Croatia

 

                                                                       CROATIA

We sailed around the beautiful Croatian archipelago for the whole of August. Surprisingly, with the exception of Hvar and Korcula, we saw few tourists.  There was always space for us in marinas, alongside quays and in little anchorages. We slowly moved north, sailing from island to island, stopping in quiet bays at night and wandering the little stone villages we came across.

  We ate Croatian “over the bell” – that is cooked on charcoal and “under the bell” – baked in a dome with hot coals on top of it. We travelled as far as the beautiful Kornati islands, which together make up a dramatic, barren moonscape.  Many years ago, these islands were overgrazed and controlled burning was allowed.  After one dramatic fire, they never recovered and all the topsoil was washed away in heavy rains.  The islands were abandoned by the farmers and only one tiny settlement remains. Now they have been declared a world heritage site and a marine park has been established amongst them.  We climbed one of the peaks to watch the dramatic sunset.  We did see tiny grey-leafed plants, hanging on to the few grains of soil trapped in the crevasses. That evening we ate a beautiful fish meal at the restaurant we had tied up alongside.

From Kornati, we went back to the mainland and up the Krka River. Inland, this river has magnificent waterfalls and one can take a free water ferry from the quaint village of Skradin, up into the Krka National Park to see them.  We anchored outside Skradin and it was a delight to watch the many swans amongst the bullrushes. Many came to our boat for a feed after a pretty dramatic “water skiing” landing.  They look very elegant when they fly though and, of course, when they preen themselves in the water.  It was mating time and the pairs do a synchronized “dance” around each other.

The river also boasts a large lake which we anchored in for the night.  We woke to water as still as glass and watched the birds come to life as the sun rose.

From the Krka River, we began to make our way back towards Split to the small town of Kastela Gormiza on the shores of a very large bay between Split and Trogir. Here there is an excellent marina and shipyard, in which we decided to leave our boat for the northern winter. We spent two weeks on anchor, doing maintenance on the boat.  The more we worked, the more we found needed doing!  We have done what we could in the time available and the rest we have left to the shipyard to complete.  Hopefully it will all be done and Artemis V will be itching to get her bottom wet again on our return in April 2015.

Montenegro and Croatia

Montenegro was an unexpected surprise. We arrived at 3am., dropped anchor in the first bay we found and had a few hours sleep.  We awoke to a magnificent view of high mountains dropping down into a beautiful fjord. We sailed down the long gulf of Kotor, the longest fjord in southern Europe. The fjord is very deep, with sheer mountains dropping into the sea.

Bay f Kotor, Montenegro

  There is a very narrow road lining the shore and all along the edge are little houses on one side of the road, with little stone jetties jutting into the water on the other. Tiny harbours, fitting two or three rowing boats, banana lounges, beach umbrellas and waterside restaurants were in abundance.  Montenegro is  named “Black Mountain”, however all the mountains we saw were of white rock, probably travertine marble, the stone most houses, walls and roads are built of in this part of the world.   Perhaps it was named for the dense green forests on the slopes.  The highlight of our three day visit was white water rafting in the mountains. We travelled by bus for three hours, enjoying the beautiful scenery, then by 4-wheel drive, through the border with Boznia-Herzegovena. We returned to Montenegro via raft, enjoying a 2 ½ hour journey down the River Tara.

White water rafting Tara River, Montenegro

The superyacht marina at Tivat where we left our boat was the best marina I have seen. The facilities are all 5-star, there are shops, restaurants and bars along the tree-lined waterfront, the staff were most helpful both with facilitating the clearance formalities and with day to day necessities and the marina was not in a noisy area, as are many places we had been in the Mediterranean.

From Montenegro we day-sailed to Croatia, reaching Dubrovnik at around 6pm.  We had never seen Dubrovnik from the sea before, but still it was easily recognizable, with its defensive walls, forts and high mountain with its cable-car.  We had to go into Gruz to clear customs and then  stopped in the ACI Dubrovnik marina where we picked up friends.   We had a lovely dinner that evening, sitting on the waters’ edge at an old restaurant built of stone, where we found a friendly swan who enjoyed eating our bread.

