Exotica has been comfortably moored for four weeks in our quiet marina Veneto di Venezia on the tranquil island of Certosa less than twenty minutes from the heart of Venice.

High tide

Low tide, spires of San Marco in the distance

Every day we took the 4.1 vaporetto into San Marco to visit a couple of the hundreds of museums and churches adorned with Titians, Veroneses, Tintorettos and Canalettos.  It is not surprising to learn that there are 314 named painters of the Venetian school.

Venice with a View group in the the fresco salon Laconda San Barbaba

For six days we were lucky enough to join a group of music lovers from Sydney spending a few days in Venice before moving to the Bach festival in Leipzig.

Shouldn’t the gondolier be concentrating on steering!

Boarding at Hotel San Barnaba, Duodorso

With them we had some special occasions including a gondola ride, not normally something we would do, but this one was rather special with a brief stop at a canal side hotel’s boat, to take on board two bottles of prosecco and some nibbles.

Five star gondola experience

Vivaldi devoted most of his life to this famous church and orphanage for children of the poor

We also had a specially guided tour of the Pieta and particularly memorable was the night time visit to the Basilica, where, as darkness fell, they turned on the lights to illuminate the amazing golden frescoes on the ceiling.  Despite being a Roman Catholic church all the architectural influences in this building come from the orthodox religions further east.

The tide rising in Palazzo San Marco

There are 7 domes in San Marco

San Marco at night

20 Euro Aperol Spritz at Hotel Cipriani. Rooms start at 1,400 Euros!

Cipriani launch

Worth the cost of the drinks for this sunset from the Cipriani launch

Private collection of Murano glass

Hair cut at this extraordinary Venezian salon

The weather has been pretty perfect so far, cool with the occasional shower, so good for sightseeing. It  has started to warm up but one is not tempted to dive into the lagoon, however!

8 Euro meal Osteria Bea Vita

Linea D’Ombra

to fine dining, thanks Richard and Vicky

Scary wine list!

Doge Palace on right and prison on left, from the Bridge of Sighs

With our friends, Vicky and Richard Franklin, who joined us on board for four days, we visited the Doge’s Palace and had a spectacular lunch at Linea d’Ombra restaurant overlooking the canal.  They are bridge players so each evening, once the sun had set, we sat down to play cards.

Opulance in the Doges Palace

Stuart Skelton starred as Tristan at ENO

Thursday June 23^rd we flew back to England for 12 days for a feast of opera. A momentous day for Britain, the shock referendum result  to leave the European Union greeted us on the morning of the 24th. The country has remained in turmoil, the journalists having a field day and the politicians at loggerheads but it has not affected our exceptional Wagnerfest!

Quintessential Glyndebourne, before a sensational Die Meistersinger

Taxi to The Ring Cycle at Festival Hall

Opera North’s semi-staged Ring production

The Fielding Private Hotel with Royal Opera House in background

The Ring with Marilyn and Richard Plummer and Margie Jones

Family time at Phee’s renovated cottage

We return to Venice on July 5th and  plan to sail to Trieste and the coast of Slovenia.

Exotica from Istria to Venice.

Our stay in Marina Verdura was a great success.

We had all the jobs done on the boat quickly and efficiently and found excellent workmen who came when they said they would and finished the job on time and on budget.  So different from those in Kastela.  Exotica now looks as good as she ever has with beautiful decks treated with Nano teak technology and new windows in the sprayhood we can actually see through.  We even managed to have the cockpit cushions dry cleaned successfully. Unless we find anywhere better I suspect we will be back there for the winter.

Skipper up the mast

View from aloft.

Even Julie took her annual trip up the mast to fix the flag halyard.

So after midday on Friday May 27^th we set off north, past Pula and through the Brijuni Islands from where Marshal Tito used to rule the old Yugoslavia and entertained heads of state and film stars.

Rovinj

Our destination was the small port of Rovinj, yet another harbour with a hilltop, fortified village and a church at the top.

St Euphemia – ordinary from the outside.

Baroque splendour within

The Church of Santa Euphemia at Rovinj.

Rovinj from the Immigration dock.

