10/12/24 Korcula, Korcula Otok, Croatia

Crystal clear sunny morning, even the water was crystal clear. I think the rain has put a lot of sediment in the water so that we are not getting the famously clear Croatian waters. We gathered up a few shopping bags and headed to the grocer to stock up. First stop was the Studenac by the marina, mostly dry goods. Next the Konzum for vegetables and a few other odds and ends for the pantry. With about 3 weeks left on the boat we did not want to get carried away. We stowed the groceries and had lunch. Our charter boat neighbors had all moved on to their next destination leaving us alone on the quay.

Delving back into the old town we systematically walked all of the narrow streets to see what we could discover. A number of shops and restaurants appeared to have shuttered for the season, but most remained open. There was a colorful shop that caught our eye and lured us in. They sold only crayons, not the Crayola of your youth, but uniquely shaped crayons in a rainbow of colors and unique packaging. The crayon is shaped like a flat tear drop giving you options for lines and shading. The women running the shop turned out to be the owner. She was schooled in art and industrial design and educated in Zagreb, Croatia. This was her creation, she had been growing her business since 2012. She was very smart in her design sense and marketing; it was very interesting to listen to her story about how the business began and how she has adapted and improved over the years. I could not resist buying a set of her colorful crayons. I am sure that I have a niece or nephew who will not be happy when I gift this to one of their toddlers.

On the way out of the old town there was a couple on the grand stairs posing for wending pictures, a spectacular wedding dress and a handsome couple. We found our way back to the pizza place we had been to yesterday and we picked up our bottle of olive oil. It was in an unlabeled bottle, but it tasted good, gramma did well. I caught a glimpse of the harbor and saw that a huge yacht had pulled in and side tied on the quay backed up to my starboard side. I was not excited about the position in terms of our privacy, but not much I could do about it. Perhaps they were here for the wedding.

Water this clear in a marin

Our new and obnoxious neighbor

In the evening after dinner, we heard the music and singing start up again so we went to investigate. We could see the crowd at the lounge on shore, it was not hard to find the source of the music. It turned out this was the wedding party; they were singing traditional Croatian songs. Downstairs the restaurant was very elegantly set for a huge wedding dinner complete with a stage and a band.

10/13/24 Korcula, Korcula Otok, Croatia

We had only seen the crew on the big yacht, a Sunseeker 70 something, 2 men and a woman dutifully keeping the boat ship shape. We were surprised to hear Lynard Skynard at full blast starting at about 2 in the morning. The sound system on that yacht was something to envy, and for a while I was digging the Skynard Concert, but then the thump thump music came on and I was not happy. I got up to investigate, but did not see a raging party. I crawled back to bed and hoped for the best. After an hour they did tone it down to a dull roar and we could hear a bit of chatter. The music played at a low level until about 0600 when the church bells were ringing. The bells probably woke someone up and they saw the music was still on.

One of the marina staff came to the yacht in the morning looking to speak with someone. It turned out they had not checked in yet and the marina seemed to be unhappy about that. A crew member went to the office with his papers and returned to have an animated conversation with the person I thought was the captain. They shoved off quickly leaving me to believe that there was some reprimand from the marina.

When we went to the marina office to check out, we expressed our displeasure and asked if the owner of the yacht was on board. Surprising, she offered up that the owner was on board, but by himself with only the crew. She shared that the crew bemoaned that the Owner simply drank all day and into the night. The marina was apologetic to us, and we moved on.

It was a glorious sunny day, we were only moving a couple miles east to anchor in an area where there were 6 wineries within 2.5 km. We motored the short distance and anchored in 7 m over sand in front of the beautiful waterfront homes. The day was warm, a swim was in order. It was Sunday so suzette made a pizza crust, but it was not rising. Plan B, let the dough rise for 24 hours like the Italians and have a Greek salad instead. We enjoyed a Zinfandel form the Peljesac Peninsula, very dark in color and full of flavor, but more tannins than I would expect from a Zin.

