Well, once again we have encountered gale force winds. To think that we have been holding off on getting a wind generator because we didn't think it would be worth it! It would have had soooo much more use than our solar panels so far......
Oh.... and my travel tip this week: NEVER trust the weather forecasts!!!!
We left Otok Murter this morning early due to the weather forecast. I had had a bit of a sleepless night (it kind of happens when you have too many nanny naps during the day!!) and had watched the sun come up over the beautiful bay that we had spent a few nights in. As I heard a wind gust, I casually mentioned to Craig who was still three quarters asleep that when I had checked the weather forecast (on two different, official, websites may I add!) it had indicated that we might get 30 to 40 knot gusts in the FORENOON and afternoon from the North East (Bora country!)! Nothing quite like a lively weather forecast to waken a man from his slumber!
Two minutes later we had upped anchor and were heading south towards Sibenik. We were in a relatively safe anchorage from 'Bora' type winds, but didn't want to take the risk and wanted to head to the mainland and more assured safety due to our previous brushes with the 'Bora'. Wehad also been warned (old wives tales of course) that there are always 3 Boras after Christmas. We thought we had been through 3 but were informed that some of those didn't really count!
We set off under motor and quickly put up our genoa and were flying along at around 6 knots. Within minutes we were in gale force winds (the story of our lives it seems!!).
As has become our habit of late, our wonderful passage planning skills came in useful and we decided to opt for one of our 'bale out' options which was to head for a nearby marina at Tribunj. We stomped across the bottom of Otok Murter and towards the mainland under full genoa and quickly decided to reef in the sail as we were getting a bit wet and uncomfortable. Shirley Valentine, as usual, was dealing with things a lot better than us and stuff which we had left in the cabin in our haste was still upright. Gee, I love our girl!!!
Reefing the sail was hard work and it took all my new found strength in my dodgey shoulder, but I gritted my teeth and showed what a girl I really am. Within a few more minutes we were getting regular 40 knot winds and we decided, being the Jessies that we are, to pull in the sail and make for land. As we did this, there was a resounding 'Thwang' (great word, isn't it!!). We quickly worked out that the jib furler had snapped and Craig paled a little (well, a lot really) as it registered that we may have to continue with full genoa. He (my hero!) quickly wrapped the genoa up in the sheets and I braved a few moments on deck to take him some extra line. With our sail wrapped up like a mummy we limped into the harbour (OK, bit of poetic licence here.... we actually sailed quite calmly and serenely into the marina after phoning them to make sure it was OK to come in!).....
I then executed a pretty damn good reverse park in a 40 knot blow off (even though I say so myself!!) and we were safely ashore!
The really frustrating part was that within an hour or so, the winds had dropped off and the sailing conditions were perfect! Bloody weather forecasts. Anyway, we had a lovely walk around town this afternoon and met an Aussie!!!!!!! They actually noticed Craig's Australian board shorts.... I know, not like Craig to stand out for his fashion sense, but in this case it was a winner! A lovely Croatian couple (Mick and Maria) and their son (Tom) who lived in Sydney for 32 years. It was great to hear the sons accent and to have people who can actually understand our humour. They are now living in Croatia and they showed us round the house that they are building with fantastic views over the coast at Tribunj.
Just goes to show that every cloud has a silver lining.
Well, stuck in this marvellous marina in this lovely town until we get the jib furler fixed!! God damn! :-)) Such a luxury to have shore power and a wonderful hot shower ashore. Toilet block even has bidets!!
Hoping to continue our push south in the next few days as we have to leave Croatia at the end of May and are planning a continuous passage from Dubrovnik to Corfu, effectively bypassing Montenegro and Albania (weather permitting of course!).
Will talk to you all soon..... Take care.
xx
Craig and Lesley (Shirley Valentine)
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Relaxing at last with dogs and donkeys!!
