Week 5
28th August 2013
Where do I start? Another eventful week.
We had been told about a night club –Carpe Dien (sieze the
day) that was on an island just off Hvar Town, apparently the only thing on the
island. We decided to investigate. It turns out that during the day the club is
a beach club where you can hire Chaise-longe type sun beds and be served
cocktails by attentive waiters. In the evening it is a dining club and after
1am it is a night club. It is very much an outdoor place with swimming off a
jetty in the most beautiful turquoise sea, sails as sunshades and wooden
4-poster beds with thick mattresses to lounge in the sun on. It is very cool so
we decided to give it a go.
We booked dinner (9pm) and brought Deep Blue round to an anchorage
just off the ferry jetty and waited for our big night out. Then, big
disappointment, at 1pm and soon after anchoring we received a text to say that
the dinner was cancelled but that we could get in free to the club at 1am. We
were very disappointed but decided to wait (bearing in mind we are usually
tucked up by 11pm latest and up early for a swim this was a big ask but we
treated it as if it was a watch!) Anyway it was all worth it, we were given the
full VIP treatment which included our own table, sofa and waiter. We literally danced the night away and got
back to Deep Blue as the sun was rising. We were raised the average age in the
club a far bit, but after being approached by a chic young French lady who told
us what a beautiful couple we were, we couldn’t have cared less!
That day we had arranged to meet Vego and the rest of Split
Yacht Club Regatta in Stari Grad, Vis. So after a late start we made our way
there under spinnaker. The leading boats
in the first leg of the Regatta were just finishing their race as we arrived at
1500hrs. Amazingly, soon after we arrived a lovely yacht passed us and I
recognised Eddie and Fi on their Oyster. We hailed them and had a shouted chat.
The last time we saw them was 2008 in Dubrovnik as they laid her up!
Lively night out with the inebriated members of the yacht
club. Much singing and laughter.
Racing back to Split was scheduled for 1100 hrs sharp. We
went round the harbour to buy bread and passed the very smelly spot we had held
our noses at the previous night. I looked into the water – where by the way
many people swim – and saw completely raw sewage pouring out of a pipe – and I
mean lumps, paper and all. I was nearly sick. No wonder there was such a
stench. Unbelievable.
Enroute to the start line we stopped to have a chat with Ed
and Fi so arrived at the line with sails still down just minutes before the 4
min gun. We managed to get ourselves over the line just 2 minutes late! However
we soon had our spinni up and were making good time.
It was a hectic down-wind race with four gibes and three
drops (due to our shackles not being man-enough for the job we twice lost a
sheet – the second time we changed to our heavy weather sheets) – we saw speeds
up to 8.5 knots and kept well up the fleet of mainly racing boats. We finished
around 10th in a fleet of 20 and well in front of Vego in his 40
footer with 5 crew. We particularly enjoyed this as we have had a five year
discussion about how to sail down wind with a spinnaker and I think we proved
our point!
Unfortunately at some point during the race Andy had fallen
heavily on top of my ankle which was now painful and swollen. In fact I found
it hard to walk on so next day we made a visit to Split hospital. This is a
visit I hope I never have to repeat as the service was in-humane. Not once was
I given assistance to walk, I even had to stand while waiting and no-one
examined my ankle or even asked me to take off the bandage I had on it.
Diagnosis of a damaged ligament was made from an X-ray of what seemed the wrong
part of my foot.
Luckily after three days my ankle is much better, albeit
still swollen – so I guess it really wasn’t broken!
After leaving Split we came to Drvenik Veli Island – were we
have found beautiful clear waters, lots of fish, a lovely restaurant and a free
buoy to hang from (after a nasty moment on anchor, returning at a run from a
longer walk than planned to buy food due to approaching stormy weather, we
found Deep Blue nearly on the rocks in a very bouncy sea).
Paradise.
We have had an eventful day or two.
We made an appointment to go to the Rokki Vineyard, Island
Vis. After 4 they told us. So after a walk we hired a scooter and meandered
there via a rocky swim spot. When we arrived we were told “Sorry, we are
expecting 90 people in 1 and half hours. We are rushed off our feet so cannot
help you”. “but we phoned..” we protested. “Who did you phone? Who did you talk
to”!
We settled for a glass of white and a glass of red and sat
to watch the work. The entire staff spent the next half hour or so sitting
smoking and chatting. There appeared to be nothing happening apart from a roaring
fire under some pots cooking a speciality long-cook dish. When we went to pay
one girl was wandering around with a loaf of bread in her hand looking like she
didn’t know what to do with it and the other was doing Facebook! We loved their
Vis style rushed-off-feet.
