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| In 2005 we bought a Jeanneau Sun Oddessy 37 ft in Pula, Croatia, this blog follows our travels from 2007, when we return in June and continue our journey down through Croatia and into Italy and Greece, and in future years further on to Turkey and who knows where else |
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| So back again, same place later in the evening, eating at the restaurant poolside we laughed at the staff who got into a mild panic at the slightest puff of wind, frantically winding in all the awnings. Well the laugh was on us, as when we got back to the boat we were frantically winding our bimini etc, and trying to tighten up the bow line. All was well but this was a big bura blow. We later spoke to some American people in Catvat, and this night they got 50 knots dislodging their anchor and they spent the whole night driving the boat backwards and forwards across the bay until daylight. We were rather chuffed to be tucked up in the marina. The morning woke sunny and much less windy, we had a fairly slothful day, a few chores to do, in fact we might have had two more nights there as we were a bit undecided as to where to go, and after the bura we were a bit gun shy, what would the weather be like at Cavtat. It was a good thing we stayed as our narky couple next door were replaced by some excellent French people who we spent some time with. And on the other side some lovely Croatians. So it came time to set off for our last night in Croatia. We ambled around the old city walls, they look so spectacular by sea, and on to Cavtat. We met these Americans who had the nasty experience of the bura, they have had a rough start to Croatia, they left Montenegro and had trouble with their engine, so they stopped at the first bay they came to, put down their anchor whereupon they were set upon by the local harbourmaster. When they got to Cavtat the paddy wagon arrived and took him off to JAIL!! After his moment in court they decided he wasn’t very guilty, but guilty enough to pay court costs of $1000 NZ. The reason for all this was that he stopped at a bay before checking into immigration etc, and getting his cruising permit. They decided that engine problems were nearly a good enough reason, but not good enough to spare him the court costs. Then he had to pay his $400 NZ cruising permit. We had a feeling there was going to be some wind, I backed up on the anchor so hard, when I swam over it with my goggles I couldn’t even see the anchor, only the end of the chain. In the evening we went into the village and had a few drinks and lovely meal with Lester and Donna Smith from Mount Maunganui, the evening was balmy and beautiful, but we were always mindful of how quickly the bura blows up, and as it happened we just made it back to the boat in time, the wind started. The other thing about it is that it will turn in any direction, and in the morning we woke to find that we had swung around to the rocks, and they were not that far away. So we upped and went around the corner to do the Customs thing. Our first encounter with this activity, but I wondered how difficult it could be to leave a country, but it did turn out to be a bit of an event, their little power trip and they have one hanging on a string. Then we had to go to the police, but of course his office was closed, so we found him on the pier where we were growled that we didn’t have our boat on the departure pier and that we didn’t see him in the office. Anyway without too much ado we farewelled the last of our Croatian terra firma and set sail down the coast to Montenegro, in 3 knots of breeze. We rounded the peninsular on the entrance to Montenegro where we had to be vigilant about not staring up at it and its buildings, a set of binoculars or camera might have meant serious implications, this is Croatian owned and a very sensitive spot, and it is under surveillance of the United Nations. Actually there are a few places in Montenegro where cameras are not advised, it gets a bit tricky to know what’s what. We headed for the first customs checkin place, but with its huge ships fenders and not a sole around it was too difficult for two of us to navigate, so we put the peddle down and headed for Kotor at the end of the track. Montenegro is a group of water ways connected by canals, and massive mountainous hillsides, it is really quite airy, and spectacular to travel through. We had the peddle to the metal as we thought the immigration office might close at 5. As it happened we tied up and arrived to find they would return at 7 pm, so we went off to explore. I was slightly missing the familiarity of Croatia, and we had pounded over waves left over from the bura, and the sun and everything, so being a bit tired, the first impressions of Kotor were not that striking, and the first people we encountered not friendly, so sitting having our first beer I felt a bit shell shocked. But a bit more delving into the