More of Croatia and Into Montenegro

Hi all Sue here

Well its that time of year again and we are starting to head to our winter berth in Roccella Ionica, Italy.

In August Vikki and Courtney came out for a holiday. I wasn’t sure how Courtney would take to swimming off the back of the boat as she hasn’t done it before and that deep water can be a bit daunting!! No worries she loved it, getting her out of the water was the problem!! We all had a great time Kayaking, swimming and sunbathing, my daughter actually managed to read a whole book whilst she was here needless to say I didn’t. What are Nanny Boats for but noodling around!! Courtney said this has got to be a regular date now!!

Nanny Boat & Courtney	Family Fun

After they left we then met up with our friends off Purrr again for a few days of socialising before making our way back down to Split where my sister was joining us.

Chilling on Purrr	Krka Fort

We did a bit more exploring on the way. Krka Fort was an interesting place, free to look around and pretty abandoned. Surprised the Croatians havn’t made it more of a tourist thing and started charging. Then we took a trip up Guduca River and anchored all on our own, very peaceful.

Guduca River Anchorage (Krka)	Trogir Old Town

Trogir Old Town is lovely and I wish we had been able to spend more time here. Caroline joined us here and so did Purrr and Puff. Caroline and I had a day exploring the Old Town with a view to come back at the end of her stay to do some shopping but it didn’t happen as the weather wasn’t right. I’m sure Chris was just telling us that!!

Sisters Travelling in Style	Convoy up the River

The 3 boats all went out for a really nice meal to a very quirky restaurant which involved a dinghy ride up a river. Alright going but coming back in the dark was very entertaining as it was very shallow in places and I was imagining all sorts swimming around in those grasses!!

Night Out with Friends	The Old Mill, near Trogir

it was a very good night with great friends and the owners were very friendly. Mind you I dont think they get many customers arriving by dinghy at the back entrance. The weather was a bit mixed for Carolines visit and we had more than our share of thunderstorms but we didn’t let it stop us from having a good time.

Split Walled Town	Hailstorm at Split

After Caroline left we had a couple of days exploring Split with Purrr and my favourite day was spent on a park bench people watching whilst drinking beer from an off licence that Chris and Charlie kept popping to for more supplies. It was such fun just watching the holiday makers and locals go by.

While anchored at Split we had a huge thunderstorm with winds well over 40knts and torrential rain, that was all bad enough but then it was hailstones the size of marbles battering the boat and making the sea look like it was alive. The hailstones only lasted about 5 minutes but the storm seemd to last for ages, it was probably the worst we had all summer but at least it was in the daylight.

Through the Woods on Mljet	Ready for the Walls of Ston

The weather is cooler now so it was time to start our hiking again. The woods around Mljet were a good place to start, not too hilly and some lovely views over the lakes on the south side of the Island. Then we tackled the beautiful Walls of Ston, amazing views and not too bad going up but a killer on the knees coming down all those steps. The walls stretch for about 2km across a narrow peninsula between Ston and Mali Ston and rise up to about 180m above sea level, a very impressive construction and still in very good condition generally.

The Grand Hotel, Kupari	Risanski Fjord, Montenegro

On our way to Cavtat to check out of Croatia we stopped at Kupari. Here there is a bay of abandoned Hotels, aftermath of the war. They will be demolished one day to make way for a new development but then all history will be lost. Quite a spooky and sad place towalk around. The Grand Hotel is the oldest and actually has a preservation order on it but looks as if it might fall down before that happens.

The Walls and Forts of Kotor	The Ladder of Kotor Path

Now checked in to Montenegro and the serious hiking begins!! The walk up the walls to Kotor Fort are quite a challenge and glad we didn’t have to do it in the summer months. Best to pick a day when there aren’t many cruise ships in to do it as it can get quite busy and the steps are very precarious then!!

Falling Trees!!	Vrmac Fort

Our second hike was up to Vrmac Fort. Steps at the beginning are a killer but after that there is a really good path that meanders up through a forest gradually. As always I was following on quite a way behind Chris when I heard a noise like a shot gun, as I stopped and looked around there was another loud crack and a tree came crashing down inches from Chris!! Not a breath of wind that day so why it fell we don’t know. I know my place, I will keep well back from him!! The Fort itself is very well preserved and if you take a torch you can climb in and explore. I wasn’t too keen on this but in we went and it was very eerie inside. Going up the spiral stone stairs in the dark was the worst, knowing that there might be bats or even worse rats lurking. I am such a wuss at times!!

