From Kastela to Pula.

We left Marina Kastela with few regrets.  It had been recommended to us as a good place to overwinter the boat but we were somewhat disappointed by the lack of attention to the decks although we had been promised they would be cleaned regularly while we were away.  However, the work on the antifoul and the anodes was attended to in good time and once we had the major, professional clean we were ready to go.

So on Monday May 16^th. we set out to sea again and bade a less than fond farewell to Kastela.

Leaving Kastela – before discovering the failure of the autohelm.

We thought we had checked every system but 300 metres from the dock, when Julie pressed the button, she found that the autohelm, which steers the boat for us on the course we set, was not working.  There was considerable consternation but we couldn’t face the prospect of returning to Kastela so decided to steer by hand.  This, for a long journey, is decidedly tedious as any lapse of concentration sees the boat veering off course.

The first day we made 30 nautical miles to the little harbour of Primosten where we picked up a mooring in some swell but the wind dropped and had an excellent night.

Exotica nestled among the charter boats at Dugi Otok.

This was the last stop on familiar territory, as the following night we were in the little port of Sali on Dugi Otok, one of the innumerable islands and rocks which we passed through on our journey north towards Istria.

During the night Terry had a brainwave and recalled that we have a remote control for the instruments which we have never used and which might bypass the autohelm control box.  He jumped out of bed and put it on charge and to our joy and relief it worked.

So much so that the next day we did over 50 miles to Mali on the island of Losinj.  A day of brilliant sunshine but no wind so it was a long motor.

That night the wind came up out of the south and blew quite strongly.  This was perfect for our final trip of this passage as we were headed north-west and so set off quite early despite the reservations of the marinero who felt that we were being foolhardy.  However, once he saw Julie’s skillful manoeuvre away from the dock he complemented her and waved us goodbye.

25 knots of wind and look – no hands!

Before the wind Exotica sails best with headsail alone and so we had a great ride in up to 25 knots of breeze touching 9 knots of speed at times. It was bitterly cold though, so grateful for our thermal hats!

The course of “Endless Summer” does not always run smooth

It was early afternoon when we arrived at our destination for the next week or so, Marina Veruda, a couple miles south of Pula, the largest city on the Istrian peninsula in the north of Croatia.  Here we had been booked a berth by our friend Marino Skoko, a shipwright who, like us, divides his time between summers in Sydney and his native Croatia.  He kindly organised for his friends to be ready to undertake some of the maintenance required to get Exotica looking beautiful and working well again.

So far we are delighted by the work done. Unlike other parts of Croatia, it appears that when workmen here say they will come they actually do and complete the job on time.

Eddie removing the old decking oil.

So the excellent Eddie has been putting special nanotechnology surfacing on the teak decks and Elvis (yes – really) has refurbished the sprayhood.

Roman Arena at Pula.

Meanwhile we have hired a car and investigated Pula, with its impressive Roman arena and the hinterland of Istria, where we have found hill top fortress towns and castles with blacksmithing exhibitions.

From the Roman walls of Motovun, northern Istria

Playing the anvil on Wagner’s birthday – May 22nd.

We plan a few more days to finish the work, held up at the moment by some heavy rain, and then will be on our way further north before crossing the Adriatic again to Venice.

Welcome, Dear Reader, to the return of clarkesailing.com as we embark on our fourth year of journeys on our beloved Exotica.  If you are still with us by the end of this post do please leave a message, just to let us know that we are reaching our audience and not broadcasting to an empty ether!

Our time since leaving Australia has been far from unalloyed pleasure.  Ten pleasant days in England with Terry’s sister were spent with him getting over a cold.  Thence, to Leipzig for the Ring together with a large group of friends from both Australia and Germany.  However, we both caught a nasty intestinal virus and first Terry and then Julie went down with D & V sufficiently bad as to make us miss some of the performances.  Julie was particularly unwell and only managed to stagger, at the point of death, to the final act of Gotterdammerung.

Fortunately we were both just fit enough to make the plane to Split where Exotica has been wintering on the hard.

Exotica’s winter berth. Note the tie down webbing.

Our first look at the boat was somewhat of a shock, the saloon and cabins were pristine, dry and clean but the decks were a mess.  Five months of Croatian wind and rain, some containing Sahara sand, had lain a thick layer of brown dirt on the gelcoat and faded the teak to a splotchy brown.

The filthy decks.

After 6 moths ashore Exotica goes to sea again.

Despite this, after a couple of coats of antifoul paint on the keel, we were ready to launch and Exotica took to the water on Friday May 13^th.

Motoring away from the boatyard.

We drove round to the marina where the next day a young Croatian, whose name I ashamed to say we failed to ascertain, worked non-stop for seven hours washing and scrubbing and polishing until the superstructure of the boat was almost as good as it used to look.  Now it just remains to treat the teak decks, a job we are leaving until we arrive in Pula a hundred miles north.

We have spent our first night aboard, packed all the cupboards, stocked the pantry and fridge with food, hoisted the sails and checked all the electrical and other systems.

Tomorrow we set out for the north of the Adriatic and the next adventure.  We plan to sail through the islands of Croatia and spend some time in Pula having a little work done before heading across to Venice for the month of June.