Croatia and Italy, August19 - September 20, 2004

Notes from our final month of summer sailing

Uvala St Ivan (August 18)

Celebrated Bill's birthday in this very popular bay on the inlet to Vela Luka, in good shelter. Had an unpleasant visit after bedtime by a man in a rowing boat who drunkenly claimed to be an official. Told him off!

Uvala Vira (August 19)

This small bay on the north side of Hvar was a bit rolly.

Drvenik Veli (August 20-26)

Still a favorite island. This time around we had the wonderful experience of picking figs with our artist friend Heljä. And the terrible experience of a Tramontana wind blowing into the bay, setting many boats dragging and knocking Olivia into the concrete quay. We managed without damages thanks to many helping hands. Mats needed a dentist so we took an early morning ferry to Trogir where he was immediately admitted to a good dentist. Very reasonable prices for dental care in Croatia, recommended!

Skradin (August 27)

Returned to Konoba Vidrovaca for Lindas birthday. Again, an excellent meal.

Drvenik (Aug 28-29)

Back again, to pick up friends Pär & Anita arriving from Sweden to join us for a couple of weeks. Lovely calm days and a final great peka meal at Konoba Tramontana.

Skradin (Aug 29-30)

Olivia sails this route blindfolded by now! We tied up at a Vidrovaca buoy for two nights, visited the falls with our friends (they took the opportunity of swimming in the falls too!) and - you must have guessed! - enjoyed a meal at the Konoba.

Vodice (Aug 31)

Stopped briefly for provisioning in Vodice. All markets, internet cafe and another dentist within short walking distance from marina. We anchored just off fuel station, where the nice attendants will let us leave the dinghy.

Kaprije (Aug 31 - Sept 2)

Revisited the bay of Kaprije town where we anchored. Enjoyed walks on the hills and stone walls.

Ugljan (Sept 2-4)

Pretty deep bay with nice water. A friendly local drove us in his car to town, had coffee with us and showed us the markets. Lovely!

Molat: Podgarbe (Sept 4-7)

Spent a few days swimming in the beautifully clear water of this favorite bay. Fishing, barbeques, reading and crossword puzzles filled our days. Vacation time!

Silba (August 7)

Nice bay, but with pretty poor holding, hard to find the few sandy spots. Long but pretty walk into town. Checked up ferry to mainland for our friends who needed to go back to Sweden, but as the wind changed, we decided to return to Molat, where there is also a ferry to Zadar.

Molat: Podgarbe (Sept 8-10)

More relaxing before sending friends of with the ferry. Other friends arrived on boats; Ulf and Sara (met in Sevilla) arrived with Italian friend Luca on his boat and Possessed joined us too.

Dugi Otok: Luka Telascica (Sept 10-12)

Sailed with the two other boats back to Dugi Otok, anchored in same spot as earlier and enjoyed meal at the restaurant at the head of the bay. Luca spent all Saturday morning making phone calls to find us a winter mooring in northern Italy. Thanks!

Molat: Jazi (Sept 12-13)

Anchored in quiet bay north of town. Very shallow, no other boats. Remains of WW II Italian concentration camp ashore.

Istria:Poltana:(Sept 13-15)

Sheltered bay with hideous hotel construction dominating. Very popular = crowded. Long walk to shops. We left in time just before westerly winds blew straight into the bay and had a short but incredibly rolly trip to Pula:

Pula (Sept 15-18)

Stayed put a few days in this very sheltered bay while hard winds blew. The marina was helpful getting an ambulance for an anchored American yacht.

Rovinj (Sept 18-19)

Had a couple of amazing days in the sun, just relaxing. Anchored in south bay. Had several meals at the highly recommended Ronhill Maestral sailing club restaurant. Cleared out with harbor authorities and were asked "Why! This is the best time to be here!" We could agree, but felt the need to arrange a winter port before returning to Sweden for a few weeks in October. Left at night and motored the 50 Nm across the Adriatic, amongst hundreds of fishing boats sporting arena type spotlights.

Chioggia, Italy (Sept 20 - ?)

Arrived early in the morning and moored up at the Sporting Club (after taking a couple of wrong turns, there are plenty of basins in town.) We were greeted warmly by ormeggiatori and locals and after a few days managed to negotiate a good price for a few months. We checked out several marinas in or near Venice. Lio Grando seemed pretty awful and St Elena would not be able to take us in before December 1 due to reconstruction of the pontoons.