Early the next morning we were alongside the police dock to clear customs and immigration since we were leaving for Italy and though Croatia is in the EU it is not a Schengen country.  However, the formalities were minimal and we were on our way back across the Adriatic quicker than we expected.

Early morning leaving Croatia

It was a pristine day but no wind meant that we had to motor all the way to Venice.  We did try the sails on a couple of occasions but we wanted to arrive in the Venice lagoon in plenty of daylight since we felt it might be tricky to negotiate the narrow and very busy waterways in any but the best conditions.

The approach to the Venice lagoon.

It was very exciting to enter one of the world’s top maritime destinations and follow the line of piles watching the chart and the depth sounder.

The narrow canal at Certosa.

Luckily we could contact the marina we had booked earlier in the year and they sent a marinero in a dinghy to guide us up the incredibly narrow and shallow canal with every imaginable craft rushing by in both directions and tied up along each side.  Julie, at the helm, maintained her sang froid and moored the boat, as always, in an exemplary fashion.

We then sat down to toast our arrival with a prosecco, although shortly after finishing the bottle we decided to move to a different mooring a little closer to the main yard.  This was done with even more aplomb.

Venice and Certosa

St Mark’s Square with a few people.

So Exotica now sits in a dock on the beautiful and tranquil island of Certosa, a mere 15 minute vaporetto ride from St Mark’s Square but a million miles from the hordes of tourists who flock there.

We have been here for twelve days and are finding our way round the city, although one still gets lost in the labyrinth of lanes we are beginning to feel a bit like locals who assure us they, too, sometimes get lost.

The Australian Pavilion at the Architecture Biennale

Of course we have done the tourist route, such as the Architecture Biennale, where the Australian Pavilion housed a large swimming pool to emphasise the importance of water to the Aussie way of life.   Also multiple churches, museums and glass factories.

Murano is an island famous for the production of Venetian glass.  Every street and canal on the island is lined on both sides by shops selling the product.  We were on a mission to buy Julie some earrings to match a Murano glass necklace bought some years ago in London.  Despite the massive profusion of glass artifacts of every conceivable kind it took us 17 shops before we found a match.

We were fortunate to be there on the one day a week that the School of Glassmaking provides an exhibition of the art. There were six massive furnaces full of molten glass pouring out amazing heat into the working space.  Nonetheless the skill of the glass-makers shaping this red hot molten material is most impressive.

From this

To this

Also there are plenty of charming restaurants down side streets and in small piazzas where the food is excellent and not outrageously expensive.

The best restaurant so far.

We have been joined for five days by Robert Mitchell with whom we attended an opera at La Fenice, a relative rarity by Mascagni – L’Amico Fritz as well as much other sightseeing and some excellent meals.

Our most recent trip has been to the Palazzo Vendramin, one of the most beautiful on the Grand Canal. Here in a chamber on the first floor Richard Wagner died on 13th February 1883 and the whole apartment has been turned into museum with multiple original artifacts of his life and times. It is the home of the Venice Wagner Society and one of their members conducted our very moving tour.  Unfortunately there are no pictures allowed as the Palazzo is now the Venice Casino and they forbid photography throughout the whole building.

We will remain in Venice until June 23^rd when we return to England for an extravaganza of Wagner opera and plan to take Exotica away from this beautiful place in early July.

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.

September 29th 2015 Marina Kastela, Croatia

Champagne every lunchtime please

Julie celebrated her 65th birthday (ssh, don’t tell anyone!) on September 8th, a bottle of Mumm sailing gently towards to the lovely bay of Sesula where we once again picked up a mooring and ate at Sismis Restaurant, this time Lamb Peka was on the menu and quite delicious.

Wonderful family hotel, Sesto, Italian Tyrol

September 10th our hire car was delivered to the marina, an early start for the 745 Km drive up the Croatian A1 in a fierce Bora, through Trieste to Sesto Sexten, high in the Italian Tyrol. Hotel Holzer, a family run hotel had spectacular views of the imposing Dolomites.

