Sailboat cruise in Dalmatia, part 6

In the morning there is a weird metal sound. What is it now? Is it our anchor moving? I get to the deck where Jordi joins me soon. Nothing serious, we moved a little for the morning breeze. Still, we decide very soon that there was enough excitement in this bay and that we would go straight ahead. I jump into the water,  and lead Jordy to avoid our anchor getting stucked somewhere. We're running quietly while the rest of the fleet is still sleeping. We sail to the next bay. We moore on the buoy in front of a tavern in the Strunac bay. We have breakfast, we have a swim, go to the land to have a coffee, walk by. Let's go, tonight we plane to get into the marina, the way is not short, and we need to refill fuel and water. We sail slowly to the  north between small uninhabited islets. We turn around the isle of Sit where we plan for the last swim. A bucket falls into the water. We try to take advantage of the situation by pretending to collect a man in the sea. We rotate the boat and sail to the bucket which is barely visible on the surface. The stick is too short, we fail. Another attempt, again unsuccessful. At the end Jordi jumps into the water. We shut off the engine and collect a man with the bucket from the sea, while making sure the engine is out of gear while Jordi is around the stern. We drop anchor in nearby Pahaljica bay. We're swimming, diving, have lunch. We're sorry we have to go home.

We motor to north to the coast of the island Pašman. We are trying to sail but there is no wind. Slowly we reach the Ždrelac channel. Boats from all sides converge here, so we raise the level of attention. Here we see that we are closer to the land by the rush, somehow everything is faster, there is no the peace of the Kornati islands. We slowly enter the queue of boats and slowly enter the channel. We're approaching the bridge. Although they told us in the marina that we do not have to worry about the height of our mast, and there were some bigger sailing boat ahead of us, we are looking at the top of the mast. It's hard to estimate, it seems to go under the bridge. All right, we passed!

On the other side, we find a strong wind in the Zadar channel. We immediately open the sails and move close reach towards our destination. We all exchange on the helm. As the end of the day aproaches, the wind blows stronger. We need to refill the fuel in Preko. That might be crowded because tomorrow morning everyone must return the vessels with full tanks,. Therefore we start the engine and hurry up. At the gas station there are several sailboats, motorboats and fishermen boats waiting. We take our place in the queue. There are boats approaching from all the directions, we have to maneuver carefully. There is a big sailboat beside us. I do not envy their skipper. While he is trying to calmly maneuver, there is a party going on in front of him: a numerous, young crew, loud music, drinks and dancing! The experienced gas station team is ably accepting the vessels and refueling goes quickly and smoothly. We are pleasantly surprised by the cost of the fuel we consumed, so we reward us with ice cream. We announce our arrival at the marina. It's a shame that the trip is over, but the memories will warm us up all winter. By next summer and who knows, maybe some new routes.

Sailboat cruise in Dalmatia, part 5

The next day we continue to wander among the islets. We leave early because we expect a longer leg. Later the mistral wind rises and we sail with the wind in the stern. When the lunch time arrives, we look for a suitable place for anchoring. We decide for a bay on the west side of the islet Ravni Žakan.

 Among a few sailboats there, one is particularly elegant. It must have 20 meters. We dream a little to navigate with something like this. We catch a buoy in front of a restaurant. The staff from the restaurant comes to us. We tell them we'll just dine on board and go on so we are not charged for the mooring. On the other side of the island we notice several masts of sailboats as there is another restaurant. At this time of year, for who can afford it, you can really eat well here in one of the many restaurants and taverns (konoba). We go on as the wind is rising. We pass between the Kornati and the Mala Smokvica island.

 Now we are heading to the north with strong head wind towards the island Žut. We tighten our sails, we tilt... we follow the speedometer ... on several occasions we achieve our own speed record. Racers might be laughing about our speed, but to us, modest tourists, that is a sufficient reason for joy and excitement.

At one point, Jordi suddenly turns from the course. He noticed that the number on the depth gauge fell drastically. Depth is quickly normalized, we look at the map, we consult a book, we check the cell phone map ... nothing, there is no sign of a shallow region. Could it be our instrument error? We continue to move to head. We notice a strange noise from the cabin. It's coming from downstairs. Are there some vibrations caused by the flow of water? After a few unpleasant moments we find the source: as the boat tilts with an almost empty water tank, the water pump draws air. We turn off the pump and relax a little, well that's nothing serious. The wind decreases, but we do not regret it because we are a bit tired of the sun and the excitement. We are looking in the map where we could spend the next night. We choose the spacious Hiljača bay, which should be protected from almost all winds according to our the navigation book and offer a safe anchoring base. Although it's early, the bay is quite crowded. We throw anchor at a safe distance from other vessels. We're checking the anchor. Not very well, the bottom is rocky on this part, mostly smooth except that there and there is some big stone, which is perfect for holding anchors. We observe the anchors of other vessels. If there's something going to blow tonight there will be panic, the anchors just lie on a flat stone surface. Fortunately, the forecast for the night says no wind. But we are lazy to search a better bay. We do not feel smarter then all other skippers. After bathing, as the dark falls, we prepare dinner. As every night we talk about the day, we plan a for tomorrow, we joke, we have fun, we look at the stars ...Then we hear some kind of sound from the cabin ... like a kind of easy ticketing ... Was not there enough excitement for today? We're lifting the floorboard, we check the piping on the engine, looking under the pillow, everywhere! Everything looks okay but we hear it! Is this some kind of osmosis, thermal dilation or what? We throw different theories, but we're not having fun at all. We drop the dinghy to look at the outside of the hull. At the bottom of the inflatable the same ticketing. Under the light of the flashlight in the sea there is life: plankton, insects, fireworks and similar.. I take the can and grab the water under the light. I have it! I caught the "monster"! I throw it on the deck and it seems we've discovered the sound source. Some kind of worm swims around the cane at a high speed and hits the walls. In the sea there are surely thousands of them. Now that the mystery is solved, fear leaves the place to laughter. We laugh at various theories, and we conclude that the ship will not melt overnight, and probably the worms will not eat it either!

