TROGIR, CROATIA – Returning to Geja for the final leg of the summer is Marikken, a Norwegian sailor and sun-worshipper. We’ll hop down the Italian coast a bit from Rimini until the weather looks right for the overnight crossing back to Croatia.
(Sunday, August 17) Did the customary between-crew housecleaning this afternoon, but made no headway with the toilet, still clogged from two nights ago. Marikken arrived this evening,
finding her way to the dock with the help of Remi from Leg Five, who had departed earlier but returned to fetch his forgotten iPad clone. Marikken arrived with cold champagne, a very welcome libation.
After a sleep-deprived week with three crazy buddies on board, I was looking forward to a chill Sunday evening. Marikken, on the other hand, was psyched to have begun her vacation, and was ready to party. These past five weeks have taken their toll on
me, but I tried to be good party company. Perfect to have two folding bikes on board, as it’s some distance from the marina to town. After dinner we ended up at Coconuts, a mid-size dance club in the center of Rimini.
(Monday, August 18) It was pretty chilly on board overnight, although a very welcome relief from the heat of just a few days ago. Got up early for a 9am appointment with a mechanic to check out Geja’s clogged toilet. Not to keen on sailing onwards without a functioning toilet. Mechanic was a no-show, so I tried a
new technique to unclog the head. My previous crew and I tried before to shoot high pressure water from outside the hull, underwater, into the head discharge outlet. We even fashioned a rubber gasket to get a tight seal against the hull. But this time we would disconnect the other end of the discharge hose where it attaches to the toilet’s hand pump mechanism (Geja has no holding tank, nor is one required). We just had to make sure to catch the clog in a bucket in case anything shot out of the hose’s open end. With Marikken reluctantly on standby in the bathroom, I jumped in the water and held the marina’s water hose against the underwater head outlet.
On the second try, my solution worked. Marikken confirmed that something really gross came shooting from the hose. I climbed aboard for a look at the bucket, filled several inches high in absolute nastiness. It was then that the mechanic arrived, hours late, but I
waved him off without addressing his tardiness. After another trip into the water to shoot water up the outlet – itself a gross task as some waste trickles back into the sea in this process – I declared victory and put everything back together.
Spent the rest of the day lounging around and grocery shopping before hopping on the bikes in the evening to check out Rimini’s fairly charming old town (often overlooked given all of the action along the beachfront).
(Tuesday, August 19) Time to move on after four nights here in Rimini. Takes some time to detach from the comforts of a swanky marina. Left the harbor at 1:00pm with a forecast of light headwinds for the southeast
route down the coast. We got the sails up for a while, but the seas were slowing us down and seemed to be growing. It’s all open water here – no islands for protection. Instead of sailing all of the way to Fano, we cut the day short and pulled into Pesaro instead. Saved us another hour and a half of bashing.
Despite the usual optimism of the cruising guide, there was no obvious place for transient boats in Pesaro’s funky, unattractive harbor. Foreign sailors just don’t frequent Italy’s east coast.
We circled around for a while until a yacht club motioned for us to tie alongside their quay. Always interesting to communicate from a distance in sign language, but it ended up being a great set up. They were eager to show us around their club and even offered us use of the showers.
As usual in this part of Italy, it was a long walk into town. After some shopping – I bought two new speedos - found a really nice dinner spot, one that generously puts a half-liter of
Limoncello on the table as a digestif. Being Scandinavian-blooded, we polished off the complimentary booze, which was probably not their intention.
(Wednesday, August 20) With just six miles to Fano, we were in no rush this morning. Pesaro, despite its harbor’s shabby look, was a great stop. The town’s historic center is plenty nice, and it was great to check out the locals’ scene at the yacht club. Boating takes you to some really interesting places that you probably wouldn’t otherwise visit.
