Landfall at Marina del Gargano in Manfredonia

Sun rise in middle of Adriatic Sea

In the very wee hours on 9 September we quietly slipped the stern dock lines and departed the Priv.Vela Lago Marina at Hotel Solitude in the NE corner of the large bay on the western side of the island of Lastovo.  We are thankful to Chuck and Alexis, previously on S/V Cyan, for letting us know that it is possible to clear out of Croatia at Ubli on Lastovo.  This is not listed as a clearance port on Noonsite.com but is mentioned in the Adriatic pilot book.  We will notify Noonsite with the info to add to their website.  We would not have found Ubli had not Chuck and Lexxy told us about it.  Thanks!  Because clearing out at Ubli on Lastovo provides the shortest route over to Italy.  The closest port in Italy is at Vieste; and we have heard of yachts being able to partially clear in there and complete the rest of formalities in Brindisi; but we opted to go an additional 30 NM or so farther south of Vieste to the nearest official clearance port of Manfredonia.  Plus, there is a nice new marina in Manfredonia.  And a clearance agent since we do not speak Italian.  We think it will be nice to marina hop as much as possible down the eastern coast of Italy.  There are not a lot of sheltered anchoring options along this coast for boats with 2.1 meter draft. 
As always, click on any image for larger view. 

Porpoises came to play with our bow 8NM from Italy

We had previously contacted Mario de Girolamo regarding handling clearance formalities for us.  Mario is an agent for cargo ships; I think we might be the first small private yacht which he has cleared in.  He first quoted us a high fee but then reduced his fee to what we considered reasonable.  Since we do not speak Italian we thought it best to let the professional deal with authorities. 

Look closely. Dark spot in water just to left of sail.
That is one of the porpoises leaving after playing with us.

Probably 2 dozen sailors we have known who went on westward ahead of us over the past 3 1/2 years had told us how easy it is to clear into Italy and that passports are never stamped. That worried us somewhat since we will be flying out of the airport in Rome in early December.  The airport immigration officials might not like us leaving the country when there were no records of us ever arriving in this country.  Bill and I were leery of being in a country without proper passport clearance.  This is no different than the Mexicans who cross the border in the USA.  We did not want to take any chances of having 'Illegal Alien' stamped into our passports when we departed Rome.  If that happens then there is a monetary fine AND the illegal alien cannot return to the EU for a period of 5 years.  This would be a very, very bad thing! 

See the white dots.  Hundreds of these.  A very strange fish
farm.  Hate to get tangled in that on a dark night!

Turned out that we should not have worried about this prior to arrival.  Because the officials did stamp our passports.   Three policemen came to the marina, spoke with us and looked at our boat, and then spoke with the agent Mario.  They were all talking loudly and we did not understand any of it, except we did hear the highest ranking guy say Schengen a few times and the officer carrying the case containing the stamps also mentioned Schengen.  Either the days of 'not caring' are over now that the SIS2 computer system is online for every country, or we just happened to clear in at a port where the officials are more rigorous.  Anyway, the officials here do care about proper Schengen clearance.  We are legally cleared into Italy now, both the yacht and our persons.  We have the Constitudo (cruising permit) and our passports display arrival stamps.  All is good!  Should not encounter any issues when fly out of Rome.

First moon looked red/orange

And then moon looked pale yellow.
Later it was white.

The next day we walked miles and miles through the town of Manfredonia.  First goal was to find a TIM cell phone store to purchase SIMs for the iPhone and the 3G data modem.  Other cruisers had told us that the TIM network offers the largest area coverage and usually the best deals for usage costs.  The walk to the TIM shop was nice.  It is much warmer here in Italy than it was in Croatia.  Strange, since we are basically on same latitude; but, for whatever reason, it is much warmer here in Italy.  We walked to the TIM shop downtown during the morning hours and it was pleasant.  Good exercise.  

Marina del Gargano

Marina del Gargano

With much issue and help from Skype and webcams to the main office, we managed to purchase the 2 SIMs from the clerk who spoke not a word of English.  At first we were all 3 at a complete loss to communicate.  Then I spotted some cards on one of the 
display cases that 

Mostly empty Marina del Gargano

Waters here have more jellyfish than
we have seen since Indonesia.

stated "Welcome to Italy" and described exactly what we wanted.  The clerk could not read these cards because these were printed in English.  She Skyped the main office and held the card up to the computer camera and someone explained to her in Italian what the English printing stated.  Ahhhhh!  Got it!  She can do that!  Whew!  Do not know how we would have handled buying the SIMs and getting the accounts set up had we not found that card printed in English and she was savvy enough to use the camera and Skype to get it translated for her.  Late that night the accounts were activated.  These are good for only 30 days, but we will be at Marina di Ragusa well before these expire and surely there will be someone at the marina who can help us get additional service.