Korcula as we departed

Lots of tiny island in the channel

Islands in the channel

As the sun set, we were treated to an array of pinks and purples in the sky. I don’t think my photos did it justice, we know now why we saw so many pinks and purples in the art gallery yesterday. The night was so calm and quiet it was almost eerie, but welcome.

Beautiful colors for sunset

10/14/24 Ovula Jarvis, Korcula Otok, Croatia

Up with the blindingly bright sunshine for a day of wine tasting. A few chores in the morning and a swim to kick start the day then brunch to build a little base before heading to the winery. We motored the dinghy into the small town of Lumbarda and tied to what appeared to be a public dock. There was an older gentleman staring at us from his driveway making me think we were on his dock, but Suzette flashed a smile and a greeting and he was all smiles, I guess we can park here.

We passed through the small town and noticed a commemorative stone plaque on the wall of their tiny school house. What caught our eye was that it said Oakland, CA 1931. Using the google translator it appeared to be a recognition of a teacher who taught at this school, but we did not get the connection to California. Moving on we climbed the hill to the first of 4 wineries on my list. I had the hours wrong; they were not open yet. We moved on to the next winery, Bire, and they were open. A young man seated us on the patio and shared their offering.

Commemorative plaque at the schoolhouse

Sculture in Lumbarda

Canopy of grape vines

They produce 50,000 bottles a year

Tasting room

Captain

Admiral, and don't you forget it!

 W ordered a glass of Grk and a glass of Plavac Mali wine. The name Grk is from the word Greek, the grapes were brought from Greece and grow only in this small region of Croatia. The plants bear only female flowers so they must be planted with the Plavac mixed in, 2 rows Grk and 1 row Plavac. This is a white wine, and the Greeks have been making it for 4000 years, so we are told. Now I have to say that when we were in Greece, we did not find any Greek wine that we liked. This Grk was no exception, the wine tasted very green and did nothing for the pallet. The Plavac Mali, blue small is the translation and describes the grape, it was much more enjoyable, but then we are red wine drinkers. The color was dense red, the wine lingering on the pallet and the tannins that demanded food. This grape is a descendant of Zinfandel and another lesser known local grape. An English couple from Yorkshire sat down at the table next to us, we enjoyed some friendly conversation, travels, wine and a little politics. They were quick to express their concern over the US politics and the possibility of a Trump presidency.

We engaged with the young man who served us and learned that his family owned the winery, his dad ran the company, he was the business side of things, his one brother was studying viticulture and the other brother was studying enology. He also owned one of the small hotels by the shore that his wife runs. We learned a lot from him about life here in Croatia.

We resisted the temptation to buy any wine and walked back to the first winery, but they were not open…on to the next place. Overlooking the harbor was a much smaller and simple tasting room, Lovric Winery. The owner was seated at a table on the patio, he graciously greeted us and introduced himself. We ordered a Posip and Plavac Mali to share. The Posip was a white from grapes that were brought in from the Peninsula, very refreshing and full of flavors, unlike the Grk. His Plavac was very interesting, it was smokey and reminded me of a Barbarra we tasted in Lodi, CA a long time ago. The owner was a very proud Croatian and had a few stories to tell. He clarified the reference to Oakland on the plaque in town. There was a club of sorts that dispersed from this Isand and took their grapes to Oakland, New Zealand and Australia. They had all been schooled here in the little schoolhouse and erected the plaque in honor of the teacher who had taught them. Why the Oakland in 1931 reference I am still unclear. We bought a couple bottles of the Plavac and went on our way. The sun was getting low, we called it a day and motored back to the boat.

Guard Cat watching over the knomes

Grape vines in the foreground, Cemetery in the background

Lovric Winery View

Another quiet night on the hook.

10/15/24 Ovula Jarvis, Korcula Otok, Croatia

It was time for trip planning as this beautiful weather would not last foreever. With a couple days of wind and rain predicted for the weekend we thought we might tuck in on the east side of the peninsula. We also spent some time think about our next trip and how best to go from Montenegro to Greece.

