Diary #1 (B)

30th June 2008
I thought that I would write a few words while I waited at Gatwick airport for my flight to Split in Croatia. I can hardly believe that I am on the final leg of my journey to meet up with Deep Blue and Andy. It has been some trip but I guess this is where the adventure really starts.
It has been a sad goodbye from many of our wonderful friends and our family. Saying goodbye to Fay was particularly difficult. She is now on Windrose – a beautiful wooden yacht – 67 meters long – as part of her 7 crew. It seems that Windrose is going to Croatia and Venice so we will probably meet up again sooner than we thought. Fay was very fortunate to land such a great job so quickly and this was thanks to our friend Jonathan who introduced her to the owner.
The goodbyes for me started at work last week. The guys at Fourth Element gave me such a wonderful send off. I was very touched. They invited me to join the whole staff – Paul (Strikey), Jim, Leo, Jon, Sue, Verity and Sandra (who had come back in especially) plus new boy Christian (my replacement) – outside where they had set up my leaving table. There were two bottles of champagne (in honour of the fact that I introduced the “champagne moment” to the company), two cakes, a mini banner and a huge box. In the box was a present I was not expecting! Two telescopic fishing rods, two hand lines made by Paul, hooks, lures, weights, kit box and to ensure we fish where there are fish – a fish finder!! What a fantastic present. Andy and I can while away the next 14 months learning to fish and then have fishing contests. Free, fresh food! I am so going to miss everyone at Fourth Element.
Once I stopped work at Fourth Element I started cleaning the house. We have let the house and wanted to ensure the place was spotless. We had been packing our personal belongings over the past week or two and they all now needed to go into the loft. This was achieved with a ladder and rope with me tying and guiding the box from below while Andy hauled them up from up in the roof space. Once everywhere was clear we could then clean the carpets. We were exhausted by the time we left.
On our last night in Falmouth we met up with a few friends (including Strikey, Jim and Leo) for a drink. “A drink” turned to many followed by a curry. I left Andy to it at 1am as we had to be out of the house by 10 the next morning. Andy was not really with it next morning and our departure was rather delayed while we unsuccessfully tried to complete packing the house, packing our bags for 14 months before our tenants arrived. Eventually we got in the car at midday, Inez and Jack waiting to wave us goodbye, house locked up .. when Andy announced he no longer had his glasses. We searched high and low but they never turned up. Andy had to find a spare pair in a box in the loft!
I was driving the car up to Scotland where my parents live stopping en-route at Bristol (to drop off Andy at the airport) and Manchester (to spend a brilliant evening with Piers, Jen and her mum). Andy was off to Split to meet Deep Blue. At the end of May we had sailed Deep Blue with Jacks help up to S’hampton. Deep Blue was booked onto a ship that would transport her the 2000 plus miles to Croatia. The ship was due to leave sometime in June, we were not to be told exactly when until a day or two before. I missed out on the spectacle of her being loaded but Andy was able to get there and make sure she was safely stowed.
So now we have arrived at the present moment. The car is safely stored in a garage at my parents (the bottom fell out of the car industry so it was not worth selling), Andy was present when Deep Blue was unloaded in Split at 5am Sunday morning and moved her to Split marina. He says it is very hot – 35 degrees in the shade. I am in the departure lounge at Gatwick having flown from Glasgow first thing this morning.
6th July 2008
It doesn’t take long, when you live on board a boat, to start wearing no clothes. At least when you are at anchor in a secluded bay and no one is around. We have noticed that other people do the same – or maybe we happened across a naturalist club because there were a lot of exposed bottoms in one bay we visited. And yes I did look!
I arrived at Split 8pm on June 30th 2008 and Andy was waiting for me. It was great to see him. Our adventure was truly starting now!
Split is lovely – clean, busy, ancient. Built of marble (most of the roads in the old town) and limestone, many of the buildings incorporate Roman remains as part of their architecture. The buildings are built very close together in splendid Mediterranean style. We shopped at the busy outdoor market for bread, meat, fruit and vegetables. We just could have spent many more days exploring the many little alleys.