Back to Deep Blue on the quay at Komiza we found that a lovely Swedish family we had
befriended in Primosten was alongside us on the quay so we arranged to have
dinner with them at a very unusual restaurant. It was a warehouse on the sea –
you could bring your tender into the middle of the restaurant – with nets full
of lobster suspended from the terraces and dipping in the sea below. We had a
great evening – Janus used to be a fisherman and was very passionate about the
subject of fish. He maintains there is a 30 year glut and famine cycle and the
fish move around, so when the scientists go and look at the fishing grounds
they are looking in the wrong place – the fish have moved on. It was wrong that
he had to stop fishing. He now works on an oil-rig. Janus, Helen and their two
teenage sons live on a small island off Gothenburg and we all got on really
well. Helen is a hotel manager in the city – when she met Janus he told her
that she would have to come and live on his island. She did but commutes daily
via ferry to the city.
It was a little stormy over night and we were very glad we
were on the quay – the boats on anchor were rolling about horribly. Our lines
creaked and groaned all night and I had to sleep in the saloon where it was
quietest. But the sun was out in the morning so crossed to a small island 2nm
away to view the Blue Cave when the sun was high, apparently the best time to
see it. When we arrived yachts were milling around everywhere. There is no place
to anchor and so we took it in turns to row our tender into the cave. It was
worth the trouble as the water is an amazing colour and full of phosphorescence
that lights the whole cave via the sun filtering through the water from an
under water entrance – an underwater cave with a lucky sea entrance around a
bend.
We went to anchor off another very promising tiny island
opposite our rocky swim spot. Again the water was beautifully clear and we were
very happy there until the wind suddenly, at 6.30pm, picked up to 25 knots and
our anchor started to drag. We were in 4m water and very close to the rocks by
the time we got the anchor up, which ironically got jammed and took Andy (whose
pecks are looking pretty fit these days) a fair amount of pulling and heaving
to release!
Where to go? Andy remembered an anchorage from 2008 and here
we are in paradise.
Friday 16th August
Another awesome week of slow sails, lovely food in great
little restaurants, empty anchorages, early morning swims. Our biggest worry
was wondering when we would be able to get all our dirty washing clean.
Actually we are seeing a lot more yachts here than we remember in 2008 (and
there are definitely many more marinas). It may be because we are here a month
later. Italians everywhere!
The other difference is that we have got better at sniffing
out good restaurants (I guess we are also better off so more able to be
discerning) but finding it harder to find good food to cook ourselves. There is
definitely more mass produced foods in the Croatian shops and butchers have
been extremely thin on the ground. Also we have yet to find a proper farmers
market. The other difference is that sadly there is a lot more plastic and
fewer fish in the sea. I have seen a lot of very small pieces of plastic
floating by, not so obvious but not good for the fish that eat it.
Unfortunately fish and birds assume that anything in the sea is edible – I
guess a little like us humans thinking anything a multinational state is food,
is fit for human consumption. There are all too many examples of whales and
other marine animals dying through ingestion of plastic including a very recent
whale full of a whole plastic greenhouse blown off the Spanish coast.
This past week has been spent mainly in the Kornati National
Park. The Kornati is a string of islands South of Dugi Otok where there is no
mobile phone signal, no roads, no electricity, no fresh water, next to zero
houses, a few sheep, the odd tree and lots and lots of rock. It is spectacular
in a moon scape sort of way. From a distance the land looks like ploughed
fields but this is just the rock strata – it is amazing and very hard to walk
on. But walk we did, though scramble would be nearer the correct description, up
the high hills to look out down the chain of islands at the blue, blue sea contrasting
with the buttermilk colour of the rock fields with Deep Blue a small speck
below us.
Andy and I have been reading fiction, it has been good to
have the time. We are really relaxing
and not trying to do too much. No long sails and definitely no over-nighters
this visit. Our main worry has been where we will leave Deep Blue this winter
and where we will find a washing machine!
After Kornati we had run out of food, water and clothes so
we decided to do our longest sail yet back East to Sibenik to use our marina
facilities. We were extremely efficient, arriving at 4pm and washing four loads
with the whole lot dry within half an hour on the washing line despite the late
hour, filled with water and out for dinner at 8pm. First thing the next morning
we had restocked the food cupboards in good time to sail up to Skradin and the
entry point to the Krka National Park. Tomorrow we plan to have a five hour hike in
the National Park before sailing back to Primosten to have dinner with Vego.
