It ends....

....the way it usually ends - sitting in an overcrowded departure lounge of a tiny provincial airport. But we had a nice day today at the water falls. Josko arranged a taxi to take us there (possibly not a taxi but one of his mates on the make) and then he picked us up and took us back to the marina where we showered and changed and then headed for the airport. So it was all very easy.The waterfalls are fantastic - and since we were last there they've built a very attractive raised walkway around the higher parts of the river. So we swam - had a nice lunch at the restaurant and caught some final sunshine. The drive back along the coast was beautiful in the evening light - although a little scary courtesy of over competitive driving from Josko's mate. All in all it's been a great holiday - but of course now we just want to get home. The flight is 15 minutes late so they say - but the incoming flight has arrived so hopefully it won't be more.

Skradin

Waterfalls on Krka river

Sunday morning - Molash

The flight was 30 minutes late landing and annoyingly diverted to tth South termnal - although this was better for Jessie as she was heading off to London to stay with Caroline in Tooting. Becky was picked up by her Dad, then Laura and I took the shuttle to the North terminal and found the bus to the car park. We arrived home at about 1 am - and all seems well here. 

Croatia is great - but I'm not sure we'll be back for a while. We've been sailing there three times now and there are many other places to see!

Day thirteen - Drvenik to Kremik

We slept in a bit as we were all short of sleep after our stormy night in Hvar. We got away from Drvenik at about 0900 - waving goodbye to our German friends! 

Leaving Drvenik

Today it was sunny again but with an autumnal nip in the air courtesy of the North wind. We only had a short way left to go, so the plan was to anchor somewhere so that we could take it easy on our last day - have a swim and soak up some final rays. So we went back to our first night stop in Rogoznica. It was marginal for sunbathing because of the cold wind, so Becky found a more sheltered spot ashore. Laura swam over from the boat and later Jessie visited in the dinghy. There was a handy supermarket at the end of the bay - so we buzzed over there for bread, chicken and washing up liquid!

We got away soon after 1600 and the wind had picked up to 15 knots or so and so we sailed the last three miles into Kremik Marina at a good pace - which was a nice way to end our voyage in Sea Bird. After the obligatory queue for fuel, we met up with Josko (of the charter company) at home base. He was very conciliatory about our problems and offered to waive the 80 Euro cleaning fees to cover our additional marina costs etc. So we are all friends, which is good. I'm sad that it's over - but it's always good to get back to home base unscathed.

So now we are back in the marina - where for some reason we are bouncing about it which is making Laura feel rather sick. It's strange that sometimes it's subtle movement that does that rather than crashing through the swell. We have a lot of food and drink to finish up but I'm afraid some of it will go in the bin, which always goes against the grain. 

We have to be off the boat at 0900 - and we don't fly until 2050. Josko suggested we go to the waterfalls on the River Krka at Skradin, which we visited on our 2005 trip. We can leave our bags at the marina and he will send them on in a taxi to pick us up from Skradin and take us to the airport. The forecast is good for tomorrow, so hopefully we will have a good final day.

Day twelve - Hvar to Drvenik

That was some night! I have never been on board a boat in a storm like that one. Hats off to my crew - they were fantastic! None of us will forget that in a hurry. It's 0825 and it's a bright sunny morning wth a lively wind but no more. Four hours ago we were fending off a Grand Soleil 52 (expensive piece of kit) that had lost control trying to anchor far too close in front of us. What they were doing out at sea I cannot imagine as we've known about this incoming storm for days. The rain was coming down so hard you literally could not see more than a few yards and lightening was going off all around with deafening thunder. The whole scene was like one of those old movies - The Wreck of the Mary Deare or whatever. Eventually the GS52 moved off, circling around the anchored yachts trying not to hit anything and within thirty minutes things had calmed down. So we did the proper thing and put the kettle on. After tea, we retired at about 0445. 

Yesterday evening was beautiful - so we went back into Hvar after dinner and found a jazz bar. It was one of those bands that likes to encourage guest singers - so Jessie was called up - and was brilliant. As she's singing regularly now with Spread the Jam in Liverpool she is fully 'up to speed' and delivered a couple of absolutely flawless performances which brought the house down. Curiously, the singer of the band (Danielle from Zagreb) was wearing a red dress almost the same as Jessie's and also had blonde curls - they looked almost like sisters. When Jessie started to sing, this girl's jaw just dropped. She was extremely generous and funny though - which is classy because a lot of singers turn nasty if they get upstaged. I knew Jessie had improved a lot in the last couple of years but I'm rather ashamed to say that until last night I didn't realise just how much. I was blown away - and a very proud Dad. It was a highlight of the holiday for me! 

