Split, Trogir and a visit with new friends

One of hundreds of places to eat
inside Diocletian Palace walls.

 Several days after my last posting one morning Bill started to go ashore for freshly baked breakfast pastries when he discovered that the dinghy outboard engine was no longer "temporarily not in need of repair" -- it was totally dead.  

Beyond his miracles of repair.  

Drat!  Just...drat, drat, drat!!!

Crappy phone photo showing lighting of Split harbor side 

We upped anchor and sailed (yes! actually sailed!) the 20 miles over to Split and entered the ACI Marina a couple of days earlier than planned.  The marina has a contract with Maduro Services to handle all repairs on boats docked there, so the outboard mechanic who had been recommended to us could not do the work.  We found Maduro Services and lucked out because everyone was already gone for the day except a bookkeeper.  The bookkeeper told us that they usually do not work on outboard engines and she referred us to Boltano Services just a block or so distant.  That was fortuitous for us.  Had the staff still been working that day at Madura Services then I am certain they would have taken our engine and then just turned it over to Boltano, making a commission or profit for themselves.  This way we paid Boltano direct and probably saved a few bucks.  Twenty-four hours later the outboard engine was returned to our boat, running better than it has in years.  What a relief!  We really, really did not want to have to buy a 4-stroke outboard.   The defective part was something electrical beneath the flywheel.  The invoice is all in Croatian, so that is all I know.  They also replaced some hoses and the inline fuel filter and rebuilt the carburetor and a few other things.  I gulped when they told me the cost of repair -- 1,787.60 Kuna.  Then I did the conversion and realized that this was only $313.  Very reasonable cost of repair.  We would recommend Boltano Services in Split.  The chandlery is also very well stocked; by far the best chandlery we have seen since leaving Turkey.
As always, click on any image for larger view.

Tower of 1700 yr old Diocletian's Palace.
Towered over us as we ate dinner.

That night we celebrated by taking the water taxi over to Split old town and enjoyed dinner at a restaurant inside the walls of the old Diocletian's Palace.  It was wonderful.  And the setting was beautiful.  This is a fabulous city built within and around the fortified Roman palace which was built for Emperor Diocletian about 300 A.D.  Much of the palace still stands today.  I won't relate the history of this palace; readers can do their own research if so inclined.   Of course, everyone must know that the Venetians controlled this area for about 350 years, so there also is quite an Italian or Venetian influence in the architecture both inside and outside the old palace walls. Suffice it to say that we thought it was beautiful, especially at night with all the lighting.  This was a special evening and I regretted not bringing a camera.  Although it might have been impossible to get any photos with the thousands of tourists in the way.  A very popular place.

One of many plazas inside old Split

The next day Bill pressure washed the top of the boat while I cleaned inside.  I had pretty much let the interior of the boat go untouched while the grandkids were with us for the past couple of months, so there were lots of hand prints to remove and dust to vacuum.  As well as sheets and towels to launder -- guests were to arrive the following day.

Leo and Margaret from Austria.
Soon-to-be new Amel owners.

Judy at dinner with Leo & Margaret

Leo and Margaret drove down from Austria to visit us for the weekend.  They are in the process of purchasing a Super Maramu and wanted to pick our brains for any info we might wish to share about this model boat.  We had not previously met but had email contact during the past few months as they shopped for an Amel.  Since Bill and I have lived aboard this boat for over 8 years we know this model boat quite thoroughly.  

I called this Red Square.  The building at
end was all red.  Bldg on left had lots of
red trim.  All lit up at night it looked
like a Red Square.

That first evening we again took the water taxi over to Split old town.  Leo and Margaret treated us to dinner, this time at a different restaurant farther deep inside the old town walls.  Again, a fun evening.  Enjoyed with thousands of tourists.  Note: the city of Split discharges raw sewage into the harbor during the evening.  This happened while we were in the water taxi going to the old town dock and the smell was horrendous.  Surely this will be stopped soon now that Croatia is a member of the EU.  Surely...surely...the EU does not allow raw sewage to be discharged into the sea.  Get with the program, guys; Split might be an ancient city but this practice has been outlawed by civilized countries for quite some time now.  Croatia must be making a ton of money from tourism; install a sewage system and sewage treatment plants.

One of many narrow streets inside palace.
Note banner sign above about museum

View above the narrow street with
banner sign about museum

Statue of a famous poet.
Never heard of him.

The next morning we motored out to find an anchorage for a couple of nights where we could sit quietly and talk about Amel yachts.  They took hundreds of photos.  Bill shared the MOAS (Master Of All Spreadsheets) with Leo, as well as our compilation of all types of product information related to the Amel Super Maramu 2000.  Hopefully, Leo will be able to modify this spreadsheet for his engine and generator and other items that are different on his boat from ours.  I think all their questions got answered.  If not, there is always email.