19th August 2013
We are on the island of Vis where the water is the cleanest
we have seen and the most coloured fish we have seen since we came this year.
Such a pleasure to dive in and swim with goggles.
We did our walk – a little disappointing as the long walk we
expected is not from Krka but we still managed 7-8kms back to Skradin. But the park was very full and much more
developed than when we were here in 2008.
It was great to spend time with Vego – though given he is
only 11 years older than us it is worrying how old and doddery he seems these
days. He still has that lovely laugh and is so generous. Lana has returned to
Switzerland leaving her friend Steph and her sister Eva working in the
restaurant. Vego would not let us pay for our meal so we left a tip the same
amount as the meal - Steph was very happy! We have arranged to meet Vego next
Saturday – he is racing in a regatta and we will race back to Split against
them.
A good Genoa sail here to Vis until the wind died – we saw
our first dolphins this trip – and plan to visit a vineyard tomorrow.
Friday 9th August 2013
Tottering on the passerelle clinging onto my towel, wet
bikini and toilet bag I was confronted with a dilemma – grab the boat and let
go of the towel or fall off. I had just had a shower in the town Sali’s
facilities and was naked except for that towel. Our neighbour on the town wall
had seen my dilemma and was smirking. I made a leap for it, just kept my
dignity and managed to cling onto my possessions.
We are on the island of Dugi Otok and Sali is in the North
East of the long thin island that nestles above the Kornati National Park. We
came here yesterday after a beautiful week of anchoring in crystal clear bays
where the swimming was perfect. The only fly in the ointment was having to
return to Zadar to buy two new “house” batteries – our four year old battery
was not keeping its charge. But that was executed easily after a day long
spinnaker run in light airs down the East coast of this island after three
nights at the top end.
Mid-night Wednesday UK time was exam results time. That is,
of course 1 am Croatian time and I was asleep when the results came through AS
A TEXT ON MY PHONE!! 6.30am and I could not contain myself – I had to know if I
had passed my final ACCA exam. Whew I had!!, but on opening my email I found a
note from ACCA stating that, even though I have now completed the 14 out of 14
exams, under no circumstances was I to call myself a member until I was
invited. Nice! Luckily Andy saw it
differently and laid on an amazing celebration (literally) at the back of Deep
Blue in the form of a parade of horn blowing traditionally clad young men and a
rock band that played until 4am the next day!! What a party! Apparently tonight
we have donkey racing and traditional singing (which actually we love).
Later….
Joking aside, we came to participate in the festivities here
in Sali. The last festival we attended in Croatia was an amazing one in Rab in
2008 where the whole town full participated by dressing in medieval costume,
cooking and fishing in the ancient way, sang, jousted and it was a huge fun
week for all concerned. Sali disappointed. The events did not get underway
until 11pm, by which time families had given up waiting and gone to bed, and
the men who used it as an excuse to drink all day were well past their best.
Then we had to endure very loud music with no atmosphere and a small audience until
4am … am I sounding old?
Saturday we decided we would leave the quay and watch the
promised boat parade and fireworks from an anchorage. However before leaving we
hired some very special mountain bikes for a cycle around the island. These
bikes are e-mountain bikes but not the normal electric bike at all. There is a
small but powerful battery pack which aids the peddling – I really am not sure
how it works but it is like having an extra, very fit, person on the bike with
you. This means that going up-hill is amazingly easy and going down-hill can be
VERY fast. In fact my maximum speed was about 35 kpm but Andy said his bike had
been 60kpm (not with him though). We went off road which I found hard and
actually fell off on a particularly rocky hill - Andy loved it so went on ahead
while I rather overused my brakes – but once back on the road I was very happy
and experimented with all the modes. We cycled for a full 4 hours, covering a
large distance, and we both agree that it has so far been the highlight of this
trip. Bikes like this would be perfect hilly on Mallorca. I am very tempted despite the €3,000 price tag
(cheaper than a car and much more fun).
We found a fab anchorage with lovely swimming and in full
view of Sali across the water. We were totally underwhelmed by the parade and
firework (I think there was only one) and caught some “techno” from across the
straits. We settled down to a night of watching the stars and reading!
This morning we had another spinnaker run down to the
Kornati – the wind picked up enough for us to have a short 7 knot blast before
having to snub the sail and turn up into the wind. Now, after our evening swim,
we have fired up the barbeque on yet another fab anchorage.
