Menus come in at least 4 languages (thank goodness we’re close to Brittain!) But sometimes things get interpreted in a most interesting way. We went for breakfast and there was a menu item called “Hemendecks” and nothing else – no language break out. I asked the waitress and she looked at me like I was crazy…then said it fast a couple of times…try it…has something to do with pigs and chickens and a breakfast item.
Service…well, actually, there isn’t much. We’ve learned to not have expectations. I think most people like to just sit…and sit…and talk…and sit…and drink coffee (or beer)…and sit and talk.
Anchoring – in many bays/harbours here one has to pay for anchoring. Yes…anchoring! Not just using a mooring ball, which makes sense to have to pay for. We’re getting used to it but still find this a bit over the top. We’ve learned from locals that most Croatians on the coast (it’s different in big cities like Zagreb), want to make enough money in the summer to not work the rest of the year, hence paying for anchoring and pretty high prices on fish and meat (pizza and pasta are very reasonable though…yay for us!).
Parking – the people of Croatia park…ANYWHERE! I mean on the sidewalk, on the garden area between the sidewalk and the road, in the wrong direction, on the meridian, on the road blocking the cars parked off the road AND the traffic. It’s like, hey, I need to go the bank, I’ll just drive up to the door, park and go in. Haven’t seen anyone give out tickets yet…
Helmets – there are lots of scooters and motorcycles and 70 percent of riders don’t wear helmets at all, 20 percent toss on a helmet and don’t do it up, straps dangling (we love that one!)…and about 10 percent (likely tourists) actually wear a helmet. We saw a scooter, with “dad” driving and his two kids riding one in back and one in front of him, no helmets, no shoes, no shirts…nice.
And of course…Banana Hamocks and Nudity. It’s EVERYWHERE! Trying to convince Ross and Matt to don a hammock for a photo op – no success yet. An incident of note, we have a plastic ball we play volleyball with on the deck (and whoever lets it go overboard has to jump off and retrieve it) which went AWOL unbeknownst to us. Kids left it on deck…go figure? So I hear a whistle and look up…a rather large man in his dinghy is driving up to the stern, ball in hand, wearing nothing but his Ray Bans (should have been Dirty Dogs!). A big smiley thank you and a nod and smile back and off he went, butt crack and all.
And that’s a wrap!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
A Day in the Life
So…what is a day like here? A typical day starts by 7:45 am because that’s when the marine weather forecast is broadcast on VHF. Matt and I are usually up to listen and then enjoy some quiet time. For Ross and Jessie, the day starts anywhere from 9 am to 11 am – Ross being the last and is most often dragged out of bed for breakfast. He’s a grumpy old sod until food is ingested and then he becomes normal.
A morning swim and “Joy Bath” takes place shortly after breakfast, although Jessie and I use proper shampoo. This is an ocean bath and wash up finalized with a cold fresh water shower off the back of the boat.
KP duty is assigned by rotating days with one person responsible for breakfast and lunch dishes and two assigned to dinner (making it and cleaning up). One gets a day off and or offers “floater support”. There is of course the consequence of dishes…language on the boat was getting a bit grim, so a new rule arrived. For each swear word you get a “tick” and after 5 ticks…you’re on dinner dishes. So far double duty for Matt and Ross has done it once. Jessie and I sit at 3 ticks each. This spurns creativity and so things like “Cockfosters!” and “Balderdash” and “Nicompoopity” have become commonplace.
Depending on how far we want to go that day, we haul anchor and get going but usually we take it easy and depart between 11 am and 1 pm. Then sail to the next destination, referring to charts and pilot books constantly. We may go to a quiet anchorage and swim and enjoy nature or head to a town to explore and experience the history and culture (and provision things we need). Our shortest day was to remain in one place because we liked it and we’d made friends with another family who stayed, and our longest day trip has been 48 nautical miles. But the sailing (or motoring) is part of the fun! We often slow the boat down to 2 – 5 kts and toss a long line out the back and jump off the boat to catch the line (kind of like fishing and you’re the bait) then haul yourself in…and we do this MANY times.
Once we find a place we either anchor, grab a mooring ball, or tie up stern to a dock or waterfront seawall. Cocktail hour (with or without cocktails but sadly mostly with) around 5 pm and dinner around 8 pm – most people even eat later than that! Dishes are done, the kids do their journal, then a game of cards and/or some reading out loud, maybe a radio drama listened to. We’re about ¾ the way through the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and we’re all enjoying it immensely! (And learning what it was like to be a part of the German Occupation during the war). School hasn’t officially started yet but both Ross and Jessie have each done an oral and written report which were presented last night – Ross on Tides Around the World and Jessie did Winds of the Mediterranean. Very interesting and useful under the current circumstances.
