Croatia - so much to see 😉

Ha, ha, ha - so love this pic. Sven being so easily distracted.

We did not know that we stopped (yet again) in front of an Croatian FKK beach.. Many males and females (in all shapes and sizes) were passing us on their Stand up paddle boards. Who needs a TV!!!

Croatia's currency is Kuna. Croatia will, however, change to Euro by end of 2022/early 2023.

Entering Croatia from non EU countries (Albania and Montenegro) meant, that we needed to do another check in process. This one took about 2.5 hours. Our first port of entry was Konavle.

Just a quick explanation how this typically works. You have to announce your entry via marine radio (flying yellow flag). Once cleared you can step on shore and take your papers to the police station/customs office, then walk to Harbour master to show paper work and fill and stamp your crew list. In Konvale/Croatia you had to walk to post office to pay your "toll fee"/vignette, then walk back to Harbour master to show you have paid, then proceed to police office, to hand in stamped off crew list...The check-in process is shown on pic below. The Police and Harbour offices were not that easy to spot. See 2nd picture below of Police office. The Konvale harbour master was even more tricky to spot. After completing this process you had to go online and pay your tourist tax.

A walk in the small town, pictures 2 and 3 below show our boat in the bay.

We needed to learn a new weather system in Croatia. We had to keep an eye on Bura (also known as Bora) and Jugo winds (no longer Mistral).

The Bura/Bora wind can be violent and come on very quickly, sometimes bringing a gale force that closes the highways and keeps sailors, fishing boats and ferries at harbor. It is a wind that can reach a speed of up to 220 km/h. It is most common in winter, but can happen at any time of the year. This northerly wind is known for “cleaning” the hazy sky and provide good visibility once it has passed. The Jugo wind blows from the south and is typically accompanied by dark clouds and rain-filled storms.

Below are good clouds 😊

Croatia has over 1'000 islands. So how do you even decide which islands and places to visit? The Kornati archipelago area alone has 140 islands spread over 300 square kilometres (the bulk of these are in the National Park with crystal-clear blue water coves).

We got some great tips and maps in Cagliari from Karen and Heinz and also looked up some places in an Croatian guide book. But the weather, wind and distances are always key factors for us.

We sailed up the Adria from South to North. Here a few pictures from along the way.

Dubrovnik

We dropped anchor in a bay close to Dubrovnik and took the bus to the city.

We were the first ones on the famous city wall (1'940 m long). Getting up early is just so worthwhile! Dubrovnik and in particular the old town is very crowded later on. The walk on the city wall costs Euro 33.- / Aud 50.- per person!

Some parts in Game of Thrones (season 2 and 3) were filmed here. Seems there were only 2 episodes of the 73 game of thrones episodes in which nobody died.

A lovely man selling flowers at the entrance of the castle

There are so many talented ladies selling their local craft.

Okuklje Island, Mljet

This was a very special experience. There are 5 restaurants in this small island bay. Each of them has a few spots where boats can dock for free (if you eat in their restaurant). When entering, the competition is intense and you get greeted by fiercely waving restaurant employees... they were friendly but you do feel a bit pressured. Lucky for us, we knew exactly in which restaurant we wanted to eat and which colour buoy belonged to it. The restaurant owner jumped into his boat and assisted us immediately with securing our boat.

We have never tried the stand up paddle board with the 2 of us on it, yet alone fully dressed going out for dinner. We did take a risk but.... the water was so calm that we said "now or never - lets go for it". Caroline paddled as she did not trust Sven and wanted to eat in dry clothes.... Sven had a few beers during dinner (because he loved the atmosphere).... and therefore Caroline insisted to also paddle back to the boat.

Sven trying Croatian beer (as can bee seen above his head and in his hand)

One of the employees waving to a new boat arriving, trying to get their attention and business

Next morning, a walk up the mountain and looking down onto the restaurants and our boat.

We often have bays to ourselves as we are not after the typical party beaches. 2nd photo is in front of a winery.

A mountain hike early in the morning starting from Ston. It was steep but so worthwhile

Korcula

Is a romantic city and often referred to as "little Dubrovnik". It is less busy than other destinations due to its more remote location.

Cathedral of Korcula

The façade is intriguing, particularly the naked squatting figures of Adam and Eve above the door entrance....

Korcula Coral jewellery on display.

Franciscan Monastery on Badija (close to Korcula)

In front of the Monastery was a big sign: NO FKK.... you would think that nobody would need to be reminded not to take their clothes off in front of a monastery?

Jadransko

We wanted to learn / try out Mediterranean-style anchoring with two lines ashore. One needs to stay with the boat and the other has to swim with ropes and good shoes (due to sea urchins when getting out). Then secure the lines to rocks or a tree.

The next morning the same needed to be done again (freezing cold water). Caroline is the swimmer 💪💪💪!

We had a wine seller coming to our boat. We felt sorry for this nice man and bought a red wine. We drank it straight away during sun set.

