Wandering around the waterfront of Vis and Kut, we see pebbly, sea urchin riddled beaches. We thought it was interesting that instead of the crowded beaches of Bondi or the Jersey Shore, we saw solitary swimmers and sunbakers. We saw people in silent contemplation of the landscape and vistas.
Contemplation
Vis is a beautiful old town on an island near Hvar. Vis is just 60 miles to Italy and like Italy, Vis has been inhabited since about 3,000 BC. It is an island of wine growers and fishermen.
As we wandered around, we were enchanted with the azure blue of the water against the old stone buildings and the internal courtyards glimpsed through an open door.
Intriguing spaces
Kut is a nearby village from which the town of Vis originated after merging with the village of Luka. Vis seems to be built on many levels, so we walk up and down hills and stairs and out towards the mouth of the bay. We see a few sun bakers becoming part of the scene, adorning the view of boats and pebbles.
Basking in the sun
We were having a late lunch on Mercier and fellow Aussies, Gloria, Allan and Bill came by to say hello. They are also sailing Croatia and have come from Adelaide. We chatted for awhile and realised that both Gloria and I are transplanted Americans thriving in Aussie soil for many years. They wandered off to their own lunch in a cafe in Kut and we wandered around looking at beautiful old buildings, gardens and churches. Exploring the back streets, we see a few more buildings of interest.
We motored over to Stari Grad; it seemed quiet. The only sign of activity are the yachts moorning on the quay. It was midday and taciturn Stari Grad seems to go home for lunch. We walked along the bay in the heat. The town is scenic but the walk toward the ferry quay is enticing. We wandered towards the shade of a pine covered path, we witnessed picnics virtually in the water.
Cool lunch in Stari Grad
We found a very nice cafe, under fragrant pine trees, with great music. You could jump down a few stairs and go for a swim, come up and have a shower and sit back down to your piccolo latte.
View from the Cafe
About 4PM, the town came to life and you could see its vitality return and Stari Grad became vibrant. Children, dogs and their minders were walking up and down the handsome white stoned Novo Riva, with yachts in the center of small fishing boats and giant day tripper boats. Music coming from boats and the chatter of friends enliven the atmoshpere, hard to believe that it is the same town we landed in four hours earlier.
Up at the top towards the Trig Stepjana Radica, we walk along the bay towards the market.
James on the Novo RivaStari Grad
At the market, all the fruit and many of the veggies are covered in bees. The stall holders are stoical and set up sacrificial watermelons, so the bees will leave everyone alone but we think it is just successful in attracting more bees. Bees come back to Mercier, drunk on grapes. We take the grapes outside and send the staggering bees home.
Sacrificial Watermelon
Last night, we met up with the crew of Sarayu, Dennis, Bosjana and Caroline, the five of us went to a lovely restaurant, Jurin Podrum in one of the alleys parallel to the Quay. We talked about passages and directions, it has been great catching up with other Aussies. We are sharing the same experiences, it’s a powerful tonic.
Before coming to quiet Stari Grad, we shared the ACI Marina with a yacht rally. All chartered yachts – what a party. Here are a few outtakes.
Starts out beautifullyGets a bit out of control – would you like to buy a charter boat?The noise becomes incredibleEvery one is a bit tired and emotional the next morning
We left Korcula early on Friday, thinking we would head over to Vela Luka for a nice anchorage. Well nice in every wind except a western Maestral.
Sailing past Korcula
Of course, as we are sailing the wind comes in strongly from the west, so we reassess our home for the evening. 777 harbours and anchorages is a book about sailing in Croatia and the Eastern Adriatic. The authors suggest Scedro Island as a lovely place to hide from a Maestral. We are looking for a nice quiet anchorage and so we select the bay of Carnjeni. As we approach, we mistake the bay alongside called Borova, which is very small and filled by the large cruiser that inhabited it. The autopilot guides us to Carnjeni and we find a beautiful anchorage; remote, enticing, a small beach at one end and shrubs and pines filling the shore. So natural, in fact, that we were barely finished anchoring before the boats was gently swarmed by bees and wasps. They weren’t aggressive but it was still disconcerting to have bees walking on the boat and on us. We think they like salt. Needless to say we ate indoors with screens covering every opening and our friends stayed with us til about 8:30pm, when we could finally venture outside.
The bees were back in the morning. After a quick swim, we motored out early to Hvar, along the south of the island, looking at the vertical agriculture and viniculture. At St Nedjelja, the winemaker understands the thirst sailing generates and has put in a jetty. Sailors can moor up, taste his wares and retire to their boats on the dock.
We sailed passed the beautiful city of Hvar, on our way to the ACI Marina at St Klement. We checked in and then took a water taxi to Hvar.
Hvar Town
777 calls Hvar lively; it seems to me a great understatement. Hvar is lovely, crowded and frenetic as soon as the sun sets. There are dozens of tour boats, several ferries, many buses and each bring hordes of men and women ready to have fun. During the day they may go to historical sites, climb to fortresses and see the art in Cathedrals. After dark they swarm rather like our bees over the streets near the town quay and around the beach walk. The energy is palpable.