Overnight snow on Alps, first of the season

Charming Feldkirch, Austria

We drove through the Alps to the Austrian town of Feldkirch to meet Julie’s cousin, James Munro, performing in a Chamber Orchestra concert playing late 14th and early 15th Century music. It was James’ debut playing the Viola da Gamba and an impressive feat alternating with his Violone.

Traditional spread post performance at Feldkirch Festival

Chamber Orchestra relaxing after their stunning Baroque concert

Early morning farewell to James

Delightful town of Fussen

From there another picturesque drive to the Bavarian town of Füssen to join Lizzy and Tony Dyson for our second Ring of the summer and their first ever!

One and half hour hold up only 8 Kms out of Fussen. Nice cars to befriend and at least it wasn’t raining

There was some considerable stress when we came to a total standstill on the autobahn not far from our lunch date destination!

Young Bavarians becalmed but what a backdrop!

For those who are interested our review is below.

The Bulgarian Ring at Füssen.

Fussen’s spectacular Festspielhaus

The Festspielhaus at Füssen, Southern Bavaria, must be the most picturesque of all opera houses. A building modelled on Bayreuth, it stands in wooded country on the side of Lake Forggensee with a direct view to Castle Neuschwanstein across the water. It was even more stunning by night with Ludwig’s brightly illuminated folly reflected in the still water.

Neuschwanstein obscured by afternoon rain

Rainbow at first interval

During the first interval of Götterdämmerung, after some heavy rain, we saw a rainbow emanating from the Alps directly above of the castle. Füssen’s own rainbow bridge.

Wotan’s curtain call Das Rheingold

It was to this quintessentially Wagnerian setting that The Sofia Opera and Ballet brought their Ring Cycle, which they have been presenting in Sophia over the last two years.
The basic formula was the same as last year, a highly colourful setting with space-age costumes together with a straightforward recounting of the story. The predominant scenic effect was a large ring which could be broken in half and hydraulically manipulated to represent the various Ring locations. Upon this were projected computer driven lighting effects of splendid colour and variety. One frequently recurring symbol was the almond shaped mandorla, which served as a love nest for Siegfried and Brünnhilde and also as a boat. The cone shape was frequently used to represent, castles and towers but also horses for the Valkyries. Brünnhilde had to sing the whole of the second act of Die Walküre balanced precariously on the side of a cone. However, her ride into the flames at the end of Götterdämmerung on the cone, Grane, was very effective.

Meeting the cast after Walkure. Siegmund, Brunnhilde, Wotan

The singers are all Bulgarian, young, enthusiastic and well trained. Special mention should be made of Martin Iliev, who played Siegmund and the Götterdämmerung Siegfried, Yordanka Derilova, the Brünnhilde in Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung and Tsvetana Bandalovska, Sieglinde and Gutrune. They produced excellent personal chemistry and electric vocalism. It is proposed to repeat their production of Tristan and Isolde, premiered earlier in 2015, next July. Tristan, Martin Iliev and Isolde, Tsvetana Bandalovska had excellent reviews. So a visit to Sofia in 2016 could be well worthwhile.
The orchestra, also all Bulgarian, were only 88 strong, packed into the small Fussen pit which is covered, á la Bayreuth, with a wooden shell. This meant that the overall sound was not of Wagnerian proportions but they did not swamp the singers and the brass were particularly solid and accurate. They were led by Erich Wächter, the only German in the production and the most modest and self-effacing conductor we have ever seen, and also the most relaxed. Most conductors, at the end of Götterdämmerung, look as if they have run a marathon whereas Maestro Wächter looked as if he had just had a walk in the park.

Cathy and Dick Soderquist Ring Cycle “institution”, from Washington DC

The audience, which included five members of the Wagner Society of NSW, were thrilled by the whole performance. Very sadly the house was not completely full which may have been due to poor marketing since the quality of this Ring should have ensured a sell-out.

Old friendships renewed, before Gotterdammerung

Maria and Juregen we met at the Bulgarian Ring in Sofia 2014

With Lizzy Dyson outside Royal Box, seats arranged for us by the the Sofia Opera!