The next day it was off to Mljet, the island Odysseus was waylaid on (for 7 years) by Calypso. There are beautiful girls in Croatia and if Calypso was as pretty as they are,  it is understandable that he was not in a hurry to go home to Ithaca.   Mljet is a most enchanting island.  It is mostly wooded and has a number of lakes.  The part we stopped on is designated National Park.  We walked from the village of Polace to Lake Jezero and then caught the little ferry boat across to the little islet of Veliko Jezero to see the little monastery, established in 1151. Unfortunately the monastery is no longer functioning but the church is still intact and in use.  We had a swim in the beautifully clear, warm lake and after our walk back to Polace, explored the ruined Roman palace. We left this beautiful quiet anchorage, bound for the island of Lastovo.

Monastery on Islet of Veliko Jezero, Miljet

Town of Lastovo, on Lastovo Island

Lastovo used to be out of bounds for tourists. It was a military base and the island that Tito spent his holidays on.  Nowadays, although it is open to tourists, it is a little out of the way from the usual tourist beat and is much quieter than the islands near the mainland.  Lastovo is also very wooded. It has high mountains with few villages. The town of Lastovo is a 20 minute bus ride from the bay where we anchored and it is on the top of high hills.  As a result it has a cool breeze, which was very welcome on a hot August day.  It is famous for its unusual chimneys which were designed to direct all smoke out of the homes.

Chimney in Lastovo

 We tied up along the quay in Luka Velji Lago, a very deep, sheltered inlet, flanked by holiday villas and one hotel.  The water here was as clear as crystal, with little fish swimming about around the boat.

Old town, Korcula

Korcula was our next stop.  The old walled town here is on a promontory, and shows the influence of  the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods.  It was a planned town, with most roads running N-S to catch the summer breeze.  Marco Polo was said to be born here and the tourist shops here all take advantage of that fact.  We anchored in the bay just south of the town where we were a bit further from the disco music. We had brunch at  a beachside café just near our boat and then took a stroll through the new part of town to cross the promontory to the old town.

Oleanders abound throughout Southern Europe

Leaving Korcula

From Korcula, we went to Hvar, which at this time of the year is bouncing and pounding to disco music.  Young tourists arrive and depart by ferry in droves and the local beach was full of people, varying in colour from white through to brown to very red. 

Hvar

We anchored a bit away from Hvar, on the Pakleni islands on the opposite side of the Pakleni Kanal, but even here we did not sleep due to the loud music, both from across the channel in Hvar and from the party boats going up and down the channel all night.   We decided to move to a quieter place the following night and moved on to the northern side of Hvar which is mostly wild, green and uninhabited.  There are several small villages on this side of the island and the only town of note is Stari Grad.  We anchored in the small bay of Uvala Vira, with a  stony beach and a campsite at it’s head. We dragged our anchor here and had to re-anchor several times so we decided to move to a bay with better holding.  We spent the night in an uninhabited bay and then moved on to the island of Brac.  As we had dragged our anchor and the forecast was for wind turning in the night, we decided to go into the marina at the little  town of Milna which survives entirely on boat tourism. 

..and for the Aussies reading my blog...

Impressions of Greece

We were in Greece for just one short week, far too short for this beautiful country.  We arrived in Kefallonia early one morning and stood off in a glassy sea until daybreak before entering the picturesque gulf of Argostoli.  

Now, instead of seeing Genoese forts as we saw all over Sardinia and Sicily and Corsica, we saw little churches on the headlands, perhaps a better use of the land.  The lighthouse at the head of the bay is built as an ancient Greek temple, a thalos.  We knew that we were in Greece.

 For the first time during our travels we needed to drop anchor and reverse back onto the quay to tie up, not an easy feat with our Island Packet that does NOT like to reverse!  Now however, we are becoming much more skilled at this manoeuvre. We tied up in Argostoli, on the town quay and found everything we needed close at hand – yacht chandler, supermarket etc. 

The Greeks are so friendly.  Everyone has been so helpful and kind, at the restaurant when the waiters serve you food they wish you “good appetite”, when they serve alcohol they wish you “good health” and whenever you say “Thank you” they wish you  “Remain well”.   The Ionian islands where we sailed are still unspoilt.  They are surprisingly green, and have high hills with little villas dotted about the slopes, built among cypress and olive trees.  The villages are small, with very few modern buildings, have winding narrow roads and often an old Roman ruin nearby to walk to. 