View From Vrmac Fort	Kotor Fjord From the Top of the Ladder

Our last major hike in Montenegro was up to a Dam way above Kotor Fort, 600m up and 11km. Won’t bore you with too many pictures of the views but they were stunning and well worth the slog. Shame pictures don’t always reflect things as we see them. It was breathtaking up there, literally.

Up In The Mountains	The Ladder Pathway

We had lunch at the top of the Fjord by the Dam. didn’t stop too long though a we didn’t think our legs would work again if we did!!

Church Ruins	Looking Inland

Well that’s all for now, our summer sailing season is over. We will resume the blog in the Spring and will hopefully include lots of pictures of Tuna that we are going to catch on our passage to Roccella over the next few days. You can all stop laughing now!!

Sue & Chris OUT xx

Visitors and Friends in Croatia

After my visit back to the UK at the end of June Caroline and Richard flew back with me to spend 3 weeks on Nimrod. As usual it was all go go go and a lot of fun.

Rich & Caroline on Board	Fiery Skies in Punat

We spent a few days chilling, planning hikes and sightseeing trips and we also sat out a horrendous thunderstorm. Unfortunately the boat in front of us lost their anchor and ended up across our bows. So we have some damge to repair over the winter, Chris says its all cosmetic and it could have been a lot worse!! They incurred a lot more damage than us. We then made our way down to Krk, let the hiking commence!! Thunderstorms are quite common in Croatia so we are getting a bit more used to them now, this was the 4th or 5th of the season. They are still something to be wary about and this storm gave us 40knt winds and driving rain that felt like hailstones, as usual it happened in the dark just to add to the excitment. At least they are normally shortlived and this one lasted for less than an hour.

We made our way around the bottom of the Istrian Peninsula and after a couple of days we arrived in the large sheltered anchorage at Punat on the Island of Krk. A gentle walk from the anchorage took us to the main town of Krk where we explored the old town, found the Tourist Office to get a walking map and a cafe for refreshments. The walk back along the coast and through the woodland was very nice.

Krk Town	Krk Harbour

This year we decided to join the men on their “Boys Hikes” and the first one we did was listed as a black hike. The hardest one to do!! Think they may have been trying to put us off!! The hike started from the Vela Luka anchorage and climbed steeply up to about 350m. It was 12km over some dificult terrain that led us down to some nudist beaches then back up through a gorge. We even encountered a couple of nude hikers!! You wouldn’t have wanted to trip on those rocks, Ouch!! We also came across a beach for dogs, they didn’t have any clothes on either!! By the time we got back the water had all run out and it was now very hot so a pit stop at the beach bar was needed before going back to Nimrod for a swim.

Krk River Canyon	Vela Luka Anchorage, Krk, From the Top

From Vela Luka we headed South to Rab and another nice sheltered anchorage adjacent to the main town. The old town of Rab is very pretty with many churches, plazas and cobbled streets and well worth a visit. Near the anchorage we also found a restaurant that did amazing steaks served by lovely friendly staff.

The wooded peninsula on the West side of the anchorage has many walking trails so we had a pleasant 10km walk through the woods and past the small beaches and coves on the seaward side, all pretty flat so much easier than Krk!!

Woodland Path, Rab	Anchored in Uvala Fumija, Rab

From Rab we headed to Molat for a night before going up the river to Krka waterfalls. It is about 10nm up the river and once past the main town of Sibenik near the entrance it is a very tranquil trip. You could easily spend a week or more just exploring the river. The town of Skradin is as far as we can take Nimrod so we anchored opposite the town in picturesque surroundings with swans and cygnets coming to be fed.

Krka River Falls	Krka Valley

The whole area is a National Park so you have to pay to get in, about £25 each but that did include the boat ride from Skradin up to the main Falls and back again. The scenery around here and the power of the falls is just stunning, it is all so beautiful, the pictures don’t do them justice.