Swabian Angioin Argoneses Castle in Malfredonia.
Bill refused to walk through yet another castle.

With that first chore completed, we continued to walk in search of some form of grocery market.  We walked.  And we walked.  And we walked some more.  I do not know how far but it was too far.  We eventually found a greens grocer and stocked up on vegetables.  It was so rare to find vegetables in Croatia.  I think we will like Italy because they apparently do eat lots of vegetables.  


Right across the street from the greens grocer was a butcher shop.  I stocked up on 2 kilo beef (to be used as stew meat) and 2 kilo ground beef (watched it ground and it is extremely lean -- like 98% lean) and 2 kilo veal roast.  Would have liked to buy more because the meat looked so good but that was enough to carry while walking back to the marina.  

Isn't this a gorgeous cake!

We took a different route back and passed a very small grocery store where we stocked up on various breads and buns.  Also passed a bakery that had the most beautiful cakes.  I had to go in and look more closely at those cakes.  It was a small shop operated by a woman who appeared to be about 60 years old.  Her grandson was watching the shop while she was in back cooking lunch.  The family obviously lived behind the storefront.  He went back and brought her to the counter when we walked in to see the cakes.

More fun cakes.  Details really done well.

This brought our attention to the canisters of cookies behind the display case.  Oh, did those all look so delicious!  We were already burdened to the limits and could not carry any more, but I just had to buy 6 pieces of a certain cookie.  She was so funny!  She could not believe we wanted to buy 6 pieces of the same thing.  She spoke no English and she pantomimed to make us understand that we should buy 2 of those cookies and 2 of another kind and 2 of another kind -- that we must buy an assortment.  We smiled and insisted that we only wanted 6 pieces of that one type cookie.  She finally shrugged and wrapped them up.  

And more fancy cakes

She did not just place them in a bag; she placed them on a small decorative disposable tray and then wrapped them in a heavy paper like gift wrap.  It was obvious that she takes pride in her baked goods.  Wish we could have bought more or that we could return to buy more, but I am not walking that far again.

Last of the cakes

By this time it was after 1 pm and all the shops were closed for the afternoon.  Most everything closes between 12:30 and 1 pm and remains closed until 4 or 5 pm; then reopens until maybe 8 pm or so.  This will take some getting used to for us.  This is a custom that I like a lot.  



Saturday we will probably begin heading south.  Weather looks okay for southward travel then.  We will be motoring again (of course!) but this time with only about 6 kt wind on our nose.  That isn't too bad.

Mljet, over to Lastovo -- and we are out of here!

6 September 2014

Today we celebrated our 45^th wedding anniversary while still anchored at Polace on island of Mljet.   We will save our real celebration for some place in Italy.  Neither of us cares for the food here and are looking forward to a nice Italian restaurant soon.

   

Roman villa, circa 400 A.D.

Weather has been very crappy, cloudy and raining daily with several days and nights of strong winds.   One day had lots of lightning and the old Roman villa took a direct hit.  We did not go over there later to see what damage might have been incurred.  I'm guessing that old villa has endured many lightning strikes in this violent weather prone area.  On the worst day there were 40 yachts in here which was crowded but still allowed many of us to remain on swing anchor.  That night 2 Sunsail boats which had anchored behind us much too close to shore dragged anchor and got tangled up with one another.   It was pouring rain but the wind was only about 20 kts.   The larger boat then went sideways against the rocks (there is no beach here, just forest and vegetation down to rocks at sea level).  He managed to get off the rocks and then proceeded to motor directly into the side of another boat at anchor.   We watched him until he was got across to the town and tied off at one of the restaurant docks.  The past few days have had little wind but still plenty of dark clouds, thunder and lightning.  So, why move?  This is the most sheltered anchorage we have seen in Croatia.  Polace is just a tiny one-road village with 2 small grocery markets and 2 tiny bakery shops.  It is a nice place to hang out for quiet relaxation but I am ready to move on soon.  Our plan is to go to Ulbi on the western side of island of Lastovo to clear out of Croatia in a couple of days.  Our 90 days out of Schengen territory is up tomorrow.  Hurray!  If weather cooperates then we will clear out of Croatia the following afternoon and sail overnight the relatively short distance to Italy.