walled city and things were getting brighter. Kotor is a walled Venetian city, and the views from the various little squares with a spire and then straight up to 1000 metres or more. There is a walk up a quarter or third of the way which we are going to endeavour to walk tomorrow. I was concerned that I could not contribute to their language, back to English only was a bit out of place until I discovered they speak Croatian, which surprised me as I thought having tried to shoot each other up, and the tensions between them they wouldn’t be sharing the same language. So I am back to Dobadan and Hvala Liepo etc. We got back to the immigration, then he sent us to the harbourmaster, we paid our 90 euro to him, back to immigragion, another 10 to him, and on to the police. It all went surprisingly smoothly, but the politzia took the cake. Their ramshackled little office, (I didn’t know if it was the remnants of my rocky day at sea, or if the wind was lifting the hut around, but I was on the move) and one of them was undressing while watching the news on tv, so momentarily without his gun. I was just waiting for him to produce his can of beer. The policeman looking policeman attending to us put a halt to things while he watched something of interest on the tv, actually it was lots of fires, I couldn’t make out if something had been blown up, and when I enquired as to if it was in Montenegro they assured me it was alright. Actually the police were the gruffest of anyone we have met here yet. So we were free to go, I felt a bit like the American at Cavtat. There was just one more thing to attend to, the marina fee, 32 Euro, and we enquired as to where to get their courtesy flag, when we tried to get one in Dubrovnik, they said the country was too young to have a flag. We see they do have a flag, but it is true they are young, I think they are only 2 years old. We learnt there was to be a Carnival in the evening, and it turned out we had the box office seats. We just sat back with our gin in hand feet up and watched the parade go by. Lots of noise and hoopla, by the time we hit the pillow I was no good for conversation. This little place is absolutely not to be missed, we have now had a most successful day, discovered and dined and so much more planned for tomorrow, stay tuned, I am too hot now to expand, well maybe I have just expanded a little, around my middle, but there we are!!!!.... so until next time it is still Dovezenja | ||
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| This one a quick one before we head away to Cavtat, I am not sure what the internet state will be there. That will be our last Croatian port, it is only about 12 miles down the track, and then another 24 miles into Montenegro. It will be an interesting country to visit, it has only been declared a country in the last 2 years I believe. The Montenegro people along with the Yugoslav Army and Serbs were the attacking forces against Dubrovnik city, attacking by air, sea and land, so there is not much love lost between the two I suspect. So we are getting near our last Croatian moment, I haven’t even started on the Greek language yet, it terrifies me as it doesn’t even look the same. We arrived into the marina here, which is 2 miles up the river and usually the ‘sailor boys’ come running all whistles blazing to direct us to a berth but this time nada, so we took it upon ourselves to find a suitable one, it just so happens our sights were a bit too high, we were moved to a more appropriate berth, it later became clear that we tried to snuggle into the super yacht area. We certainly would have looked and felt a bit foolish had they left us there. But the worst of it is that our final destination turned out to be right beside an Austrian couple who we had encountered at Prozura, usually friendly folk out at the little places, this time when I smiled at them we just got a most hostile glare, which of course I took most personally. I see their attitude hasn’t changed, as I have quite accidentally made eye contact with ‘her’ and of course the natural reflexes tend towards a smile, but the heart stopping glare returned calls for instant retreat. Actually we have been a bit disappointed with the marina as a whole with the friendliness, I truly don’t know why they set sail if it makes them so miserable. It is doubtless the super yacht capital in my opinion, and those folk are duty bound not to crease their face with a smile. Then there are the ACI staff, of course you have already read there was nobody to render assistance on our arrival, but later we counted about 7 or 8 of them dotted around either in cafes, restaurants, ambling or on super yachts taking high tea. The ACI marinas are government run, so the staff is not super personal in many cases. Of course having a big swimming pool and restaurant 100 metres from our back step helps no end. We did a bit of sight seeing yesterday, a good day to choose as we returned to find the pool had been emptied to be cleaned, and we walked around the old wall of the city. It was a marvellous walk with great views and a feeling of the attacks they endured in 1991. When we look down into the city there are not many old rooves, such a lot of it was blown up or damaged. After a nice lunch on the port front, we were pretty keen to escape the crowds and return to the marina. | ||