In fact, James and I managed to have a bit of social life in Hvar, luck would have it that Lauren Knight-Smith was going to be in Hvar and we managed to meet up for dinner. Lauren has been travelling in Croatia for two weeks so she had great information on places we haven’t reached yet. It was great to catch up and hear about her plans.
Lauren and Gaila on the town quay
We also managed to catch up with Dennis and Bosjana and their daughter Caroline, as Sarayu managed to get a great mooring in Hvar Town Harbour. It is great to reconnect and hear about the ports they had been to and the adventures they had been having.
We opted for a quiet day on St Klements, a walk around the island brings you to gorgeous Palmizana bay, a rocky beach and several interesting restaurants.
Palmizana Bay
After our energetic walk, we came back to a marina filling up with the party of The Yacht Week, the marina only a third full at lunch time was absolutely overflowing with the boats in this regatta – there are 50 of them crewed with 18 to 30 year olds. We think it may not be so quiet tonight, but perhaps more lively.
a Yacht Week boat – maybe this team is from the US of A.Sun setting on Hvar Town
Korcula is a lovely island northwest of Dubrovnik, with a walled city fortress and history going back hundreds of years. Francesco Da Mosto did a documentary (Francesco’s Mediterranean Voyage Ep.3) including the Moreska Korcula or the traditional sword dance of Korcula. In this land narrated by its history of invaders, this story is about a lovely girl who is captured by the Black Prince and saved by the Korculean prince.
We were in Korcula on the night the Moreska was playing and had a most interesting evening. First people watching as every seat was taken in the ‘theatre’ space, the welcome by a CJ Craig* look alike MC in five languages, traditional songs sung acapella by the Korcula equivalent to the Circular Quay chorus and finally the Moreska itself. Here are a few photos.
Moreska PageantryThe Black Prince taunting the KorculeansFace Off with the Princess in the backgroundThe Korculean Prince is winning!
Sparks fly off the swords, the good guys win but the interesting fact is that this is a family tradition. These men are following in the footsteps of their fathers, grandfathers and other ancestors. Croatia is a land of tradition and new beginnings.
Polace (Mljet) is a lovely harbour on a very very long island. Mljet is about 388 sq miles, comprised mostly of pine forests and a large national park.
In Polace, we went to Joseph’s Restaurant and tied stern to, we buy dinner and the mooring is free. In this case, the restaurant reminds me of a Mexican Cantina, the decor is rough and ready but the service is friendly and food is fresh and simply cooked. We can easily walk all of Polace which is in a national park and has its own Roman ruins of an ancient Palazzo.
Polace, Mljet
We were moored next to a large gullet and it was amazing to see this ship ‘park’ next to us, with apparent ease.
Badjia, a small island off Korcula. The gullet is the timber boat on the left.
We left the next morning and only motored for about 40 minutes, when we pulled into a protected bay almost enclosed by islands. It was too deep to anchor but we could have a swim because Mercier just drifted quietly. Refreshed, we proceed on to Korcula.
Otok Korcula is the island of Korcula and there is also an ancient fortress town of Korcula, smaller than Dubrovnik but still formidable.
City Steps into Korcula, note the Venetian crest in the wall
You can look over the walls and see yachts, fishing boats, para-sailing, wind surfers, swimmers and divers. Lovely restaurants have a line of tables against the bastion wall, so you can look out to the island of Badjia and other towns on the coast.
It is now high season, Korcula is bustling, a veritable hive of activity. We walk the Bastion walk and it’s impossible to walk together, there are so many other tourists. We hear languages from dozens of countries, including quite a few Americans and Australians.
When the Commodore and Sandy Lawson give you advice you take it. They told us we should see Ston and Polace, so we did that yesterday.
From Kobas, we turned left and anchored Mercier at the entrance to a narrow channel at Broce. We had spoken to crew of a motor yacht the night before and they advised leave the boat at Broce and go up the channel about a mile in the zodiak and we would be in Ston. The channel is 3 metres deep but silts up and that was too fine a match for Mercier’s 2.5 draft.
Broce
We followed the narrow channel past a few holiday houses, rounded a corner and saw the great wall of Ston lining the hilltop over the village reaching out to the nearby village of Mali Ston. When I saw the stairs going up to the wall, a sigh of relief escaped me. With Mercier at anchor back at Broce, James wouldn’t suggest we climb the steep stairs or walk the 5.5 kilometre walk around the perimeter.
The Great Wall of Ston
Wiki says that this wall was built as a second line of defense for Dubrovnik and also as a defense for the precious salt pans which was a large commercial enterprise then and is still making salt today. The wall was completed in the 15th Century and the fortress town not only had protection, but was fully plumbed.
Anchorage at Ston
Miljet is a very long island and we had headwinds on the way there, but the day was warm and sunny. We made it to Polace in a few hours, it was like being in a very large Refuge Bay with small anchorages up to the main bay.
Polace
Here are a few photos, more about Polace tomorrow. If you want a challenge, there is a marathon in Ston.
Sunday saw us go to Dubrovnik Old Town for a last look, on our way into town however we counted five cruise ships and started making alternate plans. We thought we might go to some of the newer parts of Dubrovnik and since we had heard about the Orsan Yacht Club thought we might have a nice lunch there.
