Italy to Croatia!! On our way at last!

Hi everyone.... It is so good to know that people are enjoying our blog and are following our adventures. It is great to be able to keep in touch this way and to share everything with you all.

We are now in Croatia and we finally feel that our adventure is really beginning. It almost feels as if the umbilical cord has been cut and we are free to make our own way in the world. It is both daunting and exciting not to know where we are going to be tomorrow, never mind this time next week.

We completed the fit out of Shirley Valentine at Monfalcone, Italy on Monday. We had been hanging around waiting for a replacement VHS radio to be sent to us as there was a problem with the MMSI numbers on our initial radio and it had been recalled. We spent the weekend touring around the lagoon areas near Venice in our hire car and visited some beautiful (but extremely quiet) seaside towns. There is actually something quite miserable about seaside towns when they are shut up for the winter, but the upside is that there are not many people around! The highlight was visiting Lido de Jesolo where I went on a high school trip. Couldn't for the life of me remember which of the 6000 hotels we stayed in though!

We were also waiting for a new computer to arrive which my lovely son had purchased for us in Australia. When it didn't show up, he did some digging and discovered that Australia Post had changed their policy and no longer post lithium batteries, so we are now back to square one as the computer has been returned to Milton! Don't you just love Australia Post!! Makes you wonder how all those people get to board aircraft with their laptops all the time.....

We were going to head to Croatia on Tuesday however the weather forecast wasn't the best and we anchored in our favourite little spot in Bazino de Panzino (forgive the spelling please..) which previously has been nice and quiet although still fairly industrial. Someone forgot to tell us however that they had turned on a factory nearby and there was oodles of noise all night! Spring must be coming at last.... Craig spent the morning pottering around, returning the hire car, paying our bills and checking out of Italy at the airport (we have needed a stamped crew list every time we have left a country so far and it is really important also for getting in to your next port of call).

We left Monfalcone early this morning in around 20 knots of wind. We are still getting our confidence up with Shirley Valentine and we gradually increased sail area until we were under full sail. We had a fantastic sail for about an hour and a half until the wind died away to nothing and we had to turn the engine back on. We also crossed our first traffic separation zone (with about one ship in site!).

We arrived in Umag, Croatia just after 1pm and went ashore to book into the country. Tying up to the wharf was a bit nerve wracking as it was very solid stone with nothing to buffer us if I stuffed up. Thankfully we tied up without a hitch. We first of all went to the police station at the end of the wharf and dutifully had our passports stamped etc. We thought that we were able to stay in Croatia for as long as we liked, however even though we had to pay for a 12 month cruising permit, we are only allowed to stay for 90 days out of every 180 days, just like Shengen countries. So much for pilot guides once again...... Ah well, I am really learning just to roll with the punches which is surprising for me as I really like to get my own way (all of the time!).

After our interview with 4 policemen and women (no cavity searches though) and our trip to the harbourmaster for our cruising permit we pottered over to pick up a mooring (which we also did without a hitch!). My sailing instructor (you know who I mean Stephen Crockett) would call this beginners luck........

We are now sitting on the mooring in fairly substantial rain. Craig is insisting that we have to fix the sail up. I am obviously not keen 'cos it is raining and I am a girl, however this is a boat and I guess I should expect to get wet every once in a while! We plan to blow up the dinghy (not literally of course!) tomorrow and go ashore and have an explore. The Bora (the local strong wind) is supposed to come through tonight, so hopefully we will be secure. We have heard dire stories about people being taken off cruise liners in local waters 'cos they are having a heart attack in 120 km winds (people love to tell you these stories, don't they!).

On the language front, I was getting very impressed with myself with regards to the amount of Italian I was learning (about 6 words!). Now we are in Croatia and I have to learn from scratch again. I keep saying Bon Jorno (sure that spelling is wrong!!) and chio, chio and getting blank looks. I already know 2 Croatian words though so things are looking up!

Well, have to go... will post some more photos tonight if I can. Talk to you all soon. Take care of one another and I hope everyone in Australia is OK with the heavy rain..

xx

Lesley and Craig