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.
