Merro

Murter, Vodice and Marina

Murter was a literal port in a storm, as we were going south, we could see thunder heads forming. We went to the very interesting Marina Hramina (pronounced Cremina) which had a lovely clubhouse and a beach. We arrived and walked up the hill to the church and back down to the market for fruit. As we walked on, the sky was getting darker and darker and we arrived back on Mercier for a full frontal thunderstorm. We were all very happy we didn’t have the biggest mast in the marina.

In the morning, it was dark and we all filed into the clubhouse to enjoy free wifi. But when the sun broke through the clouds we decided it was early enough to head to Vodice, very close to Tribunj.

Pepper and Garlic at the Murter Markets — Pepper and Garlic next to dried figs at the Murter Markets

Vodice has a reputation for being noisy and lively but we thought we the season had ended, so it would be calm and quiet. Well no, no it wasn’t, but lively is a good description. We hadn’t counted on the Polish Navy being in town, the three of us poured a drink and sat and watched the show. Several boats away from us, we heard the refrain of ” When the Saints go Marching in” in Polish, which produces quite an earworm. This crew seemingly so embarrassed the other crews that they were all smiles and propriety. Dobra!

After the previous day’s rain, Vodice was sparkling and we wandered down to the working dock and looked at the old boats and day trippers.

Vodice means “water source” and on this fine sunny day, the water was clear and sparkling. There are some beautiful small parks and plenty of restaurants in the old town and cafes line the harbour.

Claire at Vodice Harbour, Marina in background

We thought we would leave Vodice early and do a long sail to Brac but on the way the thunder clouds were forming over Split and Solta, so we sought refuge in the town of Marina at the Marina Agana. This is a very tiny seaside town with a beach around the bay and a small marina. Perfect as we watched the rain fall in the distance and the wind shred the cumulus clouds overhead.

While it is great to be here enjoying Croatia, we are very sad to miss Opening Day at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, we wish you all fair weather for the day.

Zadar, Biograd and Murter

Zadar is a remarkable town with wonderful public places. The Forum is a public square which presents the Roman town layout with artifacts of its Roman ancestry. Columns and capitols sit on the paving, evoking the lives of people 2500 hundred years ago.

The Forum of Zadar, with St Donati's Church — The Forum of Zadar, with St Mary’s Church

The alleys offer shade in the hot Croatian summer sun and the Trqs or Squares offer a sunny seat on winter days. There are gardens and small harbours just outside the old town which sits on a small elongated penisula.

Town Square Zadar – notice Roman column near cafe

Sadly after a few good days in Zadar, Lesley left us for better gelato in Ancona and a beautiful Umbrian Hill town, Gubbio, for truffle laden delicacies. Jealous much? We are already plotting to get Lesley back next year, such a excellent traveller and great friend.

Our crew size hasn’t diminished, Claire Frost has joined Mercier for a bit of island hopping. going south back down towards Dubrovnik. We will be visiting Murter, Brac and Hvar while Claire is with us.

We had a good evening in Biograd, which is fairly resorty. It has been stormy & raining in Murter but we are cozy in Marina Hramina, which is a very nice marina.

Happy Birthday to my cousin, Sandra Riner. Hope you have a lovely day!

Ancient Glass Museum - Zadar — Ancient Glass Museum – Zadar

Sali – Vodenjak – Zadar

We left Sali after a beautiful dawn and we thought we would go to Iz. No not Oz, IZ.

Sali - early morning light — Sali – early morning light

We thought we might get a swim in on our way and we sailed into a beautiful uninhabited bay, called Vodenjak. There are moorings, the water is so deep, but we can see the block of concrete and unchafed lines. Perfect. We have lunch and a swim and we read about Iz, which sounds very nice but Vodenak is perfect at the moment.

There are a few boats on moorings but many smaller boats are leaving, the perfect little bay is getting quieter and more wonderful by the minute. A quick vote, Vodenjak – 3, Iz – 0.

The water was clear. The clarity was such that you could see sea cucumbers inching around on the bottom 4 metres down. Lesley had brought some ingredients for Thai Green curry sauce, so we made a wonderful dinner and enjoyed the stars.

The next morning, we motored over to Zadar, through the Prolaz Veliz Drela passage. It was very calm and there was just a bit of current.

We sailed into Zadar and we were met by the ferries going in and out and by the traditional ferry man of Zadar.

Traditional boat man of Zadar. Photo by L. Sommerville

Alex Crevar, in the NYTimes, has a great headliner, “After 2000 years, a Croatian Port Town Still Seduces” and he has some great facts. There are Roman ruins, the main being a large area called the Forum and various columns throughout the town, Zadar is home to the oldest university in Southeast Europe – over 600 hundred years old.