 

One day a large SAR boat came through the anchorage and checked the papers for each yacht.  The couple on one yacht got in their dinghy and zoomed over to the town and did not return until after the SAR boat departed.  The SAR boat was 2 yachts over from checking this yacht when the couple left.  Whoa!  Guarantee you the US Coast Guard would never have tolerated that!  If USCG was doing document checks or safety checks on boats in an anchorage and someone left like that then one of those little go-fast Zodiacs would have been right on their tail!  Bring them back to their yacht and then the checking would have been much more rigorously enforced.  We could not believe those people did that and got away with it.  BTW, the Croatian courtesy flag on their yacht was faded to almost white and shredded.  That yacht obviously has been in Croatia for some time.

I have tried not to be too negative about our opinions and experiences here in Croatia this summer.  Local people tell us that the weather this summer has been very unusual – much cooler and wetter than anyone can remember for more than 30 years.  We do not know about that but do know that we are sick and tired of this wet  dreary weather.  We are tired of tiny grocery stores; never did find a supermarket.  Tired of using the iPhone as a WiFi hotspot for the extremely slow internet connection; never did find a real cell phone company where could purchase 3G.  And we are tired of the over-crowded tiny anchorages.  And tired of the thousands of charter boats captained and crewed by inconsiderate and rude people, some of whom have questionable boating skills or seamanship knowledge.  One thing we have noticed is that almost every single charter boat puts out anchor chain until a red painted mark on the chain is just below the bow roller.  Does not matter which charter company owns the boat, every one of them has a red painted mark on the chain and the charter customer only puts out chain until that red paint is visible.  I do not know what length chain that red paint signifies but I would humbly suggest that the charter companies mark that chain at least another 30 meters longer.  Because these charter boats never put out sufficient chain.  No dang wonder they drag all over the anchorages.

A couple of days ago we met up with another sailor whom we last saw in Karpaz Gate Marina in Cyprus in early 2012.  He said this was his fourth time to cruise Croatia but after the weather experienced this summer that he does not plan to return again.  Our sentiments exactly.  I can see why sailing/chartering in Croatia is so appealing to many Europeans.  Heck, it is easy to drive here from many countries in Europe so there is very easy access.  But for us foreigners Turkey or Greece make for much more enjoyable sailing than the Adriatic.  Now we are looking forward to getting more than 500 NM farther south to Sicily for the winter.


9 September 2014

On 7 September we motored approximately 25 miles over to the western side of the island of Lastovo.  Had hoped to be able to sail but wind was much too light too propel BeBe faster than 2 knots, and we just cannot stand going that slow.   This part of Lastovo is another national park.  People on yachts must pay 30 Kuna per person per day while in the park. There are few places to anchor, and those few places were already filled with yachts; so we docked at a new hotel 'marina.'  It is really just a quay in front of Hotel Solitude.  It is nice and the laid lines as so new they are not even slimy with marine growth yet.  They do not yet have shore power or water available so docking is free.  Free!  Yes, thank you, we will take some of that!  This was a gorgeous area.  Lastovo is the nicest place we found in Croatia; wish we had discovered it sooner.  We stayed only 2 nights; would have liked to stay another few days but weather forecast predicted a system moving up from the SE soon and we wanted to get across the Adriatic Sea to Italy before that nastiness arrived.

We took the dinghy over to the tiny town of Ubli and spoke with an official who happened to be in the office at the Customs dock.  We explained that we wanted to depart Lastovo en route to Italy at 04:00 the following morning.  He said we could clear out with the Harbormaster right then and then bring BeBe to the Customs dock in the wee hours that night to meet with the Immigration Police.  The Police work 24 hours; just dock in front of the Customs office and call the Police and they would be there within 10 minutes, stamp us out and we could be on our way.  He said that as soon as our passports are stamped out of Croatia then we must depart the country.  Well, that is totally reasonable.

And that is what we did early this morning.  Sorry, no photos taken in Lastovo, the prettiest place we saw in Croatia.

Again headed south

After visiting Trogir and remaining at anchor there for several days we were ready for a different scenic view.  Wind was picking up from the SE and expected to turn more easterly.  The anchorage at Trogir is completely exposed to the E so it was time to move on.