With our quay full of kids from the sailing school, we sailed off. Again with headwinds, we tacked a bit down the feature-deprived coast and considered bypassing Fano as it was still early in the day. But the sky seemed threatening so we pulled in as planned. The marina is huge, and we were eventually assigned a berth. But the berths here have pilings to which one should lasso lines from the bow, hardly an easy task for a shorthanded crew with a cross-breeze. Thankfully they agreed to give us a side-tie instead, a much more reasonable solution
for a one-night stay. As we secured Geja, the wind built and built, squeezing Geja’s modest fenders against the concrete quay. The helpful harbor guy soon brought some large fenders for better cushioning. Opposite us, a boat full of Slovakians was taking off in the howling wind for Croatia.
Fano is a happening place, with lots of activity along the beaches and a really impressive old town. We walked around all day, capped off by two Aperol Spritz. And like elsewhere in Italy, happy hour included a tray of tasty
Italian treats. Took a couple of hours to shift to evening mode, but we found a place to serve us an 11:00pm dinner (this isn’t Spain).
(Thursday, August 21) Italy has been great, but we’re both anxious to get back to the Croatian side of the Adriatic where there are islands, anchorages, and clear water. Interestingly, the Slovakian boat that departed for Croatia yesterday was back in its spot. They made it about 35 miles out before turning back due to big seas and lightning. Hopefully our crossing tonight will go
better.
With an overnight sail ahead, I figured it would be a good time to finally fix Geja’s navigation lights. Marikken wasn’t able to winch me up the mast to the steaming light, but luckily a harbor guy jumped in to help. You can always count on an Italian to rescue a damsel in distress. With the lights sorted out, we left Fano at 6:40pm and pointed towards the horizon and Croatia’s Kornati Islands.
Sailing was not pleasant as we left the Italian coast. We’d frequently bash into boat-shuddering waves, with too little wind to keep our momentum going. But about three hours into
this, a massive lightning show appeared dead ahead. We were amazed but frightened by what we saw. Before setting out, I set a waypoint in the GPS as a backup plan. Well after sunset, we pointed Geja back towards Italy and the town of Senigallia. The sail back was beautifully peaceful, riding along with the waves and wind instead of bashing into them. Astern was an amazing lightning show, still too far away to be heard.
I called to advise of our late arrival, but the only response was that there would be no staff at that time. He had no suggestion at all about how to handle our late arrival. We stayed on course, the final approach challenging in the dark, with buoy lights blending in well with city lights. But with iPhone in hand, its Navionics app running, we made it just fine at midnight. We just rafted alongside a large sailboat and went to sleep, relieved to have found calm shelter for the rest of the night.
(Friday, August 22) We were greeted this morning with clear blue skies and the harbor guy, who was satisfied that we were leaving soon. While Marikken went for groceries,
I scoured every possible weather resource to see if sea conditions were expected to mellow. Our route is due east, and prevailing winds are from northwest, so it should normally be a pleasure cruise.
Confident of calmer conditions, we got going at 10:00am, reattempting yesterday’s aborted overnight voyage back to Croatia. Hoisted sails right away, heading dead east in the most pleasant conditions. The wind did fade out after a few hours, forcing us to fire up the motor. But at least it was still comfortable on board. Night fell, bringing with it dinner, a change to warmer clothes, and life jackets.
When I switched on the navigation lights, I discovered an alarming amount of exhaust illuminated by the stern navigation light. We were putting out quite a lot of smoke, something we
didn’t notice in daylight, though I remember noticing something similar near Venice last week. I went into stress mode, fearing that we may lose use of the engine in the middle of the Adriatic Sea. Motor performance seemed normal, though it was possibly running hot (there is no engine temperature gauge). I throttled back as a precaution, and texted my mechanic in Croatia for some advice as soon as we were in cell range.
At 1:00am I had Marikken come up and stand watch while I went to bed, hoping to get some sleep. She was pretty excited, as this was her first overnight sail ever. I told her to wake me at 4:00am, or whenever we were one mile from shore.