A morning swim and “Joy Bath” takes place shortly after breakfast, although Jessie and I use proper shampoo. This is an ocean bath and wash up finalized with a cold fresh water shower off the back of the boat.
KP duty is assigned by rotating days with one person responsible for breakfast and lunch dishes and two assigned to dinner (making it and cleaning up). One gets a day off and or offers “floater support”. There is of course the consequence of dishes…language on the boat was getting a bit grim, so a new rule arrived. For each swear word you get a “tick” and after 5 ticks…you’re on dinner dishes. So far double duty for Matt and Ross has done it once. Jessie and I sit at 3 ticks each. This spurns creativity and so things like “Cockfosters!” and “Balderdash” and “Nicompoopity” have become commonplace.
Depending on how far we want to go that day, we haul anchor and get going but usually we take it easy and depart between 11 am and 1 pm. Then sail to the next destination, referring to charts and pilot books constantly. We may go to a quiet anchorage and swim and enjoy nature or head to a town to explore and experience the history and culture (and provision things we need). Our shortest day was to remain in one place because we liked it and we’d made friends with another family who stayed, and our longest day trip has been 48 nautical miles. But the sailing (or motoring) is part of the fun! We often slow the boat down to 2 – 5 kts and toss a long line out the back and jump off the boat to catch the line (kind of like fishing and you’re the bait) then haul yourself in…and we do this MANY times.Once we find a place we either anchor, grab a mooring ball, or tie up stern to a dock or waterfront seawall. Cocktail hour (with or without cocktails but sadly mostly with) around 5 pm and dinner around 8 pm – most people even eat later than that! Dishes are done, the kids do their journal, then a game of cards and/or some reading out loud, maybe a radio drama listened to. We’re about ¾ the way through the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and we’re all enjoying it immensely! (And learning what it was like to be a part of the German Occupation during the war). School hasn’t officially started yet but both Ross and Jessie have each done an oral and written report which were presented last night – Ross on Tides Around the World and Jessie did Winds of the Mediterranean. Very interesting and useful under the current circumstances.
And off to bed around 11 pm.
And that’s a day in the life…
And that’s a day in the life…
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Photo Essay of the First Half of July
Making rock walls appear to be a time honoured passtime of Croatians
Ross soaking up the information from his computer.
Everybody takes a turn driving .... Jessie being the captain of the Gemini
The intrepid voyagers escaping from the sun
The Cliffs at Dugi Otok
Ross looking into the sunset at Kornati anchorage
Jessie mugging for the camera
The water here is unbelievably clear
Marina looking great on the beach at Sakarun
Sunset at Dugi Otok
The education happens impromptu looking at a 1 cylinder diesel from the 1950's
Driving in the Croatian Islands can be dangerous.
Who wouldn't want to kiss this beauty?
Ross looking at the Zadar coastline.
Matt getting a spa treatment from Jessie. Ross wants a red-beard, Jessie a blonde.
Heights can be deceiving from a distance ... check out the next couple of pictures
Jessie being "Mr. Napkin-head"
Matt after Jessie's spa treatment.
Marina looking very relaxed indeed.
A rock-scape at Piskera ... it looks like the moon.
Gemini at dock at Piskera
Marina modelling a wrap given to her by Gillian Akins.
The girls having fun on the dock.
Ross going "horizontal"
Jessie leaping off the bow
The kids can jump ... having a ball at Primosten.
Another beautiful sunset at Primosten.Tuesday, July 20, 2010
May All Telecom Executives Experience Purgatory for a Period of Time
Did I tell you that T-Mobile sucks!!! Their service is …. Wait a minute …. There is no service! To connect to the Internet you need to do a very complex 4-part process ,,, and of course the messages are in Croatian. There are 2 ways to connect to the Internet, basically $5 per day or $0.50 per megabyte. Unfortunately for me, they default to the $0.50 per megabyte and if you don’t follow the instructions exactly … you use a whole bunch of credit up. The $100 of credits I have bought should have lasted 20 days but I’ve used them up in 4 – did I mention the directions are in Croatian?