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| Another instalment, we are down at Dubrovnik, travelled through our favourite place and birthplace to Marco Polo, though this might be up for dispute with some, especially Italians, Korcula, and onto the island of Miljet, to Dubrovnik. Our sailing from Vis to the top of Korcula Island, Otok Korcula, into Vela Luka, was a bit hit and miss. We were not travelling a big distance, so we indulged in a bit of slow sailing, swimming out the back of Wrighteau, in about 60 metres is a bit unnerving. You can get the picture, a slow food lunch, a wine or two, sun, flat sea, and a bit of bathing. Very pleasant indeed. At Vela Luka we stopped at a little bay called Gradina, the water is so clear that in 8 metres I swam without mask out to the end of the chain and saw the anchor set nicely into the sand. We understand that the water is so clear is that there is no plankton, the smallest form of sea life, and I had thought of that vicious work Global Warming and pollution, but we read in Rod Heikell’s pilot book that it is due to the fact that there is no tidal movement to mix things up, and in Roman times they complained back then that there was a big shortage of fish. Mind you there is always fish on the menus, and fishing boats are most prolific. We bumped into some Kiwis in the morning, well they nearly bumped into us actually, calling out “wake up Kiwis” so that got us going. Unfortunately the one day when there was wind it was on our nose, but only about 15 miles to go, so not so terribly upsetting. Korcula was a treat to return to, the marina is a bit tight to get into, but a hub of activity. We enjoyed a nostalgic walk around it, and this time visited the birthplace of Marco Polo, not much there, but worth a look, and later returned to the terrace bar where we enjoyed orgasms, or some such suggestive names for the cocktails, whilst watching the best sunset to be seen. Well I guess we say that about all the beautiful sunsets. After that we returned to a restaurant which we had such a happy night last year, the name escapes me, but the daughter of our big happy proprietor was there, the restaurant was quite empty, and a bit concerned I approached Ante and asked her if her father was here, and showed her a photo of him and Joe. Her face instantly told the story, he had only passed away 3 months earlier, what could I do but just give her a hug and the photo. We were too sad to eat there, and went to the promenade for a small snack. Next day we fell upon a really good wine shop which filled up some plastic bottles of quite nice wine for about $4 NZ a litre. We just had to restock the financial bucket, when we bumped into the kiwis from the top of the island. Mike and Jude Nelson from Wellington have chartered a yacht for a month, they had with them James and Barbara, living in Switzerland, so after a couple of jars with them we stayed another night, had a lovely evening with them and a superb meal out of a very big fish between all of us. So we got away from Korcula the next day, and once again the time when there is plenty of wind, it is on our nose. This was quite an uncomfortable ride for a couple of hours, but coming into Polace on the top of Miljet was worth the battering. A very big enclosed bay where we anchor in about 14 metres, I feel the people down the southern end of the country anchor a bit more sensibly than up north, not sure why. We paid our 90 kuna each, $22.50, for the privilege of anchoring and also it gives a ticket into the National Park. We enjoyed Lamb under the Bell that night at “Squinty’s” restaurant, we remembered him from last year, and oddly enough he remembered me but not Joe. I assured him I had the same bloke, probably because I try my rambling in Croatian. Next day we did our ride over to the Sea salt lakes, just because we had a ticket to do so, and the ferry boat then takes us over to the little island and Sv Marijana, the monestary of old. As we sat with some refreshments and lunch there were two musicians on their guitars and singing, as we were most enthusiastic about them they came over to our table and became our personal entertainers. The staff all got involved and it really became quite a highlight. Back to the boat for more swimming, and the next day on down the island to Prozura, for more lamb under the bell and familiar faces. Next day down to Saplunara, where we picked up a buoy, and swam countless times, the best thing about a boat is the slightest hint of heat, and into the water one goes without a second thought. We had planned to eat in this night, but the buoys belonged to