Wagner Society of NSW plus a couple of extras

Professor Plamen Kartaloff must be given full credit, not only for his direction of this inspirational Ring Cycle but for his vision to bring his entire company from Sofia to perform in the magical Füssen Festspielhaus.

With Tony Dyson

Meeting cast post Gotterdammerung. Our terrific Siegfried with the ring

As an aside only true devotees would now visit Ludwig’s castle at Neuschwanstein. Having paid the exorbitant entrance fee (1 Euro off for the over 65s), and climbed the hill, one is now admitted at the exact time on the ticket – be late and you miss your tour and no refund. The tour is then a rush of exactly thirty five minutes, so no lingering to examine all the allegorical paintings and the guide had some erroneous ideas about the Lohengrin legend. However you are allowed to spend as much time as you like in the souvenir shop.

Farewell Aperol Spritzer. TC, Richard, Sue & Maggie

And so September 19th we welcomed our last crew of the season, Maggie Jones, Sue and Richard McKenzie, the last of the hot days on their arrival.

Sue, Maggie, Richard at 1240 Romanesque portal Cathedral of St Lovro, Trogir

The forecast thunderstorm duly came during the night but it cleared enough for sightseeing in Trogir and Split before a strong – 25-60 knot – Bora kept us all awake the next night. It blew itself out after 17 hours so we ventured out of the marina to our favourite Movarstica for a quiet night at anchor.

Eve with Venitian lion. Earliest nude Dalmatian sculpture

Watery sunset from Maslinica marina, Solta Island

A couple of swims, a night at the lovely little village of Maslinica on Solta Island. Another delicious Peka, thank you crew, before again taking shelter in Marina Kastela before the next storm.

Maslinica’s lamb and veal Peka, thank you crew

” You told me it was going to be warm”!
Last swim at Uvala Necujam

September rain before 3 day Bora, time to go home!

September 29th we put Exotica to bed for the winter. Sadly, the Bora raged for 4 days before our departure so we were unable to see her being lifted onto the hard standing. Two days later the boatyard settled her onto a cradle and tied her down to large concrete blocks to protect her from the winter winds.

Farewell to Exotica, the blue sky belies the howling Bora

2015 cruise we have travelled a total distance of 1245 nautical miles, to five countries in five months. Have enjoyed the company of 19 crew over the summer and have had 61 sailing days, an improvement on 2014. We anchored in 22 bays, picked up 12 mooring buoys and over-nighted in 21 marinas. We arrived in Croatia on July 1st and have only cruised one third of the coastline. Contrary to predictions we were never asked to pay for anchoring in bays in Croatia.  As there are over 1000 islands we intend to explore the Northern Adriatic in 2016. Thank you to all who have followed our blog and particularly to those who have commented, we love your messages.

Tuesday September 8th  –  Uvala Vinisce,  Mainland Croatia

We had to resort to Central Dalmatia’s expert to solve our engine, generator, VHF, chartplotter problems and have been dealing with the most charming, but infuriating marine electrical engineer. He runs a highly successful business but guards his knowledge well making him constantly in demand and therefore indispensable.

The expert at work

He promises to meet at an appointed time then doesn’t turn up and is uncontactable. Has amazing excuses ….caught in a storm while towing a yacht in his RIB from Vis… held up in Montenegro with incomplete paperwork for the authorities!

However, last Wednesday our generator was at last craned back into the boat, sadly, he didn’t have time to check that it was working so another 24 hours waiting, to find he had re-attached two wires incorrectly. It’s all behind us now, working wonderfully. We are now independent again, the watermaker performing perfectly.

Generator craned off and on 2 weeks later

Bobovisce at dusk

Since our last post we cruised Brac with Ros and Phil Dey. A return visit to the moorings in Bobovisce then decided to go with the wind to either the north of Hvar or the north of Brac. The wind changed 180 degrees three times, so did we, and after an hour we were back where we started. So much for going where the wind takes you! An executive decision to sail, well motor, as the wind settled into an easterly, to Povlja on the north east of Brac.

Ros, Phil & Terry Uvala Luka, Brac. Bridge anyone?

