We’ve been quite busy since I last posted. We came into Split (Croatia’s 2nd largest city) and docked at Marina Kastela to wait for Anthony’s brother and family who arrived on July 5th. This gave us a good opportunity to wash down the boat, provision at a nearby hypermarket, wash clothes, etc. Being at a marina means we can use their dock water to wash off the saltwater from spray across the bow and the layer of reddish brown dust we get from the Sahara. Yes, that Sahara Desert. When the winds come from the southeast, it brings dust that lightly covers everything. Some days you can see the haze as you look out over the ocean. It gets everywhere and so this was a great chance to give the boat a good rinse before our guests arrived.
There was also a great hypermarket close by with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and we did 4 loads of laundry! Sheesh! A marina also allows us to tap into “shore power” instead of running off our lithium batteries – which means – we can use our AIR CONDITIONER! Woohoo! It’s a good thing too, because it’s been REALLY HOT!!! In the nineties, with little breeze and it doesn’t cool down that much at night.
We also went to a mall ! I know that sounds so boring…, but for us, it was a chance to get some much needed exercise, but in an air conditioned environment! We spent almost an hour wondering around the various stores – all in air conditioning! Then we started our walk to BauHaus which is Croatia’s version of a super Home Depot! We found a little fan that uses a USB port and it’s now my private cooling device.
From BauHaus, we headed off to Decathlon (think Dick Sporting Goods) to pick up the SUPs (inflatable paddle boards) we ordered.
We took an Uber (yes they have Uber here!) back to the marina and began to unload our loot. However, as we got to the boat we noticed that the passerelle (gangplank) had gone missing….It was unlikely someone stole it, so the only other possible explanation was ….oh no…. it must have popped out and become detached from the boat, likely due to a westerly wind that causes Moxie to surge back and forth from the dock. That meant we had no way to get back on our boat and Anthony needed to dive under the boat to retrieve it. The water was a bit yucky but only about 10 ft deep, and he found it right away.
Now we know to “tie it on” to the boat and the dock…. Lesson learned.
Our guests arrived the next day and we immediately headed out in search of wind and cooler temps. We spent the first night at an anchorage called Otok Krknjas which turned out to be quite crowded so we headed further north to Otok Kaprije to hang out with the super yachts. We saw this one –Magambo – with all the toys strung out the back. It had a support ship with a helicopter on the stern! We looked it up and found it was originally owned by the founder of What’s App! In fact, we’ve seen 3 of the world’s largest superyachts here in Croatia….
We island-hopped a little and eventually made our way to Sibenik for a day. It was a lovely town, but hot – 100 degrees the day we were there – but cool in St. Jacob’s Cathedral (circa 1431).
After a quick stop in the shops for fresh provisions (and ice cream), we went back to Otok Kaprije to swim and paddle board. From there we did an overnight sail to Otok Vis, where we picked up a mooring.
We were able to walk on shore in the nice little town of Vis and provision before heading on to Šćedro which turned out to be another great location for swimming and paddle boards. The water is beautiful and clear!
We worked our way down to Korcula so Richard and family could explore the Old Town. We had some great sailing days, but unfortunately Yanika (Richard’s wife) gets quite seasick. After 7 days of pretty much constant motion, and uncomfortably hot temperatures, they decided an air-conditioned hotel room was the best antidote, so we headed back to Marina Kastela (Split) to say our good byes. It was wonderful to have some visitors (and someone else to talk to – besides my husband – who I love very much – ;)! Anthony particularly enjoyed having another keen sailor on board!
Our time here is coming to an end but one last adventure awaits – a reunion with friends we crossed the Pacific with 13 years ago – 3T from Norway! We are headed to Kobas Bay to meet up with them for our last few days in Croatia…
Saw that first photo of the super yacht and immediately thought y’all decided to trade up!! 😉
Ha! If we ever “traded up”, it would only be for bigger/faster sailboat… 🙂