Some of the service is using GPRS Edge – aka S-L-O-W, some is on HSPA so the performance is great. Sometimes it works perfectly, sometimes it takes forever to connect. Basically all I want to do is give them money … every time I connect to the Internet charge me for a day I don’t care --- but $30 for downloading my email because I didn’t get the sequence right (oh and by the way the only way to tell is to query how much is remaining in your account – which BTW costs you money to do).
So Dear Lord … if you were to answer my prayers …. You would make every Telecom executive (excepting of course my friends at TELUS) in the world spend a month in Purgatory getting their cellphone/internet stick/WiFi Hotspot to work within a limited budget – while following convoluted instructions in different languages and calling callcentres that 1) don’t answer 2) don’t understand the questions let alone the answers; 3) really only want you to get off the call asap so they can get their callers-per-hour metric higher.
I’m out
Some of the service is using GPRS Edge – aka S-L-O-W, some is on HSPA so the performance is great. Sometimes it works perfectly, sometimes it takes forever to connect. Basically all I want to do is give them money … every time I connect to the Internet charge me for a day I don’t care --- but $30 for downloading my email because I didn’t get the sequence right (oh and by the way the only way to tell is to query how much is remaining in your account – which BTW costs you money to do).
So Dear Lord … if you were to answer my prayers …. You would make every Telecom executive (excepting of course my friends at TELUS) in the world spend a month in Purgatory getting their cellphone/internet stick/WiFi Hotspot to work within a limited budget – while following convoluted instructions in different languages and calling callcentres that 1) don’t answer 2) don’t understand the questions let alone the answers; 3) really only want you to get off the call asap so they can get their callers-per-hour metric higher.
I’m out
Beautiful Beaches, New Friends
Out of Dugi Otok we turned north to visit a beach called Sakarun. There is not a lot of sand in Croatia but we finally found some at Sakarun. We anchored out in 7 meters of water and took the dinghy ashore and spent a good part of the day on the beach. Fortunately there is also a bar there for refreshing ice-cold Heinekens! After a day of fun on the beach, we mounted up and sailed the 2 hours north to the harbor of Veli Rat. It turns out that Veli means large and Meli means small so there are loads of Veli and Meli harbours all over Croatia.
In BC we’re accustomed to being in deep water all the time (except for the occasions where we hit rocks like at Worlecombe Island) but there are pretty good sized patches of water here in Croatia that are fairly shallow – like less than 5 meters. We went through a pass in Veli Rat into the inner harbor that had (no lie) about 2 meters of clearance on either side of the catamaran. The depth sounder was reading 1.2 meters deep as we went through. We anchored in 1,5 meters of water (Catamarans don’t draw much) and had about a 30:1 anchor scope out with our 30 meters of anchor chain out.
The kids didn’t like the look of the water so less swimming than normal occurred. Marina and I decided to get up early and head back to the beach. The kids woke up just as we were anchoring. We said we’d play on the beach until noon and then head to Zadar for provisions and fixing the $#@%#^ T-Mobile internet stick (again). On the beach we were playing volleyball in the water and a couple of kids went by looking like they wanted to play. Their dad (Pavle) came by and everyone joined in. The kids Jan and Hannah and mom Milke played for a half hour and then we headed off to Zadar. But…it seemed too far so we altered plans and went to Molat.
On Molat there is a beautiful little fishing village and harbor with a historic clock tower and monument for participation in WW2. The plaque named about 25 people who had died – most in their early 20s and what was sad was many had the same last name. It must have been devastating to such a small village. On a lighter side, after a walk and a swim we decided to eat out at a small pizza café, 6 bar type tables outside a camper looking kitchen. What was fun was that in the hour we spent there (it takes a LONG time to get your order taken and even longer to get the bill…they’ll let you sit forever…you have to ask for it), we had people at tables around us who were British, French, Italian and Croatian (and Canadian of course) – and the boat beside us had an Austrian couple in it and Germans as well at the dock. Very international! A peaceful night in Molat and then up early to get to Zadar.
Docking in Zadar was interesting. I did about the best docking job ever, then the dock hand pulled the mooring rope up into our prop and loop-loop-loop … it was wrapped around our starboard prop. So … in classic ‘get out of Dodge’ fashion, he said, “looks like you wrapped your prop … Don’t lose the connection to our mooring … Bye” and he ran away. So I had the pleasant job of diving in the harbor (kind of gross) and unwrapping 2 very loose loops around the prop … took less than a minute but frustrating none-the-less. Lesson learned …. Make sure the on-board crew manage the ropes .. not the drunken helpers on shore.