At Agia Efimia on Kefallonia, we went for a walk out of the village. We met a lady moving rocks about outside her property on the outskirts of town and stopped to ask directions. We were invited into her home and had a lovely cup of Greek coffee and a chat with her and her sister.  The financial crisis has hit Greece very hard. Greece’s major source of income is tourism but we saw few tourists, especially on the more remote islands.  There was also always plenty of space for us to tie up on the quays, which means that the charter boat industry must also be suffering.  On Ithaca, Odysseus’ island, the ferry from the mainland has stopped running and this has made the problem even worse for them.  They have tried to keep  their capital, Vathi,  unspoilt.  I saw some photos from the 1920’s and it still looks exactly the same! 

There are lots of beautiful little bays and fjords in these isles, with lovely, peaceful (and still) anchorages.  

Each has a little village or, if nothing else, a restaurant at the head of the bay, so there is always somewhere to stock up and get a meal of delicious “home cooked’ food.  Most of these restaurants are family run and “Mamma” is usually the cook in the kitchen.

Kerkyra (Corfu) is Unesco Heritage listed.  The old town is very beautiful, with marble cobbles.  It is on a peninsula, with an Old Fort at one end and a New Fort at the other. The older one is still being used by the navy.  We wandered the little streets and the many parks surrounding the old town.  It also has a working moat, now used to harbour little fishing boats.   Here we did see many tourists.  The town is bustling and the restaurants are full.  Dinner time here is around 10pm. and goes on till late – just about till dawn!  Even with all the tourists, the friendliness we have found was not lacking here either. We checked out of Greece early in the morning (after a chat with the customs officer)  and as we left Kerkyra, knowing that we would certainly be back,  the large Customs launch came speeding past.  They saw me on the front deck and gave me a farewell toot and handwave.

Travels in Sardinia and Sicily

We set sail from Porto Liscia to the little town of Santa Teresa, on the northwest coast of Sardinia. The marina was a pleasant place to be, at the end of the inlet.  The little town is built on the top of a steep hill with wonderful views and a cooling sea breeze. It too has its Genoese watch towers which guarded against corsairs in the old days, at the entrance to the inlet.  

Isola Rossa, our anchorage for a night proved to be quite a challenge.  After a very still afternoon, which enabled us to swim, snorkel, go to shore for a meal and a wander, the wind came up, bringing  a large swell rolling into the bay. It became quite a challenge to get into the dinghy and attach lines to lift it.   It proved an uncomfortable night with athe beam swell determined to keep us awake!

The walled town of Castelsardo is a  wonderful sight from the sea.  It is a medieval town built on a steep hill, with the houses piled one on top of the other, tumbling down the cliff.  There is a cathedral with a belfry and a castle at the top of the hill. A Genoese watchtower dominates the entrance to the port. We made some friends in the marina and had a lovely evening eating and playing music on one of the boats as our guest “jammed” with our new friends,. The  sun setting over this beautiful Medieval setting afforded us an opportunity for some lovely pictures.

We took a route between the Sardinian mainland and Isola Asinara, a marine national park,  through the narrow and very shallow Passaggio Del Fornelli.  The water was beautiful aquamarine in the channel.  From here we could see the high security prison on the island where many characters involved in Italian organized crime were incarcerated. A sailing vessel had run aground here but fortunately managed to get itself back into deeper water.

Through the passage we went on began our journey down the west coast of Sardinia. It  is very steep with majestic cliffs, wonderful rock formations and numerous caves. Grotta Di Nettuno is a very popular destination for daytripper boats. We sailed past at sunset, just before entering Porto Conte, a large bay where we anchored for the next two nights.  This bay is one of the few along the west coast of Sardinia which offers safe shelter., though a southerly did come through here one night and we dragged our anchor 1nm. before we realized it!  Fortunately there are no dangers in the bay and plenty of space but we did have to re-anchor at 1a.m. in the morning. The only down-side to this idyllic back is the disco bar on the shore which blasts very loud music across the bay till 4a.m. In fact, we were beset with loud music at many of the Sardinian spots which appeared very peaceful during the day.