Kornoba Cod Ante, so we had a small fish between us, and what a night!! First of all we drank with more Australians doing similar to us, with a 50 ft boat, then got chatting with the table next door, and one of them, Mia Bergovich is an actress well known in Croatia, of course they were getting first class treatment, and unfortunately because of their importance the raki was flowing, and as we had made friends it flowed in our direction also. I say unfortunately because it is a challenge to the human system. When we left Miljet we were pleased to leave the wasps. Last year we did not notice any wasps, whether it is because of the heat, or some other phenomena, but there are literally thousands. They are not aggressive but highly annoying, a bit like flies in Australia, darting hither and tither. I drowned countless numbers, then I discovered a fly spray can and it became a new hobby. Our last stop before coming into Dubrovnik was Kolechep, which was only a stop over, but a hectic one, with day trippers and ferry boats creating plenty of movement at anchor and lots to watch, but one night was enough of that. In Dubrovnik we are about a hundred metres from the marina pool, something of relief it is about 35 or more degrees outside. We are unsure of which direction we will take from here, some people are travelling 50 miles out from the border of Albania, but by the time they do that they will be travelling 200 miles down to Corfu, and we would be able to visit Otronto on Italy, which has been recommended, we also might visit Montenegro. So stopping in Dubrovnik for a look and provisions etc, and who knows where we will be next for the next instalment. Take care all Until next time………. ps, more photos on www.webshots.com/user/Wrighteau | ||
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Next stop Primosten, a most beautiful little old city on a hilly mound, it used to be an island but so very long ago, the inhabitants needed to get out to work, so they joined it up to the mainland. We connected to a buoy, which we had vowed to do to keep away from mad anchorers, but there is always one is there not. A German this time unbelievably, threw his anchor just in front of another yacht on a buoy, we watched in disbelief as one of the crew jumped in his dinghy and took off, and the remaining crew waited as their 10 metres of chain out let them drift down on to the green boat. Surprisingly the green yachtsman seemed fairly unperturbed about this, but when it was obvious at 1 ft that they were going to connect, they lifted the anchor and moved closer to us. I probably don’t need to paint the rest of the picture to you, but after the ensuing exchange of, what shall we call it, English,German/and ……., they moved slightly. I phoned the harbour master, and to their credit they got their most enthusiastic little boat man/ money taker who came to sort the situation out. We had a splendid afternoon surviving the heat but being in and out of the water more times than my fingers and toes could count. Then into the town where the usual throngs of folk come out of the woodwork, and at 11pm were treated to jugglers entertaining all folk, young and old, and in another square a musical group of chaps of some description. Up early for quite a big day of travel to Vis, or the bay of Kormiza actually. Not that we have any control over the conditions, but we are forfeiting good sailing winds to enjoy flat pan waters, lovely hot sun and clear skies, and yes, a motor chugging on, the sailing in us is ashamed to say that we are enjoying this. The water was oily flat and really quite comfortable. We didn’t have much competition for the sea ripples other than a few fishing boats returning after their night of hunting for squid. Coming into Kormiza we saw a large church up on the hill and it all looked very pretty, I had been keen to anchor out but the Skipper was a bit edgy, it was a big bay and if the weather got up it could be a bit dicey, so we went into the town quay/marina. Now we found how small this little world of ours is. You might remember from last year swimming around in a little bay Chris, an old boyfriend of mine swam up to our boat with his goggled on which was totally amazing at the time. Well just guess who was there when we backed into the pier to tie up, yes Chris and his family loved it so much they returned with a charter boat this year, and we just happened to pull into the same village on their second to last day with their boat. It was so terribly hot, I think they thought it got up to 38 degrees. Surely in the sun I would believe it, down below on the yacht it read 34. We found a noisy little spot on the beach to swim and try to cool down, before discovering the best possible place to return to for dinner, about 1 foot from the water with beautiful food. I broke my rules and had Skampi Bouzara again and Joe his fish. Before we went out for our dinner we had a catch up with Chris and his mate Barry, who set off to find a bar