Hello everyone. Hope you are all keeping well. To start with, my travel tip! Number 3: Just try to accept things the way they are..... For example! If the Croatian word for cream is 'slag' and you can't find it on the shelf.... don't be embarrassed to go up to the counter and ask for it by name! Also, don't keep trying to calculate the cost of things into Australian dollars all the time. You go nuts, believe me! A kuna is about 5 times the Aussie dollar so if we have a 200 kuna note, we think we are really rich and get upset when it disappears quickly! Better not to think about it, I think.
We are finally on the move again. We have a new dinghy (Costas II) and I am not speaking to Craig as he has confessed to preferring it to Costas the first! I am horrified and asked him how long it would take to replace me with a new model if I was stolen! It does the job, however (I would never betray Costas the first and still grieve for her!) and gets us from A to B when needed. I know I am being unkind, but I can't help myself.
The last week has been magical. After a fantastic road trip to the Plitvice Lakes to fill in time while we were waiting for delivery of the dinghy, we said goodbye to Maree and Sandy on Friday (which was a bit sad as they have been great company and we hope to catch up with them soon!) and thankfully left the marina and spent the night at the anchorage in Sukosan. One of the positives about having a hire car for our road trip was that we were able to provision well before we left Zadar. We had full food, water and fuel stocks..... but no wind! Ah well, can't have everything...
We headed north (I know, we are supposed to be heading south, but what the hell!) towards Veli Rat at the northern end of Dugi Otok. We anchored in a beautiful, peaceful anchorage to the east of Veli Rat. We had the anchorage to ourselves and a partially submerged wreck (nothing to do with my driving, honest.... but very interesting to have a peek at).
We spent two nights there and went ashore in Costas II to have a look at the area and to walk to Veli Rat. As usual, there were no restaurants open, hardly anyone around and not even a shop. We did manage to get a post office to buy some credit for our internet dongle and I bought the last 200 kuna of credit that the lovely lady had.
Yesterday we headed south (at last!). There was some wind and we actually managed to sail for most of the way down to the southern end of Dugi Otok. We spent last night in the Luka Telascica bay, which is part of the Telascica national park and are staying here tonight also. It is beautiful here!!! The only light we saw last night was the masthead light of another yacht.
We went ashore today and walked to a salt lake and to some amazing cliffs. Surprisingly, I was not even tempted to push Craig over the edge, even though it would have been easy to do so as the usual Croatian WPH&S regulations are in force with not even a simple barrier at some places to stop you plunging 30 metres onto the rocks below!! The warning signs about the 'dangerous cliffs' were bits of paper pasted onto the occassional tree!
We found a nice restuarant open, which although wouldn't serve us pizza, did serve us the important part of the diet... alcohol! We sat and had a tipple whilst patting the local dogs and donkeys who wandered along the path beside our table! Just wouldn't happen in Oz.....
Sitting here now in perfect peace and quiet. On a mooring, so we don't need to worry about our anchor dragging..... and just finished my latest culinary experiment of prawn and butter bean omlette (acually much better than it sounds!). How much better can it get... Oh, and the sun shone all day today resulting in me getting some sun burn for the first time.
We continue to be very happy with Shirley Valentine. It is amazing how fond you can become of a lump of fibre glass. She is a very comfortable boat and is serving our purposes very well so far.
The strange thing over the last couple of days has been the lack of aeroplanes in the sky. We watched with interest the unfolding 'volcano' story which has meant that Craig hasn't had his usual vapour trails to watch and has been quite lost, having to give me attention instead! It is nice to see planes in the sky again today. I think the locals are very worried about the slow start to the tourist season and this has probably added to their woes.
The nice thing for us is that we have all these magical places pretty much to ourselves. Bet we won't be saying that in a few months time......
Anyway, bye for now. Please take care. We miss everyone and are looking forward to catching up when we get home.
xx
Craig and Lesley
We are finally on the move again. We have a new dinghy (Costas II) and I am not speaking to Craig as he has confessed to preferring it to Costas the first! I am horrified and asked him how long it would take to replace me with a new model if I was stolen! It does the job, however (I would never betray Costas the first and still grieve for her!) and gets us from A to B when needed. I know I am being unkind, but I can't help myself.