Sailboat cruise in Dalmatia, part 4

After lunch we head towards the Kornati archipelago. The impressive lighthouse welcomes us from the isle of Vela Sestrica and we leave the civilization we know behind our stern. If there was a crowd in Telašćica, here are just a couple of sailing boats on the horizon.

During our easy navigation to the south, we observe the interesting forms of islets. We are looking at the map and discuss which one is which. It's hard to say if they're more interesting on the map, with their bird-eye shapes, or in place. Some show a layered structure, some resembling monsters and some remind facial expressions. They are mostly naked, without vegetation with rocks as cut to the southern side.

It reigns a relaxed peace that is only from time to time interrupted by a yacht or tourist boat. At the end of the day, we choose the place to spend the night. We select the Vrulje bay. There are already plenty of boats there, but we gained some experience so we are not intimidated.. So we drop anchor in front of the National park administration building. We are told that there's no problem and we can stay there. We are looking at other ships around us: several sailboats, a few motorboats, a fleet of charter sailboats that are massively tied to one buoy and between them. This does not seem a school example of a safe mooring, but weather is calm so it should not be a problem. The most interesting is a small green steel sailboat, quite narrow and square, probably a do-it-your-self construction. The French flag and wind generator create a picture of a world traveler who must have seen many seas. It is considered that France is the cradle of ocean adventurers, single handed sailors. Skipper's style is in line with the boat: a few months beard. We have not noticed a pipe, but we are sure he has it somewhere aboard.

The place of Vrulje is very interesting, another oasis of civilization surrounded by sea-world. The superscription Market calls us from the roof of one of the houses. There are no big buildings, some are upgraded, but all have roots in traditional, modest, characteristic local buildings from Kornati. The small shore and the few alleys are mostly non concreted. There is a gurgle coming from the terraces of a couple of restaurants that at least at this time of year contribute to the above-average liveliness. We decide to walk and buy some stuff in the Market, more to feel the experience than for real need. Indeed, in the era of various glittering shopping centers and supermarkets, the market in Vrulje is something completely different. In front of the house, a mother and daughter sell local products. We talk to them. They talk us about tourists, about Kornati islands and their history. We climb the hill above Vrulje. Although it is already dusk, we do some beautiful pictures of the landscape. The Archipelago, a picturesque village in the bay below us, a sailboat, the colors of the dusk, which can not be captured in the photograph. With the help of the moonlight and a head lamp, we return to the place by a rocky path.

Sailboat cruise in Dalmatia, part 3

The next morning we proceed towards Sali, on the south of Dugi island, where we plan to renew our food and water reserves. As usually, we do not sail straight to the destination, but fool around a bit. Then suddenly, we noticed a group of dolphins! What an excitement! We were told that it is common to meet them, but we were not expecting them. We try to follow them, but they go their way. We are pleased that they showed us few jumps out of water.

In front of Sali there is a crowd: sailboats, motorboats, a big cruiser ship, visitors are going ashore with small boats. Even if we are already used to our sailboat, entering and mooring into a crowded port is not a routine. The port crewman invites us from the quay and shows us where to go. We approach carefully, throw the ropes, catch the moorings and complete the operation. We are satisfied by our mooring skill. We inform them that we will stay just for few hours, to buy food and have a coffee. We have to pay just for the water, they give us instructions about the village.

Sali would deserve a longer stay. It is very nice, small but full of life, with a strong taste of sea, like a seaman's oasis. Interesting coffee bars, a sailing club, a tourist agency and certainly many other things that we did not discover. We shop in a market, we have an ice cream and charge our phones. And another important thing: we buy the tickets for the Kornati national park.

As we planned, we proceed to the south. Our next station is the large Telaščica bay that used to be part of the Kornati national park, but now is a separate nature park. After a short sail, we carefully pass through the narrow passage between Dugi island and the small island Katin. That is actually the entrance to the national park. Here the sea traffic is pretty dense. Many sailors come tho these waters in this period of the year. We continue to sail across the big bay til sunset. We pass along many nice anchorages and moorings with buoys and beautiful yachts. Finally we catch a buoy relatively close to the restaurant. Even if we heard that the generator of the restaurant makes noise, we decide to stay there, since it' s too dark to go for further buoy hunting. We are surrounded by many boats of all sizes and shapes. There is an inflatable, a RHIB that seam to be double in size then our sailboat. It's a new trend, which I do not like particularly. Early in the morning I sea a ship passing close to us. Its anchor chains noise breaks the morning silence. The crew takes the pipes to the shore. It is a water carrier. To me is a new detail, but islanders are used to it, and it means life to them. I continue to sleep. We get up late and have breakfast. We go ashore by dingy and search for the salt lake and the cliffs. The sun is high in the sky and it's very hot. We ask for direction and realize that we were walking in the wrong direction. I feel a little bit shame. We go back. We sea a crowd of tourists walking by a path. They must be going to the salt lake. The crowd spoils the beauty of nature, but who can we blame, it's our fault that we overslept and took the wrong path. We join the cue, and arrive to the Salt lake. It is interesting. Some people baths in it, but it's not attractive for us since it is too crowded and too warm. We just watch and take some pictures with the cute little donkeys that live there. They seem to be used to the great number of tourists. We walk to the high cliffs on the south-west side of the island. We admire the view and take some pictures. Here is an advice: if you arrive the day before, visit the Salt lake and the cliffs early in the morning, before the tourist boats arrive from mainland.