while they waited for the rest of their crew to come for dinner, they found our yacht in their path so that was good. They all set off in the morning, and we set about trying to find a way of getting out to the Blue Caves, we had been told it was not easy to access by yachts, and dinghys were not allowed into them, this turned out to be incorrect, but what turned out was perfect anyway. Fortunately we found just the trip, on a fast over sized rubber ducky which hurled us out there with its 200 horse power outboard to Bisheva, where we were to transfer onto a smaller boat to take us into the tiny entrance of the caves, we saw our little boat, and a tiny little person of all of about 8 yrs old seemed to be the skipper. I said to Joe are we going to trust our lives with this little fellow, his father seemed to be standing on the front, and the wee man took it all so seriously, as he must of course. The boat was in hysterics, which didn’t seem to amuse him much. The cave entrance was tiny, almost claustrophobic, between 11 and 1 are the optimum times to view them with the sun just right to show up the colour, we were perfect in our timing and the colour took our breath away. Somehow there was a paddle at the bottom of the clear water, Joe said it must be pretty deep as the paddle looked like a small toy, we learnt it was 16 metres. We drifted around in there for a while, all quite airy really, before our tiny skipper returned us to the rubber duck, we dropped the rest of the passengers to a beach around the corner before returning to Kormiza. One of the skippers talked with us as we went, he was born in Vis, obviously during the Communist time. This had been a military island where visitors have only been able to land on since 1992. He said that the island we had just been on had been a major producer of wine, producing thousands tons of wine, but with Communism they were not paid for it, and all deserted the island. So back at Kormiza we had a bit of legal documentation to catch up on. It seems that when we got our cruising permit renewed in Lastovo last year, they omitted to stamp our names on it as crew, the first and only place to alert us was at the Tribunj marina, where the office staff suggested that if we were caught they might take our boat off us. Thought this was a bit heavy, but we found the harbour master to clear it up. They don’t say much, and we sat there on our chair wondering if something sinister might be happening but finally with a smile, stamp stamp, and off we went, then lunched, internetted, refreshed and watered we set off about 3. We went the long way round, the coast line was very interesting, it was a nice run, in, yes, flat calm and chugging along. Bumped into John, Chris’s friend on a different boat, who pointed out another cave, a green one this time, at this end of the island, which we might visit tomorrow. We needed to get diesel, when we tried to get it at Tribunj it was dried up. Ah yes, you can guess can’t you, at Vis a bit sign, “no diesel” here tomorrow maybe. This is preparing us for Greece, they say it happens all the time down there. Also the charging thing, we learnt of one man charged 60 Euro in Greece, for not alighting his anchor light. Actually John told us when we saw him today that they had been stopped by the water police to check their documentation. That has never happened to us, but rather timely as we have just apparently become legal for this year’s cruising permit. So that’s all folks, that’s us ready to set of for some more motor chugging. Ciao. | ||
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| Our next main stop down the Croatian sailing waters was to be another favourite of ours, Bribinj, the Southern Bay, which we think is about the prettiest by in Croatia. We had a night in Illovik on the way down, a passage between two small islands which is full of buoys, and a handy stop off point. Then a motor sail about 30 miles down to Bribinj. We were fortunate to get one of the last buoys, they have a marvellous system here where we tie on the bow, to the buoy, and a line goes from under the buoy back to shore, which ties the stern secure. It was just so perfect that we decided to make this a two nighter When we arrived a very naked German man from a little boat next door was swimming around and came to offer assistance. We were actually managing very well, but it was a kind offer, I said to Joe that some of the most helpful people seem to parade with no clothes, and I can tell you he was doing a lot of parading Joe was nervous to look, and I won’t make any attempt to describe his wife in this state. The second day was pretty lazy, but at mid day we did rally ourselves to go over to the other bay of Bribinj, where there are so many buoys, but it is not nearly as pretty, the ferry comes in there also. A small refreshment of course, and back to Wrighteau to do more of very little. It came time to leave, we were up and away early, but our nude German and the roudy