Sea Bird Croatia 2012 : 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!