From our ‘holiday’ in Tuscany we returned to Exotica and after a day of household chores we left Marina Veruda to explore the islands of the central Adriatic.

We learnt a lesson on Wednesday August 9^th.  after 44 nautical miles of mixed sailing and motoring we arrived at our destination at 3 pm only to find every one of 66 mooring buoys occupied. Late July and early August are high season around here and Italians, Germans and Austrians flood in with their boats and charters.  So, the anchorages, marinas and buoyed areas, which at other times are freely available, tend to be filled up by early afternoon. Thus, the rule is, if you want to get in, you leave early and arrive early.

On this particular day in Ilovik, our usual safe harbour when storms are predicted, we anchored with some difficulty at the end of the channel, however, when the southerly storm hit the anchor held and the lee of the land gave us shelter from wind and sea, not the most comfortable night, but it was free.

We returned to one of our favourite bays, Uvala Sonte on the island of Cres to rendezvous with our Croatian friend Marino and his crew.  After a gentle 16nm run in sou westerlies, it was delightfully calm and warm but we made the mistake of anchoring close to Marino in shallower water than we normally would.  Even though there were ominous dark clouds gathering in the west Marino and his crew set off in his diminutive dinghy across the waterway to the nearest town to explore while we stayed on board.  Shortly afterwards the great black cloud produced an enormous storm. It came roaring over the hills of Losinj from the west with lightning, thunder, driving rain and winds gusting to 45 knots.  Boats were buffeted by the wind and the seas, we had our engine on to take the strain off the anchor. At times, the depth under the keel was reading 0.2.  Then instantly the strong wind whipped around from the NE, at least moving us into slightly deeper water. Normally, that would be the end of the storm but within half an hour there was another blast from the west, knocking smaller boats on their sides. Fortunately, both anchors held securely but it was an anxious time.

Marino and his crew returned in their dinghy three quarters full of water and lucky to be alive.  We then both reset our anchors in deeper water and had an excellent dinner party on board Exotica.

 

 

Friday August 11^th. saw us set off again for the thirty-mile trip to the island of Rab where we had agreed to meet Juliet and Nick Mason-Jones on their yacht Johanem.  We first encountered them in the marina at Ostia outside Rome three years ago and have kept in touch and followed their progress around the Mediterranean.  It is surprisingly difficult to arrange to meet another boat as you tend to have different plans and the weather may also interfere.

However, we spent two delightful days sailing in company until they set off north towards Pula and we continued our travels south.

 

For the next few days we explored the islands, anchoring or picking up mooring buoys, the only “fly in the ointment” has been the plague of wasps this year, no flies or mosquitoes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a couple of nights in the Marina Dalmacija at Sukosan, one of the largest in Croatia, an excellent place to collect guests from Zadar airport.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A terrific run under headsail took us around the south of Otok Pasman. The bay we’d hoped to spend the night was full. Hadn’t we learnt our lesson, don’t arrive at 3pm. Luckily, 6nm further up the west coast was an even nicer bay, with plenty of empty mooring buoys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We liked it so much we stayed for 2 nights. There were 2 restaurants at the top of the bay and we were assured by a very nice, however naked, German lady on the next boat that Soline 1 was the pick of the two. They had come into that bay especially.

 

Terry ordered chops and Julie fish, which we watched being cleaned and ready for the BBQ. Sadly, Grandma (presumably the cook) had forgotten to put the fish on, after a litre of the white wine, waiting, a dog fight where a bulldog at the next table attacked a Cavalier King Charles puppy, the fish arrived. It was, in fact, delicious but had a deleterious effect later that evening.

 

 

 

 

Yet another Bora was forecast at the weekend.  The strong north-easterly wind which comes roaring down the length of the Adriatic from the Alps.  It is a good time to be well tied up in a Marina and so we made for the marina at Tribunj on the mainland just north west of the large town of Sibenik.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve mentioned before that, despite the area being full of yachts of all descriptions and countries there are hardly any English speakers around.  So, we were delighted to see on the quayside a Beneteau Oceanis 55 with an Australian flag and a home port of Sydney.  Deb and Col McKeith, live only a few miles from us in Sydney and have been travelling almost the same route as ourselves over the past few years, so we have much in common.

We all took a taxi, during a windy day, to Sibenik for some sightseeing of the castle and cathedral and then managed to get a last-minute cancellation at the restaurant, Pellegrini, which is reputed to be the best in Croatia.  It was a degustation menu, five dishes from a choice of twenty-five and excellent.  Compared to the average konoba where the choice is meat or fish it was spectacular. By and large, Croatian cuisine is a little disappointing but this was in a class of its own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cold winds abated, the sun returned, our new friends headed north and we set off to the islands off the coast of Sibenik.  We are currently sitting in a bay at the south end of the island of Zirje.  It is half past eight in the morning and already the sun is hot and it is time for a swim in the crystal clear water before breakfast. No wasps here but no internet connection, which is unusual even in the islands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next appointment is with Terry’s sister Margaret and Lizzy and Tony Dyson who we will meet near Zadar.  We hope the good weather continues for them.

