9/28/24 Uvala Vlaska, Hvar, Croatia
Up early after a quiet night. The sky had turned gray, rain
predicted later in the day accompanied by a 180 flip in the wind direction.
With the change in wind comes a change in anchorage. The sun did come out
making for another beautiful day, but the wind was predicted to stay N for a
while. We gathered up our ground tackle and headed across the channel to the
south side of Brac. The wind was blowing up to 30 so it was a motorboat ride to
Uvala Lucice, Brac.
As soon as we were inside the headland we were protected from the wind and sea. We scouted out the 4 fingers of the bay and settled on the eastern most cove. We were becoming old hands at running the lines ashore, we quickly settled into our new cove. Launching the dinghy, it was time to fully explore Lucice Bay. This was definitely the nicest neighborhood we have seen, big, beautiful homes with fabulous landscaped yards and waterside cabanas. Note that the landscaping included a number of stone walls to create terraces and skillfully layed stone stairs from one level to the next down to the water. If the house was not natural stone it was poured in place concrete, most with terracotta roofs. At the water’s edge many had small skiffs, one had a beautiful 60’ yawl tied up.
Back on the boat it was a little rollie from a swell sneaking in, but tolerable. Or so we thought! We were in bed early for what would be our first round of sleep as the boat roll increased in magnitude. At 2300 I was up adjusting shorelines in an effort to get our nose into the swell. We considered putting out a stern anchor, but quickly realized that our stern anchor rode was otherwise being used as our shore lines; it could be done, but with a huge level of effort on a very dark night. Securing a couple slapping lines we went below.
We were wide awake so we did what most people do, we fired up the generator, did a load of laundry, made water and posted my blog. At 0200 we shut everything down and went to sleep on the settee so we could sleep athwartship, round two of sleep.
9/29/24 Uvala Lucice, Brac, Croatia
I heard the swim platform being lowered and
opened one eye to see that it was 0600, first light. The admiral had the dinghy
in the water and was ready to gather the ground tackle and leave. Guess I better
get dressed.
Underway quickly we went shopping for s new spot and checked
the latest weather. The cove at the far west end was packed with boats, but
they seemed to be rolling as well. We landed in the middle cove on a single
hook. The water was calm, the sun was warm, it was time for round three of
sleep.
Once up we rowed ashore and went for a long walk. The wind
was supposed to gust to 30, but the sun was shing and the water was calm, the
boat was safe. We walked past fields of olive trees, a beautiful vegetable
garden, some amazing houses and beautiful views down to the water. At one of
the olive groves we were greeted by a pony that was desperate for some
attention. I ran along the fence, and he ran with me like a puppy dog. As we
crested the last hill a beautiful old town unfolded in the valley in front of
us, Milna. There was a church with a beautiful bell tower that dominated the skyline.
Lots of shops lined the quay that was bustling with boats and crews. There were
many tourist boats and cafes filled with on lookers. We walked the length of
the quay to take it all in.
We stopped at a café for a smoothie and enjoyed watching the boats and people go by. Lots of English being spoken around us, American and British. We stopped at a bakery that had a great selection of bread, we had eaten our last crumb of bread and our last tortilla, bread was critical. Satisfied with our visit we made our way up the hill, played with the pony and found our way back down to our dinghy that we had left tied to a rock. Our cove now had several boats, a private yacht with a French flag and two chartered monohulls.
The water remains warm and swimming feels so good after a long hike. The water was pretty stirred up, making for limited visibility, there were not many fish to see and just a sandy bottom. The sun felt good as we lay in the cockpit and watched more charter boats come in. They all wanted to be in front of us and the French boat, but the French boat kept waiving them off. One boat was dropping on our anchor, we had to fire a shot across his bow. Eventually everyone settled in behind us for a quiet night.
Dinner was gnocchi in a red sauce with roasted cherry
tomatoes and red and yellow peppers. The fresh bread we bought was delicious as
we mopped up the last of the tomato sauce. No room for desert and an early bed
after last night’s sleepless night.
