Author: Nicole (Page 5 of 44)

The winds we’ve experienced in Croatia have made for some of the best daily sails we’ve ever experienced (10 knots, relatively flat seas). The sail from Hvar to Korcula was probably the best of the best. We were wing on wing (main out on one side, jib out on the other), scooting down the coast toward Korcula. Apparently others had the same idea about the wind as we came across a few dozen kiteboarders and wing foilers who looked like they were having the time of their lives.

We scooted past Korcula town and dropped anchor by the Badija Monastery. Winds were still blowing pretty good, but the island sheltered us from the worst, and there was no fetch. We decided to explore the island first.

The monastery was lovely to visit, and sad as it had been looted over the years and turned into a hotel before it was finally returned to the church. Restoration has not really begun, and you could see the decay everywhere.

The island itself is idyllic, and we took an hour to walk the perimeter. I still cannot get over the color of the water in Croatia.

At the very end of the walk, we were lucky enough to come across the wild deer that live on the island.

On our way back to the boat, we noticed a neighboring catamaran struggling to up anchor. We went over to assist and found that they had hooked a huge piece of dead coral on their bridle (I have no idea how they could have done this). We managed to help get a spare line around the coral to free their bridle, and they were on their merry way.

It was too far to town with our little dinghy, but luckily there are water taxis available. After a slight mixup with the one we ordered, a friendly driver named Goran gave us a ride into town.

Korcula town is lovely. We sat by the water and had pad Thai (first time we’ve had Asian food in Croatia, but luckily it was recommended by a fellow cruiser), then wandered town in search of ice cream and local wine. We could have easily stayed an extra day or two, but the good sailing winds were calling.

The winds finally shifted in our favor, and with a great sail we were off to Hvar Island. Stari Grad wouldn’t give us the protection we needed, and Hvar Town is too expensive (100 euros per mooring!), and the anchorages were too far for our little dinghy engine, so we opted for a bay where we could simply relax.

We were a little closer to the rocks than I was comfortable, but the winds promised to be light for the evening, so we settled in. At dawn, I woke up to thunder (never a good sound in a tight anchorage), but was treated to an end-to-end double rainbow while checking our anchor and boat position.

After visiting Krka National Park, we took a ferry down river to the town of Skradin. Here we found a lovely restaurant overlooking the marina that served the famous ‘risotto skradinski’, a dish that takes up to 12 hours to make. Meat is roasted on the bone and then broth made from the bones and simmered for hours. The veggies and rice are added at the very end, and the dish is very tasty. It goes perfectly with one of the wines from the local Bibich winery (made famous by Anthony Bourdain and No Reservations).

We had just enough time after lunch to walk up to the fort overlooking town, and then to the Old Timer Car Museum. The collection of Yugoslavian, Russian and American classic vehicles was crammed into a building the size of an airplane hangar, but we got a personal tour of the whole place. The highlight for me was the VW Beetle outfitted by a local company called MB Verbanus with a wrought iron shell complete with 24k gold leaf and Swarovski crystals!

One of the places I regretted passing by without visiting was the Krka National Park with the famous waterfalls. You can bring your boat up a long narrow river to the town of Skradin and hike from there to the falls. We simply didn’t have the time as it was out of our way as we were moving south. But we had an extra day in Split of relatively calm weather (we could safely leave the boat), and take a bus to the falls.

Best decision ever. The falls take your breath away as you walk along inside the park.

We thought we were going to have to hide out in Milna for several days, but after two nights we woke up and the winds were strong but not crazy, so we opted for a jib-only run downwind to Split (along with the entire charter fleet heading back to home base). Under jib only, we were doing 6 knots, but the seas were lumpy from several days of high winds and a lot of boat traffic, but it was a fun sail because it was short. The Split anchorage is huge and has great holding, we could all space ourselves well apart and we all sat tight as the winds raged.

The winds finally eased the next day and we could head ashore. David and Diane had already been there for a few days, but were happy to walk around with us again. The guys went off to find spare engine parts that were being held by a local dealer, and Diane and I wandered into the old town.

First we stopped to see the 8.5 meter statue of Gregory of Nin, former archbishop of Split. Rubbing his toe is supposed to bring good luck, but I was lacking hand sanitizer, so gave it a pass. Then it was off to the markets to check out the local produce.

The guys found us again and we explored the alleyways of Diocletian’s Palace.

Trip and I had a few days to ourselves in Split, waiting for weather to pass. We toured the rest of the palace (views from the bell tower were lovely but the rest was meh), met up with friends Tim & Heidi from s/v Calainë who were making their way through Croatia to Venice, and generally hung out. We did not anticipate liking Split so much, as it’s a large city, but we’d definitely come back.

There was weather coming, so we needed to look for a good hidey hole, and picked an anchorage on the island of Brac (one of the big islands south of Split). We dropped the anchor in one of the coves outside of Milna, knowing that we could dinghy in (and not spend the 100+ euro a night that the marina would cost).