We fired up our Rodney Yee DVD and did a session of yoga. It’s a little tricky for me when it comes to the poses with hands in the air, I had to be strategically positioned under one of the hatches. The Eagle pose is challenging enough on stable ground, the gently rocking boat made it extra difficult. A little lunch and off to the grocery store for a few essentials.

Returning to the boat we marveled at how this anchorage was more like being on a lake, swimmers, kayaks, SUPs, fishing boats and activities along the shore. The shore was tastefully lined with homes and small apartments. We were entertained by a couple boys who were being schooled by grampa on how to handle a jet ski and how to water ski. I was surprised to see a Ski Nautic come out from under a cover at the dock.

Yes, another perfect day in what may be our most favored anchorage yet. It will be hard to leave here.

10/16/24 Ovula Jarvis, Korcula Otok, Croatia

Up with the sun as the departing fishing boats gently rocked us awake. We really did not want to leave our little paradise, but the weather was changing. We got underway about 1000 and proceeded west in the Korcula channel with about 2 knots of breeze on our nose and a knot of current in our favor. As we cleared the west end of the  Peljesac Peninsula the wind picked up from the NE to 10-12 knots. We unfurled the sails and enjoyed a broad reach west eventually doubling back for a close reach east back to the west end. Sailing simply for the sake of sailing.

Grapevines at the water's edge on the Peninsula

As we approached the west end, we furled the sails and motored between a couple shallow reefs into our anchorage. There were a couple boats anchored on the west side; we slid in with them. Hook down in about 8m on sand. After lunch we enjoyed a swim and anchor check, buried! The water was a balmy 23.5 degrees C, but not very clear. We warmed up in the sun then went for a long dinghy ride to explore the shore. The little town of Loviste occupied the south side of the cove. To the east there were several campgrounds an apartments along the rocky beach. Tucked in the NE and NW corners were a couple restaurants. This is probably a hoping spot in the summer, but quiet now.

Sundowners are getting earlier and earlier, sunset 1810. We made a huge batch of Mac and Cheese, Italian taleggio cheese, pasta shells, truffle oil, truffle salt and sundried tomatoes. A couple more boats arrived and anchored for a very quiet night. It did rain at some point in the night.

10/17/24 Uvula Luka, Peljesac Peninsula, Croatia

Awaken by the sound of rain on the decks, it did not last long, but it did leave the Saharan red dust on the decks, a first for the time in Croatia. The sky stayed gray all day, but it did not deter us from a long walk up into the hills and down along the shore to enjoy the Flora and Fauna.

The local alarm clock, several roosters

Lots of citrus trees here

Lots of new construction

Back in the town we made a quick stop at the grocery store for a few things including some local wine, Dinggac. The name does not sound appetizing, but we will reserve judgement for now.

Feeling a bit guilty for being so lazy we did some cleaning and a couple small chores before retiring below. As we cleaned, we could see hundreds of what looked like Garpike, long slender fish, they seemed to be gathering with the expectation the something edible might fall off the boat. They were undeterred in spite of an unidentified fish that seems to be intent on eating one of them. This was good for entertainment, the unidentified fish had a yellow tail, like tuna, blue pectoral fins, greenish vertical stripes looked edible, but I have no fishing gear.

Garpike

The unidentified fish

We secured the boat for a night of wind and rain.

10/18/24 Uvula Luka, Peljesac Peninsula, Croatia

It did rain and the wind blew hard from the east. It did not keep me from sleeping, though there were a couple position checks in the night. With gray rainy day we were reconciled to the fact that we would be confined down below for the day. It was an excellent opportunity to get on the computer and do some end-of-year tax planning and investment analysis. Again, it was handy having Star Link making the internet more readily available.

After lunch we watched a movie, Good Fellows. This is a long movie, just what we needed on a rainy day. Sundowners, but no sun. The skies did clear long enough to reveal the waning full moon.