We got back to the boat about 2am and the wind was picking up. Jessie and Becky took first watch and all was quiet until a massive clap of thunder announced the arrival of the storm and then the 'Mary Deare' incident described above. We will stay here for a bit - go to the supermarket etc - then we will see what is a realistic destination for tonight.

Hvar this morning - hard to believe what we just went through!

Later: When everyone came to, we took the dinghy back to Hvar and had a late breakfast at a cafe. We picked up a few essentials at Konzum (Croatian Tesco) and then set off at about 12 noon. The wind was still pretty fresh and we were sailing up the Pakleni Kanal, heavily reefed, doing 6.6 knots - a record for the holiday under sail. "It can't last" we thought. It didn't. Once we got clear of the Kanal the sea really got up and the wind was gusting 30 knots and the direction was unstable. In the end it got too uncomfortable to sail and we had to thrash our way through the mountainous seas under power - with the boat crashing down over the swell and spray continuously drenching yours truly on the helm. The wind duly veered around to dead ahead and showed no sign of letting up - 25 knots on average. We were struggling to make 5 knots against it. Having started late, Sibenik was out of reach so, having considered Trogir, I decided on Drvenik Vela as this would not take us too far off our route for tomorrow. We sailed the last part on the genoa only - making 6 knots on a broad reach. Turning into the inlet the wind crossed the stern - another first for the holiday! 

The port here consists of a concrete wall. It's the usual stern on arrangement - but with no fixed bow lines. There is deep water in front of the wall - 15m. You have to drop anchor about 30 metres out and then let out 40-45m of chain so that the anchor bites when you are 1-2m off the wall - then you can attach your stern lines. If you don't get good holding you can't keep your stern off the wall. As we were sizing up this challenge some very cheerful German guys appeared on the wall saying that the average was 5 attempts to get this right! I now have the pleasure to tell you that Team Sea Bird nailed it on the first go. We dropped in the right place then, having taken the brave pills, reversed at speed towards the wall. We jerked to a halt about 3m off as the anchor dug in. We then had only to let out a little bit more chain and we were in business. Over celebratory beers the Germans told us we had been lucky! We then watched the next boat to arrive mess up by letting out too much chain without moving back and then hoping they could use the anchor winch to take up the slack. No chance in 15m of water! So every time they hauled on the stern lines the boat just moved back onto the wall. They then used the engine to keep off, and so could not get tension on the anchor chain. Result: up anchor and motor out into the middle to try again. 

Battling the elements

The wall features a few derelict shore power stations that look they fused the island power supply some years ago - and no water taps. Despite this modest (generous adjective) facility, a sour faced port authority woman came round demanding £18. If they had an ounce of charm or empathy, it would not rankle so much. Perhaps it's just a cultural thing - but they really make you feel unwelcome and that is never a nice feeling.

So, tomorrow is our last day. The weather looks set fine again, although the north wind is keeping the temperature down. Whatever gripes I may have expressed in these posts I have loved this and I am not ready to go home.

In Hvar

The wall at Drvenik

Day eleven - Korcula to Hvar

We left Korcula at a quarter past ridiculous in order to make the rather lengthy journey to Hvar, somewhere that mum has been looking forward to returning to for the whole trip. Unfortunately, although the wind was FOR ONCE coming from a favourable direction, it had no 'gust'-o (see what I did there) so we were back to motoring. It was nice and warm though, so still very pleasant. We stopped for lunch and a swim in a lovely anchorage off the small island of Scedro and then continued to Hvar. It became apparent that the weather was going to take a nasty turn again a la Stormy Saturday so we emailed ahead to the marina begging for sanctuary but to no avail. The harbour wall was full so we reluctantly dropped anchor perhaps a little to close into the town. A smarmy mooring fascist in his motor boat came to tell us off: 

"Anchoring is prohibited inside the port"

"Oh but sir!" we cried, "There's a nasty storm coming this evening, we must be sheltered!"
"A storm?" (first he'd heard of it, perhaps) "You will have to go to marina."
"Oh no, but it's full! Whatever shall we do?" Mum began to sob uncontrollably. (fabrication)
He shrugged in the way they do. "It is forbidden to anchor inside the port"
"So we drown?" Becky and I hugged. (fabrication)
"Yes but anchoring is prohibited inside the port." And with that he was away revving his huge engine, creating a ridiculous wake.
We anchored just outside the port and before long heard his engine again. He had a stupid hat this time.
"There is big storm coming tonight - be careful." uuuhhh thanks?