9/30/24 Uvala Lucice, Brac, Croatia
A beautiful sunny day after about 9 hours of blissful sleep!
There were people in the water swimming already. My cabin thermometer read 57,
fall is here, and it feels good. It did not take long for the sun to warm
things up as we relaxed on board and watched the change over of boats in the
cove. Everyone seemed to be having a hard time getting their anchor to stick,
at least they were downwind from me.
A group pulled in from Vancouver as it turned out. We rowed
over and struck up a conversation. They invited us on board for a beer which I
gladly accepted. The Croatians must be hard core about their beer, the cans are
half again as big as ours. As always we talked boats, they (Neal, Helene, Gordy
and ?), have Jeanneaus back in
Vancouver. They had been in Croatia for over a week and visited many of the
same places as we have visited. Always great to meet new sailing friends.
The wind picked up a bit overnight, but generally it was a
calm night.
10/1/24 Uvala Lucice, Brac, Croatia
The day started out sunny and we were underway by about 1000
heading north to split. The wind was only 2-3 knots from the east as we motored
across the channel and into Split Harbor on the southside of Split. It was a
beautiful harbor front and bustling harbor full of ferries, day boats and
yachts. We crossed to the fuel dock and waited in line, two boats ahead of us.
Suzette did a masterful job docking the boat and we filled up with 300 liters
of fuel at 1.33 euros/ltr! This is the cheapest fuel since Gibraltar at 1.17
pounds/ltr. Talking to a local about the fuel prices they told me the
government is subsidizing the fuel because they can no longer get it from
Russia. I feel better about paying my tourist tax now.
We circled out of the harbor and west around the peninsula that Split occupies. North of split is a fabulous bay, Split to the south and beautiful, majestic mountains to the north. We anchored with about 20 other boats in 5m on sand and mud, great holding. Once the boat was settled, we loaded up the dinghy with the wagon and grocery bags for a much needed grocery run. Two stops and a paltry 50 euros later we were feeling replete with food. The prices here seem to be very reasonable, and the quality of the food is good.
There was a sailing festival this weekend with lots of racing going on. We watched the Melges fleet, some 25 boats, sail back into the marina at the end of the day. On shore we could see a soccer game unfolding in the field at the waters edge. We were anchored near the rowing club, they were out practicing. It was a quiet night at anchor with a light breeze from the SE and calm.
10/2/24 Split, Croatia
We set an alarm for 0245 so we could watch the debate…yawn…
Back to bed for a couple more hours of shut eye. Our nap did not last long as
the rowing team was out at first light and the coach was not shy about using
the bull horn.
We mustered by about 1000 and headed into Old Town Split to
be tourists for the day. This is truly an old city with many of the ancient
structures intact. The Diocletian’s Palace dates back to 300 AD, you truly get
emersed in the spaces and feel like you are transported back to 300 AD.
Evidently Game of Thrones filmed here and there is a tour dedicated to the
filming locations complete with a couple souvenir shops.
We wanted to test out the Croatian pizza and found a great little patio tucked into the alley way under a grapevine trellis. The pizza was awesome, high marks for Croatian pizza, thin crust, great sauce and cheese topped with arugula and cherry tomatoes. The Limone beer hit the spot as well. Walked the narrow streets and took in the various monuments and statues but felt woefully uneducated in Croation history. We will need to do homework.
The sky was clouding, and the air was getting cool, must be
time to head back to the boat. The wind blue pretty strong overnight and the
rained started around 2200, but the sea was calm, we were comfortable.