The Upper River	Krka Upper Falls

The main Falls are all near where the boat dropped us off but you can take another boat that goes even further up the river, half way there is a small Island with a Monastery that we stopped at before continuing to the Upper Falls area. Most people stay at the Lower Falls so it is not quite as busy further up. There is also a nice walk around The Cascades section of the River and a steep stairway climb up to some caves with spectacular views over the whole River Valley

Krka River Valley	Swimming in the Falls

After a long hot day trekking around this awesome place it was time for a nice cool swim. Best time to visit here is to catch the first ferry at 8am and head straight to the next ferry for the upper falls.Before all the crowds arrive. Then on return to the main Falls have a leisurely lunch before attempting to walk around the rest of the park and have a swim. Swimming under the Falls is great and although they don’t let you get under the Falls themselves there are still some strong currents to contend with in some places.

Messing About	Boardwalks Through the Park

Ostrica was a lovely quiet anchorage and on another of our hikes ashore we came across these wild Deer. Someone had just been to put food out for them.

Ostrica Walls	Wild Deer, Ostrica

All too soon the 3 weeks had come to an end, more happy memories created and of course many bottles of bubbly consumed!! Looking forward to my sisters next visit in September, time to retire Rich then you can join her!!

After Rich and Caroline left us we headed back North again to meet up with some of our cruising friends. We headed to Hrbonsjak on the SE of Murter where we met Purr and Dakini as well as a Canadian couple on Water Hobo. Purrr, Charlie and Susannah (alias My Demon Twin) also had some friends on board and of course we had to have a little party to celebrate our reunion!!

Party Time WIth Purr	Dancing Girls

   

After a couple of days we all headed to Muntana Anchorage on Pas to get near a large town for supply shopping and also to hide from another impending thunderstorm.

We parted company with Dakini and Water Hobo as Nimrod and Purr headed to the very small Islet of Skala Vela, very peaceful with hardly any boats around even in late July. This also gave us a chance to go spinnaker sailing on Purrr since Charlie had not yet used his kite, 10-15knts of wind and flat seas meant we had some great sailing with boat speeds nealy up to 10knts.

Further N we stopped at Muline on Uglian for a couple of days, clear waters and white sand but fairly busy with other yachts as we are now well into the main holiday season.

More supply requirements saw us heading to Vir at the very SW of Pag and into the various bays that form a sheltered cruising area between the mainland and the S of Pag Island. It is off the route for most yachts so we almost had the area to ourselves with only a handful of others around. Jasenovo was also a great place to watch another sunset!!

The Sue’s at Sunset	Uvala Jasenovo, Pag

From the S of Pag we headed under the bridge and up the Vellebit Canal, this is a very windy place when the Bora is blowing with katabatic winds of 50-60knts being fairly common. Luckily it was near calm as we motored up to a stunning place called Uvala Svetojani Vela on the NE tip of Pag. The anchorage is surrounded by windswept rocks with hardly any vegetation in sight, it looked like you were anchored in a lake on the moon. Very different and stunning. A busy place in the day with small dayboats and RIB’s but in the evenings you have the place to yourselves.