Hvar is interesting, beautiful buildings and streets. It definitely has more of a 'cool' culture than the other places we've stopped at so far meaning it is a bit more trendy and less "yachty". We went for a meal at Val Marina Restaurant which was very pleasant indeed. Not least because of our new love, Vanja the waiter. Hard to describe, really. One of a kind. Not a looker or anything, not that kind of love. (Becky says an exterior more suitable for radio, but then felt immediately bad about it because of the love - she is sat next to me swooning at the memory of him.) The other major highlight of the meal for me was the lady from another table getting up after she finished her meal and walking into the glass door. Hysterical. (Jessie)

As ever the various weather forecasts do not agree on just how windy it is going to be. Estimates vary from 20 to 40 knots which is the difference between unpleasant and unsafe - so thanks for that! I will be sleeping in my clothes tonight. Right now all the boats at anchor are pointing out to sea as there is a light onshore breeze. However the wind is forecast to shift round 180 degrees and it's hard to know how this is going to affect the spacing as that will depend on how much chain each boat has out. So we need to be alert when the wind changes to make sure that we don't swing into other boats and that our anchor continues to hold when the pull is from the opposite direction. I wish we were in a marina but it's over an hour away and I was not prepared to flog over there on the off chance of getting in. As Jessie mentioned, we emailed them to try to reserve a berth but they didn't even have the courtesy to respond. All the marinas here are run by a company called ACI - there is no competition. As a result they have a dismissive 'take it or leave it' attitude bordering on contempt. There is no service culture whatsoever. Hopefully we will be OK tonight! I would like to get to Sibenik tomorrow night - but probably we will have to stay here most of the day. We will see what it looks like in the morning.

Day ten - Polace to Korcula

Tuesday morning - and all is fine. We got away at 7am and initially had a good wind at 60 degrees off our course so we sailed a bit. But it's figured out the destination now and so it veered to dead ahead and dropped to 5 knots. I have never known this happen before - it's uncanny. Literally the only sailing we have done in 10 days has been close hauled. Still time though! The autopilot is working again - I have no idea what brought it back to life - but it's return is welcome as we have another 3 hour run on the same course. The sea is calm and the sun is shining so it's all good. 

The route into Korcula looks tricky - lots of small islands and shallow channels. We will stay there for the day as there is plenty to see there and a bit of time off the boat will do us all good I think.

Later: We successfully navigated into Korcula marina, arriving about 10.30. This place vies with Hvar for the 'Cowes' of the Croatian Island ports so it was as well to be early. Since lunch there have been yachts circling like vultures outside the entrance - but it was full hours ago. This is a truly ancient town - going back to Roman times. It enjoys a great position on a small peninsula with the sea on three sides. It was all a bit crowded earlier as there was Costa cruise ship in - but it steamed out a few minutes ago. We have had a lazy day swimming and sunbathing. 

Narrow streets in the old town

The electrician came to look at the autopilot and pronounced it OK after the most cursory of inspections. He then produced a clone of the yellow tragedy of a GPS but this time in grey. He ran off before I could test it and when I did it didn't even power up. I tried swapping the power cable with the other one and it staggered into life. Even though it's rubbish it is probably better to have it than not. We will try to get away early again tomorrow as Hvar will also be busy and more indifferent weather is forecast for Thursday.

Korcula

These looked great but not much you could eat!

Day nine - Slano to Polace

We had a much better day today - beautiful weather - and even some wind, generally against us but allowing some progress close hauled. We did not get up early as we were owed a long night in peaceful Slano after Saturday's night from hell. We motored across the bay and visited the shops. It seems like it's an upcoming place, being only 30km from Dubrovnik and on a lovely natural bay, with mostly deep water. Apparently there are plans to build a marina there. 