We motored -- and even sailed a bit -- around the island of Ciovo to another beautiful anchorage.  Around 17:00 we again checked weather and found that yet again the forecast had changed.  That anchorage would not provide adequate shelter in heavy NE winds.  Where to go?  Why...right back to Stari Trogir once again.  Cannot seem to tear ourselves away from what turned out to be the perfect anchorage for us.  On the western side are holiday homes galore, along with a bakery kiosk on the beach, small supermarket a block away, and public trash bins a block past there.  Everything a cruiser might need.  And beautiful too.  Each previous time we had anchored on the western side.  And usually were the only boat there.

There are interesting old stone ruins at Stari Trogir.
Never figured out why they built all these double
walled paths.  They were all over the hillsides.
Like an entire city with double walled streets.
No idea who built these or when.

This time we opted to anchor on the NE side of Stari Trogir bay since the wind was predicted to be from the NE.  The small area recommended by both our sailing guides as the best place to anchor was too small for our 16-meter boat.  The small bay tucked into the NE corner of the larger bay is only .1NM wide and that is not sufficient space for us to put down proper 7:1 scope of anchor chain.  We would never have rested comfortably being anchored in such a tight space.  Not with the way winds change direction here in Croatia.  So we moved and anchored just outside the recommended anchorage.  And stayed there.  And stayed there.  And stayed there.  Why move?  We could take the dinghy a mile across to the western side for provisions and trash disposal.   It was relaxing to stay put in a beautiful place.  Each day boats would come and go so there was always some form of entertainment.

Maltese Falcon...again

One day the Maltese Falcon arrived and anchored right next to us.  We swear this mega-yacht is following us.  Have almost lost track of how many times we have shared anchorages with the Falcon.  But never quite so close as this time.  They only stayed one night and motored away the following afternoon.  Early the following morning we also weighed anchor and motored off in a southeasterly direction, covering 68 NM and ending up in Kneza anchorage on island of Korcula.

Very steep farming fields on southern side Hvar.
One can probably tend these steep fields while
standing up.  No need to bend over.

Along the way we check out Stari Grad town on the island of Hvar.  Way too crowded and busy for us!!  Why would anyone willing get into that crowded mess!  BTW, it costs 585 Kuna per day to dock stern-to on the town quay.  Not a place for us.  We also motored around a bit and checked out several possible anchorages.  Nothing to our liking.  Hvar and the nearby Pakleni islands did not appeal to us one bit.  

We saw nothing desirable to stopping in that area, so onward to Kneza on Korcula at 42.58.5N  017.02.7E.  This anchorage provides excellent shelter from all but easterly winds.  If it starts to blow from due E then it is time to move!  The sailing guide states that shelter from the E is excellent if one can anchor behind the tiny island in the northwestern tip of the bay, but that area is now filled with tiny local boat moorings and off-limits to yachts.  Just not enough space to fit in there anymore.

We enjoyed Kneza.  There was a nice little restaurant on the water's edge which serves the same food that is on the menu at every restaurant in Croatia.  (Don't these folks ever want any variety!)  A bus runs several times daily to Korcula Town and we had hoped to do this one day, but unexpectedly the wind began to pipe up from the E one morning so we pulled anchor and moved on.  We have electronic chart tracks from a few sailing friends who had visited this area years ago.  Both of those boats had stopped in a few anchorages on Korcula, so we motored into a few of those and motored right back out.  Again, those are now filled with moorings for tiny local boats and leave no room for yachts to anchor.  So...where to go?  Back to the basilica anchorage on the far NE tip of Korcula beneath the small island of Badija.  This is likely the most beautiful anchorage in all of Croatia.  At least, in our opinions.  And it provides pretty good all-round protection.

Basilica on Badija at Korcula.  Gorgeous!

We had intentions of taking a water taxi over to Korcula Town but never made it.  Guess we were not meant to visit the birthplace of Marco Polo.  Because one day wind kicked up from the NE and was predicted to become very strong overnight.  Our anchor was well dug in and BeBe would have been fine even in the stronger NE winds.  But out stern was too close to a tiny rocky islet for our comfort.  We would have worried all night.  We upped anchor and slowly motored out past Lumbarda, being careful not to exceed the 4kt speed limit that covers all marine traffic from Korcula Town to Lumbarda because the previous day the marine police had been stopping boats and issuing  100 Euro fines to all boats going over 4kts. 