Italians both on either side of us, beat us, they got away at 6.30. We were mortified to be beaten. It was a big day to get under our belts, all the way to Unije, about 39 miles, the sea was dead flat, and with 2 knots of breeze it was a brisk motor all the way. Boats going hither and tither, we had not travelled down the other side of the Kornatis before, so it was a first. We put out our 40 metres of chain, our usual, it was only about 5 metres, then noticed all the a sunsail flotilla yacht come in. This made us a little nervous, a whole lot of these anchoring in a bay can get one a bit edgy. This was the leader, and when the rest arrived they all rafted up, and very interestingly they went stern to bow, and in the dinghy they took out the chain and anchor and dropped it well out. So with all the anchors out alternately they were rock solid, and a jovial lot at that. Quite skilfully done we thought. We had a date at the restaurant Mackova, it is the best food we have had in Croatia. We were just setting off when a small boat gained on us, he nabbed us well and truly. We were horrified that he was upon us to get money out of us. Afterall, we had done the work of anchoring, and this fee doesn’t stop some lunatic sailor to anchor on top of us at any time. We are noticing the charging thing is gaining momentum, I suspect that in the future there will be not one place to stop which will be free of charge, anchor or not. So where possible we have made a plan to go on buoys, at least it is secure from other anchored boats. The charge was 100 kuna, or about $25NZ, which doesn’t break the bank I guess, and it is the main industry of Croatia, the sailing ground. We are noticing a lot more boats around than this time last year, but as yet this is not problem. So in for our delicious meal, we took photos from last year, and the owners mother and father got quite excited about this. I had the pepper steak which melted in my mouth, and Joe went for the fish, which he was also most enthusiastic about. I do love to cook on board, and often it will be a curry, usually the meat has not been hung for long enough Joe thinks, but it casseroles well, and for breakfast we enjoy their fruit, it is to absolutely die for. I wonder why all the peaches and nectarines I choose at home are flourey or tasteless. Rock melon, Strawberries, the lot. This morning we woke to another superb day, but made the decision to come into Tribunj, a little hamlet type village, the heat has been almost unbearable. We had just secured our lines to the shore when a Jane and Bruce arrived on the scene, he was most enthusiastic to see first of all the big black fern flag, but also the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron flag, he is a member of the Squadron still, and he has been living in USA for 40 years I think he said. We ended up spending quite a time with them, and got a few hints for travelling further south over an Hungarian goulash, this is afterall an Hungarian owned marina. A bit alarming, they didn’t like Greece one little bit, though they did like the Ionian side. When the heat became more manageable we got a few groceries and showered etc, the wash facilities here are superb, then at 8pm in the balmy night we set off for our walk over the tiny bridge to the village, which didn’t actually amount to much, but the buzz of people who come out at night, down to little tiny ones, waddling along in their big puffy nappy padded pants with an ice cream about the same size, and on to the waddling elder generation. So now we are heading off down to Primosten, it will be motoring I expect, but at least hot and sunny. Until next time, tootle pip from Wrighteau Remember photos are on www.webshots.com/user/Wrighteau | ||
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| Well here we are back in Croatia and it is really good I can tell you. Pula hasn’t changed, the Forum in the centre of the old city has been filled up again, last year it was all being excavated for artefacts and old things. We have met up with our old friends, Igor, at the restaurant where we enjoy our Turkey salad each, ½ ltre red wine, ½ litre water, and two beers all for less than $30NZ. Later on we bumped into him at the fish market and he insisted on buying us a coffee, where we learnt that in his position of relative authority in the restaurant, he is actually paid pretty well, in fact better than a doctor, general gp, who earns about $1750NZ per month, and he earns $2500NZ per month and he and his small family have quite a substantial apartment near the beach. So we were pleased to hear this. In Croatia they have a social security system for the unemployed etc, Sue Bradford would not be pleased, it is only about $78NZ per month. All their medical treatment is free however. On our way back that afternoon, being a Friday, which is obviously the day of weddings, we witnessed the commotion of quite a few this day. They literally have quite a hoot of a time, 20 or so of the