Croatia - sailing - day 7 - Jezera, Murter

Last day of the course. Sunrise was beautiful and once again the morning was without wind. Or, more correct, this time we had very light wind and sea current so H decided to be very patient and sail the boat for hours on just 0.2-0.3 knots, back to Jezera. 0.2 knots is something like 370m/h so we went slower than somebody from a nursing home. But still, we were progressing. 

sunrise

 

After few hours of agony (for Anja, Laura and me) and joy (for H) the wind started to pick up and we were finally able to see the spinnaker at work. Yeeeey :)

spinnaker up!

In the afternoon we got back to Jezera and figured it was time to treat ourselves with some good Dalmatian food - fish, mussles, squid and shrimp.

restaurant's cat

dinner

Tomorrow morning we are going back to Zagreb and are already planning for the next sailing trip.

Croatia - sailing - day 6 - Žirje

Today's forecast - SW wind. And yet again, it is exactly in our direction so no spinnaker.
But even worse - when we got out of marina, there was no wind whatsoever, so we spent the whole day on engine while going to Žirje island.

no wind

there was a fire on the mainland, these plains tried to put it out

Yesterday we saw dolphins but they were very far away. Today we had more luck with them. We saw at least 15-20 specimens, and some of them decided to go closer to us.

dolphins

dolphins

In the evening we got to Žirje Island, waited for night to fall, and then went for a night sailing. It was an interesting experience. There was no Moon, and the stars were scarse because of the clouds, but the visibility was surprisingly good. 

night sailing

During night we went from Žirje to west part of Murter and tied the sailing boat to a buoy of some restaurant. Again we saw dolphins, they were very close to the boat and followed us for a few minutes.

Croatia - sailing - day 5 - Dugi Otok

Today we are going to Dugi Otok, place called Sali. There is a marina where we are going to stay overnight.
In the morning there was no wind at all, so we waited a little bit more and hoped for the best.

no wind in Vrulje this morning

donkeys in Vrulje

When we went outside of Vrulje, wind started a little (NW, so again no spinnaker) and we managed to pull 4 knots when going to Telaščica, the Park of Nature.

enjoying in the shade

My skin is very pale, I get sunburns easily, and last few days were without bigger clouds so it was sunny all the time. Luckily at least it wasn't hot because we were moving. But today, after leaving Telaščica, wind just stopped. So, after a while we decided to go by engine, it was impossible to sail.

no wind, no waves

In the afternoon we got to Sali. It is a small town that used to be industrial, so now it has few abandoned buildings near marina that just look so sad, with broken windows. Besides that, the town is cute, with small houses and narrow streets that go upwards.

Sali

Sali

One thing I didn't like is the marina's facilities. They don't work non stop (like for instance in Jezera) but have rather short working hours (6:30-11:00, 17:00-23:00), have very few toillets and showers, and many things were broken.

Croatia - sailing - day 4 - Kornati National Park

Our first day of sailing outside Murter. But first, another class - how to put the spinnaker up.
Unfortunatelly we won't be able to put the theory into practise just yet because the wind will be NW, and this is exactly the course we will take to get to Kornati National Park. For spinnaker you have to have the wind behind you.

leaving Murter, wind is good

Kornati in the distance

Kornati National Park

interesting vegetation on one of the islands

In the late afternoon we arrived in Vrulje on Kornati. Because Kornati is a National Park, you can sail around it but you cannot anchor for free. So your choises are either to pay a daily ticket or to stop on the dock of some restaurant. We chose the latter, because te daily ticket is almost the same price as the dinner for 5 of us (ofcourse, if you decide to dock on a restaurant's property, you are oblidged to eat there).
In Vrulje you can hike to a hilltop and from there you can enjoy the view. The hike is a short one.

view on Kornati islands from hilltop

view on Vrulje from a hilltop

sunset from Vrulje

Croatia - sailing - day 3 - Jezera, Murter

Again class at 8:30, this time we learned about navigation - finding the latitude and longitude, course, distances. And again sailing around Murter.

geometry, here we come

weather was perfect

We anchored for lunch, ate sandwiches and went for a swim. Although it is already September, and last week the weather wasn't good, the sea is still warm enough even for me to take a swim - it was around 25 degrees celsius, which is warm even for much warmer months like June, July and August.

sailboat always has the right of way against the motorboat

many sailboats on the sea

In the afternoon we went back to Jezera.

Croatia - sailing - day 2 - Jezera, Murter

Woke up early, the class started at 8:30. We had lessons about the lighthouses, marks on the navigation charts, where to anchor etc. Then we went to sail. It took us all a little time to remember all the knots, right of passage on the sea, how to do tack, gybe and everything else we learned on the basic course, but 'till the end of the day we remembered it all (or at least most of it :))
Around 5pm we came back to the marina.

praying mantis in front of a caffee

Our instructor Zvone is an interesting guy, and so are Anja (from Sarajevo, Bosna i Hercegovina) and Laura (New Zealand), our crew members. Laura is traveling around the world for the past 8 years, and Anja was also everywhere. Anja and Laura met last year on the Basic course, became friends and now got back together to do the advanced course. Last year they had rought weather, but I'm sure this week it will be good.

Croatia - sailing - day 1 - Jezera, Murter

Another course in ANAsail, this time Advanced Sailing – Coastal Sailing and Cruising. Arrival was around 5pm, we met other participants and accomodate ourselves in a sailing boat. Easy first day.

the marina in Jezera, Murter Island

interesting wooden boat