are differing opinions about the history and etymology of
gullet which took the Turkish name "gulet" from the Italian word
goletta. There is still controversy on whether it originated from the
schooner, which has long been used as a sweeping net, trawl net or sponging vessel in Turkey in the
Aegean and
Mediterranean shores, and as a freight vessel in the
Black Sea; or it originates from the fishing vessel
guletta (
gouëlette or
goélette in French), that has come up with the evolution of the word
galea or
galeotta for the old Italian naval vessels or "goleta" in Spanish. Others have argued that it resembles the
American gullet used in line fishing in the
Greenland banks, or the
clippers carrying goods from India or Australia to England in the periods of colonization. The evolution of gulet from practical maritime vessels to luxurious yachts traces back to the mid-20th century. The turning point arrived when the exiled Turkish writer,
Cevat Sakir Kabaagacli, popularly known as the Fisherman of Halicarnassus, began using gulets for yachting holidays. His explorations coined the term "blue cruise," a name that quickly resonated with the local and international tourism industry. By the dawn of the 1970s, gulets had become increasingly popular as yachts. Their designs were gradually refined to create more space for relaxation and leisure, in response to the growing demand for gulet cruises. This surge in popularity resulted in a rapid increase in the number of shipyards and workshops building gulets in the region. By the 1980s, gulet cruises, or "blue cruises," became significantly more affordable, paving the way for today's thriving gulet tourism industry. The origin of the Bodrum-type schooner vessels falls to a nearby date, to the beginning of the 1970s. These types of vessels have come up as a result of the need to carry tourists, who have come in numbers to the Aegean region and especially to Bodrum and Marmaris at the end of the 1960s, to nearby bays. The first samples of the vessels called the
Bodrum gulet are seen in those years with the addition to meet that demand of chambers and seating on the back of the deck to the chamberless
gulet used in fishing or sponging till those years. ==Etymology==