Main chapel of St. Mary's

Enjoyed a lovely sail 15NM south to the ultra-securely-sheltered bays of Polace on the island of Mljet.  Winding our way in here through the very narrow pass with twists and turns reminded me very much of Great Barrier Island in New Zealand.  I have no idea how Mljet is supposed to be pronounced but bet it is not the way we say it. Words and proper names without an adequate number of appropriately placed vowels are beyond our ken.  





Arriving at the same time as us were 2 other American boats!  Oh, goody!  Maybe we can talk with people who have something in common!  It has been a long time since we had met up with any other Americans.  Bill dinghied over and invited them to BeBe for sundowners.  We enjoyed visiting with Rick & Barbara on S/V Way Out and Dennis & Virginia on S/V Libertad.  Libertad is an Amel Maramu and Bill had previous email correspondence with them.  We knew they were in the general area and had hoped to meet up.  Still, it was surprise to see Libertad motor past us as we were setting anchor. 

Think this little boat was slightly overloaded!
We opted to wait for the larger ferry.  It is a big lake!

Lighting a candle for brother John
at St. Mary's

Rick and Barbara have been cruising since 1976.  This truly is a lifestyle for them!  Their catamaran Far Out is their fifth cruising boat.  They wintered in Marina di Ragusa last season and provided us with welcome info.  

'Window' at St. Mary's.
Built to fight off invaders.

The following day Bill had to work on our outboard engine yet again.  I will let him write a blog posting about that.  It was a full day's work and that evening Dennis and Virginia invited us to sundowners aboard Libertad.  This was the first time we had been aboard a Maramu.  I like their saloon layout better than our Super Maramu design.  It is more comfortable for watching movies or having visitors even though it is a somewhat smaller boat overall.  The next day they moved onward toward Venice.  

12th century St. Mary's and Benedictine Monastery
on the tiny island in the big saltwater lake

The entire northern section of Mljet is a national park.  Anchoring here requires purchasing a park ticket for 80 Kuna each.  The guide books state that the ticket is good for the calendar year but the park ranger said that the ticket is valid for only 7 days.  If we stay longer than 7 days then we must go talk to the ranger in the ticket kiosk.  Maybe we will have to pay again; maybe not.   The park ticket includes bus transportation across the island to a couple of saltwater lakes.  At the largest lake one can purchase another ticket to take a ferry to a tiny island to visit the Benedictine Svete Marije (St. Mary's church) and a 12th century monastery.

One of several alcoves in St. Mary's.
Must have been very colorful when new.

Another blurry photo
of a brightly colored
alcove at St. Mary's

It was a pleasant day.  Scenery was gorgeous.  Two things about the large saltwater lake were interesting to me.  One if that it is filled with Sea Bell jellyfish.  They live in the depths during daylight and come to the surface during the night.  These are harmless to people.  The other thing is that it is home to a heavy population of Sea Fan Pilgrim scallops.  Oh, how I wish these could be harvested!  I love sea scallops.  But any harvesting is prohibited because this is a national park.

Bell tower at St. Mary's behind interior
garden area.  

There was very little information provided about the structures and ruins on Mljet.  According to our sailing guidebook, Mljet is the location where Calypso held Odysseus for 7 years.  It has been inhabited since the time of the Illyrians.  The islanders foolishly brought themselves to the attention of the Roman Empire by their raids on Roman shipping.  They were finally brought under the imperial heel by Octavian (Emperor Augustus  Caesar).  The island became a Roman possession and the Roman ruins supposedly date from this time period.  A Roman shipwreck has been discovered just off the coast, as well as a WWII torpedo boat nearby.  That would make an interesting dive.

Highlight of our trip to St. Mary's was watching this
mom teach her baby how to roll over.

Proud mama!  She nudged the baby to lay down and
then she also laid down.  Rolled over and nudged
the baby to do the same.  Very cute!

Looking back toward lake at St. Mary's

After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Mljet changed hands several times, first coming under Byzantium rule and then under the Slavs.  In 1151 the island was presented to Benedictine monks from the Promontorio del Gargano in Italy (where we should be within 2 weeks!).  The monks established a monastery on Veliko Jezero, the larger saltwater lake.  We walked the paths where the 'Roman remains' were located (according to the signs, although we saw no dead people).  

Roman 'castle' or 'palace' in Polace.
Christian basilica is behind it.

Signs in Polace refer to the ruins there of a large Roman palace.  We had never heard of a Roman palace.  Our guidebook refers to these ruins as a castle built in the 3rd or 4th century A.D.  One source states that the castle belonged to Agesilaus who was exiled here by Roman Emperor Septimus Severus.  Next to the ruins of the castle are the ruins of an early 5th-century Christian basilica.  As everyone must know, the Romans were Christian by that time; so both sites are Roman ruins, IMHO.

