Up the Istrian Headland

5^th August. we rigged the main sail and left Marina Dalmacija, Sukosan heading north to the island of Pag.

We sailed past Zadar, great view from the sea,

But the rest of the coast line however was rather uninspiring, not that could dampen our mood. Fabulous sail, force 4 NW, albeit not in our direction, so we tacked up the  Zadarski  Canal (not in the sense as us Brits know it, the narrowest point was 2 miles apart) from midday to 17:00 when we decided to put in for a night on anchor on Otok Vir. It was great to sail again after weeks of little or no wind. Even a parascender rose up in the air to reflect our mood.

We also passed the 8000 Nautical mile mark sailed in Seaclusion.We even raced a 49 ft. sailboat, which was on engine and going the direct route. We finished 2^nd but only by 5 mins!

On anchor  after a great day and David saw a wasp, argggh!!!

Despite it being Victory Day and we could hear a band playing from the shore which sounded like Steve Wrights’ in the afternoon pub singer or a strangled Elvis, we had a peaceful night on anchor and left in the morning, and decided to give Pag a miss and head straight for the island of Rab. Aside from there being lots of seagulls resting on the sea, which were rather confusing at first as it looked like white caps without sufficient wind, and also made it rather hard to spot the lobster pots. The view on our approach was amazing.

Otok Rab

We dropped our pick in a peaceful bay outside the town and chilled for the evening on board.

The following morning we got the engine on the dingy and motored to the nearest and supposed marina called Pallet. I will let the pics do the talking.

From there we walked along the narrow promenade weaving our way through all the holiday makers seeking the best sun tanning spot, to get to the quaint old town and had a wander and nose around the shops. David treated me to a stunning summer dress, when I wear it I will post a pic, but it needs the only pair of stilettos heels I have on board, which means a marina before I try to pierce the dingy with them!

I also decided to climb the old spire to get the picture of the whole town from up high. Little did I know that the stairs where more like ladders, had I known I wouldn’t have worn a short skirt! To get to the very top meant climbing out of a hole about a foot and half square, at the top of the ladder, thankfully I made it up without anyone being behind me. I wasn’t quite so lucky on the way down, and had a chuckle with a German lady with a sense of humour who said hopefully I wasn’t wearing a thong or indeed nothing, no comment on that front, fortunately the chappy waiting below was very discreet!.

View from the top!

After my exertions we went in search for some fondente ice cream and we were in luck. After a quick stop to Konzum supermarket on the way home, we wandered back to the boat to chill in the 38 degree heat! A swim was definitely in order.

We stayed a second night on anchor in Rab before departing for the Island of Krk.

Before getting to the old town we ventured into an inland lake via a tiny and very shallow (less than a metre under our keel at times) to have a nose, stop for a swim and have some lunch, we chuckled at the originally named yacht anchored next to us…

After lunch, we motored ( yes you guessed it, no wind for the entire day) around the corner to Krk Town and dropped our pick in a small cove next to the harbour, not that we got away with the fees, we were charged 120 kunas, about £12.00 for the privilege. After payment we were warned that it was the start of a 3 day fiesta and there was likely to be loud live music until at least 2.30 am…… funny they didn’t say anything before we paid, but then there wasn’t a nearby alternative, not at 7 in the evening.

The heavens, thankfully and I mean thankfully opened for a while, washing the boat and us for a bit, and dropping the heat to a pleasurable temperature.. Not that it lasted very long, we are not ones to complain about the heat, certainly not after last year, but we were not expecting this level. Funny, last year we didn’t have enough warm clothes, so brought more, this time they are still packed away, destined not to be worn for a while.

We also watched a large day cruise boat come in and try to anchor, despite the boat moored alongside being a little too close for comfort. Ouch, glad it wasnt us!

Sunset after the heavens had opened.

I would like to say it was a peaceful night, but it wasn’t, not until 3.30am….. we did go ashore to watch the band at about 10pm, and lasted until 1.30am.. first band was great, a bit like Apache, for those of you in Spain, the second band… hmmmm, very Croatian, really a bunch of ageing hippies who probably made it “big” in Croatia after the war, but the music wasn’t to our taste, not helped by our total lack of understanding of the Croatian language!

Still we got up at 8 and  ventured in for a wander around the town in daylight hours. Like so many we have seen, very old, very quaint, lots of little shops selling their Croatian nicnacs. All very pretty.

Krk  is said to have been inhabited since the dawn of time, and the town is built on  the foundations of an old Roman town called Curicum, where the sea battle between Ceasar and Pompey was fought in 49BC. Subsequently and from 1118 to 1480 it was ruled by local feudal lords, the last of which being Ivan Frankopan who was mad, made excessive tax demands, murdered refugees fleeing from the Turks until Venice came to the peoples’ aid in return for control over Krk and as such the island has a somewhat Venetian influence ( not the canal type though !)

