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The plan is to give the kids a few days to
get used to water and boat. When Peer commented the roundtrip with the zodiac
with "I love the sea!" we feel this is not necessary.
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Pretty soon we are on our way. While Anja felt
a bit of seasickness (but only for a short while) this was no subject for
Jana and Peer. While on sea they wear the life jackets all the time, so
we don't have to worry too much about falling in.
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To come south as far as possible we decide
to go on during the night. With Rainer and Jochen we have two experienced
sailors on board and we can take shifts. Such a trip through the night has
got a very special atmosphere. You have to be alert all the time and keep
a lookout to identify other boats by their lights. Jana is fascinated and
has to be on deck in the darkness as well - till she falls asleep. At sunrise
we pass Rovinj and when the kids wake up we are in the middle of the Great
Kvarner.
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| Now it is not too far to the little bay we became fond of. Late in the morning we arrive at Unije Maracol. Though there are at least double the buoys than last time "ours" is still empty. It is close to the shore, maybe that's why nobody likes it. The kids jump in the water almost immediately and only come out to warm up a bit. |
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| Jochen activates the zodiac and pulls the kids through the water, they love it! Later in the afternoon Jana swims to the other side of the bay app. 300m - quite good for a little girl of eight years! |
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| Next day our two kids make friend with the kids from another boat. Now we have either four children on board or none. The four have so much fun together and play so nicely - the adults are almost ignored by them - time to relax. We stay another day. |
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| But then we go for a sail again. We head for Mali Losinj. The kids are very happy because the parents of their new friends had the same idea and we meet at the marina. This marina is right next to the industrial harbor and far away from everything. But for an ice cream you can walk quite far and the crews of "Iris" and "Geriatrix" take the long walk to the city for ice cream and supper. The adults also get along quite well and so we meet again next day in the Maracol Bay. |
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| Here it is just ideal for the kids. They play for hours at the shore and in the water and jump non-stop from the boat. They all have got mask and snorkel and Jana's shout of success shout can be heard all over the bay. |
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| To make the crossing over the Great Kvarner easier for the kids we plan to start in the middle of the night. Because of a thunderstorm we only leave early in the morning, but our two boats are still the only ones on tour.The wind does its best and we get along rather fast. |
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| But when he turns and comes right from behind the course is very unpleasant. Our seamen decide to motor the rest to the Soline bay. And with our special "rear wheel drive" we are there in a few hours. |
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| The only one suffering is yours truly. To keep the kids in a good mood I had to sing all the way and now I have got a hoarse voice. You would think these kids would be tired after hours of kicking the boat and jumping in the water when anchored. Each day they go to bed later and sleep longer the next day. |
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| The "Emmas" here are so cheeky, they even sit on our boat! |
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From here it is not very far to the Brijuni Islands, our next destination. There are lots of sea urchins in the water, to go in you have to wear shoes. Now Peer succeeds also in skin diving and is able to watch the underwater world. We make a roundtrip across the island with a small electric car. The hotel at Brijuni serves an excellent beef tartar. People who are fond of this should come here. |
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| We have to abandon the idea to go directly to Italy because of another thunderstorm. We spend the night at the city mole in Porec. After a walk through the city and of course some ice cream Peer decides it is time to wash to boat and does this like an expert. |
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| The last leg back to Punta Gabbiani takes long;
the wind doesn't like us today. But we have a lot of books on board and
I have to read them all to the kids until I have a dry mouth. The channel through the lagoon is almost cleared and Jochen does a perfect job at the helm back to our berth. |
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The young ones
as well as the old ones enjoyed this trip.
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