The last week has been magical. After a fantastic road trip to the Plitvice Lakes to fill in time while we were waiting for delivery of the dinghy, we said goodbye to Maree and Sandy on Friday (which was a bit sad as they have been great company and we hope to catch up with them soon!) and thankfully left the marina and spent the night at the anchorage in Sukosan. One of the positives about having a hire car for our road trip was that we were able to provision well before we left Zadar. We had full food, water and fuel stocks..... but no wind! Ah well, can't have everything...
We headed north (I know, we are supposed to be heading south, but what the hell!) towards Veli Rat at the northern end of Dugi Otok. We anchored in a beautiful, peaceful anchorage to the east of Veli Rat. We had the anchorage to ourselves and a partially submerged wreck (nothing to do with my driving, honest.... but very interesting to have a peek at).
We spent two nights there and went ashore in Costas II to have a look at the area and to walk to Veli Rat. As usual, there were no restaurants open, hardly anyone around and not even a shop. We did manage to get a post office to buy some credit for our internet dongle and I bought the last 200 kuna of credit that the lovely lady had.
Yesterday we headed south (at last!). There was some wind and we actually managed to sail for most of the way down to the southern end of Dugi Otok. We spent last night in the Luka Telascica bay, which is part of the Telascica national park and are staying here tonight also. It is beautiful here!!! The only light we saw last night was the masthead light of another yacht.
We went ashore today and walked to a salt lake and to some amazing cliffs. Surprisingly, I was not even tempted to push Craig over the edge, even though it would have been easy to do so as the usual Croatian WPH&S regulations are in force with not even a simple barrier at some places to stop you plunging 30 metres onto the rocks below!! The warning signs about the 'dangerous cliffs' were bits of paper pasted onto the occassional tree!
We found a nice restuarant open, which although wouldn't serve us pizza, did serve us the important part of the diet... alcohol! We sat and had a tipple whilst patting the local dogs and donkeys who wandered along the path beside our table! Just wouldn't happen in Oz.....
Sitting here now in perfect peace and quiet. On a mooring, so we don't need to worry about our anchor dragging..... and just finished my latest culinary experiment of prawn and butter bean omlette (acually much better than it sounds!). How much better can it get... Oh, and the sun shone all day today resulting in me getting some sun burn for the first time.
We continue to be very happy with Shirley Valentine. It is amazing how fond you can become of a lump of fibre glass. She is a very comfortable boat and is serving our purposes very well so far.
The strange thing over the last couple of days has been the lack of aeroplanes in the sky. We watched with interest the unfolding 'volcano' story which has meant that Craig hasn't had his usual vapour trails to watch and has been quite lost, having to give me attention instead! It is nice to see planes in the sky again today. I think the locals are very worried about the slow start to the tourist season and this has probably added to their woes.
The nice thing for us is that we have all these magical places pretty much to ourselves. Bet we won't be saying that in a few months time......
Anyway, bye for now. Please take care. We miss everyone and are looking forward to catching up when we get home.
xx
Craig and Lesley
Monday, April 12, 2010
People coming out to play and the stolen dinghy!
Bohg!
Travel Tip#2: Do not be tempted by old guys who are trying to sell you unidentifiable liquids in old soft drink bottles out of a plastic bag even if they tell you it is great vino!! Seriously, this did happen to us.... Apparently, it is the dregs of some part of the wine making process which is really potent. People have (apparently, once again) gotten drunk on the stuff and never recovered!
Sorry we haven't been in touch for so long, but life has been fairly hectic! We have been in Sukosan (pronounced Sookoshan I think) in Croatia for over a week now. We headed down here over the easter weekend as there was some bad weather forecast and we holed up in Marina Dalmacija to ride it out.
Within a few hours we had met both an English couple (Nigel and Mo from Deja Vu II) and a lovely Kiwi couple (I know, unusual for Kiwi's but there you go!), Sandy and Maree from Freedom. The former were here over Easter to get their boat ready for the summer season and Sandy and Maree are live aboards like us. Craig had a ball having some male company and chatting to someone about maintenance etc.