Krk

Next stop, for our 12^th Anniversary (9^th August for those that don’t know) and the first one we have been on our own for in 4 years,  we are heading for a place called Opatija described as the “Nice of the Adriatic”,  a thriving holiday town on the  Kverna Riveria (mainland and the most northern point of our journey this summer). The majority of buildings being built in the opulent and grandiose Viennese style fashionable  at the end of the 19^th Century. Before this time, it was just a sleepy fishing village  grown up around an old abbey, but all this changed in  the 19th century  by the construction of a railway line linking it to Vienna, and bringing it within the reach of the European Aristocracy!

Sadly the sails were out for all of an hour of the 25 mile trip, then back to the engine. We also nearly came a cropper on a lobster pot, due mainly to me distracting David by some not so stylish dancing to Chicane. At the last minute I spotted it and David took the necessary avoidance tactics and we motored past with inches to spare.

We then dropped the pick just outside the marina for a quick dip and to lower the dingy and engine and then we headed into our mooring.

Having tried to catch up on some of last night’s lost sleep, we got up, showered and actually dressed up smart for our anniversary. Smart also entailed getting the travel iron and ironing board out for the first time this trip. The marina had recommended a beautiful restaurant in one of the old Viennese villas called Villa Ariston and it didn’t disappoint, it was beautiful, romantic, wonderful food and not expensive. We walked there and back along a really old promenade built into the rock face. It was one of best anniversaries for a few years.

However back to reality in the morning, we then spent the first 3 hours servicing our electric toilet, grateful that the problem we had noticed the day before was down to a broken impeller, and not a blockage, after last year’s mess!

We then grabbed a couple of hours  meandering amongst the old villas and hotels in the town of Opatija itself, very different from everywhere else we have been, old huge villas instead of old fortresses, with a holiday atmosphere.

Opatiji

We had both been hankering after some unhealthy food and decided we would have a cheeseburger for a change. The pic below best describes it, although the burger itself, whilst about 20cms in diameter,  was wafer thin. Tasted good, although I couldn’t eat it all.

After a quick stop at a supermarket we made our way back to the boat and left the comfort of a marina and air-conditioning behind us to point southwards for the first time this trip and motored down the east coast of the Istrian headland.

Wonderful scenery, mountainous, dotted with small villages and more “villas” (more like castles) up high.

We were more than a little concerned at the start however when our heading and course over ground were more than 50 degrees apart, wondered whether our auto pilot was having a small fit, when we clocked that there was in fact a 5.4 knot current pushing us towards land that it was trying to compensate for.

We finally stopped for the night on anchor in a tiny bay called Sveti Marina, (no marina in site mind you, just a concrete jetty). We dropped the pick in the middle  and were set up for a peaceful night when all of a sudden a westerly 20 knot wind blew us and our anchor chain completely round our anchor and bringing the boat too close for comfort to the jetty. All hands to the deck we quickly started the engine, lifted the anchor which came up a complete mess with the chain knotted around the anchor. As David struggled to free it on his own, I tried to keep the boat into wind ready to reposition it further away from the jetty. We finally came to rest again at 19:45 and waited for the wind to settle down.

After a surprisingly  good night on anchor we sailed and motored, whatever the wind allowed us to do, to the bottom tip of the Penninsula and ventured through a narrow passage into Medulin Bay where we rested up for a couple of days (I was a little under the weather and David did a marvellous job  of looking after me.

Energy replenished  we started northwards again up to Pula, the plan was to drop anchor outside the marina but on arrival, that clearly was not an option given it was right by the commercial docks!. Not the most pleasant mooring , not helped by an Italian out of the Sopranos in his motorboat needing lots of assistance as he tried to moor next to us! Fortunately no damage was incurred, but then that is what fenders and people are for!  We then went about exploring the town with its Roman Forum, Amphitheatre and old cobbled streets which were fabulous, well worth the stop. I will let the pics do the talking, including the view after dark.

Pula

After a wonderful air conditioned night, and a supermarket visit, we departed on the 14th August for Rovinj, before turning southwards again. It was a leisurely sail in 6 knots of wind behind us. We didn’t quite summon up the energy to hoist the spinnaker although a couple of yachts around us did. one however has us completely flummoxed, having a supposed made flap in his sail… he was only doing 1.5knots, need we say more!. we are now settled in the bay by Rovinj, with the intention of exploring tomorrow before the weather turns, and on that note, this is what our forecast looks like for the next few days (dark blue is rain!)… not that we can complain, it has been perfect so far, just thought those of you in the UK might appreciate it a bit, given your current weather conditions.