Alghero is a bustling town on the north west coast of Sardinia.  It too has a walled Medieval old town and here we began to see tourists.  Friends arrived by air to spend two weeks with us and we had some good Sardinian food and wine at a restaurant in the old town.  At our marina we met Federico, typical of the friendliness we have found on our travels.  He was happy to give us a lift to the supermarket, collect guests from the airport and take us to Coast Guard and Customs to do our  necessary paperwork.

Our next stop turned out to be a disappointment.  We went into the Golfo Di Oristano and anchored off the small village of Torre Grande, named after their large Genoese tower in the centre of the village. Although the bay appeared to be very peaceful, we were once again blasted by disco music until 3am.  As a result we decided to give the Roman ruins on the shore a miss and move on to a quieter place.

We made for the small island of San Pietro, off the southwest coast of Sardinia.  The main town, Carloforte was a delight, with its tree-lined waterfront, small 17^th century laneways and delicious food.  We took a bus to a beach on the west coast of the island. It was, as are most beaches in Europe, very typical, with it’s beach chairs,, umbrellas and beach bars. The countryside we rode through is typical of Sardinia, being fairly dry with many lovely Oleanders and Bougainvilleas on the way.

Carloforte was our jump-off point to make for Sicily, 234nm away. We had headwinds all the way and took quite a bit of water over the front deck.   We arrived at San Vito Lo Capo late in the evening of the second day and anchored out for the night.  A friendly lighthouse on the Cape kept us company for the night. The houses in San Vito Lo Capo are white and look very Moorish.  We noticed that the flavor of the food had also changed, being more spicy than we had found in Sardinia.

Castellammare Del Golfo, was our next stop. The entrance to the harbour is dominated by a large ancient castle.  The Medieval town is built high on the hill and it is quite a challenge to climb up to the town. There is a cool breeze up at the top, making it a very pleasant time in summer.  We decided to take a bus to Segesta to see the Doric temple and ancient village on the top of a steep hill with a wonderful intact Roman theatre. From here, one can see for miles over green undulating valleys, all the way to the sea.  Our bus back to Castellammare Del Golfo was due at 12.30p.m.  By 1p.m. it had not arrived and the next bus was only at 6p.m.  At 1.05p.m. the bus arrived and the driver told us that another bus had had a problem and he had had to incorporate the second route into his.  We were happy that he arrived though and were even happier when he dropped us at a delightful stone village for a lovely Sicilian lunch under the grape vines.

We dropped our guests off in Palmero and from there visited the small town of Cefalu, on our way to the Isole Eoli. Cefalu has an ancient temple to Diana on the very top of a steep hill and below a walled Medieval citadel. Tourists have discovered this quaint village and as a result, it has many upmarket shops and restaurants. It is very pleasant to wander through the little cobbled streets and alleyways.   The yacht harbour is also a walk around the headland from town so the night was wonderfully quiet and we sat under the stars for a nightcap before bed.

Lipari, the island in the middle of the Eolian Islands has  the largest population of this volcanic group.. We sailed past the island of Vulcano and could see the steam which continuously belches out of the caldera. Vulcano has three volcanos on it.  Only Gran Cratere is still active.  The little town of Vulcano nestles right under it!  From our marina in Lipari, we had a view of this crater. It is a pity we cannot harness this power for our energy needs.   The next day we sailed to Stromboli, the island which has an active but “safe” volcano on it. We anchored on the “safe” side of the island and the evening was spent watching filming of an Italian movie on a nearby sailing Superyacht. At midnight we lifted our anchor and motored round to the west coast to see the eruptions. The volcano releases its pressure bit by bit so does not pose a very great danger. It erupts every five minutes or so. It sprays lava up into the air in a spectacular fireworks display, and from the crater there is a river of lava, the sciara del fuoco,  flowing into the sea. Stromboli was used by Ulysses to guide him to the  Straits of Messina and it is known as the oldest lighthouse in the world.