We got an invite to Deja Vu II for Easter drinks and got chatting and Sandy and Maree ended up coming over for dinner and watching a DVD. Our first entertaining!! It was great. Over the next couple of days we spent some time with them pottering around Zadar (the boys spending hours in the yacht chandlers of course). Maree and I had a 'girlie' and then we planned a day out to the Croatia boat show in Split which is about a 2 hour drive from here.
I had to buy a new camera in Zadar as the one I had had developed some marks on the lens which appear to be something inside and couldn't be rubbed off. It was driving me mad not being able to take good photos. When I made enquiries about getting it fixed, it transpired that I would have to send it to Zagreb and it would take 1 - 2 weeks to come back, so I bought a new one and will get the old one fixed when I get back to Oz. Craig will then be able to take his own photos and won't have to annoy me every 2 seconds to take one for him. He wants to try to capture every second on film, God love him!
On Saturday we set off in our hire car and headed for the boat show. We had moved our boat out of the marina and into the bay next door and hopped in our dinghy to come ashore. We tied up to a tree on a beach just outside the marina, thinking it would be the safest place to leave her. After a gorgeous drive down the coast we arrived in Split and finally found the boat show. It was the weirdest boat show I have ever been to. For a start, there were more cars than boats for sale, there were lolly stands and flower stalls and....... a casino stall! Craig bought some new wet weather gear which he looks absolutely gorgeous in!
We headed home arriving an hour or so after dark and decided to have dinner at the restaurant near our dinghy before we went back to Shirley. Craig went to check the dinghy and came back a bit ashen announcing that it was gone! Of course Sandy and I thought he was joking at first..... but he wasn't! Costas the dinghy is no more!!!!
We thought at first that the marina may have moved it because it wasn't supposed to be on the beach, but many hours later that hope was fading fast. We also had the problem of how to get back on board. Lovely Sandy and Maree stayed with us for moral support and the owner of the restaurant (the Laguna - lovely place to eat!!) phoned the police for us and helped to translate as they didn't speak much English. The police arrived in due course (as police do) and took down all the details. The marina boys then transported us back to Shirley Valentine in their RIB. Was a long night and we were glad to get on board.
We had a bit of a sleepless night both due to shock and high winds. I felt like a child who has just found out that Santa doesn't really exist, and I will be a lot more cautious from now on! My trust has been shattered, especially as we thought that the dinghy was really safely secured.The anchor dragged a little at one point, but steadfast Craig was there to fix it up and I retreated into a miserable shell. The next morning we came back into the marina and have spent yesterday and today running around trying to get everything sorted out. We are also taking the opportunity to get another house battery fitted and get a few electrical things fixed up.
We are thinking of doing a road trip to Plitvice for a few days as we have to wait for our new dinghy to arrive (it just won't be the same as Costas though!). Will post some photos if I get a chance, now that I have my new camera... Anyway, got to go and cook dinner as we are having some guests over for dinner (I would like you to imagine that I am saying that sentence in a really posh voice!!). Making chicken and mushroom pasta and will crack a bottle of expensive Croatian wine!!
Hope you are well. Thinking of you all and will chat again soon!
xxxx Craig and Lesley
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Making brownies, live aboard style!!
I had to blog on this.... I don't know if I mentioned earlier that I had bought a cake mix for brownies in slovenia and was having trouble reading the instructions. Being the perfectionist that I am, I had to know that I was making them properly, so I decided to get on the net this morning and try to get a translation (we have been invited aboard another boat for Easter so thought I might bake!).
I found a website which translates from Croatian to English and thought that I would give it a go. There were two languages on the packet. I think the first one was Slovenian and therefore the translation was obviously gobbledy gook, however the Croatian didn't help much either..... see if this would help you:
1. First slozite mould versus instruct.....
2. Mjesavinu for tifesto upsite into a vessel for mijesanje. Add ovum vodu plus omeksani regalement or margarines, these hard by help small broom fabricate smooth paste. Ulijte paste into a mould plus sleepy komadacima cokolade.