Anyway … guess who else was there …. Our new friends Pavle, Milke , Hannah and Jan. Pavle is a pilot with Croatia Airlines and has a couple of boats – one in charter and one for personal use. He’s a very interesting guy who has lived in the USA, Russia and Croatia, speaks several languages and is very engaging and entrepreneurial. Jessie and Ross have been entertaining their 8 year old twins and we’ve had a coffee and evening drinks together.
Yesterday we decided to go through to either the island of IZ or Dugi Otok through a narrows between Pasman island and Ugljan island. According to the pilot book the clearance is 16.5M. According to our book on the specs of the Lagoon 38 Catamaran, our mast is 17.5M high. But I remember reading that a new bridge was installed with a higher clearance. So … we thought we’d try it out. Going through we ran into Pavle and family again. We tied up beside them for a swim, and then thought we’d go for it. He has a Bavaria 38 and has passed through many times. Our rigs looked the same size so we thought “no problem”. Marina was driving and the bridge looked very high. We were steaming along at 6.5 knots about to go under and the bridge started looking lower and. As we passed under the bridge our mast cleared by maybe a foot or so … maybe less. Talk about pucker power. The thought of hitting a bridge with the mast at that speed … it would have been spectacular – ripping the mast out of the deck, tearing off one or more of the chainplates, and we’d probably go aground …. Lesson – if you’re not sure …. Go slow … or better yet, don’t do it.
Now that (hopefully) most of our navigational errors are behind us, we’re reminded about how careful you must be sometimes in order to be safe – and of how many things there are on a boat that can go wrong. It has given us new perspective on the spares we should carry, how we should manage dock-hands and that we should never make assumptions …. And if you aren’t sure, don’t do it.
We’re also buoyed by the nice people we’ve met like Pavle and family, a guy I was sitting beside at a coffee shop that we had a great conversation with, and a young guy named Stefan from Toronto who is a professional football (soccer) player trying to get on a team in either Russia or Italy. I also talked to a fellow for a half hour in a coffee bar in Zadar who was from Toronto and now lives in Zadar. It's nice to have a conversation with people who have a full grasp of your language plus are interested in how you are reacting to their country.
In BC we’re accustomed to being in deep water all the time (except for the occasions where we hit rocks like at Worlecombe Island) but there are pretty good sized patches of water here in Croatia that are fairly shallow – like less than 5 meters. We went through a pass in Veli Rat into the inner harbor that had (no lie) about 2 meters of clearance on either side of the catamaran. The depth sounder was reading 1.2 meters deep as we went through. We anchored in 1,5 meters of water (Catamarans don’t draw much) and had about a 30:1 anchor scope out with our 30 meters of anchor chain out.
The kids didn’t like the look of the water so less swimming than normal occurred. Marina and I decided to get up early and head back to the beach. The kids woke up just as we were anchoring. We said we’d play on the beach until noon and then head to Zadar for provisions and fixing the $#@%#^ T-Mobile internet stick (again). On the beach we were playing volleyball in the water and a couple of kids went by looking like they wanted to play. Their dad (Pavle) came by and everyone joined in. The kids Jan and Hannah and mom Milke played for a half hour and then we headed off to Zadar. But…it seemed too far so we altered plans and went to Molat.
On Molat there is a beautiful little fishing village and harbor with a historic clock tower and monument for participation in WW2. The plaque named about 25 people who had died – most in their early 20s and what was sad was many had the same last name. It must have been devastating to such a small village. On a lighter side, after a walk and a swim we decided to eat out at a small pizza café, 6 bar type tables outside a camper looking kitchen. What was fun was that in the hour we spent there (it takes a LONG time to get your order taken and even longer to get the bill…they’ll let you sit forever…you have to ask for it), we had people at tables around us who were British, French, Italian and Croatian (and Canadian of course) – and the boat beside us had an Austrian couple in it and Germans as well at the dock. Very international! A peaceful night in Molat and then up early to get to Zadar.
Docking in Zadar was interesting. I did about the best docking job ever, then the dock hand pulled the mooring rope up into our prop and loop-loop-loop … it was wrapped around our starboard prop. So … in classic ‘get out of Dodge’ fashion, he said, “looks like you wrapped your prop … Don’t lose the connection to our mooring … Bye” and he ran away. So I had the pleasant job of diving in the harbor (kind of gross) and unwrapping 2 very loose loops around the prop … took less than a minute but frustrating none-the-less. Lesson learned …. Make sure the on-board crew manage the ropes .. not the drunken helpers on shore.