The Straits of Messina, another of the destinations of Ulysses, with Charybdis the whirlpool and Skilla, the monster with twelve feet and six long necks with terrible heads which plucked sailors off their boats, was our next destination.  Although the whirlpools, of which there are three today, no longer pose a great problem to sailors since the 1783 earthquake which changed the undersea topography, this is still a place to beware of.  The Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas which meet here have different heights and salinity and there is a current which runs through the mouth of the Strait at  4kn. at times.  There is a bore just after the change of tide four times a day as well.  In addition there are strong katabatic winds off the mountains (Skilla) and it is not a place to be in a small boat with strong wind against tide. We had an uneventful ride through the strait.  We did skirt around a whirlpool and went over a small bore which caused us to slew sideways but fortunately we had very light wind, that is, until just before we entered the harbour  at Reggio de Calabria, when it suddenly started blowing 20kn. We were in the industrial port area, but met a local character, Saverio, who is the “Mr. Fixit” of  the marina.  We will arrange supplies, assistance, runs a “Mini Moke” taxi, and he supplied us with cheese, salami, croissants and a taxi ride to a pleasant trattoria. He has been doing this for over 20 years, and knows everyone!

We sadly said farewell to Italy at Reggio de Calabria and set sail  for  Greece in a brisk 15kn. wind.

20^th June 2014

We caught a bus back to Ajaccio to drop a guest off and collect another.  We were delayed in Ajaccio as we had arrived on the Saturday bus and there was no Sunday bus to return with. We arrived at the bus stop on the Monday with bags in tow, only to find that it was yet another holy holiday and there was no bus till the Tuesday! Ajaccio was the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte and a group of locals got into the spirit and were meeting near Napoleon’s home.  They took delight in parading up and down the street, posing for tourists to take  photos.

Near the home that Napoleon Bonaparte was born in

We finally managed to get a bus back to Bonifacio.   The bus winds through hilltop villages which all seem to have been built with defence in mind.  Many of the old parts of the villages were walled and some had brooding castles overlooking the valley below.  Life would have been very hard in this part of the world a few centuries ago and even at the beginning of the 19^th century there were many bandits in Corsica. The coastline is also dotted with Genoese watch towers which were built to warn of approaching corsairs raiding from Africa! The flag of Corsica (& Sardinia) actually have the black heads of the corsair captains who were caught, beheaded and their heads taken back in the flag. Gruesome, but it makes a great flag and since there are no longer any Corsairs, the warning has worked!

Bonifacio at night

Artemis V in Bonifacio Harbour

Bonifacio town on overhanging cliffs

From Bonifacio, we went to Iles Lavezzi.  These rocky outcrops have been declared a heritage listed national park.  We anchored in a bay with crystal clear water.  It is so clear that you can select exactly which patch of sand to put the anchor on. There were lots of fish there, a delight to see in the Mediterranean.  On the island are approximately 600 graves and a little chapel. On the way to the Crimean War, a ship floundered there and all lives were lost. Only one person witnessed the tragedy, a leper living on his own on the island. The bodies were so mangled when they were pulled from the sea that only one person could be identified. All the other graves are unmarked. 

Cemetry on Ile Lavezzi

Anchorage at Iles Lavezzi

From Iles Lavezzi we crossed the Bonifacio Strait to the La Maddalena Islands which are also national park. This crossing marks the border between France and Italy, just 5nm. apart.  These islands, like Iles Lavezzi, are all fringed with rocks and shoals.  Disappointingly we have not seen many fish amongst these islands. 

Crossing the Bonifacio Strait from France to Italy.

   The little town of La Maddalena was a delight however and we spent several days there, wondering the streets, eating, drinking and catching up with news from family and friends.

Port of the town of La Maddalena

For the last two days we have been anchored in Porto Luscia Bay, on the Sardinian mainland.  There is a kitesurfing school and a windsurfing school in the bay and it has been fun watching them fly across the water in the brisk breeze that always seems to blow in the Bonifacio Strait.  The bay is very quiet, with long empty beaches and a national park behind.  Each day there have been only two or three other boats anchored nearby and it is very peaceful. This morning we woke to the timeless sounds of a sheepdog and sheep bells on the hill close by.

Porto Luscia Bay