Sunday 17th June 2012

Could somebody please tell me where the last week has gone? Our night at Skraddin was followed by a perfect night at anchor in the river; there's something special about being in an anchorage where you can't see any buildings, power lines or other signs of man's intervention with nature. An unseen cuckoo sang out as dusk fell and the water calmed to absolute still, whilst we sat in the cockpit eating our dinner and savouring a glass or two of rich red Croatian wine. An early start the following morning took us into Sibenic, where various jobs were due to be done on Zaffina. The forecast was for Monday to be ok which it was and Tuesday to be fairly awful, so rather than stay on board, we got a taxi 270km down to Dubrovnik and collected the car, which we left there a month ago. Although it was windy, the weather wasn't bad at all (until later in the day), to the extent that the last 50 or so km in a taxi without air conditioning was pretty vile! It was a different story on the way back, when we put the roof down for most of the journey and had a fantastic drive back up towards Split. Sadly Frank got clocked doing 95kph in a 50kph zone...but a very kindly police officer let him off with a minimal fine and a warning not to exceed the speed limit in built up areas again (and an inference that they didn't really care elsewhere!). The heavens opened just before we got back to Sibenic and the last few miles were through a torrential downpour, but we were happy to be back on board and glad that we now had the car close at hand. Once we had sorted a garage on Wednesday morning, we set off back to sea. A quick stop to refuel delayed us a bit and then the weather was so lovely that we decided to stop at the entrance to the Krka River and drop the anchor for a while. The "while" turned into an overnight, but again it was a gorgeous situation and as the sun went down the wind dropped away completely, making it another memorable evening for us. We've been wanting to explore the Kornatti Islands since we hit this corner of Croatia, having read and heard a lot about them. The general consensus is that you either love them or hate them, and so at about 8 o clock on Thursday morning we pulled up the anchor and set off over a perfectly calm sea, with just a few early yachts and a local ferry for company. Our course was leisurely, weaving around a couple of islands further south until we entered the Kornatti National Park. The islands are generally quite stark, with an unusual beauty. Some of them have a reasonable amount of greenery covering them, many are almost barren, and others have splodges of foliage and look as if they've been spattered with green paint. On some of the larger islands within the group, trees and houses cluster together at the water's edge, providing green oases within an otherwise harsh landscape. Some of the ports looked delightful and we earmarked a few to revisit in the future. We kept our speed down and weaved between the islands, eventually choosing a spot in which to drop the anchor and while away the afternoon. While we were there, the park rangers came and charged us for being in the park - an uncomfortable 750kn (about £80) which we thought was pretty steep for one night. They were obviously embarrassed but it, and clearly felt the charge was excessive as they purposely dated the ticket for the following day so that we could stay two nights for the price of one if we so wished! We spent the evening in an almost deserted marina - clearly other boaters are also finding it an expensive place to visit! After breakfast the next day, we continued our journey through the Kornatti, until we reached the north end of the island group, where again we found a place to drop the hook. The sea is getting noticeably warmer (I read somewhere recently that it's up to 22 degrees now, but that obviously varies around the coast) and with the weather getting warmer and warmer, we're diving in more often just to cool down. We debated whether to stay at anchor through the evening, but as we wanted internet access, opted instead to head to a nearby port, where there was another small marina. However, once we got there, it seemed daft to pay for a marina when we could instead tie up at one of the nearby restaurants and enjoy the facilities for free provided we ate at their premises. What a choice we made! Festa turned out to be one of the best fish restaurants in Croatia, and we had an absolutely fabulous (if expensive) meal. We will return! And that brings us to yesterday, when we made the longest trip so far this year, leaving southern Croatia behind, and travelling 80 miles or so to Istria in the north. It was a great trip. The sea conditions were pretty perfect, at least for the first 4 hours and the last hour wasn't bad, albeit a bit bumpier, and the route, winding around islands and through channels, was fascinating. When eventually we got to Istria, we decided to go into an an inlet for the afternoon before moving on into port, but enjoyed it so much that we stayed for the night - a good decision, as there was barely a breathe of wind and the scene when we woke this morning was sheer boating perfection! Just after breakfast, I noticed a visitor. A pigeon was perched on one of Zaffina's side rails...and a few minutes later, it flew through the window into the saloon! After a while, I managed to shoo him out of the door, but he absolutely refused to leave the boat and in the end, we had to close the cockpit door to prevent him going back inside! Our new friend spent the entire day with us, and even when I picked him up and threw him into the air, he simply flew around in a circle, landed back on the flybridge and then hopped down the steps back into the cockpit! Pigeon eventually departed late this afternoon, after Frank had ushered him onto the diving platform, shortly before we too departed and made for the same marina we avoided yesterday. And apart from picking up a lazy line around the prop (not a good thing) on the way into the berth, things are going pretty darn well. Long may it continue!