guests roar along after the wedding car, all tooting madly on their horns. Slaven tells us on the wedding day what normally happens is the Groom goes to the house of the bride and asks permission to marry their daughter, whereupon the bride’s family play tricks on the groom, putting baracades up etc, to make it difficult for him to get in and gain permission. While we were talking with Slaven on the back of Wrighteau, we witnessed someone obviously very rich and important, they chartered out a big gullet type boat, and at the end sent up fireworks, which were a bit nervy for us, as they were coming down near us as a red hot bullet, which I could envisage making a perfectly round and scorched hole in our bimini. We decided against the solar panels, Slaven managed to get bigger and new batteries which Jeauneauu paid for, and also we have added another one, and we couldn’t say when the panels would be fitted and ready to go. Since we have left we have found we can keep the fridge charged up much better now, as well as sometimes having music. So after getting sails on, tidying up the bombsite we made on our arrival night, and farewelling some of the friends we have made here, stocking up the larder, we set off for Soline, just 6 miles around on the other side of Pula. We stayed a couple of nights here until the winds looked more favourable to head south. While we waited in Soline, we took a stroll around the little island which is basically a campsite which only local people go to as you need a boat to get to it, although there is a little ferry which many seem to not know about I guess. Slaven and Laura have a permanent tent site set up looking out to sea, just perfect for a nice g and t in the evening, if they were so inclined. It reminded us of all those lovely camp grounds in NZ on the water edge all disappearing to development Then we also had a nostalgic walk back along the Veruda marina and had a pizza, the beautiful waitress remembered us from 2 years ago, she speaks only German and Croatian, and she heaps much praise on me when I manage to order the whole meal in Croatian. Later on in the evening Slaven brought his family out on their dinghy to see us, Karlo, his little 4 or 5 yr old is such a dear wee boy. The glass, barometer, was dropping further, Slaven said it was possible the bora was coming, so I started to think we might be hold up for days, but on Wednesday we thought conditions were perfect, in fact we even ventured to think it might be a pleasant genniker run all the way down, but as often happens when we leave a bay the wind direction follows us, it was a fairly tight sail, so it was motor sailing, and when we got out into the channel the winds were rising to 27 knots and we were well reefed down, however the sea state was quite comfortable and we made good time. We decided to come into the marina at Mali Losinj, we only just got in, I guess people heard about wind outside and stayed put, usually at 2pm many people have left, the marina is nearly empty for another lot. It is an old favourite for sure, and the Baracuda Restaurant is not to be missed very good for its fish, and I have Skampi Bouzara, a specialty I only allow myself to partake in a couple of times at $40. All the same staff there, they also remember a regular like us, who return once or twice a year. Walking around the little village/waterfront afterwards we found a big stage set up for a band, some dancing girls with batons did their thing first, then the music started, so it was lullaby for us going to sleep. So today we head off down to Ilovik, and Molat, Bribinj and maybe Sali, over the next 5 days or so. So until the next time, Do Vejenya | ||
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| Remember the photo site, www.webshots.com/user/Wrighteau The adventure starts again, as we farewell sad family and animals, and set off for our third sojourn on the Med. We flew over through Hong Kong which was drizzly so we didn’t see much there but it was a nice break in the middle of the journey. At Rome we took a detour and turned left to Valencia instead of right to Trieste to do our bit to urge the Team New Zealand boys on in the America Cup yachting race. A great delight was when the flight flew directly over the middle islands of Croatia, Hvar, Brac, Vis etc, all the places we go to, and could remember so well, and anticipate returning to. We found our apartment, which is in the old part of the city beside the Torres de Quart, a big arch which makes a very good land mark to find our way home, and headed off to find Jim and Rhonda, and Sooty and Julie and the rest of the crew who had saved us a seat at their table in the China base on the top floor. We were a bit shell shocked after our long journey from Hong Kong, but enjoyed the day of hot sun, a few jars and lovely lunch, but sadly not a win. The race started most encouragingly, we had a wonderful leap out of the start box, and gallantly set off up the racetrack. We rounded the top