3. Time plus temperature pecenja: to customise versus instruct for vasa pecnicu (lift up the eyes up). Peceni stake vacate yes we do does chill into a mould. Unfold prick Pages thrower plus stake cutout at a 16 laceration.
Advice for vise: instead omeksanog butter into a mjesavinu for paste mozete add dl nutter.
I particularly like the sleepy chocolate and the unfold prick part (the lacerations might hurt a little!) but not quite sure what they mean in a baking sense. Still, I'm going to give it a go. Hope I don't poison the neighbours!!!
See ya...... Happy Easter everyone!
xx Lesley
I found a website which translates from Croatian to English and thought that I would give it a go. There were two languages on the packet. I think the first one was Slovenian and therefore the translation was obviously gobbledy gook, however the Croatian didn't help much either..... see if this would help you:
1. First slozite mould versus instruct.....
2. Mjesavinu for tifesto upsite into a vessel for mijesanje. Add ovum vodu plus omeksani regalement or margarines, these hard by help small broom fabricate smooth paste. Ulijte paste into a mould plus sleepy komadacima cokolade.
3. Time plus temperature pecenja: to customise versus instruct for vasa pecnicu (lift up the eyes up). Peceni stake vacate yes we do does chill into a mould. Unfold prick Pages thrower plus stake cutout at a 16 laceration.
Advice for vise: instead omeksanog butter into a mjesavinu for paste mozete add dl nutter.
I particularly like the sleepy chocolate and the unfold prick part (the lacerations might hurt a little!) but not quite sure what they mean in a baking sense. Still, I'm going to give it a go. Hope I don't poison the neighbours!!!
See ya...... Happy Easter everyone!
xx Lesley
Friday, April 2, 2010
Heading South to the Outer Croatian Islands.
Dobra dosli! Yes, my Croatian is improving very slowly. At this rate I will have to stay in Croatia until I am about 109 before I can have a decent conversation! Anyway, we are getting by and can normally mange to make ourselves understood enough not to starve! It was funny yesterday however trying to buy credit for our mobile phone. We found a post office on Otok Silba which is a really remote little island where we managed to buy some credit at the post office. We didn't know how to put it into the phone and the lady behind the counter only spoke German, so we had to stop a young lady in the street who very kindly did the deed!
Anyway.... I am going to start some travel tips when I blog so I hope people like them. Travel tip number 1 is: If you are a middle aged woman (this may apply to middle aged men too, however I can't comment on this - I have other thoughts on middle aged men and toilets, but they will follow at a later date!).... NEVER miss an opportunity to go to the toilet! You just never know where you will find another one and they may not always be where you think they logically should be. It seems to kind of defeat the purpose to buy a coffee in a caffe bar to go to the toilet 'cos then you just need to go more!!!!
We are now moving south into the outer islands of Croatia and it is absolutely beautiful. We are trying to reduce our dependence on marinas as the fees are quite steep and we would rather spend our money on other things, however things still don't go as planned all the time and pilot books should not be taken as gospel in our humble experience. Last Sunday we motored all the way down from Veruda, just south of Pula to Mali Losinj (pronounced low shin) on the island of Losinj as there was no wind. We entered the bay there which is very sheltered and headed for some pontoons in the harbour which our pilot book told us we could tie up to. We thought these were little basic town pontoons which would be cost effective for us, however the harbour appears to have been privatised and the pontoons are now a marina. As we weren't allowed to anchor anywhere in the bay we had little choice if we wanted to stay in this delightful spot and we ended up paying just slightly less than a marina fee. First time we have felt a little ripped off, however this was more just that our expectations were different than the reality, and in all fairness there were fairly good facilities. We were also right in the middle of town and there were actually other boats around and people to talk to into the bargain! Craig was hilarious as he was standing in the cockpit of the boat basically accosting people as they walked past just to have some social interaction. We ended up chatting to a pleasant Austrian fellow by the name of Fre(e)do who was taking photos of the town from our pontoon and he spent the evening on board with us having a good chin wag.
