Tuesday 29th May

Our trip last week from Palmizana up to Split was lovely, a leisurely potter over a calm sea and then a bit of exploration before striking out for our destination. On Brac we made a delightful discovery, the town of Milna which is up a long creek and features two marinas - a definite destination for future trips. We also checked out a couple of places on the island of Solta and stopped for lunch in a lovely anchorage, again likely to be useful later in the summer when we want somewhere sheltered to stop overnight in easy spitting distance of Split. On arrival in Split, we were directed to a berth on the outside of the marina breakwater - not great, as there was quite a swell coming straight in towards us and a forecast that promised a real blow overnight. We asked the Marineros if there was space on the inside but were told that nothing was available so we tied up as directed and as soon as we were made fast we went up to the marina office and repeated out request. Five minutes later, we were moving to the inside and a sheltered position between two other boats - what a relief! Another boat, which was unable to move in, spent a pretty ghastly night rocking and rolling on the swell as we watched from the comfort of our new berth. We took a water taxi trip over to Split Town (the marina is a short distance but a long walk away)for dinner on Monday and then Frank flew back to Jersey on Tuesday, leaving me to explore at leisure. Unfortunately it rained all day on Tuesday, thus reducing my shopping time by a full day...but I made up for it on Wednesday! Split has an amazing number of shoe shops, competing even with Gijon in Spain which, until now, I thought was the shoe centre of the world! And I think I checked out most of them on Wednesday, although I may have missed one or two! On Thursday I went for a walk along the coast and found a pretty little beach where I thought I'd stop for lunch at a beach cafe; it turned out to be a bar and didn't serve food so after a largeish beer, I had a woozy half hour on the beach before the appearance of a few dark clouds prompted me to make my way back to Zaffina. My chore on Friday morning, prior to Frank's return, was to get over to Split Town again and do a massive restock at the fantastic green market - the array of fruit and veg was stunning with dozens and dozens of stalls, large and small, offering beautiful, fresh local produce. A quick visit to the excellent fish market for langoustines and prawns completed by shop and I was back in the marina for Frank's arrival at 10.30. We celebrated with a very good meal at the marina restaurant that evening, but the wine, which had quite a spirity flavour to it, may have been stronger than we realised because the following morning neither of us could remember much about our return to the boat (in fact, I had to ask Frank whether we'd had dessert or not as I could recall ordering something but have no recollection whatsoever of eating it!) Our first guests of the season, Tim and Annabel and Charles and Liz, arrived late on Saturday evening, by which time the wind was up again and rain falling, so we put down the covers and had a late dinner in the snug of the cockpit. Fortunately things looked a little brighter in the morning, but with an unsettled forecast for the ahead we decided not to hang about in Split but to head straight out to the islands. We went across to Brac and followed the coast around before striking out across to the north coast of Hvar and a marina that Frank had read about in the pilot books - it turned out to be lovely, well up a winding creek at a little town called Vrboska which, due to the fact that is has two small bridges, is apparently the Venice of Hvar!! (Not quite.) Sunbathing was a bit of a chilly experience that afternoon due to the wind, and eventually we gave up and went for a long walk along the coast which was thoroughly enjoyable. On the way back, I opted to go ahead and prepare dinner whilst the others stopped for a drink at a cafe en route. Frank and Annabel each ordered a glass of white wine but the waiter brought them red instead. When they pointed out the error, he just said "you wouldn't want to taste the white, believe me." As it happened, they didn't really want to taste the red either, it was so disgusting! After a quick visit to the only fortified church in Europe, we left Vrboska yesterday morning and made a leisurely journey around the coast of Hvar back to Palmizana. The sun came out, the wind dropped and all spent a happy afternoon relaxing on Zaffina. Tim, Frank and I took our first swims of the year and hearing out positive comments about the state of the water, Charles jumped in to join us. In his opinion, it wasn't warm enough to justify the sudden immersion! After a quick trip into Hvar Town last evening, we came back to the island and went for an excellent dinner at a restaurant on the opposite side to the marina, where the waiter, surprisingly, remembered us from last year! And now we're waiting for Tim to go and buy some bread for breakfast and Frank and Charlie to return from Hvar where they've gone to complete some paperwork, and then we're heading north to one of the national parks which, apparently, features some beautiful waterfalls. Life is pretty good!

Sunday 20th May 2012 And we're off! Another season has just started, I can't believe this is our fourth summer on board Zaffina, but if it's anything like as good as the last three, then it should be wonderful. We've had an interesting couple of weeks since we left Jersey. Frank had decided that we would drive down, and hey, what's sixteen hundred miles on the road? In fact, it was brilliant if exhausting. We had a stopover for a day in Salzburg which was beautiful, especially as Frank had booked us into a castle on a lake for two nights and the weather was just gorgeous. I even managed, somehow, to get a hat for Christian and Leonie's wedding to exactly match my outfit in the first shop we walked into! We drove to Berchtesgarten but couldn't go up to the Eagle's Nest (Hitler's retreat, perched high on a mountainside above the town) as it wasn't open until later in the month, but we did visit Konigsee, a stunning lake far below. Austria was in full bloom, with all the meadows covered by a carpet of spring flowers and their scent in the air was a delight as we drove along with the roof down. The weather got better as we got further south until, two days later, we were haring along the Croatian motorways at 90 or so mph, roof down, music playing and a warm wind blowing around us. When we got to Dubrovnik there were a few problems with the boat, the main one being with the thrusters - the things that enable a boat to move sideways, which are essential when trying to negotiate in port when there's any wind - and until everything was sorted, we couldn't move on. Instead, we hopped back in the car and went to Bosnia! Not everyone's first choice for a holiday admittedly, but the old town in Mostar was beautiful although hugely damaged during the war and a lot of the buildings were either just burnt out shells or showing evidence of gunfire. Nearby was the largest natural water source in Europe (ok, so they're not technically in Europe...) and on the way back to Croatia we visited some amazing waterfalls which we had almost to ourselves. So, that was all a little adventure in itself. We finally left Dubrovnik yesterday morning in glorious sunshine (the really good weather broke last weekend and it's been mixed since then) but quite chilly once we were underway, so well wrapped in jeans and sweaters rather than the T-shirt and bikini cruising of last summer. Hopefully that is still to come! When we set off, we hadn't decided where to spend the night - Sipan was a favourite from last year, but only an hour from Dubronik so too close; Mljet was another obvious choice as was Korcula, but eventually we completed about 3/4 of our journey to Split and opted to stay overnight in the beautiful marina at Palmezana, a stone's throw from Hvar. And here we are now! The marina is almost empty this early in the season, with just a handful of yachts keeping us company, the sunlight is sparkling on the water and birds are singing their hearts out in the pine trees nearby. Life is good. Today we intend to complete our trip to Split, then Frank will fly home for a few days whilst I stay on board and explore the town. Our first guests arrive next weekend, and hopefully the rain which is forecast to arrive this afternoon will have passed through by then, and the summer will be on its way.