It is hard to believe that there is only another month to go for this season’s cruise.

 

Sitting in a beautiful bay on the Island of Pasman in hot sunshine, quiet as most of the boats here last night have left, seems an excellent time to update the clarkesailing blog.

From Biograd on Tuesday 18^th. July we made our way north to Istria again via a couple of islands where we anchored or took up moorings.  After a long days motoring we were back to Marina Veruda which is becoming somewhat of a second home and where we have now decided to leave the boat for the winter, out of the water, as we did last year.  We were off for a two week holiday from the boat in Tuscany and Umbria.

The trip did not start auspiciously. Our car, a rather large Skoda, arrived promptly at the marina and we set off to drive to Bologna in northern Italy in high spirits.  This satisfaction was somewhat dashed by the queue of cars at the Slovenia border.  It took us two and a half hours in the heat of the day to crawl 5 kilometres to the checkpoint where the passport examination was cursory and took about thirty seconds.  Our satnav took us through tiny roads in Slovenia in order to avoid paying fifteen Euros for the road toll.  Once on to the fast autostrada in Trieste we were beset with heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Arriving in Bologna we found our hotel was in the old town and down the narrowest streets which completely confused the satnav and us.  In desperation we parked the car and Julie walked to the hotel.  Even getting the car into the tiny garage was a mission.  So a journey that should have taken four hours took more than nine and we were well over it. Thankfully, the hotel was charming.

 

After a brief walk around Bologna we embarked on the two and a half hour drive to Siena.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have had trouble in the past trying to find a park in Siena and Julie thought it would be possible to drop our bags at our “hotel” before leaving the car in its parking spot one and a half kilometres away but of course it was within the city walls so our satnav took us on impossibly tiny roads and the only way to find it was to ditch the car and walk.  Once we had done this we found ourselves in a quaint B & B, Casatorre dei Leoni Dimora Storica, in a converted palazzo run by two sisters-in-law, obviously doing it for fun rather than profit.

 

We met our friend Deborah Humble in the main square where the Palio takes place and had an excellent meal in a basement restaurant off the tourist trail.

 

 

 

 

 

After a morning provisioning in Siena we three left for Villa della Geggiano about five miles north east where we were staying for two nights.  This is a huge house, the summer residence of the Roman Bianchi Bandinelli family since 1547, however, the current Count made it his home in 1991. The family found it impossible to keep the villa unless they could make it a “going concern”. His father, a Communist, had given most of the families land and villas to their workmen after World War 11, so now they have to rent the land back from them for their farming!.

 

 

It is in remarkably good condition having survived a number of renovations and even an earthquake in 1811.  The 18^th. century frescoes, painted for the wedding of his ancestor in 1724, still survive as the house is so thickly built that in summer it is cool and in winter not too cold, as the Count informed us, it is however, noticeable that the Countess now lives in Rome. For anyone who is in or visiting London they have a restaurant of the same name in Chiswick which we have booked in September.

 

After negotiating the usual tiny, dusty tracks of Tuscany we were led by the owner to our accommodation, a newly built stone cottage on the side of a hill within the grounds which has all the modern appurtenances and is extremely comfortable.  Here we were joined by Bruce Caldwell who found it far more easily than we did in his taxi from Bologna.

A thunderstorm in the afternoon threatened the Linari Concert but by evening the skies cleared and the chamber concert given by the Nash Ensemble, based at Wigmore Hall, could be held on the garden stage at the villa.  The audience of about 100 sat on the lawn with their backs to the house.  It could hardly have been a more perfect venue to listen to Mozart, Schubert and Dvorak under a full moon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Geggiano we drove into northern Umbria where we stayed for nine days in Citta della Pieve, one of the multitude of walled hilltop towns so common in Tuscany and Umbria.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From here, together with Debbie and Bruce, we attended the Incontri di Siena chamber music festival, driving to five different locations in houses, castles and churches to hear a variety of ensembles from two pianos, string quartets, a solo mezzosoprano and the highlight, the Mendelssohn Octet played in a castle courtyard. That week all of southern Europe experienced severe temperatures, we sympathized with the performers in 40 degree heat.

 

 

 

The only downside was that our accommodation was nearly an hour away from most of the venues which meant too much driving on narrow, winding roads at night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a rest day we drove to Panicale, another charming walled hilltop town overlooking Lake Trasimeno. This town has been smartened up and hosts some lovely little apartments with spectacular views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sadly, also while trying to find the exact spot of Hannibal’s victory over the Romans at Lake Trasimene in 217 BC, the car backed into a tree badly scratching the plastic bumper and denting a light.  Interestingly we had just read in the Daily Telegraph about hire car firms ripping off people who had accidents so we were prepared for an argument with the hire company, however, they were very reasonable and what they charged us for the damage seemed fair enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our return drive, with a night’s stop in the charming hilltop town of Asolo in northern Italy was quite smooth and we only had a five minute wait at the border.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we had been away the excellent team at Veruda had treated the decks for us with the special nano preparation we use so that Exotica now looks in perfect condition for another voyage into the islands of the Adriatic.