Approaching Pag Bridge	Uvala Svetojanj Vela, Pag

From Pag we paid another visit to Rab and then headed for Atatori on Mali Losinj for another thunderstorm. The forecast was for up to 40knts with gusts to 50knts and thunderstorms. We arrived early and anchored in about 10m with 55m of chain out, checked the anchor and all seemed well, apart from the fact that the wind was currently from the South and the strong winds were due from the North. It was already fairly busy but we expected many boats would leave after their lunch stop, swim and siesta, at which point we planned to re-anchor, hopefully in more space and to make sure the anchor was set in the right direction.
As the afternoon wore on it seemed that no-one was leaving and even more yachts were arriving to hide from the bad weather, also by now the wind was fairly light and variable making it very difficult to know where other boats anchors were lying in relation to ours and how close we may get once the wind picked up. So early evening I had a swim around and reckoned we would be very close to a small Italian Yacht, explained to the skipper and he agreed and said he would move as soon as his crew returned from shore. When the wind turned to the N and boats started swinging to their anchors I motored back on our anchor to make sure it rotated and set properly for the new direction, now we were very close to another Italian yacht, another quick chat and they agreed to move, all very civilised so far.
By dark the wind had picked up to around 20knts and was from the NW, we now had a yacht about 5m behind our stern with a skipper who did not seem to have a clue, I told him he needed to let much more chain out to give us both a bit of room but it seemed he did not have any more chain to deploy, further it was pretty obvious that he had absolutely no intention of moving even though he had arrived much later than us.
The wind calmed for a while and said skipper had dissapeared below and was not going to be persuaded that he should move while it was calm. So we decided we would have to move to give us some more room, our normally reliable Rocna Type anchor decided it did not want to set the first two times we tried and by the time we lined up for our third attempt the wind had picked up again to around 20knts!!! Trying to anchor a 42ft cat in a busy anchorage in the dark in 20knts is a bit of a challenge but fortunately the anchor set this time and we were firmly secured, a little bit close to another Italian yacht but not worryingly close and by now most people were on deck.
A 34ft motor boat was having all sorts of trouble with his anchor dragging and seemed unable to get it to re-set, at one point he was snagged alongside the yacht that had caused us to move in the first place, not that I would wish such things on anyone it did seem like a bit of karma coming home to roost!!
Now a large charter cat that had been anchored near the shore was dragging, they nearly wiped out the Italian next to us before just managing to avoid a collision, they proceeded to drift through the anchorage with seemingly minimal control and even less idea what they were doing, they also narrowly missed colliding with our original problem yacht!!
By now the wind had picked up and many yachts were motoring around the southern part of the bay after their anchors had dragged. This included one 84ft Azimut and an even larger motor yacht that also could not rely on their anchors in the conditions.
By about midnight the wind had picked up to 35 gusting 45 and the thunderstorm was approacing from the NW, we were firmly anchored and fairly happy with our spacing, our two neighbouring monohulls were both veering through 50 or 60 degrees but were holding firm and skippers were on deck so we were all fairly safe.
By now I reckon at least 15 boats had dragged, but at least the ones now left seemed secure. Initially there were about 6 or 8 boats tied back to the shore in anticipation of the forecast NE winds, when the wind came from the NW they were all in trouble with the wind on the beam and all had to let go shore lines and clear out, tying back to shore with thunderstorms around is a pretty risky tactic since the wind can come from pretty much any direction.
Finally to end the carnage there was a Mayday call from an Italian crewed charter boat that had dragged their anchor and then had their engine fail so they were rapidly drifting out of the bay. The situation must have been quite frightening since the Italian lady on the VHF was clearly very panicked and the Coastguard and Police had a very difficult time resolving the situation and actually locating them. When they did find them the skipper had managed to restart the engine, however the Coastguard towed them into the bay and made sure they were re-anchored.
By 0200 the wind had eased to about 15knts and we decided it was safe to go to bed, all in all a very eventful night.

So you can see it is not all sunshine and roses out here in the Med!!

We are now in Medulin, near Pula with Sue’s daughter and Granddaughter arriving soon for 4 days so that is all going to be a bit hectic.

Croatia and Venice

We left Vieste as planned and had great conditions to sail across to Croatia, nearly flat seas and around 12-15knts of wind on the beam meant we covered the 60nm in about 9hrs and nearly all under sail. We tied up to the Customs Quay at Ubli on Lastovo to find the place like a ghost town, Harbourmaster and Police Post all deserted, apparently they might open at around 5pm!!

By 6pm still no sign of any officials so we spoke to the Park Ranger who rang the Harbourmaster, he appeared about 15mins later and could not have been more friendly and helpful. Completed the check-in and relieved us of about €250 for our Cruising Permit and Navigation Taxes, this covers us for the rest of the year. The Policeman arrived 1/2 hr later to check our passports and crew list, again very friendly and efficient.

Now all legal it was back to the boat for dinner and welcome to Croatia drinks. We stayed on the Town Quay for the night, apparently they can’t charge you here even though the whole Island is a Nature Park that you have to pay to enter.

Approaching Ubli, Lastovo	Vela Luka, Korcula

So the plan now was to head North through the Islands of Croatia and up to the Istrian Peninsula before crossing to Venice. Although we did not have too much time to explore and the hiking has been abandoned for a while, we only had to travel fairly short distances between lovely anchorages and Islands. We headed into Split for supplies and found Lidl only 10mins walk away from the anchorage so stocks were properly replenished with our shopping trolley, rucksacks and bags well loaded. Prices overall seemed a bit cheaper than Greece, especially booze.

Marinkovac, Pakleni Islands	Sunset at Banovi

We headed towards Murter with more quiet, calm anchorages on the way. Murter is joined to the mainland by a lifting bridge that opens twice a day and saves a good few miles compared to going around the West side of the Island. However the approach is quite shallow with only 2m of water meaning we had around 0.5m of clearance underneath us, the bridge is only about 10-12m wide so we had a couple of metres each side as we squeezed through, fortunately it was a lovely calm morning so it was not too scary.

