We left Marina Kastela in Split and headed south to meet Even and Eva from 3T. It’s been 14 years since we last sailed together in the Pacific and 8 years since we’ve seen them at all and now they were just 110 NM south of us in Kobas Bay where their boat is kept. We split the trip up into 2 legs, stopping for 1 night at Lastovo Island – another one of the Croatia’s many nature parks. The island looked quite interesting, but we didn’t have time to explore and headed out the next morning (7/16) so we could get there in time for dinner!
We pulled into the dock at Gastro mare and after helping us tie us up they broke out the champagne. Even though it’s been a long time, it felt like it was just yesterday that were all together in New Zealand. We finished the champagne, took a quick walk (which felt great after 2 days on the boat) and got ready for dinner. This restaurant is quite famous and celebrities and stars from all around come here to dine. The food lived up to its reputation!
Even and Eva have known the owner – Toni – for 30 years and he was the chef at their wedding!
Saturday morning, we dinghied a little further down the Stonski Kanal to the historic town of Ston to hike the “wall”- the longest wall in Europe (circa 14th Century). Ston is another small medieval town, and the wall was originally erected to protect the town water supply. It was great exercise with beautiful views of both Ston and Mali Ston at the other end.
After wonderful lunch at Gastro mare, Even and Eva joined us on Moxie for the trek back to Dubrovnik since they were flying home from there. Even had never sailed a catamaran so we took the “long way” to the town of Luka on the island of Otak Šipan – the largest of the islands in the Elaphite group.
The next day we hiked to the highest point on the island. It was a hot and dusty walk, but we desperately needed some exercise!
The next day we headed back to Marina Frappa to get ready for our long passage (7-8 days depending on wind) back to France. Even and Eva know the preparation sequence well and were a big help with refueling, provisioning, and laundry.
After a burger and beer lunch, we said goodbye to our friends and settled in for the last full night’s sleep we were likely to get for more than a week.
The winds were favorable to head out on Tuesday (7/20) so we were up early for one last walk on land and then the “checking out” sequence. First the harbor master for crew lists and copies of forms, then customs, then immigration – Lots of paper shuffling and stamping, but we cast off at 11:00 am.
We’ve stayed for five weeks, and it was more than we hoped for – great sailing, lots of history, wonderful food, and terrific hospitality. For anyone thinking about a vacation in Europe, we highly recommend Croatia!
So here we are 4 days later (7/24), approximately 40 miles from Straits of Bonifacio which runs between Corsica and Sardinia. We’ll save the passage details for another post (mostly boring so don’t expect too much). Until then….
So glad you met up with your sailing family!
Love you and think of you daily! XOXO