We set off about noon and managed to sail most of the way to Polace on Otok Mljet. This is only a few miles from Pomena where we were last week, but has a different feel. It's a large natural harbour guarded by a range of islands. We picked up a buoy in the harbour and, strangely, at that moment the autopilot decided to come back to life. I won't know if it's really working until we get back out there tomorrow but the charter guys have arranged someone to look at it when we get to Korcula - so not sure what to do about that! Unfortunately we lost the boathook picking up the buoy as it was one of those that has a handle on the end that just comes off when you use it. The boathook promptly sank in 10 metres of water so we will have to buy a replacement in Korcula - curses! 

We went ashore for a drink when we got here and to buy a few bits and pieces. We might go back later after supper....

Later: We didn't! Tiredess overcame us and we turned in. 

Polace

   

Day eight - Lopud to Slano via Dubrovnik Marina (yet again...)

Just a quick interim post in case last night's entry caused concern. Actually I was quite concerned myself! The wind veered round so that we were pretty much on a lee shore and got steadily stronger - blowing force 6 by morning. We had been forced to anchor further into the bay than was ideal because at the time we did not have control of the engine - and the depth guage was showing 1.7m. When we were briefed on the boat I was told that the depth shown was the actual depth, not the depth under the keel. Since we draw 2 metres we should have been aground. Luckily I already knew they speak with forked tongue because it went down to 0.4 in the channel on the way to the fuel station at the marina and the guys on the pumps told me it was at least 2.5 metres deep there. All the instruments are off on this boat anyhow. The log is 2 knots slow and the compass is much further out than any magnetic deviation could explain. The wind speed guage and the auto pilot joined the GPS in the sick bay last night. Whether this was related to the gearbox control failure I don't know. I can't see why it would be. Our 2005 'Bomi ship' holds the record for most rickety chartered yacht but I'm afraid Sea Bird is zooming up on the rails. It was such a good deal! I should have known - no such thing as a free lunch. Also, everyone knows what Sea Birds do to you given half a chance!  

When we arrived at the unfavoured bay last night we noticed an innocent looking beach restaurant type place with a straw roof. Little did we know that this is the Lopud night club. Herds of steaming chavs were bussed in from hotels just over the hill on other side of the island and they blasted us with trance music (and I really mean blasted) until -wait for it - 4am. In some ways this was good as sleep was out of the question and in our situation we really needed to stay alert. But it was torture. 'Always look on the bright side of life' we sang at the olympics closing ceremony. So, it didn't rain, we were warm, and we got out of there safely. Otherwise the emotions were an uncongenial cocktail of fear, anger and discomfort. 

We set off back here at about 0715 and it was very windy but the sea was moderate. The engineer has been to visit and seems confident of effecting a repair so we may be away before too long. It is sunny and hot and we are on a boat. Can't complain too much!

Later: In fact, while I was writing the above, the engineer returned with a new cable end and fitted it. He was an engineer not an electrician - so shrugged his shoulders when asked about the autopilot or the GPS. I somehow doubt that these are going to get fixed - but we can get back without them. So we had lunch at the marina restaurant, swam in the pool had showers etc - and departed for the third and hopefully final time.

When we emerged under the road bridge the wind had veered so as to be dead on the nose. In a way this is quite handy as we do not have to bother with forecasts about wind direction - we only have to decide where we want to go and that's where the wind will be coming from! However it was a decent 15 to 18 knots so we tacked effectively for a bit - and then another shift in direction enabled us to maintain a course close hauled for our chosen anchorage in a sheltered bay at Slano. This was really our first decent sail of the holiday. I was a bit unkind to Sea Bird earlier - she actually sails very well. The problem is under investment in modern equipment and a lack of basic maintenance. Here it is very peaceful in comparison to last night - no swell, no wind, 10 metres of water and (hopefully) no nightclub!   

heading back to Dubrovnik - fine but windy!

lunch by the pool at the marina

anchorage at Slano

Day seven - Dubrovnik to Lopud

Today the weather is much better - a bit ahead of schedule. Laura and I went for cheeky showers at the marina but we didn't feel guilty as they refused to let us in just because it was a bit windy - classic mooring man jobsworth behaviour. We set off for Cavtat, a town on a horseshoe bay we visited last year on a trip boat. We had lunch at a cool waterside restaurant called The Spinaker and I was determined to go back. We are sitting there now as I write this - with Sea Bird at anchor in the bay. The sea was still quite heavy on the way here - but not as bad as I'd feared. On the way, the shite yellow apology for a GPS finally passed on. All it does now is display horizontal lines on the screen. The charter guys will probably be upset as they introduced it to me rather like a much loved elderly dog that is blind and deaf but nobody can bring themselves to put down. (Caroline - think Frazzle!). I think the constant loss of power every few seconds was too much for it. We have an app for the iPad that acts as a chart plotter so we've purchased the Adriatic charts for it and hopefully that will help us get back.

