Sailboat cruise in Dalmatia, part 2 (Pantera bay - Rava island)

We wake up in the morning and repeat the early swim ritual and we make breakfast. Fried eggs with cheese and onion was my specialty.. Nutella, cheese and vegetables, coffee ... sometimes we would prepare the lunch before the departure. We lift the anchor and go. On the exit of the spacious bay, a German nice trimaran overtakes us. The wind is weak, so neither it is very fast. We take same photos, and discuss about its performances, the pros and cons. We sail to the south, a little bit towards Zverinac isle and then back to the Dugi. Then suddenly we spot a hole in the mountain. According to the book it is a German underground submarine refuge. But we think it could also be built by the Yugoslavian army after WW2. We approach carefully. The sailboat that was anchored just in front of it lifts the anchor and leaves. Since it was much bigger then us, we deduce that we can come just till the entrance. We drop the dinghy. Some by rowing, some by swimming, we enter to the sea tunnel. It is impressive, exciting to imagine submarines entering the hole. Lake in a James Bond movie. We swim inside, walk along the paths on the edge, take pictures and perform water jumps.

After a while, we lift the anchor and continue to the south. We sail zig-zag, chasing the wind and island landscapes. We check some beautiful bays. We have lunch while sailing. As the day comes to the ending, we check on the maps and in books where could we pass the night. The island Rava, with its rugged coastline seems perfect. Just before sunset we arrive to the first bay, Mala Rava. There is no too much space, and we are not very experienced, it's crowded to us, we are hesitating...an Italian sailboat pretty fast enters the bay with a buoy hunter on the bow and targets the buoy chosen by us. We hurry up, and show them then they will have to choose another one.

When the adrenaline dies and the impressions of the day calm down we get aware in what kind of paradise we just arrived. A small village with colorful houses, an old grandpa sands the hull of an wooden boat on shore, children playing in ankle deep water, few people talking, a dimmed conversation from a local restaurant...what a nice atmosphere. As every evening, we recount the day during a light dinner. In the morning we walk around the village, talk to some people and go for a coffee in the local restaurant.  

Sailboat cruise in Dalmatia: Ugljan – Kornati

This is a description of a sailboat cruise that took place in the summer of 2008. (20-28th August), with my sister and a couple of friends.

Last summer, when friends were with us while sailing on a small sailboat, there was an idea for the next summer to make a real cruise and spend a week sailing to the Adriatic. That could have been one of a hundred ideas, one of those that usually falls with coffee in the cafe, and it goes off before the end of the winter when various business and social responsibilities arise. But this time that was not the case, it turned out that we were really interested in this idea and we really did take it for realization. Searching the Internet, dreaming about destinations, evaluating prices, contacting a skipper friend .. the adventure started while still the snow was falling out.

We do the paperwork at the reception, and the skipper shows us all the boat's systems and relieves the ambiguities with patience. We add more water reserves. The excitement grows when we decide to let go the moorings. Although the friend Jordi and me are sailors and we have some experiences from various trips and regattas with bigger crew, it is for the first time that we take the full responsibility for such a boat. I hope we have successfully hidden our anxiosity before of the departure. Immediately in front of the marina we find a nice mistral wind. There is no time for waiting, we have to try the sails. We sail to the north-west of Ugljan hitting large waves while the excitement grows. As night arrives, we estimate that we wont turn the cape of Ugljan and we return to a small bay near Sutomiscica. The small boats that we saw there before left, and left us almost a desert bay. We check the depth and drop the anchor. As part of the evening bathing we check the bottom. Weather forecast says it will be a quiet night. The adrenaline because of the departure for the adventure that has floded us for hours gradually disappears and gives way to total relaxation. We are preparing a simple dinner, talking with wine in the cockpit under the stars until late night.