One of many plazas inside palace walls at Split

On Monday we upped anchor very early and were at the fuel dock in Split by 08:30.  Leo and Margaret departed while we filled up (yet again -- this has been a very expensive summer for fuel since we have had to motor so often).  It was a fun weekend and we enjoyed meeting Leo and Margaret.  Hope they enjoy their new boat, S/V YinYang, as much as we have enjoyed life aboard BeBe.




We had no plans after leaving the fuel dock, so I decided that we should take the opportunity to go over to Trogir.  We did not want to go into the marina on the western side, so we went to the eastern side.  Both our guide books state to anchor on the northern side of the channel on the eastern side of Trogir, but when we got here it was obvious that one should anchor on the southern side of the channel.  And that is still where we sit 3 days later.  With no plans to leave anytime soon.

Trogir is situated on a tiny island, between a larger island and the mainland with bridges to both.   The waterway between the north side of Trogir and the mainland is nothing more than a wide ditch of seawater.  The 'channel' beneath the southern bridge is less than 10-feet deep and that bridge no longer opens, so there is no passage anymore.  Boats can either anchor in the very shallow area on the eastern side, south of the channel markers, or go to a marina on the western side.  The 'anchorage' on the western side is in only 1 meter depth which means no sailboats can anchor there.  There also is a town quay for Trogir where boats supposedly can dock side-to.  But I think in reality that town quay is for mega-yachts and not for regular boats like ours.

Trogir -- sitting on its own tiny island.  Note the palace is on far left
in background, on far western tip of island.

Nope, we did not eat at Marijana.

We walked the tiny, narrow alleyways and streets of old town Trogir one evening searching for the perfect place for dinner while soaking up the ambiance.  We walked for a very long time, twisting first this way and then that.  It is very easy to get lost in there.   And we eventually did find the perfect place for us to eat.  It was a warm evening and Bill asked the waiter to seat us inside and to turn on the air-conditioning.  That was much more to our liking than sitting beneath the stars and sweating.  

Lovely hot peppers.  Needed
that vodka to cool mouth
afterwards.

Ever seen peppers grow straight up?

The cost of this meal was a surprise to both of us.  We enjoyed an octopus salad to share while relaxing with a total of 5 cocktails (Smirnoff and club soda with lemon) between us; plus each a main course and sharing 3 sides of various vegetables and potatoes; and a large bottle of water.  Total cost (including the non-obligatory tip to the nice waiter) was only $69.  That struck both of us as being extremely reasonable pricing.  Doubt we could dine and drink like that for $69 back home.  So...Croatia is not expensive at all for some things.  BTW, diesel at the fuel dock in Split cost $6.93 per gallon -- so that also was much less than what we paid for diesel in Turkey or in Greece.

Yours truly at dinner.
Think it is time to visit the
hair dresser again.

Cathedral at Trogir.  A bar served
people in all those chairs.

The old town of Trogir on the tiny island stands on the foundations of a Greek colony called Tragurion, although there is evidence that this area was inhabited during the Stone Age.  Under the Romans Trogir was an important port, but its importance declined with the growth of another community called Salona on the mainland maybe 10 miles away on the eastern side of the large bay Kastelanski Zaljev.  When Salona was destroyed by the Slavs and the Avars in 614 A.D., some of the inhabitants fled back to Trogir.

One very tall woman!  She tried to get us to visit a
restaurant that she represented.  Bill is 6-ft tall and
she towered over him.  She was wearing flat sandals.

One of several small medieval churches

This kind of yacht can dock on Trogir town quay.
Don't think they would welcome little yachts like ours.

Trogir was almost completely destroyed by the Saracens in 1123.  Despite this, the town was rebuilt and reached its greatest prosperity during the following two centuries.  In 1420, after a siege lasting four days, Trogir was captured by Venetian forces and remained under Venetian rule until 1797.  There are many medieval houses and several medieval churches in the town, and one cathedral.  The carved doorway of the cathedral is spectacular example of medieval sculpture.  It was carved in 1420.  The castle is situated on the farthest western tip of the tiny island.  We did not walk up there because it was crowded and really too hot the evening we visited.

Yet another alleyway leading
to dozens more restaurants,
winding every which way.

Hundreds of restaurants throughout
Trogir in narrow alleyways

The abnormal coolness this summer has finally ended.  Yesterday it was 93F and 68% humidity.  And no breeze whatsoever.  It is hot.  Don't feel like doing much in this heat.

Trogir castle.  People walking on top of left turret.