Last time we were here we experienced the 'on-off' nature of the winds. It's a bit like one of those showers with a dodgy control - freezing, freezing, freezing - whoops, third degree burns. Hopefully we will be able to sail a bit this afternoon. We heading back towards Split via Polace, (on Mljet), Korcula and Hvar.

Later: We did manage to sail a bit before the wind veered to dead on the nose as usual - and then dropped to nothing. We had decided to anchor in a bay on a small island called Lopud - but when we arrived we realised that although it's protected from the prevailing wind it's open to a fairly heavy swell so not very comfortable. We decided to try another bay on Kolocep a couple of miles away but as we tried to up anchor it became obvious that the engine was stuck in reverse. Further inspection revealed that the end of the gear control cable has sheared. We phoned the SOS number and eventually got hold of Josko (for it is he) who advised us to change gear manually by moving the lever on the gearbox through a panel in one of the aft cabins. We have to head back to Dubrovnik (again) and the mechanics at the marina will try to fix it. ("Stuck in reverse? I will try to fix you" He could audition for Coldplay - ha ha that is a good one!) Something tells me there will be a lot of tooth sucking and a saga about the difficulty of obtaining parts. We are bouncing about uncomfortably here and the wind is getting up again. This is not great! 

Later still: I've managed to lash the cable to the lever with some thin rope. The problem is that the brass pin wears away with the action of gear changing (you can see all the brass particles on the picture below) until it wears through the side of the hole for the split pin. Then the split pin falls away and the cable drops off the lever. There is still a thin sliver of brass pin left - and hopefully this will do the job for tomorrow morning - or longer if they don't have the part because we're done with hanging around Dubrovnik Marina! 

anchored off Cavtat

lunch at the Spinaker

gear cable nightmare

Day six - still Dubrovnik

The weather has remained as predicted out at sea - high winds and plunging waves. The rain battered the boat and the wind howled around us for most of the night. We had broken sleep, but at least we were safe in Lazaret anchored opposite the cruise liners and hidden among the local boats. We've been fully expecting someone to turn up with an official looking pass clipped to their clothing, and rush us an exorbitant fee for sitting out the storm, but thankfully, we have been left alone. (That may have been because we closed the blinds and kept the anchor light off last night!)


We decided it would be a good idea to return to the safety of the marina for the night as the weather was predicted to carry on blowing. The girls wanted a shower and we thought we would make use of the marina's shore power, water and clothes washing service. (Everything washed and dried within 2 hours by the Croatian equivalent of a Washing Walla).

Jessie had several attempts at radioing for a berth, but all we could hear was an argument between the marina staff and an Italian crew. We were refused entry along with several other yachts because of the weather - possibly the reason for the argument! The staff gesticulated wildly at us to leave as we entered. So, in defiance, we are currently anchored just outside the marina, swinging on our anchor along with 7 other yachts and two catamarans while the wind continues to howl and the rain pours intermittently.

While we sit anchored more yachts arrive and circle us and the river looking for a safe spot to drop their anchor. I'm glad we got here early and found our spot before the rush. We spoke to an English couple who arrived in full wet weather gear and said it was gusting 35 knots with a 3-5m swell! Despite the wind the temperature here is 21 degrees with the odd burst of sunshine, so although it is inconvenient at least we are not cold. (Laura)

Later: This afternoon we had the usual fun with the dinghy outboard. Having motored into the small boat dock at the marina to visit the laundry and supermarket, it decided that enough was enough. There are few things as frustrating in life as hacking away at a recoil starter on a small outboard when it's quite clear that it's simply NOT going to start. I had left Jessie and Becky at the marina as they were going for a swim in the pool and a shower so I decided to row back to Sea Bird as the wind and current would be on my side. This all went according to plan until a few yards from the boat when suddenly a gust of wind blew me off course and then the oar came out of its rowlock. As a result, I shot past and had to quickly u-turn and try to row back or be swept down river towards the sea. Rowing like Steve Redgrave I was doing a yard a minute! Thankfully Laura was on board and threw me a line before I expired. Rather as in that Fawlty Towers episode when he thrashes the car that would not start - I retrieved the boat toolkit and set about the offending outboard. Surgery without anaesthetic was its just deserts! Having removed the covers, it turned out the wire from the stop button had somehow got wound around the throttle lever rendering it permanently in 'stop' mode. A little re-routing and the problem was solved. No sailing holiday would be complete without a malfunctioning outboard incident!