The next morning, the rays of the already high sunshine wakes us up through the portholes. Unspoilt, warm, blue-green sea is waiting just for us. The morning jump from the boat is a liberating spiritual experience. After swimming and breakfast we will continue to sail further to the north. When the mistral appeared, we opened the sails, although it was a really weak. We pass between the island of Sestrunj and Molat towards the Pantera bay on the island Dugi. The spacious, shallow bay recalls a tropical atoll. We catch a buoy in the north-east part of the bay. After bathing we go to the land to visit the lighthouse and the populated place of Veli Rat. We enjoy walking and taking some pictures, but it's really hot. We got quite dehydrated. Luckyly, we find an open store, so we buy a lot of refreshing drinks. As we walked we got hungry, so we decided to have dinner in a pizzeria. While we ate and drank, we were caught by the darkness. And the way to our boat was not very bright. On the asphalt it was not too difficoult, but at the end we stumbled through the woods, tapped the beach looking for our dinghy and deciphered the contours of the sailboats without anchor lights (one of them was ours). However, we have successfully found our Puntica and after all had a good laugh at our little, late night, gourmet excursion.

The sailboat was an old but good Elan 33.

To be continued..

Motorboat M480

I like sailboats a lot. They offer that connection with the nature, the free, silent, ecological source of energy. The infinite range. Then, there is the physics involved: wind speed, lift force, drag, buoyancy, equilibrium, momentum … all fascinating terms. Even Albert Einstain was aware of the beauty of the sailing activity (https://boatingnz.co.nz/articles/the-universe-relativity-sailing/).

But not everyone shares these opinions, someone prefers the speed, power, independence of the weather that motorboats offer. I also have to admit that lately I was in situations then I wished to have a motorboat (guilty), or more precisely to build one. I am free from work mostly in summer, when here, in my waters, winds are weak and irregular. I often embark some friends that do not know how to sail, or do not have the time or patience to wait for the breeze. I use to combine sailing to reach the fishing spot, and fishing. But if it' s just the afternoon, after job, usually I have just few hours, so I have to decide for just one activity.

Considering also the boat conception, small cabin sailboats are really nice, but no boat can fulfill all the needs, or, there have to be some kind of compromise. Sailing gear is somewhat cumbersome: long mast to lift, heavy centerboard to lift, low boom to be hit with, sails in the cabin...on a small boat reduces the space for the crew and for other (fishing) toys. Also, usually sailboat hulls are displacement hulls, so speed is limited to the displacement speed, i.e. about 5 knots for a 5 m long hull. A semi-displacement or planning hull can offer higher speeds, which is also an attractive feature. It allows reaching further in the limited time. It allows to escape bad weather.

After this introduction, I would like to present one of my plans for a motorboat.

M 480 stands for Motorboat, 4.8 m long. My boats are often planed to be 4.8 meters long because this length can be obtained by adding two plywood sheets of the standard dimension of 2.5m in length. The lines are pretty classic, similar to local boats. A 2.4 meters long and 1.6 m wide cockpit is the main living area. The double floor makes it self-bailing. The cockpit is surrounded by seating benches, under which there are storage volumes. A nice cockpit tent could increase sun or rain protection. A 2 m long cabin in the front allows a sleeping area for two. The cabin can also be used for gear storage, for cooking, reading and rest. There is seating headroom in the cabin and the entrance is wide and easy. There are also storage volumes in the cabin. Overall it is a bit smaller than the mainstream production, but it is lighter, easier to trail and to lift. It is faster and more efficient. Most importantly, it has more character and it is more beautiful, with visible wood finish.

On the transom there is place for an outboard motor. A conservative power of 4-20 hp should be enough to propel the craft.

The hull is built from 8 mm thick plywood, which makes for a good compromise between robustness and lightweight. The mass would be much lower compared to a usual reinforced plastic hull, which means better performance. The consumption would be lower, the power needed to induce planing would be lower, and the final speed would be higher.

The drawings are not yet ready, since I do not still have the life environment to build it. But if someone is interested, I could develop the plans in short time.

Data

LOA: 4.85 m

Beam: 1.85 m

Draft: 0.3 m

Weight: about 200 kg

Engine power: 4-20 hp