There are two inlets, the town of Povlja and Uvala Luka, there we anchored for two magical nights. No internet in this bay though. Uvala Luka is famous for it’s restaurant but we weren’t really interested in going ashore with this crew…they are Bridge players!

Uvala Luka, a safe, quiet bay

Povlja, Brac

We lunched in Povlja and met a couple from Castle Hill in Sydney. He comes from this unspoilt village and visits several times a year. He managed to escape the Communists in the 1960’s after refusing to join the Party.

Result of the devastating Bora last winter in Povlja harbour

Local Povlja specialty fried squid, prawns and chips for lunch while topping up with electricity on the dock

At anchor in crystal aquamarine Uvala Krknias

We discovered another magical bay, Krknjasi on Otok Drvenik Veli, with Debbie Humble. A shallow, sandy bay protected by two islands, complete with atmospheric restaurant under the trees. Debbie very kindly treated us to dinner, sadly no meat at all tonight, so we had the fish, delicious, but these people do take advantage of the summer tourists, outrageous charging!

Did you hear the one about………
dining at Konoba Krknjasi

and a simple Exotica lunch

How Diva Debbie relaxes on holiday

Storm clouds gathering

After a stop at our favourite Movarstica we ended our week with Debbie at Marina Frapa, a very smart marina and a haven for the coming storm. It is in the sheltered bay of Rogoznica where there are many anchoring opportunities.

From Marina Frapa overlooking Rogoznica

So the storm came and cleared the humidity and cooled the air, we actually sailed to our current anchorage, Vinisce, in a 15-24 westerly. Yet another safe harbour, Croatia continues to delight us.

Who ever said I didn’t get my hair wet!

Julie has been known to be the only sailor living in the Med for 5 months of the year who does not get her hair wet when swimming, well, all has changed and feeling liberated she’s now perfecting her half pike!

While Terry supervised the Expert, Debbie & Julie had a long lunch in Split

then let loose in Split’s lolly shop

Memories in Kastela

Thank you Tim for sending the RSYS burgee

Mr Fix It – the fender mender

Ros with Phil on watch

Flight in western sky leaving Split airport at sunset

Marina Kastela            Saturday August 22nd. 2015

Swans of Krka National Park

Island hopping with the Donnellys (black) and Carryers (red)

Croatia is having a hot summer this year, unlike last year, the locals say. We have become rather used to blue, cloudless skies and temperatures in the mid 30s, the air-conditioner a blessing but we still have some sleepless nights. After our return from Austria we waited for days for workmen to sort out Exotica’s generator, engine and battery charging problems with only limited success. Enough, however, to escape the still air of the marina and enjoy the company of Ruth and Mick Donnelly to explore the waters north of Split. If the wind was on the nose we changed course, found lovely anchorages in sandy bottomed bays and swam in the crystal aquamarine waters. We were just so sorry that their, and our, friend Sara did not make it this year.

August 4th – 9th

Sibenik

After a short but exciting beat inside Otok Zlarin we joined a procession of boats entering the narrow, two nautical mile channel leading from the sea to the city and port of Sibenik. We stopped at the very smart Marina Mandalina, some distance SE of the old town. A water taxi took us there for dinner on the quay. It’s hard to believe this city was badly damaged in the 1991-92 war. The steep, limestone steps winding up through ancient buildings are a delight, even in the busiest time of the year.

Zagreb -Split toll road crosses the gorge

From there we motored to the Krka River National Park, a gorge twisting its way to the 2.5 miles long and 1 mile wide shallow lake, Prukljansko Jezero, from where another narrow, twisting channel of the Krka River continues to Skradin. This pretty little riverside town has brightly painted stone houses and a ruined fortress towering above.

Krka waterfall

The highlight is a ferry trip to Stradinski Buk, where there is a boardwalk connecting emerald green, fish-filled river and the park’s largest waterfall.The 800 m. long cascade falls 46 m. before crashing into the lower lake. If it wasn’t high summer we would have swum in the lake but it was insanely busy, so we didn’t. A windy evening at anchor in the lake, accompanied by a family of swans, the wind died at 0100, the noisy party on the shore began at 0130 until 0430. How can people make so much noise!