As I write the rain is pouring down again - and the thunder is crashing overhead. This was forecast - but it still seems pretty dismal. The forecast isn't great for tomorrow either. It's a pity as we are now losing our opportunity to get to some of the places we'd planned to visit.

setting off in the dinghy with the washing

this is not the weather we ordered!

Day five - Dubrovnik

Everything changed today as the weather broke. We had a lazy morning as we got back late from Dubrovnik last night. We used the excellent marina showers and at last found a decent sized supermarket that sold meat. Although we had some rain and some thunder, it still seemed quite calm so we left our berth and set off up the river. The local forecast suggested the wind would be 15mph maximum which was not too alarming. The plan was to go to the anchorage off Lokrum that we'd checked out last night and then visit the city by taking the dinghy into the old town port. Then we were going to go on to Cavtat - a town with a very sheltered natural harbour a few miles further down the coast - for the night.

As we headed under the road bridge at the mouth of the river the wind was beginning to gust at 20 knots. As we got nearer to open sea things began to look alarming. The swell got bigger and bigger and the wind was hitting 25 knots. Given that things were looking ugly and we clearly did not have the correct information I decided not to go out and we headed back into safe waters to anchor. We had some lunch and checked some more sites. We now think we are likely to be stuck here until Saturday. 

This afternoon, after assuring ourselves that the boat was secure, we took the bus into Dubrovnik and did some shopping. We got back to the boat about 1945 and had supper. All is calm at the moment but we are expecting nasty weather overnight - so we are making sure we are fully prepared. Hopefully there will be no repeat of Vis 2005 (described earlier). If the outlook stays the same for tomorrow night we will try to get back into the marina.

ACI Marina at Dubrovnik

Old town port

Day four - Pomena to Dubrovnik

We didn't wake up until about 0830- long days in the open air make you tired - but in a good way. Last night I took Jessie and Becky for a drink in Pomena - but Laura was tired so stayed on board as officer on duty. First thing this morning I went into Pomena in the dinghy to get some fresh bread, taking the remains of Woger who was seriously on the turn and had to be banished. Having retrieved our line ashore from Otok Pomestak, we got away about 0915 on another sunny morning. The wind, although still dead against us, has got up to 8-11 knots and so we began tacking up the Miljetski Kanal, which is about 5 miles wide, so good long tacks. As I mentioned before, unlike the Bavaria we had last time, this boat will sail at 30 degrees off the wind on both tacks so we made reasonable progress. But the wind sometimes dies and then changes direction. We are now motor sailing to keep our speed up. There are a few more yachts about today - looking around I can see half a dozen other sails - though mostly on the horizon. The Solent this is not! 

We need to make sure we are somewhere secure tonight as bad weather is forecast for the next couple of days. Dubrovnik Marina would be perfect but we'll need to crack on if we're going to make it that far. We are all enjoying the last of the sunshine - until the weekend anyway. Hopefully we can spend the less good days doing onshore stuff in Dubrovnik. We really need to find a proper supermarket because there is a limited choice in these quayside mini-markets and our food stocks are low. We are looking forward to returning to Dubrovnik and visiting some of the places we went to last year. No trip boats for us this time - hurrah!

Later: We made good time to Dubrovnik and I decided we would be able to use the anchorage at Otok Lokrum and use the dinghy to reach the old port. But when we got there it was felt that it was a little too far for a dinghy voyage so we headed back to the marina. It was pretty dark when we arrived here but we picked up a mooring without difficulty and took a taxi into the city. We headed straight for food and then had a drink at the Troubadour hard jazz caffe - a favourite from last year. We then went to the bar that you access through a gap in the city walls. It's perched on the cliff with a great view over the ocean. It feels great to be back in Dubrovnik - such a magical city. We will see if the weather tomorrow is as bad as predicted. Either way, we will not mind spending some more time here before we move on. The ACI marina is very posh. There are some massive super rich motor yachts here. We will make full use of the facilities tomorrow to make sure we get our money's worth!