Now that (hopefully) most of our navigational errors are behind us, we’re reminded about how careful you must be sometimes in order to be safe – and of how many things there are on a boat that can go wrong. It has given us new perspective on the spares we should carry, how we should manage dock-hands and that we should never make assumptions …. And if you aren’t sure, don’t do it.
We’re also buoyed by the nice people we’ve met like Pavle and family, a guy I was sitting beside at a coffee shop that we had a great conversation with, and a young guy named Stefan from Toronto who is a professional football (soccer) player trying to get on a team in either Russia or Italy. I also talked to a fellow for a half hour in a coffee bar in Zadar who was from Toronto and now lives in Zadar. It's nice to have a conversation with people who have a full grasp of your language plus are interested in how you are reacting to their country.
Monday, July 19, 2010
More Lemons, More Lemonade
More Lemons, More Lemonade
We still don’t have Tara out of Kremik but we’re out cruising on the Catamaran. The boat “Gemini” was repossessed from its previous owner and wasn’t particularly well cared for … so there have been a few maintenance issues but …. hey, anyone who has a boat has maintenance issues right? So far we’ve had an oil hose break spewing oil into the port engine bilge …. Back to Kremik to get a new one fitted 2 days later, and sundry stuff we’ve had to deal with. Today there was no water coming out of the starboard engine exhaust … very bad situation because the engine will overheat … and diesel engines are particularly sensitive to overheating. This is nothing new to me, I’ve overheated the diesel engine on Rhett the boat at home … to the result of a complete top-end rebuild. We discovered the problem and not wanting to squander the 6 hours and 50 miles we made north I got the toolkit out, figured out that the belt for the raw water pump was loose and fixed it.
So, since the last entry we’ve been to Murter Island, back to Primosten and Kremik for repairs, and then 50 miles north to Dugi Otok and tonight we’re in the National Park at Kornati. The scenery here is very barren. It must be a desert with almost no rain, no clouds. Even Marina is hiding from the sun (well not really but it makes for drama). National Parks in Canada are basically sanctuaries for nature. Here in Croatia they remind us of Provincial Parks like the one in Montague … it’s nice and all, but in reality it’s there for people to use and use it they do. Kornati is one of those parks, something like 1000 islands in the chain. We were at Dugi Otok today and while the kids were jumping in the water off the boat, 4 tour boats hit the harbor and a thousand people arrived for the day. We went to the Salt Lake called Mir and floated around swimming and chucking a tennis ball to each other. Around 1pm we made our way back to the restaurant for pizza and Ross had spaghetti Milanese (for the 50th time this month). We went back to Gemini and untied from the mooring ball. Our initial plan was to head north but given the late time of departure we decided to head south. We went into a small town but the moorings were all taken so we decided to motor back to another harbor immediately west. Tonight we only have one neighbor – a 60 foot powerboat that at home would be big but here is a nice family boat.
Tomorrow we’re heading for some fresh bread and provisions, then continuing North. Our plan is to do our touring of the north part of Croatia on the Cat so when we get Tara we put the pedal down and get to Venice in 4 or 5 days. Then we’ll make a B-line to southern Croatia, Montenegro and (avoiding Albania because of the unexploded under-water mines from WW2) into Greece via Southern Italy.
The kids are getting along really well – except when they don’t. They’ve both embraced the bathing costume of the European locals … and we’re treated to a free-show most every night. The kids also love to jump off the boat when we’re sailing and then grab onto a rope we trail behind the boat and pull themselves back aboard. There’s an added challenge on the Catamaran … jumping between the amas (cat-speak for hulls). While it sounds like no problem, it’s quite un-nerving. The boat is travelling at 3 or 4 knots so that’s about as fast as you can swim at top speed. Jumping between the hulls you come up and the boat is over top of you. I keep thinking I’ll get hit by something … though so far no problem. The kids are jumping off everything ... the bow, the top of the sun-protector, the sides of the boat, the bows, the sterns, the boom, and the dinghy.
The water here is clean, clear and warm. Croatia is really worth a visit. It’s like the Caribbean in colour, the water is a little cooler … say 22 degrees, plus the villages are small and clean and as a bonus you can drink the tap water. Modern Croatia was formed in the mid 1990s out of the former Yugoslavia. You can see the effects of the former socialist republic bureaucratic roots (not so unlike BC where we can change the Government but the bureaucrats are basically unchanged) and how long it will take true capitalism and a service mentality to take hold. Old habits die hard. While Croatia is a cool place to go and is “in” for tourists, you must hope that they realize the opportunity they have has a limited shelf life and they must take advantage of it while they can. Only time will tell if they will.