Lunchtimes we found secluded, aquamarine bays to swim and charming towns to moor at night.

Aquamarine water Uvala Vela Nozdra,
Otok Kaprije

Mooring buoys in Primosten

Primosten is one of the nicest ports we have visited, once an islet just off the coast, fortified during the Turkish threat in the 16th century. We dined on the ramparts under the stars after a spectacular sunset.

Primosten at sunset

Dinner in the sunset, Primiston

Scampi – Pasarela Rogac

Our long-planned evening at Restaurant Pasarela in Rogac on Otok Solta, was disappointing to say the least. Even though we had rung to announce our arrival, there were no berths available, 40 minutes later they acknowledged us, cleared space only to find it was too shallow, luckily there was room for us on the town quay. Not to be deterred we kept our table booking, Mick chose Scampi Flambe with honey and lime. The menu said there should be four scampi but only three arrived.  When questioned the superior waitress announced that they are bigger today so you get three! This young lady needs some lessons from Canadian servers. Mick, incensed, wrote to Tripadvisor immediately! Although the three were tasty, it left a bad taste with all of us.

They could fit 3 charter boats onto their dock, all with 10 crew! Pasarela

Ruth and Mick

August 12th – 18th

Sunset over Luka Vistika

We had a spectacular beat to Otok Vis, the most westerly island with Jane and Jeff Carryer on board. Inhabited for thousands of years, in WW11  it was a base for the British Special Operations Executive forces, a sea cave on a nearby island provided a hiding place for a British naval torpedo vessel. Until 1989 foreigners were not allowed to land on Vis nor navigate within 300 m. off their shores, so developers have not spoilt the charming villages. We picked up an mooring in Kut in the eastern end of Vis harbour looking forward to a swim until wave after wave of unpleasant debris drifted past, a shower on the stern had to suffice!

Red Mullet from Vis, this 3rd generation fisherman sold us a mouthful of bones

Friends for 47 years!

Komiza, Vis

Komiza evening stroll through olive and fig trees

On the western coast is the village and port of Komiza, the prettiest town overlooked by the 17th-century church on the site of a Benedictine monastery, a perfect evening stroll complete with old lady selling fresh figs. The water here was magic there are many mooring buoys however, our second night we were on the town quay, sadly this exposed harbour brought in an uncomfortable swell, so unusual in Croatia.

Komiza harbour Vis before the strom

Leaving Komiza the hot, settled weather of the last few weeks broke. Threatening clouds did not deter us from our planned 14nm passage to the Pakleni Islands until we rounded the NW point to be hit by gusts of 34 knots, on the nose, of course. We were making heavy weather against the sea and wind and being chased by an impressive electrical storm so changed course, back to Vis harbour where we knew we could pick up a secure mooring. It poured for 24 hours, consequently the air is now cooler and less humid.

Sesula inlet on Otok Solta

Our last night with the Carryers we again picked up a restaurant mooring in Sesula, on Solta. A very sheltered long, narrow inlet with crystal water. The food was excellent although they were out of lamb that day! They pack boats into the inlet and onto the moorings, we had a charter boat tied to us, thankfully when the storm began at 5am there was more lightening and rain than wind.

Maslinika on Otok Solta, shopping expedition from Sesula

Sesula storm

Every boat owner will tell you there is always something going wrong on a boat, Exotica is excelling. Batteries not being charged by the motor, eventual solution, new splitter. Autohelm and chartplotter failed, solution, a Raymarine expert. Generator failing to produce water and not charging batteries, solution, have the generator craned out of the boat to find the solution! All this means days in the marina, so while Terry sat around waiting for workmen Jane and Jeff Carryer and Julie explored the seven Kastel ancient villages along this bay. Our visitors have departed and we again wait for workmen…….next week will be more Central Dalmatian cruising.

Kastel on island Kastela Gomilica

Kastela, Croatia August 2nd 2015

July 17th

There is an extremely good motorway from Split to Zagreb across the top of the Dinara mountain range, spectacular in it’s barreness. It makes the drive from Split to Slovenia fast and safe, well worth the expensive toll. Once in Slovenia small winding roads through green wooded hills with fields of sugar cane and sunflowers, neat houses with colourful gardens, very pretty. We were assured there was parking at the boutique Hotel Actum in the old town in Kranj but were unprepared for the necessity to punch in a code to lower the street bollard then drive through the tiny old streets, now a pedestrian precinct, to find this extraordinary hotel.