Probably the bit we enjoyed most was the Sea Organ and Salute to the Sun, both designed by Nikola Basic. Wikipedia describes the Sea Organ, as an architectural object located in Zadar, which uses the sea waves entering tubes underneath the large marble steps creating a musical instrument played by the wind and sea. The music was sonorous and clearly made children happy. Dogs weren’t as lucky, many dogs were clearly unhappy with some of the sounds.

While parents are happy to sit and stare off into a sunset, children aren’t always happy to be so still. With Basic’s Greetings to the Sun, children and adults were interacting with the sunset and then dancing on the photovoltaic solar modules with no need to stop moving.

More on Zadar tomorrow, Alex Crevar picked the right title, Zadar does still seduce.

Mir to Sali

It sounds like the weather is divine everywhere, but we have had a week of beautiful weather here, after only two days of rain last week. We are swimming every day, as the days are still warm but the nights are beautifully cool. Frosty and Louise, we try to convince Lesley that we melted on those hot August nights, she hardly believes us.

There was no shop in Mir and we were shy of a few things for dinner, including bread. However, no sooner had we finished our swim, the fruit and vegetable man came to visit us. Toni’s supermarket visits us just before we start dinner, so his timing is impeccable. It is a whole new meaning to ‘having the groceries delivered’.

Home Delivery? — Toni’s Home Delivery at Mir

We sailed the full scope of Luka Telascica, a large natural harbour at the Southern approach to Dugi Otok. We moored at Mir, very close to the entrance and we wanted to see the whole harbour so we went on a tour of the whole bay. We sailed past one island with wild donkeys, who became very alert when we yelled out “donkeys”!

To get to Sali, we had to go through a narrow passage between Dugi Otok and Otok Kornat. The Prolaz Proversa Velachannel is 2.2 metres at the shallowest point with an east going current. The Thompsons pilot book says never to be attempted in a bora which blows strongly here or a sirocco, which creates big seas.

Passage between Kornat Island and Dugi Otok

We had a swim at a little island before lunch and then sailed into Sali. Lesley, James and I went for a swim again later in the afternoon, but there were a surfeit of black sea urchins (read stingy urchins), so I held back. James went back to Mercier. Lesley and I continued around a wonderul seaside path until we found a rocky beach with a handhold and no sea urchins. We were swimming and talking and the lady next to us asked where we were from. Her name is Marijan (spelling?), she was born in Sali but emigrated to the US with her parents in the late 60’s. Her parents have moved back to Sali. She lives in New Jersey and loves to visit them and swim here. We had a lovely chat, and she showed us the way over the hill into town, past her parent’s bouganvillea covered home.

On our travels we passed a tiny chapel, so beautiful dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary who looks after fisherman and we hope, sailors.

Peaceful Vrulje in the Kornati and Mir in Dugi Otok

We have visited three very lovely bays over the last three days, Mir and Vrulje were our favourites.

We arrived at a lovely peaceful mooring at Vrulje at about 11AM. We had dolphins languidly going with us on the way to each of the bays and the breeze was blowing lightly.

At Vrulje. we had lunch aboard and took the dingy into the very tiny town. We checked out the restaurants and walked along the path around the bay. No internet, no interesting castles, a very short walk. We wondered if we were going to be very bored. We went back to the boat; we swam then read and shared a cup of tea.

Our fears were unfounded, about 3PM, the North Westerly wind picked up just as boats were streaming into the tiny bay. People were trying to pick up the moorings with varying success. There were quite a few charter boats and so many of the crew may not have had any practice. Our peace was shattered by skippers yelling out instructions and bow persons, yelling back “slow down” to skippers.

James assisting our German neighbours Photo by L. Sommerville

The moorings were close, so we seem to have boats moving past us much like bulls go past Matadors. The mooring in front of us was missing a rope and a German boat decided since it was a good position, they wouldn’t let that deter them. On the 5^th attempt, they picked up the mooring, a wind gust hit and the boat hook was wrenched from their hands.

There were 4 people on the bow, their shoulders slumped. They were all staring at the boat hook which was now stuck onto the mooring, too low to grab. Four bereft crew and a skipper, all staring at the lost boathook, each of them trying not to be the person who would be swimming for the boat hook.

We had been watching from Mercier, quietly coaching from the sidelines; so James jumped in the dingy, collected the boat hook and took it over to them. He told them to make another attempt,used the dingy to nudge them in, then he threaded the line through the mooring. ‘Hooray’ went up around the bay. In a very short time,our German friends were in their cock pit watching other crews making the same attempts at other moorings.

Vrujle on Kornati Island Photo by L. Sommerville

They gave James a very nice bottle of extra dry Prosecco for his efforts. For the rest of the afternoon, if Lesley and I saw a boat in difficulties, we would tell James to go and help. It was a very nice Prosecco.