(Saturday, August 23) Slept a bit, but not much. Can’t expect to sleep with the motor running while worrying about the motor running. Marikken woke me up when we were 0.8 miles from Dugi Otok. Best to make landfall in daylight, but at least I’m familiar with the landscape here. Before 5am, still dark, we navigated our way to a mooring field. The nearest customs check-in is another hour around the bend in Sali, but there’s no point in pulling in so early. We grabbed a buoy and got some sleep, hoping not to get busted for not proceeding immediately to the nearest check-in harbor.
Managed a few hours of sleep, some breakfast, and a swim before continuing to the village of Sali. The weather was getting funky again, as it often has this summer. Dark clouds and lightning bolts weren’t far off, but we pulled into Sali just in time. The port guy had us take a normal berth i nstead of the customs pier, saving us a step. Couldn’t quite check in tough, as the harbormaster was gone for another 90 minutes, until 4pm. In the meantime, a squall passed through dumping enormous amounts of rain, accompanied by a cold, stiff breeze.
Check-in process went smoothly, a nice young female intern shuffling the papers instead of a surly old bureaucrat. With the silly weather, we just kicked back in Sali for the rest of the day.
After a pizza dinner, Marikken wanted to go to the one bar in town. I was pretty beat, not only from the overnight sail but the summer in general. But it was a Saturday night, after all, so Marikken ditched her boring skipper for some socializing in Sali.
(Sunday, August 24) Unlike in Italy, these little Croatian towns have everything one needs within a few minutes’ walk from the harbor. Makes grocery shopping much easier, especially in Sali where the supermarket
was about 50 meters from Geja’s berth. Stocked the galley this morning before leaving the friendly little town at 2:30pm for a short 10-mile sail to the nearby Kornati Islands. The air was sparklingly clear with a really pleasant temperature, winds blowing us right into the anchorage called Levrnaka. The shallow water and sandy bottom here give it more of a Caribbean appearance than Croatian. We swam, of course, but never stepped ashore after our arrival. We are the only boat to stay overnight – I guess the summer season has already peaked.
(Monday, August 25) Had some gusts of offshore
bora winds during the night but nothing crazy. I’ve spent some obnoxiously windy nights in Levrnaka in the past, so I
know that the anchor holding is good. Was really quiet this morning until around 10am when all sorts of boats came streaming in for the day. We had the sweet spot front and center, just outside of the swimming line. There’s always some anchor chaos here, other boaters of questionable experience anchoring much too close. But, hey, that’s part of sailing in popular, accessible places.
Levrnaka has a peak on each side of the bay, and we hiked the southern one. Views in the Kornatis are spectacular, with stark, barren islands popping up for as
long as one can see. These islands had been deforested ages ago, enabling such hikes and vistas. Most Croatian islands are too densely forested to hike. Though the walk wasn’t long enough to be deemed strenuous, Marikken and I did treat ourselves to pancakes and beer below at Konoba Andrija (Restaurant Andrew).
Decided to stay in Levrnaka a second night. With ample time to wrap things up in Trogir by the end of the week, we have the luxury of taking it slow. Had a little happy hour before dinner and
called it an early night in paradise.
(Tuesday, August 26) Got a bit rolly during the night in Levrnaka. Not a well-protected anchorage, but fine in stable weather. Raised anchor before 9am for the 30-mile trip down to Vodice. An unusual southerly wind made for an active, flat-water close reach down the Kornati island chain. The winds clocked around onto Geja’s bow, forcing us to tack no less than eight times as we navigated into Smokvica for a lunch break. Geja sails so nicely upwind,
steady with minimal weather helm and tolerable heel.
We borrowed a mooring buoy for our lunch stop, then watched with much amusement as a boatload of Germans tried to attach to a nearby buoy. They tried for 30 minutes but just couldn’t manage. Maybe if they’d just taken the mainsail down and/or approached the buoy with the wind from ahead instead of astern. Some park officials happened to show up and help out. It’s understandable that charterers can lack experience, but this episode indicated a very poor level of seamanship. Oddly, after all of that effort, they simply took off a half-hour after finally snagging the buoy.