But the Marina at Split was expensive and airless. We knew we had to return to collect a lost sail so decided to sail to a cooler place to wait. So on 1st July we sailed out of Split to one of the many islands a short distance away. Solta had a lovely sheltered bay and we anchored in our own little inlet, lines to the shore and started our new life on Deep Blue. Clothes off, diving into the warm, blue waters, swimming, barbequing, feeding the fish, reading (on to book two already) and just generally doing not a lot!
On the plane I had met a Croatian called Duchen (my spelling) who, it turned out, lived on a splendid 60ft traditional Croatian motor sailer he had been renovating. Apart from giving me advice about the art of love (Andy wondered if he was working on marriage number four) he had recommended a couple of places a day’s sail North from Split where it would be cooler. We had to agree that the temperatures in Split were oppressive. The waterfalls above Sibenik were one recommendation and currently we are stern too at that town quay. We had an amazing 8 hour sail here in 10-15 knots of wind and sailed up the river until it opened out into a large fjord like lake. There in front of us was the town – the centre old, limestone with marble pathways and beautiful, spreading out to new builds and then to the industrial docks. We are beginning to recognise this as a very Croatian look.
Adventures to date
• Andy all but falling in the water from the tender just after a shower and spruce up to go ashore in Trogir (beautiful but the Blackpool of the region). He was sliding forward to get the boat on the plane. His left arm slid off the tender and into the water, his body followed. The tiller extension somehow flew out of his hand and disappeared into the night sky. He was dripping wet and we now had to find the tiller. We went back to Deep Blue, Andy changed and we put on our life jackets!
• Off the quay at Sibenik, with the Quay master waiting for us, Andy dropped a fender into the water. As I circled to retrieve it the fender seemed to always end up in the middle just out of reach. A little boat appeared and I thought he was going to retrieve the fender for me so followed behind. He got very animated and I realised that while I was concentrating on the fender, he was concentrating on his fishing line ... and I had just run over it. Following this, reversing in a surprisingly high cross-wind onto the quay was not my best moment.
7th July 2008
Today we are having a computer day after having one of the best days of my life yesterday. After an entertaining night on the quay at Sibenik (we were the entertainment as every resident of the town promenaded until gone midnight along the quay to look at the boats) we set sail up the river to Skradin and the Krka Falls – recommended by my Croatian friend on the plane.
The lake narrowed down to a deep gorge and the wind whistling up the river meant that we made a speedy passage. Even though we were only under Genoa we reached speeds in excess of 6 knots. By early afternoon we had anchored off Skradin, the small village at the entrance to the Krka national park. Only the National Park Ferries are allowed in so in late afternoon we boarded one to take a look.
It all seemed a bit over developed at first, crowded with people swimming at the foot of the falls. But as we climbed up the falls we became more alone and our surroundings became increasingly beautiful. By the time we reached the top of the falls 242metres up we were open mouthed. We sat on the wonderful board-walk that snaked its way through trees and over the laced water ways that described the river before it fell in seven separate drops and watched the mayflys dance, the hundreds of brown trout lazily swimming in the current to stay still and the dappled sunlight play on the water. We had surely arrived in heaven! We both wished we had brought notepads to draw. Photos just do not do it justice.
We intend to return tonight.
We returned to Deep Blue at around 8.30pm to hear the phone ringing. I managed to answer in time – it was Fay. She had just had the best day of her life too. Sailing from France to Venice Fay was on watch at 3am. The night was beautiful and as they rounded Sicily there was Mount Etna glowing from a recent lava flow. Then later as the sun rose a huge pod of dolphins came alongside the boat and swam with them. It was her exam results day and as we can she is able to go on-line. Her results were as good as she hoped – 35 IB points (a maximum of 45 available) with 7 in Art and 6 in Maths (each out of 7 possible points). As Piers got 35 points he is also delighted for her! We are very proud.
We are continuing through the islands and Northwards through Croatia. Aiming to be in Venice in about a month. More to follow.....