A welcome sight - the city walls of Dubrovnik

Blogging at sea!

Day three - Brna to Pomena

We were up early and took our dinghy into the town in search of fresh bread and bottled water. These we found, so we upped anchor and departed at about 0815. Once again the sea was glassy, and what little wind there was sitting right on our nose. We must be patient - at some point there will be a favourable wind! 

Today we are heading for Pomena - a village on the west coast of Mljet (pronounced Mill-yet) - from where we should be able to get access to the National Park. There are a couple of salt lakes on the western part of the island that are said to be spectacularly beautiful. Given our early start, we should be at Pomena by lunchtime. 

For any that may be wondering, I am not holed up down below tapping on a computer - in fact we don't have one with us. I am sitting at the cockpit table with the ipad and a bluetooth keyboard - keeping an eye ahead and at the instruments. Needless to say, the crew are stretched out on deck in the sun. But, to be fair, there is nothing else to do and, looking around me, there is one other vessel in sight about 3 miles astern and heading away from us. 

Mljet is now taking shape ahead and we have about 45 minutes to run. I'm not sure where we will go tonight - perhaps somewhere on the north coast of Mljet - or, if we don't spend too long in the park, perhaps Otok Jakljan, which will give us a short run to Dubrovnik tomorrow. Laura has just brought up another plate of water melon!

Later: When we arrived at Pomena we anchored for lunch and a swim and then headed round to the town quay. There we had the usual fun with the man in charge. He advised us of 'the rules' which is basically a price list. All we really wanted to do was to fill our water tanks which cost - wait for it - £15. I don't remember it being like this on our previous visits and can only conclude that they are targeting the yachties to raise more revenue. Fair enough I suppose - I must stop moaning on about it! 

Having filled the tanks we anchored in the lee of the island 'Pomestak' which makes the bay a natural harbour. We successfully executed the manoeuvre of dropping the anchor in just the right place and reversing towards the shore of the island - then taking a line from the stern of the boat ashore in the dinghy and securing it round a tree. This evening we have been sitting on deck with our Vodka and Tonics watching other people make a right hash of it and laughing uncharitably. Perhaps the sailing gods will have their revenge and we will fall from grace later on! 

After we had anchored off the island we went back to Pomena in the dinghy and got our tickets to enter the Mljet National Park. The salt lakes were wonderful and worth the effort to get there. The larger lake has an island in it (I'm not sure I've been on an island within an island before) called St Mary's where there is a 12th century monastery. Our tickets included a boat trip out to the monastery. By the time we returned to Sea Bird we decided it was too late to sail on - so we are staying put for the night.

                                                               St Mary's Island

Pomena - day trip boats rafted!

our anchorage off Pomestak

Day two - Vis to Brna

We are on our way to Korcula but once again there is not enough wind to make realistic progress under sail. Obviously it's nice to have clear blue skies and 29 degrees - and the glass-like sea means you can pour the drinks without fear of mishap - but it's not the same when you have to motor. Vis is now retreating into the distance. Our tormentors of last night completed their rout by rushing us £50 for the night's stay. I suppose mooring on the quayside - right on the main drag of a popular island town - is as bad as it gets but I've never paid that for one night's mooring in my life.

At least we got showers and we filled up with water but I think we'll avoid that sort of overnight stop, except perhaps for Hvar, which we plan to visit on our way back north from Dubrovnik. Tonight the plan is to anchor near Brna, on the south coast of the island. We are quite self sufficient as we have ALL the car chargers for everyone's phones, tablets, MP3 players, navigational devices etc and mobile wi-fi courtesy of the hub I bought in NZ and a local SIM card which provides unlimited data for a modest daily charge - hurrah! The boat is not well equipped in the galley department - Granny would be most unimpressed - scarcely a sharp knife in sight. One startling omission is a percolator or indeed anything with which to make coffee. We purchased a funnel, a jug and some filter papers in Vis and have just enjoyed a very acceptable brew. We managed to get some more provisions but still at scary prices. It is generally difficult to find fresh meat - they seem to prefer salami-type stuff. Well, we won't starve! 

We are bowling along at 6 knots towards Velo Dance - the south-western tip of Korcula. We are going to find a cove where we can anchor, have a swim and some lunch.