mark with 15 seconds or thereabouts ahead, so the atmosphere was electric. The spinnaker shot up with the skill and ease we have become accustomed to seeing, and a splendid sight of red ballooning out ahead of white down the track, when disaster struck. A very small tear was seen in the red sail, and before they managed to replace the sail, puff, it just blew out, then the next one they erected with a major mishap of one of the sheets, or ropes, not attached so bits of two sails flew about in the air. They had one more chance, up went the spinnaker, but this one had a wine glass in it, a big twist in the middle. This was all just too much, we plummeted into complete despair, after such a promising start, we watched as Alinghi sailed off past us. So on with lunch and after the race ended we went down to the canal where they all come in a big procession. Berterelli, Alinghi boss has built this magnificent canal and surroundings which make it a wonderful spectator area, word has it he spent 5 billion dollars buying up all the land around it, and of course has done very well out of it. The kiwis are madly enthusiastic, and very popular supporters, by contrast the Swiss on the other side of the canal flimsily rattle a few cowbells, waft one hand about and that is about it. So that was it for this day. Actually there was one little hiccup, on the deck of the bar we support from, the previous day some folk from Hawkes Bay apparently caused a bit of a ruckus, not that our chaps noticed, so it can’t have been so bad, but it was reported as far away as Britain in the papers, we think it was all a bit of a beef up by the Alinghi top brass in their bit to turn the public off NZ. On to another day, we held much hope today. We all met at Kiwi corner to cheer the boys on as they set off down the canal. The day was to be known as Super Saturday Kiwi Day, the anticipation of a good win over the Aussies in rugby and sailing over the Swiss. Sadly none of this went to plan, and it became not so super Saturday kiwi day. Still, always another day I suppose. This was followed by a day with no wind and no racing, but not all was lost, we found the most superb tapas ever tasted in Spain, in the old city just down from our apartment. It appears that we have found ourselves in a handy part of town, right beside the Torres de Quart in the old city. We have found the streets are not as quaint as the streets in the little villages of France for example, and we have also found the people are not so friendly. The weather of course is glorious. So after a lay day, it was back into it, but I’m afraid we feel the Swiss deserved to have the win. We found a hot sunny spot in front of a big screen that even had an English commentary with our very own NZ commentators and at the end of it we trundled off with heads low in search of a bar in our neighbourhood to drown our sorrows. We had a very early morning to get up, to be at the airport at 4.30 am, so it was a very early night to bed for us. Now we can get on with the business of getting to Croatia and our sailing excursion of our own. What an horrendous day it was, we had a 7 hour wait in the Milan airport, then when it came time to board the plane the pilot was not to be seen, so we were about 45 minutes late leaving, and at Trieste the Bora wind was doing its thing, and we circled in the air for 10 minutes before coming down in a Wellington style landing. We arrived at the Trieste bus station 5 minutes too late for the last bus to Pula. The thought of staying a night in Triest was most disturbing to me, the tellers at the station could not be more rude and unhelpful, it took many attempts at talking to them before one of them suggested we bussed to Rieka, in Croatia, and on down to Pula, only added an hour to the journey. So finally we arrived to Wrighteau at midnight. What a day. It is nice to be back in Pula, some of the familiar faces, but so many new faces. The marina staff has had a complete clean out, not many familiar faces to be seen. Our Turkey salad waiter is still here of course, and the internet chap’s face lit right up when I walked in. So that is where we are at so far. Time tol get shopping at Merkator, the big supermarket, and head off on Saturday or Sunday. So until next time, Do Vegenja, vidi mosa opet | ||
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| Our day of departure looms near now, only just over 4 weeks to go, and still about 5000 hydrangeas to prune, some to replant and many other tasks to get done and sitting here I slightly wonder how it will get done in time. So this is the first of many blogs, and a bit of a practice to be honest, it is the first time I have ventured into blogging, and I thought yotblog would be an appropriate place for us to be. So I hope you will enjoy some of our stories when we get going Until next time, bye bye By the way our photo albums can be viewed at www.webshots.com/user/Wrighteau | ||
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