Orsan Yacht Club Restaurant
In the evening after exploring, lunching and doing a bit of shopping in New Dubrovnik, we went back to the Marina and swam in the cold refreshing pool, which is filled with water from a nearby mountain river. It is so cold but so refreshing.
Swimming
We leave the next day for Kolocep, one of the Elafiti Islands just off Dubrovnik for a swim. We motored over to the bay of Slano before deciding we will continue on to Kobas a small fishing village with stern to moorings for the “guests” of the restaurants.
Off to the next destination after a refreshing swim
The cooking seems to be done in a massive outdoor over with the vegetables from the garden and fish, scallops, shrimp, sea urchins, mussels and oysters locally sourced.
Dinner
There are three restaurants here and we pick the one with the deepest moorings: Niko’s Croatian food aka Konobas – Ribarska Kuca Niko. The bread was the best we have had in Montenegro or Croatia, coquilles St. Jacque were very tasty and the fish platter was lovely. We also had a very nice cheeky white chilled to perfection. In Italy you may pay E100 for a marina, in Croatia you pay E120 for marina and a two course meal.
Rustic backdrop to the restaurant
We have enjoyed all the emails about places to go and restaurants here in Croatia. We are looking forward to catching up with Lesley in two weeks and maybe we will see Lauren before that. The Godson is departing for Australia without a visit this time, but we still love him.
The city walls of Dubrovnik deliver many exciting panoramas, you walk the perimeter of the city at varying heights and look inward into the resilient city or out to the busy sea. The walls are 1940 meters in length and up to 25 meters high. Dubrovnik Card also tells us that there are three forts, 16 towers and 6 bastions.
View out to sea from the Bastion
Today was forecast to be cloudy, possibly rainy and windy. We stowed everything down below on the boat and took the bus into town.
The merits of walking the bastion mean that you climb many stairs; the pay off is that the view is enhanced. You get a look at life not from street level but from a loftier perspective. We are view junkies, so we take the stairs.
We walk for a kilometer around the top of the wall from Pile Gate towards the Bokar fort and then on to the Fort of St John. The sky was grey but looking over the Ploce Gate and mountains behind the city, dark storm clouds were threatening. We thought this might be the right time for a lunch break.
Big, black clouds rolling over Mt Srd.
We walked down into a labyrinth of tiny streets and looked for an indoor restaurant. We could see that awnings were not going to keep us dry. We passed a few cafes, but a few large raindrops focussed the mind. We found a table free and ducked in for a dry lunch in a nice little Italian.
Not just rain, but hail. Awnings didn’t offer much protection.
After lunch we decide some indoor activities were in order and we went to the Rector’s Palace followed by the Maritime Museum.
Open courtyard at the Rector’s Palace
Three hours after those early raindrops, the skies cleared and we resumed the walk of the bastions with some lovely vistas.
Washed clean, Dubrovnik is beautiful
Congratulations to Ben and Jacqueline for making my cousins, Lorraine and Fred, Grandparents. Welcome to the world, Aiden. Happy Birthday to cousin Sonya, & pals Kim and Charlene. Hope you are all spoiled. It was Lorraine and Ben’s birthday recently but they were just waiting for another happy event. Auguri, to you all.
Yesterday we left sweet Montenegro and in a matter of minutes we were in Croatia; both the yellow flag and the Croatian flag were hoisted.
Although it was so close to Croatia, we had to motor a few hours to Cavtat, the first port of entry to clear customs. Cavtat is a small village with beautiful harbourside walks, a lovely harbour and a very villagey feel. We weren’t sure what to expect tying up for customs, anchor out in the harbour and go stern to the quay (dock, for my fellow Americans). Boats moving in and out as soon as they clear customs gives a feeling of franticness – ‘get me off this dock before some megayacht puts his anchor on top of mine and sends it to China’ kind of feeling.
James off to clear customs in Croatia
We saw a few Aussie flags and swimmers passed by and said hello. It was Dennis and Bosjana, sailing on Sarayu from Mooloolaba. They have been sailing in Turkey and Greece, so had some information to help us with next year. We shared some of the local knowledge we gained from John and Tony in Porto Montenegro with them.
We moored in the harbour which meant swims and breeze on a local council mooring, slept well and woke to a sunny day in Cavtat. We took the zodiac into the village and went for a walk along the harbourside, a path that encircles the village.
beautiful clear water in Cavtat harbour
Following a swim, we motored off to Dubrovnik. We did a sail past of the old town from the sea, then proceeded to the marina.
The old harbour of Dubrovnik
We are moored in ACI Marina, up the river from the old fortress town. We caught the bus into the old town and wandered through the marble paved streets.
Dubrovnik
Looking for a laundromat, we came across a cable car going up the mountain behind the Old Town. Instead we took the cable car up for the majestic overview. Here are some photos.
A mixture of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque churches and buildings, Dubrovnik is known as the Pearl of the Adriactic.Island of Lokrum, just off Dubrovnik. It was once a Benedictine Monastery.