Croatia Week 1 31st July 2013
Once again we are in paradise, back to naked swimming,
wonderful food, cosy star lit nights and beautiful scenery. Here we are on Deep
Blue anchored in an isolated bay on a small island just off the coast of
Croatia.
We flew into Split and decided to use public transport to
get to Deep Blue. As the bus went through Primosten we got off to visit our
lovely Croatian friends Vego and his daughter Lana. In 2008 we found Vego and
his wife’s restaurant in a book about good eating in Croatia and decided to
visit the cute little bistro style eatery where we were befriended by keen
sailor Vego. Since that day we have spent many happy days with him and Lana
both on his yacht and in the lovely family apartment in Zagreb. Sadly 2 years
ago today his wife died of cancer and Vego has aged a lot since. He is only 67
but he behaves like an elderly man.
We walked from the bus-stop to the old part of Primosten but
it was hard to recognise. The new mayor has “got things done” and replaced all
the beautiful old cobbled streets and stepped ascents with a new very square
and very yellow paving. This enables cars to drive up narrow walk ways (which
they do at great speed) and makes the place look more Disney than ancient. I
hope that EU money is not to be spent on modernising throughout Croatia’s
holiday resorts in this way. It is not progress at all and even Vego hates it.
The restaurant was not open when we arrived but Lana and her
friend Steph were preparing for the evening – changing oil, cleaning and
whatever else one does! Steph is a Canadian with a Croatian father and she
moved to Croatia 5 years ago when she came to find her roots. It took her a
while to settle but now she is a permanent resident, having found a group of
friends that includes Lana. She teaches English in Zagreb but is running the
restaurant for Vego this summer alongside Lana’s younger sister Eva. Lana is on
holiday from her new job in Geneva where she works on human rights within the
Baltics.
Vego was not home but with his friends and after a phone
call Lana took us to meet them and share a meal. Vago’s friends were originally
from Macedonia and having married Croatians had now settled in Primosten. One
owned a restaurant and we were sitting in a lovely shaded area in the garden
next to the kitchen normally reserved for the waiters, where we were served
traditional Macedonian fare (not on offer to the tourists) and offered copious
amounts of alcohol. It is an Eastern European trait – you prove your manhood if
you can hold your alcohol and cope with hot chilli. They really do not
understand “no”, especially from a man. Andy really did not want to drink and was
constantly watering the plants! Many middle-aged Eastern European men are
therefore ugly, overweight, unhealthy and, surprisingly, die young. I am afraid
Vego’s friends were no exception! However, they were very hospitable and all
spoke English on our behalf. We had a delicious Sunday lunch of bread, spek,
cheeses and pickles, followed by Macedonian baked beans with pork washed down
with plenty of …water in our case!
We have made an arrangement to take Vego sailing. He was
doing a regatta this week with the same crew of 2008 and we would have loved to
join him but we also wanted to go to Deep Blue. Hard decision but we had an
arrangement to get Deep Blue to a rigger to repair new lightning strike damage
that has only just manifested itself. So we said our goodbyes and caught the
bus to Sibenik. The bus driver told us he could not stop at the marina (about 2
miles from the centre) as the bus did not go that way. Vego had told us it did,
so when we drove past, I was pretty annoyed and tried to get the driver to
stop. He was not having any of it. Luckily some locals wanted to get off soon
after and it appeared that we were even closer to the marina – however I kept
one foot on the bus until the driver opened the luggage compartment as he was
threatening to drive off with our bags – he really did not want us off at this
stop.
Deep Blue was perfect. She has been in the water for 9
months but was only a little dusty with a small amount of growth on her hull.
So after a few formalities we were off the next morning to motor to Murter
where a rigger was ready to repair our shives.
Monday night we found a bay at the top of Murter island with
a restaurant and mooring bouys. We hadn’t been able to do much shopping so we
decided to eat at the restaurant rather than pay the mooring fee (the deal was
150 koner mooring fee or eat in our restaurant where one meal cost less than
this) and we are really glad we did. A lovely extended family (older parents, 3
sons/daughters and spouses plus grandchildren) own and run the restaurant – the
food was better and better value than our memory of Croatian food and service
was with a smile. Next morning another smiling Croatian greeted us in the
boatyard of Bettina and, using a cherry picker to access the top of our mast,
repaired our shives in four hours and charged us 800 koner, I thought the quote
was in Euro (there are 7.5 Koner to 1 Euro), we were delighted!
So now we are sitting out a small Bora on another fab
anchorage, writing and accessing the internet via our mobile phones!
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