Looking for the Bread Woman in Croatia

We said goodbye to Pete and Claire on Thursday 14th Aug.  They were catching an early morning flight to Geneva.  The rest of us took it easy for the day getting ready for the overnight shot across the Adriatic to Croatia.  We had about 125 NM to cover.  The winds were a bit on the heavy side 25kts to 30kts but from the north west which suited us although could be a bit tight on our bow.

We left Brindisi around 1600 in a light 12kt westerly breeze making a course slightly west of north.   It was a beautiful evening but once it got dark the wind increased to above 30kts and the seas took on a really nasty short chop which gave us all a gruelling night sail.  By morning we had Croatia in sight and by mid morning  we were anchored in the small bay off the town of Cavtat just south of Dubrovnik.  Cavtat is a very pretty small town built on a peninsula of land such that there are bays on either side of it.  It is a bit of a tourist place but still retains some charm with the old building and the cafes lining the quayside and green trees all around.  The place is obviously quite old but all the buildings which are granite stone with red tile roofs are in good condition.  We have been reading about the damage caused by the Serbian incursion in the 90’s but little evidence of that remains today that we can see.

Cavtat waterfront

Croatia is a member of the EU but we still had to clear in with customs, police etc.  This was something we had not done since arriving in Spain.  There was a customs dock which we had to come onto but which was quite busy.  We stayed at anchor waiting for it to quieten down but eventually had to get off anchor and “queue” with everyone else.  Once safely moored we cleared in with little hassle but when we came to move off the berth we found that the next yacht, a huge motor boat, had lain there anchor over ours.  So then we had to wait for them to leave to untangle our anchor chain which was picked up with their anchor.

Our chain on someone else's anchor

It’s interesting being in Croatia as we know nothing of the language and, even written, its difficult to pronounce as they have a definite over use of consonants.  I mean, Crkvice - how are you supposed to pronounce that?  Still it’s all good fun and luckily most of the people speak excellent english.

We stayed at anchor off Cavtat for a few nights recovering from the night sail.  There are some huge mega yachts moving around this part of the world. The quayside at Cavtat is not that big but these monster boats manage to tie up and dwarf any other vessels alongside.  When we arrived at anchor there was a nice boat called Karima stern on to the quay.  It was a fair size.  The fact that it had a helicopter on the back deck gives you some idea - maybe 40m to 50m long.  It looked pretty impressive.  Then a boat called Tango pulled in which was 77m long and appeared to be about as high.  Suddenly Karima was lost in the shadows.

Dulcinea being passed by super yacht Okto

We spent the few days here catching up on correspondence and school as best we could and also planning the next couple of weeks as we have some friends and relatives joining us.  On Sunday we headed north past Dubrovnik and into the islands, the plan being to take it easy until the first of our guests arrive in one week.  We sailed to the long island of Mljet stopping first at the south end at a bay called Saplunara and now at the north end in a national park called Polace.  Polace is beautiful.  Its a bay enclosed by four islands which makes it very calm.  The islands are all heavily wooded and there is a small town nearby.  In fact Mljet was the island that Odysesus reputedly stopped at and was held captive on for seven years by Calypso.

Cavtat - the other side

There are a number of boats anchored in the bay and off the islands the huge superyachts moor end on with lines to the shore.  We will go ashore tomorrow for a look around.

We are starting to think about the end of the trip now.  Only about 3 months to go.  It’s a bit daunting.  Plan is to get to Athens by the middle of November.  A delivery crew will then take the yacht to Palma to give us some time to visit family and get back to Australia in time for Christmas.  The boat will stay in Palma to be sold.  There are a few details to be ironed out between now and then and on top of that we need to complete the kids’ school before we leave - 3 tests to go!