10/3/24 Split, Croatia
It rained all day, not hard, but enough to discourage any
outdoor activity. I flipped on the Star Link and worked on travel reservations
for the end of our trip. Last trip I waited to long and struggled to get
descent flights and seats. The end of this trip is a little complicated. We are
returning to Barcelona where Suzette has a doctor’s appointment to revisit her
eye. You will recall that 18 months ago she had a detached retina repaired at
IMO in Barcelona, they did great work. As inevitably happens she developed a cataract
and had to have it removed at Kaiser in CA. The surgery did not go well, she
has struggled with the vision in her right eye ever since. Another procedure
was suggested at Kaiser, but she was not feeling confident in the diagnoses.
She wanted to return to IMO for a second opinion and procedures as necessary. We
have an appointment on November 13 at IMO, Barcelona.
We will leave the boat in Montenegro for the winter which
means we fly out of Montenegro or Dubrovnik. The flights are very limited in
November, so we elected to take a flight on Nov 8 to Barcelona. What do we do
with the 5 days prior to her appointment…take the train to Madrid and shop for
clothes, more specifically a dress for the SYC Commodore’s Ball in January and
always more shoes. After the appointment the Doctor recommended remaining in
Barcelona for a week for follow ups as needed. If all goes well Suzette will
have better vision, she will look beautiful at the Ball, and we will be home
for Thanksgiving! It took some work, but everything is booked including
apartments in both cities.
The rain did not deter the Melges fleet, they raced in wet, calm conditions. There were other types of boats racing, but I did not recognize the type. The rain finally let up around 2000 and all was calm…for a while. Delicious Paella for dinner!
10/4/24 Split, Croatia
Up at 0500 with high wind as predicted, but no rain, thunder
or lightening. It appears that it passed to the south of us. A little more
sleep and all was settled by 0830. We headed back into town to learn more about
Split and Croatia. We took the tour of the Diocletian’s Palace and learned a
lot about this regions ancient history, Turks attacking and taking slaves, the Ottoman’s
attacking to take more land and on into very recent history where the region
was broken into so many countries. Also interesting was the famous Croatian
writer Marco Marulic from the 15th century. An academic of philosophy
and credited with coining the term psychology. He was prolific in his writings
in the renaissance age. A copy of his book on the Protestant religion was found
among Henry VIII things with notes in the margins and underlines in the section
on what makes a good wife.
We walked through the residential areas to see better how the locals live, not a wealthy area, but vibrant and happy. Having covered a lot of the city we felt like we now had a better feel for Split. It will be interesting to see the contrast with Dubrovnik. On the way home we picked up a couple items for our artichoke on pasta dish planned for the evening. I picked up what I thought was a bottle of rum, but turned out to be a Croatian Cognac, very tasty as a night cap with chocolate.
At midnight we were awakened by heavy rain and thunder, but it passed quickly, and the night was calm.
9/5/24 Split, Croatia
Our new wake up time seems to be 7 or even 830, probably the
result of being rousted in the night. The day was predicted to be rainy with
thunder and lightning, but it looked pretty tame for the morning as we looked at
a clear sky. We decided to hike up to the observation tower out on the
peninsula while it was cool and clear. There must have been 1000 ancient steps
to get to the observation area at the peak, but worth the climb. From there it
was a rough rock path along the ridge to a very cool looking observation tower.
The tower only opened 4 weeks ago, and it was free to climb (or take an
elevator) to the observation deck. The view of the Islands, harbor below and
the mountains on the mainland were fabulous. A rainbow and cumulus clouds made
it even more spectacular and ominous. The wind was increasing, and the dark
clouds were coming in, so we made our way back down the hill.
As we rowed back to the boat, we could hear the thunder and see the rain coming. I rowed hard and we made it back onboard just ahead of the down pour. We do have an outboard, but we are so close to the dock it seems silly to not row. Around us boats were coming in, but I realized they were charter boats being staged by the charter company for lack of use. I am guessing they want them off the docks so they can rent out the moorings to visitors. It also may be the first sign that the season is coming to an end.
On and off rain had us tinkering below and doing a couple maintenance chores. Leftovers for dinner and preparation to depart tomorrow were the order of the evening. The forecast looked good for the next few days.
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