Milna is an old fishing village that has turned into an upscale little getaway from Split. We wandered around the waterfront and stopped at a little restaurant for dinner. The owner was so apologetic for not having one of the specials that Trip wanted to order, that he made us wait so he could serve up his version of pastitsio (kind of like a meat lasagna with thinly sliced potatoes instead of noodles). We didn’t complain as it was absolutely delicious.

The next morning winds hadn’t picked up yet, so we decided to head back into town again. But first we had to witness the stern line to shore drama. We had anchored swinging freely in this bay, along with another boat. A few other boats were tied with lines ashore deeper in the bay (a technique used a lot in coves in the Med where anchorages are too deep to do otherwise). A huge mini cruise ship (carries 40 passengers) came in and backed into a rather tight little spot past our neighbor. I’m sure they were spaced far enough, but from our perspective it looked nerve wracking.

As we headed into town we laughed at the line of boats waiting to get to the fuel dock. Charter companies all flip their fleets on the same day, so you can plan accordingly and avoid these days.

We continued to wander around, do a little grocery shopping, and even went back to the same restaurant for pizza this time (no less disappointing). And then it was back to the boat to relax.

Primosten was a beautiful little town, similar to Rovinj (built out on a peninsula), but unfortunately will be remembered by us for the anchoring debacle. Friends David and Diane from s/v Stray Cat had left early in the morning and motored to the town, thus securing a mooring. We waited for the wind to come up (which it eventually does, just not till late morning or early afternoon), and by the time we arrived the moorings had all been taken. We headed over to the anchorage, dropped the hook, and then checked on things (the anchorage did not have a good rating on our sailing apps, the ground being thin sand over rock).

We took the easy route first and pulled out the bathyscope, which acts as a magnifying glass from the surface of the water. From the dinghy, we could see that things did not look good.

Trip suited up and managed to unwrap the anchor chain from the concrete chunk it was hooked around (no wonder we thought we had dug in well). In the meantime, we watched other boats trying 5 or 6 times to anchor themselves on this awful substrate. We were finally satisfied (not thrilled), that we’d be fine as the winds were going to be light through the night and not test the anchor.

Town was small but charming. We wandered around with David and Diane, had a posh gin and tonic at the one of the fancy sea-side bars, and then had a lovely dinner also waterside.

We had a fabulous sail further down Dugi Otok, tacking along with all the other sailboats out for a great sail. (I am so impressed at the number of boats that not only had sail up, but were actively out enjoying the wind. Too often we watch boats motoring everywhere, making us wonder why they bother to own or charter a sailboat.)

Croatia is notorious for being an expensive place to visit, because you have to pay to anchor or take a mooring in so many places. The national parks are the most expensive, but we still wanted to visit. We had just a couple of days before high season started, so we could get a one night permit for 45 euro (days later it would be 60 euro for the night!). We booked a permit and hustled to the park, even managing to snag the very last mooring ball.

We didn’t go ashore right away, as there were storms in the area (we could hear the thunder on the other side of the ridge on the mainland and my lightning strike app was going crazy), but we only got a little bit of rain and wind.

Once the rain ended and things calmed down, we went ashore, as I wanted to see the Adriatic-facing side of the island with afternoon/evening sun for the best effect. It was worth it. Everyone else was still on their boats, we had the entire place to ourselves for a while, and the views were amazing. The cliffs jut 161 meters out of the sea and the waves were crashing while we visited.

After walking along the cliffs, we headed down the trail to the Mir, the great salt lake.

Daylight hours were starting to run out, so we opted not to walk around the entire lake, but enjoyed the ramble back to the dock to the boat.

And we were treated to a most fabulous evening sky after the storm ‘scrubbing’.

When picking anchorages, we look for appropriate depth, protection from the prevailing winds, and something interesting if it’s available. As we were heading down the long, long island of Dugi Otok, I read about an anchorage in front of an old U-boat tunnel. We decided to check it out. Unfortunately, several other boats had already had that idea. We went close to see the two that were tied up right at the entrance, as well as a few others that were anchored (just waiting for their chance). We admired the site, but anchored a ways away in the same cove.

It was time to keep heading south, and time to get into the Croatian islands (there are 300+ in this country!). We set sail, and headed for Losinj. The first anchorage we picked was quiet, with about 10 houses on shore and only two other boats in the anchorage. We had no internet signal, and had a nice quiet evening on board.

The next day we moved just 5 miles around the bend (we could have walked in 40 minutes) to a different bay to meet up with friends Immie and Pierre as they were heading north.

The water was crystal clear and beautiful for swimming. Pierre picked us up in their tender with their fabulous new super quiet and lightweight electric motor, and we headed ashore for a nice lunch. After some rests and a paddle, Pierre and Immie came back over for sun downers. We drank and talked long into the evening, and made our farewells (hoping to see them later in the season again).