Later: All went according to plan and we found a nice cove for a swim and lunch. Then we headed eastward down the south coast of the island. Navigation was tricky here with a lot of shoals to avoid - thankfully the GPS did not cut out at a critical moment. We arrived at Brna which looks a nice little town. We found a suitable spot with about 10 metres depth on the edge of the bay and dropped anchor. We were quite close to the shore so I decided to drop a second anchor (known as a kedge) astern of the boat in case the wind changes in the night and we swing around. I had just got all this sorted to my satisfaction when an official launch arrived from the harbour authorities demanding money with menaces - it seems we are just inside their jurisdiction. Only £20 this time - but again - the most I've ever paid to anchor anywhere. Tomorrow night we are going to stop in the middle of nowhere!

departing Vis

lunchtime stop

steering practice

Day one - Rogoznica to Vis

We didn't rush too much this morning as there was still a certain amount of familiarisation with the boat to do. All charter boats are dodgy in some way - and the weak link in this one is the GPS which is a superannuated black and white portable model that screws on to a bracket on the console. It is powered through an ordinary car cigarette lighter type socket which never make a very reliable connection. So it keeps turning itself off and you then have to fiddle with the plug to try to restore the connection and then reboot it. This is a hopeless arrangement! Luckily I have a wrist mounted mini GPS so am relying on that and the charts. 

Our plan for week one is to make for Dubrovnik - and so today we are heading for Vis which is about 30nm away. Sod's law is in action because the course required is 147 degrees and the wind is coming from....147! We tried a bit of tacking to see if this boat points up better than the Bavaria we had last time - and it does - but the wind dropped to 5 knots and we weren't getting anywhere so the engine is running and the autopilot is on and we are making headway. Hopefully the wind will pick up later and with even more luck it might shift direction a bit! 

On our last trip to Vis in 2005 we had terrible weather and our anchor slipped in the middle of the night. We were rudely awakened at 2am by a nasty crunching sound as we collided with another boat. Our electric anchor winch had broken so we had to haul anchor on a 47ft yacht manually - not so good! I do not think we will have that experience this time as the weather is beautiful. 

We had our first swim off the boat this morning - the water is perfect temperature. We bought a massive water melon yesterday (christened Woger for some reason) and that is keeping us going. We didn't stock up much on food yesterday as the marina shop was seriously expensive. Croatia is definitely cashing in on yachting visitors - it is no cheaper than, say, the south of France.

Later: - we had the good fortune we hoped for as the wind backed off to the East and picked up to 10-12 knots so we were able to sail the last 90 minutes or so into Vis. When we arrived we got the usual abuse from the mooring guys on the quay. We approached stern on to the quay at a perfect angle and competely under control - but still they waved their arms and gesticulated as if we'd just sunk half the Croatian fleet. I had to educate the crew that this is par for the course and needs to be ignored. The only way you will actually hit anything is if you allow them to get you flustered. Perhaps it is because you are on the boat and they are on the quayside wearing unfortunate uniforms. Who knows? 

We had a nice dinner overlooking the harbour and went to the supermarket. This was a bit disappointing. We are still short of a few essentials. Perhaps we will have better luck tomorrow.

Ancient GPS

Crew hard at work

It begins...

We had an uneventful flight to Split which is the way I like them. After last year's debacle on the inappropriately named 'Whizz Air' the predictable tedium of this one was most welcome. When we arrived we took a taxi to our hotel in the walled old town of Trogir. It is fun to stay in such places like this right in the heart of things but the downside is the noise! After dinner, in a restaurant recommended by Tomasz, our very friendly and helpful proprietor we went to St John's Square to enjoy the live music and Jessie earned some witty quips from the singer by whooping enthusiastically.

Our night was punctuated by a hot water boiler that periodically made a noise like wildlife being strangled and then there were some strange 'goings on' at 4.30 in the morning. So we were a bit jaded at breakfast back in the square where the band had been replaced by an accapella male voice quartet. We had some croissants that definitely could not speak French but nobody really minded.

The good Tomasz then took us to the Kremik Marina to meet up with our Elan 344 'Sea Bird' that is to be home for the next couple of weeks. As we got to the Marina early the guys rushed through the formalities and we actually managed to get away by about 5pm and headed for an anchorage not too far away at Rogoznica. It's magical to be here at anchor with the stars shining brightly in the sky. The guys at the charter company think the weather will be kind to us so we are all set for a great holiday.

Rogoznica