And this is a rendering of what that Roman castle (villa)
looked like during its day.

Nasty weather is forecast for tomorrow.  We came here for best shelter and we are staying put.

A "fight" over an islet, Mrduja

Posted via SSB email.  So no photos.

A "fight" over an islet

Mrduja - to whom does it belong?

At least for this year.

For years two Croatian islands have been "fighting" over a third one - a small islet located between them. For six years in a row, inhabitants of Southern Dalmatian Islands of Brac and Solta have competed against each other for the right to claim ownership of the tiny islet of Mrduja.

And they fight in a unique way - by pulling ropes. There is not another place in the world where two parties try to get possession of an island by pulling it with ropes. Yep; that is what they do. Ropes are tied to rocks ashore on each respective side of Mrduja and the tug-of-war is on!

Legend claims that either the ropes will be stretched or Mrduja will be pulled in the direction of the strongest team.
Last week the teams arrived and attached their ropes. Organizers of the event claim that Mrduja was pulled using 300-meter long ropes from both sides by 400 different boats. Participating boats ranged in both size and power from large fishing boats and yachts to dinghies.

After twenty minutes of tugging and pulling on both sides, the High Court deliberated and decided that the winner this year was the island of Solta. This year's win by Solta thus ties the score with Brac as now both parties have three victories each. Whether Mrduja moved even the slightest towards Solta as the result of their efforts, the High Court could not say. The legend remains unconfirmed and the annual tug-of-war will repeat again next summer.

Nevertheless, the people of Solta were awarded the Title Deed confirming that they have a right to fly their flag on the islet until the next tug-of-war.

They celebrated their victory by shouting "Mrduja is ours!" - jumping into the sea from their boats and singing, accompanied by brass music beats at all times.

"We came here with our strongest resources and won. I would also like to congratulate our opponents, of course. Mrduja actually connects us instead of separating us," said the joyful Mayor of Municipality Nikola Cecic Karuzic.
The first man to congratulate him was the Mayor of the Municipality from the opposing island of Brac, who also said:
"We did everything we could. We fought to the last drop of wine."

While this festivity was going on, another island held a very different kind of regatta. The island of Krapanj, a small island in the Sibenik waters of Croatia, an annual event is held to honor grandmothers and mothers of yesteryear. Women wear traditional dresses and costumes and in teams of two they row the routes rowed by their grandmothers and great-great-grandmothers. This year 7 gajeta vessels and 16 female rowers. The oldest gajeta in the regatta this year was the Konoba Dalmatia, built in 1876.

Krapanj is an island famous for diving, with an emphasis on diving sea sponges. For centuries the women on this island lived very demanding and hard lives. Women got up at 2 a.m., rowed their boats to fields in Jadrtovac, Grebastica and Donje Polje, where they worked fields. Then rowed back home where they had to take care of children, housework, personal gardens, etc.

The usual custom in Krapanj was for women to row and men to stand on the boat's prow or stern. The men would go sea sponge diving from rowboats from Brijuni to Mljet, normally with the women rowing. This sea sponge diving was incredibly dangerous and, unfortunately, many of the husbands, fathers and brothers did not make it back home. This resulted in these hardy women undertaking even more strenuous tasks to support their families.

These women must have had calloused hands beyond imagination.

And some people think they have hard working lives today. When your day seems a little tough, remember the lives led by these women.

On another note, recently we were trailing a fishing line with a brand new lure. Something cleanly snapped the titanium leader, escaping with our new lure. We could not be sure if something bit it or if the leader simply broke, except that metal for the rest of the remaining leader seemed strong as ever. Then I read a local newspaper in Split and we decided that it could indeed have been a big fish that stole our lure. During a fishing tournament a couple of weeks ago the winning catch was a 763 kilo tuna. Think of that - that is a 1,678.6 pound tuna. Wow! Second place was an 84.6 kilo tuna. Third place was 59.1 kilo and fourth place was 51.5 kilo. This was a catch-and-release tournament.

But I can danged well guarantee you that the first place catch was not released. There was a photo of this fish and it was about 2-feet longer than the height of the man who caught it. That was worth a lot of money!

Guess there are fish in this part of the Med after all! Think we will continue dragging that fishing line. Hope springs eternal.

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.