The next morning we went exploring and thoroughly enjoyed walking across the island and up to Veli Losinj along a beautiful 'sea promenade'. The water was crytstal clear and we actually saw some people sun bathing (think they were Germans!). We also however was Germans walking along in winter gear with snow poles, so you can never be sure just how to dress! (I apologise to anyone who takes offense at me having a go at the German's all the time by the way, but we saw some swimming today while we are still in 3 layers, so you can probably sort of see my point!). We still pack an extra layer when we go ashore just in case. We had a late lunch in a beautiful setting on the harbour at Veli Losinj before walking home via Cikat.
We returned to Shirley Valentine late in the afternoon. We still weren't sure if we were supposed to stay in the marina for more than one night, but it wasn't too busy and no-one had told us that we had to leave, so we decided to stay as there were heavy winds forecast for the next day. We had an early night and woke the next morning to find that the forecast was accurate and there were indded strong southerly winds. We decided to take a local bus to the island of Cres to pass the day. We got chatting to a lovely Irish couple (Nicholas and Elizabeth) who were from the Eliza K. It was really nice to chat to them as they were the first people we had met whose first language was English and they were great company into the bargain.
The bus trip to Cres was lovely. It was a little local bus which wound through all the little villages. When we arrived in Cres, however, the forecast 50 knot winds had arrived and we were blown around town for a few hours (see, I told you the extra layer comes in handy!) before heading back to the bus stop. The little caffe bar which we found at the end of the caravan park will always remain in our memories as a little haven in the storm! Now I know how Eddie the Eagle felt.
That evening we caught up with Nicholas and Elizabeth and had a bit of craic. We weere gald we had stayed put that evening.
In the morning I went to find the supermarket and after the equivalent climb of about 4 Jacobs Ladders I found it! After getting some provisions and stumbling back down the hill, I went gratefully aboard and we headed off. The winds were 15 to 20 knots mainly from the west so we pulled up both sails and got crackingt. There was a regular 2 metre swell, at times up to 3 metres, which added to the fun. The winds died off in the early afternoon and we slopped around a bit but we persevered and managed to sail all the way to our destination, tacking the last few nautical miles into Luka Silba on Otok Silba. We dropped anchor in a perfect little bay in 4 metres of crystal clear water and had a big sleep.
In the morning we prepared Costas (our dinghy) and went ashore. The perfect thing about the island of Silba is that it has no cars. You wander around little streets and the peace and quiet is only disturbed by dirty great tractors which move construction equipment etc around town. I will try to attach a lovely photo of one of the tractor drivers with a load of timber on the back. All the locals have little trolleys which they pull around everywhere. Once again, howeve, there wasn't much open and we had to come back aboard to eat. The winds got up a little in the evening and swung around to the south east so our anchoring was a little sloppy but secure.
At the momrnt we are heading south to the island of Ist. We are pottering along (I do like that word 'pottering' don't I!) at about 3 knots with just the genoa up, heading in a southwards direction in a north westerly breeze of about 5 to 7 knots. Lovely and peaceful! Bad weather expected again on Saturday night through to Monday so will try to make to most of this sunshine and the little warmth that we are not getting.
Hope you are all well. Thinking of you all as always. Take care and we will keep in touch as able.
xxxx
Craig and Lesley
Anyway.... I am going to start some travel tips when I blog so I hope people like them. Travel tip number 1 is: If you are a middle aged woman (this may apply to middle aged men too, however I can't comment on this - I have other thoughts on middle aged men and toilets, but they will follow at a later date!).... NEVER miss an opportunity to go to the toilet! You just never know where you will find another one and they may not always be where you think they logically should be. It seems to kind of defeat the purpose to buy a coffee in a caffe bar to go to the toilet 'cos then you just need to go more!!!!