After a Greek salad and a stroll through the village, we set sail again. The southerlies were still at it, and we had a dreamlike couple of hours reaching towards the mainland. Decided to splurge – 65 euros - on Vodice’s ACI Marina. Nice to have a hot shower after six days without. Vodice is a happening little town, and Makena is the place to be from about 11:00pm to 1:00am. The DJ was super fun, mashing together
one-minute snippets of familiar tunes. I once again wasn’t in the same party mode as Marikken – hard to keep it going after six+ weeks – but we managed to stay out until 2:00am or so.
(Wednesday, August 27) Enjoyed meandering around town before taking off at 2:30pm. Debated heavily between making the long trip up the Krka River to Skradin and staying somewhere closer tonight. While still debating we motored down to Sibenik, where there’s free parking on the quay
for an hour. Strolled around the steep, narrow alleyways, almost losing Marikken due to low blood sugar. Didn’t quite make it back to Geja by the one-hour cutoff, which really pissed off a young harbor guy. We left promptly, but not without some admonishment from me to him about being more welcoming towards his country’s visitors.
Chose to skip the long ride up to Skradin, instead heading just four miles from Sibenik to the island village of Prvic. We took a 25-euro mooring buoy in this cute little bay. Paddled ashore for dinner, where Marikken learned about the simplicity of the Croatian menu. When you order chicken, that’s exactly what you get. A piece of chicken. No garnish or anything complicated like that. Of course, you have to order some (presumably organic) vegetables to go with it. And potatoes or rice need to be specified as well. All up and down the coast, restaurants offer the exact same menu. Unless you splurge on fresh fish, charged at 40 euros per kilo, you won’t
find much variety or interesting flavors around here.
(Thursday, August 28) We took it VERY easy this morning in Prvic. With just a short distance to sail today, we just lounged around until 4:00pm, never even leaving the boat. Marikken, the Norwegian sun-worshipper, took her spot on deck while I kept busy in the shade, doing very little.
We had a great 11-mile evening sail down here to Primosten, but the fun ended upon arrival. The quay was of course full, as were the mooring buoys. I’ve often anchored here in the
less-protected west side of the isthmus, but sea conditions when we arrived didn’t allow it. With darkness looming we had little choice but to find a spot to drop the anchor. We scoped out the depths near the inlet about 500 meters east of town, but couldn’t get the anchor to stick in the rocky bottom. After a few tries with darkness setting in, I accepted the poor holding. Despite the relaxing start to the day, we didn’t have the energy to make the long dinghy ride to shore after our onboard dinner.
(Friday, August 29) Geja’s anchor held through the night. We relocated this morning to a buoy closer to town so we could check out Primosten. It’s a great little town, actually, with walking
paths circling up towards the requisite church atop the hill. The local deceased population has an amazing view from their cemetery.
After lunch and coffee along the waterfront, we departed at 1:30pm for the final sail of the summer down to Trogir, 20 miles away. Like yesterday we sailed nearly the entire distance, this time a broad reach under just the genoa sail. We anchored out in the usual spot by the castle. Dined ashore but otherwise took it easy on Marikken’s final night.
(Saturday, August 30) Woke up at some horribly early hour to shuttle Marikken by dinghy to her waiting taxi, officially ending Leg 6.
It was a pretty ambitious leg for two, sailing all the way “home” to Trogir from across the Adriatic in Rimini, Italy. The weather was inconsistent, as it had been all summer. It was great to have Marikken and her sailing skills back on board after her 2012 visit. Italy delivered, with very interesting stops in Fano and Pesaro. Here on the Croatian side, we had enough time for a leisurely second week of downwind island hopping, wrapping up an excellent but sometimes exhausting summer in the Med.