Brindisi (Italy) to Otok Korcula (Croatia)

Posted at 11:24 AM, Jun. 2, 2007

It is now Friday 1^st June and we are currently motor sailing at 8 knots plus in a 10 knot southerly towards the island of Hvar off the Croatian coast. Tonight we are meeting up for dinner with Sue Warren an ex Aucklander who now lives on the island. So looking forward to catching up with her again. This morning we spent a few hours at the town of Korcula (pronounced Korchula) on the island (Otok) of the same name. Lovely walled old town on a headland dating back to the 4^th century BC and famous as the birthplace of Marco Polo – he was born on the island in 1254 and later went to China for 17 years where he established trade after becoming a friend of the Emperor Kublai Khan, before returning to live in Venice where he died in 1324. At this time I think the island was under Venetian control having been settled by the Greeks originally but as so many of the areas around the Med has had a succession of “owners” over the centuries including Britain from 1813 to 1815! 

Called into the Vodafone shop (VIP) to get the data sim card replaced (talk about major connectivity problems – it was only 3 days old) and met an old guy there who saw my Team NZ shirt and told me his surname was Botica and he was related to Frano Botica the ex All Black and that the whole family came from a small village on Korcula, where he still lives.

Ian, Barbara, Hilary, Brad and Karen joined us late at night on Friday 24^th May after about a 15 hour train trip marred in part through missing a connection that delayed them for about 4/5 hours. After a series of txts all day they found us in our local trattoria (Skippers) just off the waterfront and up behind “Betty’s” believe it or not. The yacht club prices were very cheap at EUR29 a night for us but we moved back onto the quayside to meet up with brother Ian and entourage to be close to the station. The good news was that the Simrad screen arrived back by courier to the marina, now all installed and working fine again. Simrad also acknowledged that the warranty would run from the date of commissioning rather than the invoice date when the equipment was purchased so that saved me about EUR1,500 – so good on Simrad!

On the following morning we took them for a wander around the town, I had about a 3 minute haircut by the self proclaimed “speedy Gonzales” – but a good cut (not much hair left mind you – just need the stripped pajamas now!). We departed Brindisi early afternoon and anchored off behind the breakwater as I wanted to check the prop out for line around the shaft. Had lunch and set sail for the 120 mile overnight sail to Dubrovnik – we needed to get away as the forecast was worsening in 24 hours and we could see we would get stuck on the Italian side of the Adriatic which is not where we wanted to be. Headed off on a due north bearing with a light SE’ly gradually freshening until we were under full sail going well. As the wind moved to the right with a bit more south in it got the genaker up for a few hours and started to think we were headed for a pre-dawn arrival which is not what we wanted. Wind moved further to the south (right up the backside!) and we motor sailed with a full main for a few hours until the wind started to freshen and freshen so we veered to the east to keep the main full and fortunately during the night the wind moved back to the east so we kept on a starboard tack all night and back on the rumbline by dawn. Saw quite a few ships and one other yacht during the night. Got into Gruz (the port for Dubrovnik) at around 0900 hrs and then had to wait until noon to clear into Croatia, so anchored off and waited!  By this stage it was a good 30 knots so the last few hours were quick sailing but not quick enough for Ian and Hilary who have joined the list of stern gazers!

                             Part of the historic town of Dubrovnik

I have read a lot about the problems and issues associated with clearing into Croatia so for those sailors reading this and about to go to Croatia I will set out our experiences:

·        We tied up at the main wharf at Gruz directly in front of the Hotel Petka.

·        We were then directed to the Harbourmaster across the road from the wharf. Friendly and helpful guy – I had typed up a list of everyone on the boat covering full name, nationality, passport number, place of birth, date of birth, where joined the boat, where intended to depart the boat and position on the boat (I was told to describe everyone as crew – caused some confusion when I described Pam as skipper and me as captain, so I just explained by pointing to her and saying ‘she’s the boss’ which got a laugh)

·        Gave the list to the Harbourmaster with passports, ships papers and insurance documents. He copied all and then issued us with a cruising permit, valid for one year – not three months as I had read.  This is a sticky backed permit and is now affixed to the port main cabin window so it can be easily seen by the police and will hopefully save us being boarded for inspection.