The hero was up early, so we motor sailed to Mir on Dugi Otok, a mooring here was twice the expected price at Kuna 350. But it was a beautiful protected bay so we paid the National Park people and took the dingy over to the island. We had a very basic lunch and walked up the hill towards the cliff. We reached the lookout point and saw majestic cliffs, azure seas and beautiful sail boats.

Croatia is not a nanny state. You get one sign to say be careful and that is it. We saw a couple nestled in what looked like an abandoned eagles nest on the side of the cliff They must have missed the sign.

The other two highlights of Mir are the native donkeys, placid and looking for sweets amongst the tourists pockets and bags; also there is a big salt lake- filled with swimmers from the day trip boats. We decided to head back to swim off Mercier in the clear blue bay, we saw the donkey on the way home.

We hope we will have a still anchorage and a nice dinner on Mercier underneath the stars.

Tribunj

On Sunday morning, Mercier retraced her course through the Krka River and wended her way north. We decided to go to a very small island, Tribunj on our way to the Kornati Islands. Tribunj was built in the 16^th century by people from inland Croatia, fleeing the Saracens. It is a very, very small island dedicated to Saint Nicholas who looks after wives, fishermen, children and the poor. The town is famous for its famous donkey races.

Traditional boat with beautiful oars and fender

Although you can stay on the town quay, you are only inches away from the restaurants, so we went to the marina proper – Marina Tribunj. We were very impressed by this marina: great showers, a laundry which means fresh clean towels and a massage chair. It is heaven to walk into the large reception area and sit in the massage chair which rubs your back and kneads your shoulders.

Having just left Skradin, we see that we need to by a National Park ticket for the Kornati Islands. Of course, it was available for purchase in Skradin. If you are cruising here in Croatia, it is valuable to purchase the pass prior to arriving in the Kornatis. In 2013, it is Kuna 500 if you purchase the National Park pass before arriving and Kuna 1200 if you pay upon arrival. Marina Tribunj wasn’t on the list but did have the pass, so all was well.

Even in small Tribunj, the crew can find excitement. In the evening, the sunset was amazing and we were joined by our neighbor, a film maker from Finland, here in Croatia to do a documentary for sailors and armchair travelers.

After laundry and provisioning, we left the tiny town of Tribunj and motored out to the Kornati Islands. We see dolphins this morning, so we are very happy. Our first stop was Smokvica, a beautiful harbour for lunch and a swim. Within minutes of the anchor resting, the National Park rangers were there to check our ticket. The water is getting cooler; it says 24 degrees but Gaila and Lesley yelp as they jump in.

Happy Birthday to Graham Sommerville for the 5^th, coverage is questionable in the Kornati Islands.

The Kornatis are bare and white stone with a light layer of soft green — The Kornatis are bare white stone with a light layer of soft green

Krka Waterfalls

We sailed a windy path to Skardin and found it is a delightful town. The ACI Marina is just a few hundred yards away from the main square of town by path and bridge.

Swans sail in the harbour and in the waters nearby. They are regal, graceful and just as cheeky as seagulls.

One of the many swans here, they are very entertaining and graceful

We needed a view fix and walked up to the fortress, which is not very steep and took photos of the town from the hill. The town is small and a mix of old and new buildings.

It is the pick-up point for the boats that take you to Krka National Park. People either drive or come by boat to Skadrin to take the boat up to Krka and its incredible waterfalls and system of paths through rushing water and ponds under a roof of pines, chestnuts and figs.

Skradinski buk - a travertine waterfall — Skradinski buk – a travertine waterfall

The falls are majestic, a waterfall at one end (see in the photo) and a clear pool running into cascades. We walked up to the source and various look out points. There are rushing flows of water and the paths take you under a canopy of chestnuts, figs and pine. Pine and flowers and figs are all aromatic, very fresh and uplifting.

There are also historical artifacts – old churches and mills, rushing water or mill ponds everywhere you turn.

Lelsey, James and I wandered for hours.

We finished up by taking another excursion boat to the Franciscan Monastery on the man made island of Visovac. It was a small island, entirely picturesque and we enjoyed the grounds as well as the building. They only give you thirty minutes which is simply not enough. We’ll leave you with a photo of this tiny jewel.

Sibenek to Skradin

Sibenek (pronounced Shibenik) is noted as the first Croatian City, because it was founded by the Croats in the 10th Century. We left Trogir with a 4 hour sail in front of us. There would be a stop in Primosten for lunch and a swim. With the exception of a day near Hvar, we hadn’t seen so many boats sailing and motoring, as we saw between Trogir and Sibenek.

We moored stern to on the Sibenek town quay and went wandering around the medival city. As with many towns there are a large number of churches. We really related to the Cathedral of St James. It was beautiful, with a gorgeous statute of Micheal the Archangel over the entry. More remarkable are the 74 faces on the Apse, who are said to be the realisation of the common man but ‘My Croatia’ says were the collective faces of the 74 prominent Sibenik citizens who refused to contribute to the building fund.

