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Jochen's Junior Crew brought Geriatri'x' safely to Simuni on the Croatian island of Pag. Despite all predictions of doom we take over the boat in perfect condition. They took good care of her. I hope all our maneuvers are as boring as those from the Junior Crew!
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The island of Pag looks very Saudi-like from the mainland - barren and dry. But on the seaside it is in fact quite nice. We like it so much that we will stay another day, not least because the wind is rather stiff considering it's our first day.
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Teresa complains about the pain in her shoulder, and Rainer shows her his favorite exercise. Seven years of living in Saudi has definitely left its mark.
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Tilo is not very impressed by the activities.
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In the afternoon we are hit by a heavy thunderstorm
and subsequently the weather forecast talks about the Bora. For that reason
we skip our plans concerning a suckling pig at the restaurant and stay on the
boat. But "Teresa-Potatoes" make a good dinner as well. Rainer checks
the ropes again, but we don't sleep very soundly during the night.
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It is pretty hazy in the morning but calm. We reach Mala Rava. There used to be a restaurant on the shore, but now the village is almost deserted.
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Sitting around moping is not our thing. As soon as the rain clears, Teresa takes over the rudder and leads us out of the little harbor.
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Good decision, because later in the day the wind picks up and drives the dark clouds away. We sail to the island of Zut in bright sunshine. Even with the increased wind our berthing is "boring".
It takes ten minutes to walk up to the highest point of the island and enjoy a magnificent view over the Kornati National Park. More than 150 mostly uninhabited small islands belong to this national park.
Although the sun is out, it is rather cool and
we wear our fleece constantly. At dinner we have to sit inside the restaurant
and it feels like being at the North Sea coast. Once again we realize dining
out on fish in Croatia is VERY expensive!
The Bora will come when the mainland is as clearly visible as this. Even though
we fasten the boat once more there is again little sleep for us this night,
especially with your neighbor having a charter boat and not giving a damn
whether it keeps smashing into the landing bridge or not.
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On our way to the island of Iz the wind blows from all four corners and in almost every possible strength.
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Iz is a wonderful little island with a small village. The temperature is rising, which makes the day even more pleasant. The people from the village harvest their grapes at the moment. Despite the lack of water the crop seems good in quantity and quality.
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If the wind is right and
the temperature pleasant it can be a lot of fun to be dragged through
the water behind the boat.
 
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There are some nice bays at the northern end of the island of Dugi Otok.
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It takes some negotiation,
but in the end the lighthouse guard allows us to climb the tower.
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After 173 steps, the view is magnificent.
Close by lies the wreck of an Italian freighter
that ran aground in this area some 20 years ago.
From the Orsor Bridge it is not too far to our
favorite bay, Unije Maracol. The water is as beautiful as ever and also pleasantly
warm.
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This time the "Quiet Kvarner" is very quiet, and no blowing from us will help. We use our motor to reach Pula.
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In the market hall of Pula we stock up on food. Teresa buys a wonderful fish and goes ahead with the cooking, however, she neglects to mention that she plans to smoke the fish. A flame shoots up and the resulting smoke impairs visibility in the salon almost completely, but nobody shows up with a fire extinguisher. And in the end the fish tastes marvelous!
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This sky doesn't look very promising. We can just make it to the marina of Rovinj before a heavy thunderstorm crashes overhead. After the first heavy downpour, it turns into a steady rain.
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The Limski Fjord is off
limits to private boats. As a result, the restaurants, which are famous
for their oysters, can only be reached with tour boats. Teresa and Rainer
were quite disappointed. We are only a few hundred meters offshore,
but can do nothing but admire the gorgeous landscape. This time we are
able to stay overnight at Vrsar and the sunset is as beautiful as ever.
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We leave Vrsar under a blue sky and with
a decent wind - this is sometimes called "coffeehouse sailing".
Rainer even prepares a hot lunch while sailing. All of sudden it is
very dark in the far distance. We just manage to take down the sails,
and the clouds roll above us and then it starts. The instruments show
30-40 knots and sometimes even 50! We need about two hours for the three
sea miles to Umag battling waves as high as three meters.
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Berthing is only possible outside the marina
on the custom jetty, but we are happy to be in the harbor at all. This
only goes to show how fast things can change. And there was no warning
at all in the weather forecast!
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Soon the sun is out again,
but look at this black sky!
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And shortly after the sky looks like that!
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The next day: innocent blue sky and sunshine - as if nothing happened! Now the weather station gives out repeated gale warnings for later in the afternoon but we reach our marina Punta Gabbiani without the slightest hint of a gale. |