We still don’t have Tara out of Kremik but we’re out cruising on the Catamaran. The boat “Gemini” was repossessed from its previous owner and wasn’t particularly well cared for … so there have been a few maintenance issues but …. hey, anyone who has a boat has maintenance issues right? So far we’ve had an oil hose break spewing oil into the port engine bilge …. Back to Kremik to get a new one fitted 2 days later, and sundry stuff we’ve had to deal with. Today there was no water coming out of the starboard engine exhaust … very bad situation because the engine will overheat … and diesel engines are particularly sensitive to overheating. This is nothing new to me, I’ve overheated the diesel engine on Rhett the boat at home … to the result of a complete top-end rebuild. We discovered the problem and not wanting to squander the 6 hours and 50 miles we made north I got the toolkit out, figured out that the belt for the raw water pump was loose and fixed it.
So, since the last entry we’ve been to Murter Island, back to Primosten and Kremik for repairs, and then 50 miles north to Dugi Otok and tonight we’re in the National Park at Kornati. The scenery here is very barren. It must be a desert with almost no rain, no clouds. Even Marina is hiding from the sun (well not really but it makes for drama). National Parks in Canada are basically sanctuaries for nature. Here in Croatia they remind us of Provincial Parks like the one in Montague … it’s nice and all, but in reality it’s there for people to use and use it they do. Kornati is one of those parks, something like 1000 islands in the chain. We were at Dugi Otok today and while the kids were jumping in the water off the boat, 4 tour boats hit the harbor and a thousand people arrived for the day. We went to the Salt Lake called Mir and floated around swimming and chucking a tennis ball to each other. Around 1pm we made our way back to the restaurant for pizza and Ross had spaghetti Milanese (for the 50th time this month). We went back to Gemini and untied from the mooring ball. Our initial plan was to head north but given the late time of departure we decided to head south. We went into a small town but the moorings were all taken so we decided to motor back to another harbor immediately west. Tonight we only have one neighbor – a 60 foot powerboat that at home would be big but here is a nice family boat.
Tomorrow we’re heading for some fresh bread and provisions, then continuing North. Our plan is to do our touring of the north part of Croatia on the Cat so when we get Tara we put the pedal down and get to Venice in 4 or 5 days. Then we’ll make a B-line to southern Croatia, Montenegro and (avoiding Albania because of the unexploded under-water mines from WW2) into Greece via Southern Italy.
The water here is clean, clear and warm. Croatia is really worth a visit. It’s like the Caribbean in colour, the water is a little cooler … say 22 degrees, plus the villages are small and clean and as a bonus you can drink the tap water. Modern Croatia was formed in the mid 1990s out of the former Yugoslavia. You can see the effects of the former socialist republic bureaucratic roots (not so unlike BC where we can change the Government but the bureaucrats are basically unchanged) and how long it will take true capitalism and a service mentality to take hold. Old habits die hard. While Croatia is a cool place to go and is “in” for tourists, you must hope that they realize the opportunity they have has a limited shelf life and they must take advantage of it while they can. Only time will tell if they will.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Primosten to Vela Stupica to Sibenik to Kakan
July 4th and 5th we started in Primosten and beat up the passages between islands – there are hundreds of them, towards the Island of Zirje and the bays of Vela and Mela Stupika. We took a mooring ball at Vela Stupika (150 HrK or about $30) for the night and went exploring. We left in the morning after a “Joy Bath”*
We powered into Sibenik – because I needed to figure out what the heck was wrong with my T-Mobile Internet. Basically the problem was that I cannot read Croatian and the instructions are very convoluted to connect to the internet in a cost effective way …. So $50 of usage later that could have been $5, I got it figured out. A universal translator would be very effective tool.
Sibenik is located through this small inlet maybe 100 meters wide and a kilometer or two long and protected by an ancient fortification at the entrance. We needed to unlearn our “Red Right Return” navigation because it would have put us solidly on the rocks. At Sibenik we med-moored for the first time using the submerged anchor lines attached to the Jetty. It was much better with an assist from the shore … though it was 150HrK to stay there for 3 hours. Unlike 20 years ago, you don’t need to put your anchor out and then back in. They’ve placed concrete blocks with permanent lines to the shore. You back up and put a loop onto the shoreline while you pick up the anchor line and run it to your bow. In about a minute you’re securely on your mooring using much less space than docking sideways. We should do this in Canada too …. It would free up a ton of marina space.
