Dubrovnik & The Elaphite Islands

Sunday 5^th, So with Steven safely aboard and managing to get him up before mid-day, we took the bus into Dubrovnik, it is the equivalent of £1.50 wherever you get on or go to. So Dubrovnik, very very hot inside the old city, as the walls are all very light stone and reflect the sun , no signs of damage from the war years ago and lot and lots of tourists…  Chantal decided to go and have a walk along the top of the city walls for the views and Steven & I went for beers, well it was hot. The old city is full of character and lots of people selling tours to do the sights of Game of Thrones, although we managed to find them all by ourselves. I have to own up to the fact that we found an Irish bar and caught the British Grand Prix on their TV, oh and well done Lewis, great drive.

We then took a walk up to the cable car station and took it up to the top of the hill with great views over Dubrovnik and the outlying islands, apart from one man who we couldn’t outdo for the view, as you will see below, but good luck to him.

Dubrovnik

From the top of the cable car:

Mon 6th – We had a rigger round to the boat to check out why our mainsail was difficult to pull out and back in again, the answer was that the bearings within the mechanism, were either shot, or in one case, not there at all, the answer was to order more from the UK via DHL and have him fit them later in the week when they arrived. It turned out to be a fairly unconstructive day as we went backwards and forwards to Gruz  trying to get the wifi sorted, needless to say the first time we tried, we didn’t have a passport, ( but I won’t drop her in it ), so a round trip was necessary. So knowing that we needed to come back to Dubrovnik again in a few days time, we decided to stock the boat up with provisions and then get out to sea.

Tuesday 7^th  we left for the Elaphite islands, motoring all the way under a Force 0 (of so different from the Italian coast) and moored of Kolocep, some 7 miles from Dubrovnik for the night. sweet little bay, full of character although we  didn’t venture off the boat apart from a swim or two!

Kolocep Island

Wednesday 8^th,  we ventured a little further north  to the Island of Lopud, again under engine in a Force 0 and once again dropped anchor. we are so not used to these flat seas and peaceful nights on anchor, and are loving it! this time, the boys decided to lower the dingy and take it for its first run of the season. thankfully they didn’t run out of fuel as seemed to be a regular thing for us last year!

Otok Lopud

Then on the 9^th  we returned to Dubrovnik to take delivery of part and get fixed. Ever so luckily as the fierce wind renown in these parts as the Bora swoopped in with a vengeance overnight, bringing with it torrential rain at 2am, so we were very glad to be tucked up safe and sound in a marina. the following morning, Denis returned, took our reefing mechanism out of the mast and disappeared for for a couple of hours to fit the new bearings.  We, and the marina as they were fully booked that night, were happy to see his return. Suffice to say we are back to being able to pull the main sail in and out by hand. 2pm, we motored back out of the river on our way to the island of Mijet, sun shining, and the wind blowing enough to sail!