Lesley, James and I climbed to the Monastery garden of St Lawrence, which was very lovely. A classic medieval parterre garden, with herbs and medicinal plants in the shape of a cross. It was beautiful and peaceful.

We walked through a cemetery to get to St Michael’s Fortress, we had followed a monk in brown robes, but he disappeared and we couldn’t see how he entered the Fortress – the Da Vinci code sprang to mind. Sibenek was heavily bombed in the 1991-95 war, but it is recovering.

We were up early for the short trip to Skradin, through the beautiful, narrow channel which winds up the River Krka. Much of this part of the river is covered in mussel and oyster farms. See the photo for an idea of Eating Local.

Eating Local - close to the source — Eating Local – close to the source

Arriving at Skradin, we were left without a doubt that we were in the right place.

Sheltered Bay of Milna, Split and Trogrir

There has been a change in Croatia; the weather is changeable and the crowds seem to be diminishing as well.

Its been busy, Milna was very quiet but enjoyable, but we were too lazy to blog. Split was busy and our friend, Lesley joined us for the next sector of Mercier’s Voyage.

In Milna, we stayed at Marina Vlaska which is at the mouth of the harbour going into Milna. There were several benefits to staying here. Great showers, beautiful swimming beach right around the corner ( there could be no swimming in Milna Bay, too dirty) and the Illyrian Restaurant, which along with Croatian food, did a great Thai Curry and Sate. We did walk into Milna town, with its great chill out bars, but Marina Vlaska was the place to be.

From here it was an easy trip up to Split, which was a busy town but not as busy as the week earlier. Italian schools went back on Monday and we haven’t heard nearly as many Italian accents since then.

James welcoming Lesley with Aperol Spritz

Chill out Vis

On Thursday evening, we visited the crew of Nick of Time, Gloria, Alan and Bill on board their very plush Moody 45. We hear about life in Adelaide and the competitive evening card games, where sheep stations are on the line. Before dark, we jump back into the zodiac and set a date for dinner Friday night.

On Friday morning, we take the zodiac out for a spin and do a complete tour of the Bay of Vis for a fish eye view of the beaches and houses along the water front. Some houses are stone walls standing roofless and you realise they would be snapped up in a heartbeat if it were on Sydney Harbour. The stone from this part of the world is a matt white, beautiful and enduring. You can see how white the rock is at each islands waterline.

Later in the afternoon, we decide to walk up the hill to Fort George, it’s a 2.5 kilometre walk up the hill to see this Bristish Fortress built in 1813. A quick aside, we see that Vis has a cricket team, left over from circa 1813 when the British introduced cricket and the locals took it up for spirited matches on the oval.

We aren’t sure that we will find anything at Fort George, just bastion walls that we can see from the water. The views would be worth the trip. We pass the turn offs for several nude beaches on the way up. The signage was very interesting.

We almost didn’t go into the Fort itself, it was so quiet and menacing. Merro being the intrepid traveller walks into the fort; so I follow past fallen wood and giant holes encased in safety nets. We turn a corner and there is a red carpet in the ruins. We follow the red carpet, seeing huge wooden doors up ahead we go further into this labyrinth to Vis’s latest Chill Out Bar.

Fort George Chill Out Bar - note rope tied to trees for safety rail. OHS? — Fort George Chill Out Bar – note rope tied to trees for safety rail. OHS?

We truly had no idea that this was here. They have music here and the young Taiwainese waitress, 19, told us that Fort George opened in June and they hoped to put in a full kitchen. It may have begun as a pop up bar for Yacht Week crews but was morphing into a inventive Chill out bar. 19 also mentioned that they have music and the views at Sunset were definitely worth a visit.

Friday evening brings Gloria, Alan and Bill back for a quick drink on Mercier and we decide to try a Trip Advisor tip, Konoba Lola’s. Twilight is fast turning into night. You walk up three stone streets via narrow laneways and stairs. You walk into a stone walled courtyard and the tables are separated in garden rooms. Here the ‘walls’ are 3 foot tall hedges of rosemary and lavender, bathed in candlelight. All the furniture seem to be charming little pieces from estate sales. The wine cooler was an old enamel pitcher. Food was imaginative, local produce and fish or beef. A gorgeous fountain in the middle hedge with a red Alice sofa – just magical.

Courtyard garden of Lola's. Tables seperated by hedges and fountains. — Courtyard garden that is Lola’s. Tables separated by hedges and fountains.

Croatia has been a marvelous place, not the least for meeting sailors from home. We are really enjoying these pleasant interludes during our travel. We are in Brac now and looking forward to Lesley Sommerville’s visit. Friendships, new and old, are a highlight of travelling.

Author: Merro