·        We were also issued with another document which is the receipt for the cruising permit (2,100 kn for us – about EUR300 – so a lot cheaper than we were expecting) and attached to that a blank crew list with space for 28 names. The deal is that we complete that ourselves as friends join us, and show it to the authorities when requested – the interesting thing is that it does not apply to people joining or departing the boat outside Croatia.

·        Next stage was to go to the Police on the wharf and complete the usual arrival forms etc (which they wrote out and none were signed by us) and then to the Customs who came down to the boat, looked at it from dockside and asked if we had anything to declare – the easiest answer was no and we then went back to his office, he filled out some columns in a big book and that was it.

·        All in all about a 45 minute process completed in a friendly manner.

We then spent the next few nights at the marina up the estuary, good spot, well served by buses into Dubrovnik and several restaurants, a very well stocked chandlery, swimming pool and tennis courts.

Unfortunately it just rained hard periodically and blew hard at 35-45 knots. Great shame for Ian and crew who were of course contemplating (as we were also) a few days aboard exploring Adriatic islands, swimming off the stern and visiting old towns. Didn’t happen – we saw a lot of Dubrovnik – which is a must see, a World Heritage City, beautifully preserved and presented and completely overwhelmed by tourists many of who come by ship as they have between 2 and 5 cruise ships in every day. I would hate to be there in July/August.

We hired a car one day and drove up the Peljesac Peninsula a little way north of Dubrovnik to look at the vineyards and have lunch at Mali Ston which had been recommended by a chap on a boat next to us at Malta. Ston and Mali Ston are on opposite sides of the peninsula but at this point only 2 k’s apart and the original fortifications are still largely intact. Oysters and mussels are farmed there and we had lunch at what turned out to be the renowned restaurant of Kapetanova Kuca – the middle of the 3 restaurants there. A lovely spot and a fantastic lunch washed down with the local vino.

                                             Lunch at Mali Ston

On the drive back to Dubrovnik we saw several water spouts grow and got some good photo’s. This is a phenomena apparently seen in July and August and only much further north in the Adriatic.

          Threatening waterspout north of Dubrovnik about to suck up water

So Ian and company left on Wednesday 30^th May and we left the marina after 4 nights for a motor out to Otok (island) Sipan where we anchored in a very quiet bay (only one other boat) in clear water in front of the village of Sudurad. Following morning beautiful clear day, so got up to a swim (water temperatures around 21-22) and then ashore for a quick look around the very small village. Had a very pleasant sail on the wind across to Otok Mijet where we stopped for lunch at Luka Prozura a delightful bay well enclosed with a few islands and 3 restaurants.  Also found a Ben 57 anchored there with an Australian flag owned by a kiwi guy who lives in Sydney who a cousin of both John Salthouse and Don Brooke both of whom I know, and of course are very well known designers and boat builders in Auckland. A small world.

We then spent the night at a large, almost totally enclosed bay with the village of Polace at its head. A lovely calm anchorage, very fiord like and to one side it was easy to think you were in Whangaroa harbour but to the other side the dockside restaurants were definitely not Northland architecture.

It was possible to tie up stern to and pick up laid lines but these were all in front of the various restaurants and the deal was pick up one of our lines – eat at our restaurant. Plenty of calls from the dock as we motored by. Mijet is a long narrow island and a national park The island is mostly wooded and to the south western side there is a large lake which Alice and I rode to on hire bikes – in the middle there is an island with a hotel on it that looked absolutely beautiful – it was originally a Benedictine monastery dating back to sometime around 1151. Alice thought a good spot for her honeymoon – which is not imminent she tells us.

               Former monastery now hotel on Lake Jezero, Otok Mljet

The country is very mountainous even on the islands and after a certain altitude there is just rock. At lower levels, like on Otok Mijet, the scenery in parts could have been in the national park up the Hawkesbury in Sydney. There are small parts of the hillsides terraced by hand, with the typical stone walls and cultivation of vegetables, grapes and olive trees.

We are now anchored in Hvar town in the middle of the very small harbour. WE got in just after 1700 hrs which was just as well as quite a number of charter boats have since arrived. There is one guy in a dinghy trying to tell people where to anchor/moor – this place will be bedlam in the high season. The town looks amazing with a castle on the hillside just above – more next time.

Cheers

Keith