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.