After lunch we decided to go to the Island of Kakan based on Brian Moorhouse’s recommendation. We didn’t visit the restaurant and we didn’t use a mooring ball but we anchored. An interesting aspect of Croatia is that they collect money for anchoring too – so we basically paid $40 (200HrK) for 1 bag of garbage being removed while swinging on our own anchor. They're serious about collecting too because the Police boat visited someone who didn't pay around 11:00pm ... not something I'd want to have happen to me in a place where I cannot understand a word anyone says.
*(“Joy Bath” from using Joy dishwashing liquid. When you lather up at the back of the boat using Joy, then jump into the sea washing it off)
We powered into Sibenik – because I needed to figure out what the heck was wrong with my T-Mobile Internet. Basically the problem was that I cannot read Croatian and the instructions are very convoluted to connect to the internet in a cost effective way …. So $50 of usage later that could have been $5, I got it figured out. A universal translator would be very effective tool.
*(“Joy Bath” from using Joy dishwashing liquid. When you lather up at the back of the boat using Joy, then jump into the sea washing it off)
The First Days on Gemini
We’re quickly getting over our disappointment of our boat not being ready. The Lagoon 3800 Catamaran we’re on is serving as an excellent proxy. We’re learning of the plus/minuses of catamaran living. The big plus is the brightness of the main cabin and its accessibility (e.g., you don’t need to descend into a cave). The downside is that the motion is a little different – more rolling than I had expected, though no heeling, and she’s not as close winded as a monohull. The upside is in manoeuvring with its twin engines – it handles just like a big twin-screw powerboat with lots of windage. Guess what – when driving it you feel just like you’re driving a powerboat only S---L---O---W. Not necessarily ideal from a sailor’s perspective.Not meaning to write a boat comparison article … the best news is that we’re out of Marina Kremik. While the people there are great and we enjoyed touring around by car spending madly to get Tara outfitted and ready to go, it was most definitely time to get moving. We knew it was time to get going when Marina and the kids were swimming off the dock and a “Kramer*” floated by.
When I went to pick up the boat there was the mandatory paperwork. Croatia is still shrugging off its bureaucratic roots – so there’s a plethora of paperwork for everything you do – and there is a fee associated with everything. We got that all sorted and went to move the boat and an engine alarm went off, the water sensor was defective so another couple of hours wait. Eventually “Gemini” showed up and we had a rushed loading job and moved about 1000 kgs of gear and food off Tara and onto the loaner boat. We filled her up with water and headed out. Everybody was relieved to get away …. Now where do we go? The kids just wanted to stop the engines and go swimming … so that’s what we did. We put the sails up and tested them out, and then headed into Primosten (a 3 minute cab ride away from Kremik and where we had gone 4 of the previous 5 days). Anyway we anchored in Primosten and enjoyed dinner and a beautiful sunset. We were no longer land lubbers and actually started our “holidays” – holidays because until we’re on Tara, we’re not really on our trip yet.
*(Kramer .. as in Cosmo Kramer fame from the show “Seinfeld” was our code word for Poop in the water – you might remember the episode where Cosmo was watching the ‘Jerry Show’ and needed to go to the washroom … couldn’t find one … was turned away several times … and then couldn’t go. Well the name stuck! So … when there is a “Kramer in the water” you don’t swim!)
Coincidences do Happen
Prior to buying the boat, my good buddy Mike Clements suggested that I call Brian Moorhouse (a former Martin 242 owner of #227 Vega) to talk about sailing in the Med as he’s had a boat there for a number of years (like 30). I spent an couple hours on the phone with Brian and he was the one that suggested that we leave early – in July instead of September, to take advantage of the fabulous summers in the Med. Brian raved about Croatia and said that while he’s cruised the entire Med including going around into the Atlantic, his favourite spot was in Croatia. He gave us lots of ideas and we used most of them.
We had intended to get together in Vancouver to help with itinerary planning but as we discussed in previous posts, time and events overtook us.
So, we’re walking up towards the restaurant and see a group of people with Canada shirts on – it’s July 1 Canada day, and we decide to go say hi to our fellow Canadians. I then recognize Brian and Marion …. And we had our chart briefing over beer and wine at Marina Kremik – go figure.
After another briefing with a chart, much later than intended because of a certain bottle of schnapps with David and Irene, we parted ways … though I am sure that we’ll cross paths again.
We had intended to get together in Vancouver to help with itinerary planning but as we discussed in previous posts, time and events overtook us.