The two landlines drying out - passing the castle in Sibenik

Krka

Krka National Park lies about 10km inland from Sibenik. Named after the Krka River, the Park covers an area of just over 142 square km and includes two thirds of the river itself. The top attraction of the Park are the waterfalls.

The Krka River and its lakes are shown on google map. The Waterfalls are on different levels, cascading down as shown on google earth.

There were many floating mussel, oysters and selfish farm shops. It was a great experience to sail up this river.

We sailed under a 27 m high bridge (we had 9 metres between our mast and the highest part of the bridge) . Your heart always beats a bit faster when passing under it.

Then and now.... trip down memory lane... Sven 37 years ago at the exact same spot. Still wearing his trade mark cut off jeans (just a bit longer and bigger 😊)

Wow, to see Swans swimming to our boat. was a great experience Do you know why people don't eat swans anymore? So glad when we read:

They are symbols of beauty and elegance and are protected.

Lunch in a lovely bay. Still just us. Wondering when the tourists arrive.

We got up at 5 am. Took the dinghy up the river as far as it was allowed, then walked the rest. The guard was hesitant to let us pass at 7 am. He felt sorry after a while and allowed us to enter.

Nice 40 min walk from Park entry to waterfall

There was nobody in the national park so early in the morning. The dragonflies, butterflies, frogs only just seemed to wake up (disturbed by us) and flew/hopped away once we walked past. Unexpected, this was one of our highlights in Croatia. With many other people, it would not have been the same experience!

The first people arrived when we were on our 40 min walk back to the park entrance. We had the falls for 1.5 hours to ourselves. So special.

Uglan Island / Lamjana Mala

Waiting out our first Bora in a very well protected bay. We sailed past many seafood/fish farms before entering our 2 nights hiding spot. Sky looked a bit dark but we could barely feel Bora pass in here !

We had lunch under an umbrella during the rain.

What a service! Fresh bred delivery in the morning. Our garbage was also taken away. Fresh home cooked fish dishes were delivered to the boat. You could really get lazy here... however, we still went for a walk in the rain.

A few Boccia games and some drinks. A great way to finish off the day.

Back in the boat we heard a bang and immediately checked it out. We found a parcel on our solar panel which MOVED! A lovely fisherman, we have met the night before, made a special delivery to us - live fish. Now... this may come as a surprise but.... we have never killed a fish! Sven asked me to urgently google the most human way to put the poor fish out of their misery (they were already struggling in the bag as it was). Lucky we had internet connection. Sven quickly killed, gutted/cleaned them (with help of you tube instructions). We kept an eye on the quickly approaching and hungry looking seagulls.

We cooked both fish on the BBQ - very delicious. Maybe we should dust off our baby fishing rode, or upgrade to an appropriate one?

Silba island - lucky again to have our own bay and private pebble beach. We were greeted by many colourful butterflies, instead of lots of wasps like in some of the other spots,

Gusts up to 37 knots followed us from Silba Island to Unje Islands. We were well prepared with reefs in our sails. It felt good. Waves were low and we were going fast.

The next stop was Rabac. This was a special stop for Sven, as he was catching up with Thomas, a school friend. They had not seen each other for 29 years.

We anchored the boat in a bay nearby. There was no internet connection which was nice because no other boats seemed to want to be there overnight.

From there we walked through a forest and along the coast to catch up with Thomas.

I left the 2 "boys" to catch up, while doing some window shopping and getting a massage at the beach.

We made it safely back to the boat before dark and without falling of our SUP (fully dressed plus bag). We are now "experts" at this!

Next day Thomas, his wife Petra and their friends visited us on our boat. Had a great time and enjoyed their company.

Sven bringing these lovely people back ashore.

Catch up for dinner in Labin with views over the water. Restaurants speciality was pasta with Truffle sauce! Delicious.

A quick shop at Lidl after dinner (thanks Thomas and Petra for driving us there and back). We unpacked, then enjoyed the full moon until midnight and Sven turning 55!!

Pula is known for its ancient Roman buildings, the most famous being the Pula Arena, one of the best preserved Roman amphitheatres. There is an entry fee if you want to go inside, but not sure why, as you can see the same from the outside 😊

Next stop was Dajila Beach. We paddled to lunch, making our way through an army of jellyfish. We definitely did not want to fall onto these waterfilled blubber animals.

Left Dajla beach to head towards Slovenia.

No Wind and not waves!!

Next stop was Umag for our Croatian check out. The Exit process is the reverse. You have to harbour master first, then the police. Both were very friendly.

Slovenia

P:iran - check in into Slovenia. Entrance into harbour seemed very small with boats exiting and others waiting outside the harbour wall. Check out the small entrance below.

Pulling up in front of the customs office.

This was a very easy and quick check in. Friendly Police officer, who just wanted the crew list and glanced at our Swiss and German passport. That was it. Wow, I was in there for less than 30 seconds

Next blog: Exploring Slovenia then visiting Venice, then back to Croatia again (this time going North to South) heading towards Greece.

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