Approach to Murter Bridge	We Just Squeezed Through!

In Murter Harbour or Hramina we met up with Nick and Dave on Imagine, old friends from Holyhead that we have not seen for a good few years. BBQ and Beers to catch up with all the gossip from back home, great fun.

Northwards again with a few more stops before getting to Porec about half way up the Istrian peninsula, our jump-off point for Venice. Along the way we had a bit of an argument with a mooring buoy fee collector in Susak harbour, he insisted we could not anchor in the Bay even though we were over 150m from his buoys. His reason was that it was now illegal to anchor because the mussels in the Bay were protected, after pointing out that Google Earth showed at least 20 boats anchored last summer and refusing to move he got a bit upset and said he would bring the Police. We told him if the Police asked us to move we would do so, otherwise we were staying. When Police or Harbourmaster showed no interest in the problem it was clear he was just making up rules to try and force us to pay around 360 kuna (€45) to use his buoys!! Have to say that everyone we have met in Croatia has been friendly and helpful but these fee collectors have a bit of a reputation for “trying it on”.

Burano Square and Leaning Tower	Main Street, Burano!

We checked out of Porec and crossed to Venice, didn’t attempt fishing as there was so much rubbish floating around. A pretty good trip over, we had about 15knts of wind and managed to sail over half the way over before the wind died away. Anchored off Burano which is a really beautiful and quirky place. All the houses are painted different colours and apparantly you have to obtain permission to change their colour. They still ring the bells everday in the leaning tower, It looks as if it is going to topple over soon!!

Sue’s New Friend	Lovely Gardens on Burano

So our first day we spent exploring Burano, first along the canals in the dinghy then on foot. In the park there were a lot of sculptures on display, really unusual and so nice to see them displayed out in the open. I could just see this happening in the UK, NOT!! Everyone here seems to be really into looking after their gardens, some stunning arrays of flowers.

Rialto Bridge	Nearly Empty St Mark’s Square

We then caught the 7am Vapareto into Venice to try and do some exploring before all the crowds arrived. It was worth the early start to stand on the Rialto bridge on our own and see St Marks Square deserted!! By mid morning it was heaving with people.

St Mark’s Cathedral	Grand Canal Monument

The Cathedral didn’t open until 9.45 but the queue started at 8.30!! Their were lots of armed guards patrolling up and down. No photos were allowed in the Cathedral which is a shame but totally understandable.Very beautiful and ornate, i always wonder how many people it took to create those amazing mosaics. We wandered around Venice for the day criss crossing over its many canals. Watchng the Vaparetos zooming up and down made us think they are like the tube trains in London only on water!! So many people hopping on and off. Then in amongst them are the many Gondolas and delivery boats, even the odd ambulance.

Venice Rowing Regatta	Venice Rowing Regatta

Trust us to pick one of the busiest times to visit Venice and Burano, turns out it was a huge Rowing Regata weekend with Sunday being the big day. Hundreds of boats and people turned out for it, from big Gondolas to Paddle Boards!! It was just like watching the London Marathon only on water with a paddle!! They had to paddle 12 miles from Venice out around the islands and back to Venice.

Thunderstorm Heading Our Way	An Hour Later

The return trip from Venice to Porec was a bit windy and rough, we left Venice in calm conditions with the wind forecast to increase to 15-20knts. We ended up with 25-30knts and horrible mixed up lumpy sea state so it was a bumpy trip, at times we had two reefs in the main and only a scrap of headsail out. The only good thing was that it meant we sailed over 2/3rds of the trip so didn’t use much diesel. Needed a couple of attempts to get secured alongside the Customs Quay in Porec because of the wind but then had a very friendly Policeman check us back into Croatia.

Then the next day we went down to a lovely anchorage near Vrsar where we experienced our first Croatian thunderstorm. Luckily we only caught the tail end of it and the rain washed the boat off nicely. The pictures above show individual lightning strikes with the white being very recent and the red being older, as it shows it was a pretty intense storm but we were lucky enough to be in the narrow gap between the two systems so we missed the worst of it. You can also see that the storm moved over 30 miles South in less than an hour!!

Moonrise, Uvala Soline, Pula	Calm Evening, Soline, Pula

We are now anchored in Soline having a few relaxing days before going into Pula to top up on internet and of course the mandatory stock up in Lidls!!