So, we’re walking up towards the restaurant and see a group of people with Canada shirts on – it’s July 1 Canada day, and we decide to go say hi to our fellow Canadians. I then recognize Brian and Marion …. And we had our chart briefing over beer and wine at Marina Kremik – go figure.
After another briefing with a chart, much later than intended because of a certain bottle of schnapps with David and Irene, we parted ways … though I am sure that we’ll cross paths again.
Cliff Jumping in Primosten
A few minute cab ride away from Kremik is the beautiful old city of Primosten (“Pre-mo-shten”) that appears to be a walled city on top of a small promontory. The old city is full of restaurants and shops and a beautiful church with cemetery. Outside the old city is a slightly more modern one – Croatia is trying to keep its cities looking similar so much of the architecture is built with clay brick with a rock façade, so the new buildings are in keeping with the existing ones. I think it’s a good idea and provides homogeneity of visuals that you just don’t see in a place like Vancouver.
On the path around Primosten are cliffs that Ross just had to jump off. I reckon they’re about 7 or 8 meters high – maybe 10 if you jump off the path, with a good landing down below. Ross has a video of it on his facebook page if you want to take a look.
We came back from a great day at Primosten and then met up with new friends David and Irene from Switzerland. They’re moving back to Switzerland from upstate New York via two months sailing in the Adriatic and Med on a chartered 40 foot boat (with a generator and airconditioning). They’re engaged to be married and came over after dinner with a 1litre bottle of schnapps that didn’t need recorking once opened, and a great tradition of rope bracelets for each country they visit – and they placed rope bracelets on Jessie’s and Ross’ wrists. They’re just about the age that we were when we got married and started having kids … I gave them the “kids are the best thing ….” Speech … of course followed the next morning by me yelling at my kids because they were driving us crazy!
The key to keeping sanity on the boat is constant activity. When there is nothing to do Ross decides to torment his sister, followed by his father, and eventually his mother – until we all gang up on him and he is satisfied that he’s accomplished his mission – “to drive us all crazy!!!” something I think his buddy Hayden has taught him to do to perfection.
When there is lots to do there is teamwork and fun … so our mission is to constantly find new things to do.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Making Lemonade out of Lemons
We've had a terrific, hot, sunny week in Marina Kremik and surrounding towns - Split, Primosten (pronounced "pree-mo-shten"), Sibenik (pronounced "shee-ben-eek"), and even a lovely town called Marina. The boat is mostly outfitted with what we needed (linens, kitchen supplies, buckets, scrubbers, etc. - still working on a dinghy and outboard but that's coming). What is strange is that no one BBQs here and thus the BBQ for the boat is almost $900...ouch! We'll wait on that one. So...we're ready to go...but, the lemon. The boat has to go through an export procedure before we can sail her around and because the government official in charge of this took sick leave (for 2 months!), it hasn't been done. They don't fill in jobs here...things just pile up. The previous owner is a charter company so today (or tomorrow) we will get a nice 38 foot catamaran on loan (free of charge) to go exploring until our boat is ready. Hopefully just a couple of weeks.
The food here is amazing! We can't believe how good it is and pizza and pasta are two things they do best. Jessie's palate is taken care of. Prices are very reasonable so we've explored several restaraunts and tried many things. Matt's and Ross' favourite lunch is "street meat" - (I can't remember the Croatian name for it) but it's 2 inch ground meat sausages, 5 or 6 of them, in an extra large kaiser type bun with sauce and onions...for about $4.
We had an amazing meal of local fish thanks to my "Danish Family". I studied in Copenhagen for a term of UBC many, many moons ago, and lived with Hanne and Henning in Denmark while there. They have remained distant friends and coincidentally Henning has a cousin that lives in Split. So they came to visit and took us for dinner. We had a really lovely evening and even celebrated Hanne's birthday with a very loud Happy Birthday song and yummy cake.
The only not so good meal was in a National Park - lots of tourists and they tried to meet the needs of tourists (offering hamburgers) and they failed. Better to stick to local cuisine. The park though was gorgeous - called Krka. We spent about 4 hours walking the trails and Jessie and I went swimming.
Last night we made friends with a young Swiss couple berthed next door - stayed on deck until after 1 am. Matt, David and Irene enjoyed a "digestive" (pronounced "di-jes-teef") of plum schnapps...and David came over this morning with aspirin for Matt. :-)
Next up we hope to share some actual sailing adventures...stay tuned!
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