We are now moving south into the outer islands of Croatia and it is absolutely beautiful. We are trying to reduce our dependence on marinas as the fees are quite steep and we would rather spend our money on other things, however things still don't go as planned all the time and pilot books should not be taken as gospel in our humble experience. Last Sunday we motored all the way down from Veruda, just south of Pula to Mali Losinj (pronounced low shin) on the island of Losinj as there was no wind. We entered the bay there which is very sheltered and headed for some pontoons in the harbour which our pilot book told us we could tie up to. We thought these were little basic town pontoons which would be cost effective for us, however the harbour appears to have been privatised and the pontoons are now a marina. As we weren't allowed to anchor anywhere in the bay we had little choice if we wanted to stay in this delightful spot and we ended up paying just slightly less than a marina fee. First time we have felt a little ripped off, however this was more just that our expectations were different than the reality, and in all fairness there were fairly good facilities. We were also right in the middle of town and there were actually other boats around and people to talk to into the bargain! Craig was hilarious as he was standing in the cockpit of the boat basically accosting people as they walked past just to have some social interaction. We ended up chatting to a pleasant Austrian fellow by the name of Fre(e)do who was taking photos of the town from our pontoon and he spent the evening on board with us having a good chin wag.
The next morning we went exploring and thoroughly enjoyed walking across the island and up to Veli Losinj along a beautiful 'sea promenade'. The water was crytstal clear and we actually saw some people sun bathing (think they were Germans!). We also however was Germans walking along in winter gear with snow poles, so you can never be sure just how to dress! (I apologise to anyone who takes offense at me having a go at the German's all the time by the way, but we saw some swimming today while we are still in 3 layers, so you can probably sort of see my point!). We still pack an extra layer when we go ashore just in case. We had a late lunch in a beautiful setting on the harbour at Veli Losinj before walking home via Cikat.
We returned to Shirley Valentine late in the afternoon. We still weren't sure if we were supposed to stay in the marina for more than one night, but it wasn't too busy and no-one had told us that we had to leave, so we decided to stay as there were heavy winds forecast for the next day. We had an early night and woke the next morning to find that the forecast was accurate and there were indded strong southerly winds. We decided to take a local bus to the island of Cres to pass the day. We got chatting to a lovely Irish couple (Nicholas and Elizabeth) who were from the Eliza K. It was really nice to chat to them as they were the first people we had met whose first language was English and they were great company into the bargain.
The bus trip to Cres was lovely. It was a little local bus which wound through all the little villages. When we arrived in Cres, however, the forecast 50 knot winds had arrived and we were blown around town for a few hours (see, I told you the extra layer comes in handy!) before heading back to the bus stop. The little caffe bar which we found at the end of the caravan park will always remain in our memories as a little haven in the storm! Now I know how Eddie the Eagle felt.
That evening we caught up with Nicholas and Elizabeth and had a bit of craic. We weere gald we had stayed put that evening.
In the morning I went to find the supermarket and after the equivalent climb of about 4 Jacobs Ladders I found it! After getting some provisions and stumbling back down the hill, I went gratefully aboard and we headed off. The winds were 15 to 20 knots mainly from the west so we pulled up both sails and got crackingt. There was a regular 2 metre swell, at times up to 3 metres, which added to the fun. The winds died off in the early afternoon and we slopped around a bit but we persevered and managed to sail all the way to our destination, tacking the last few nautical miles into Luka Silba on Otok Silba. We dropped anchor in a perfect little bay in 4 metres of crystal clear water and had a big sleep.
In the morning we prepared Costas (our dinghy) and went ashore. The perfect thing about the island of Silba is that it has no cars. You wander around little streets and the peace and quiet is only disturbed by dirty great tractors which move construction equipment etc around town. I will try to attach a lovely photo of one of the tractor drivers with a load of timber on the back. All the locals have little trolleys which they pull around everywhere. Once again, howeve, there wasn't much open and we had to come back aboard to eat. The winds got up a little in the evening and swung around to the south east so our anchoring was a little sloppy but secure.
At the momrnt we are heading south to the island of Ist. We are pottering along (I do like that word 'pottering' don't I!) at about 3 knots with just the genoa up, heading in a southwards direction in a north westerly breeze of about 5 to 7 knots. Lovely and peaceful! Bad weather expected again on Saturday night through to Monday so will try to make to most of this sunshine and the little warmth that we are not getting.
Hope you are all well. Thinking of you all as always. Take care and we will keep in touch as able.
xxxx
Craig and Lesley
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