The bathroom

Spa room Hotel Actum, Kranj

Each room individually decorated, ours with a spa in the corner (sadly not filled and heated for our arrival, another 25 euros for that!).

Rolls Royce in the wall

The previous owner had been a Rolls Royce fanatic so memorabilia festooned the walls and one of his cars had been cut in two and stuck in the walls of two rooms. Dinner of young venison and wild goat was without doubt the best meal we have eaten all summer.

We arrived in Munich in time to get to the Statsoper and stand outside hoping for a return ticket to Arabella.  We did and so were able to join Maria and Jurgen, whom we’d met in Sofia last July, in an evening of Strauss.

Hoping for tickets at the Statstoper, Munich

From the famous balcony of the Rathaus in Munich opened to the pubic for 1 day, with Maria and Jurgen

The site of Ludwig’s drowning. Starnbergersee.

They very kindly spent the weekend taking us to local haunts and we paid homage to King Ludwig II on a boat cruise on Starnbergersee. Known as the Mad King, he was infatuated with Wagner and his music and spent much of his kingdom’s money on fantastical castle building.  He was finally deposed and was found drowned together with his doctor at this spot.

Ironically he was proved right in the end as his castles now bring more tourist money to the area than he ever spent on them.

We found a Dragon fleet racing

The gallery at Staatsoper, Munich

Sunday evening we attended Elektra with Evelyn Herlitzius,  Waltraud Meier as Klytemnestra and Adrienne Pieczonka as Chrysothemis. Outstanding production and performances under the baton of Asher Fisch, it was notable there were not even German surtitles.

July 20th

So on to Salzburg, again temperatures in the 30’s, we were true tourists for 3 days.

Elefant Hotel, Salzburg

The foyer

Choir Mozart’s Requiem

The soloists

Stumbled upon a performance of Mozart’s Requiem at the Dom and got tickets to Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis in the Grosse Festspeilhaus, the beginning of the Salzburg Festival.

Everyone has to eat Nockerl in Salzburg, but only once!

Old town Salzburg, from the castle

Posthotel Erlerwirt

Another spectacular drive to Erl, in the Tyrol, for our 16th Ring Cycle. Our hotel was totally geared for the festival. A meal 2 hours before each performance, coach to the Festpsielhaus then a cold buffet on our return. What we had imagined was a country hotel in a field was actually a posthotel in the village surrounded by milking barns. You have cows – you have flies and with no air conditioning, little sleep!

Curtain call after Walkure. Note harps on stage, harpists were dressed in flowing red gowns, the fire.

Passionhaus and Festspielhaus

The Ring, however, staged in the Passionhaus, was of a very high standard. Our first surprise was the surtitles in English, only! The wonderful, young orchestra under Gustav Kuhn sat on tiers taking up most of the huge stage making it difficult for sets. Although the stage was wide it was particularly narrow so one did feel it was almost semi-staged. It did not take away from the production nor the direction which were both superb.

Curtain call after Siegfried

Grane and boat, props in Gotterdammerung

Because it was performed over 4 consecutive days the cast changed for each opera. However, we suspect the orchestra did not and during of Götterdämmerung the horn players were getting decidedly ragged. We were delighted to be at James Roser’s debut as Gunther on Götterdämmerung. He is a young singer from Sydney who had been acclaimed as Beckmesser in Meistersinger at Erl the previous week.

The next day we drove 800 kilometres back to Exotica in Marina Katela near Split.  The plan was to drive across Austria avoiding the motorways in order to see the hills of the Tyrol.  Sadly it was pouring with rain and the cloud level was so low that we saw virtually nothing, not even the road at times!

By the time we arrived in Croatia the weather was warm and the sun was shining and Exotica was waiting for us and the next adventure.

Salzburg, Austria   July 21st.

We are taking a holiday from Exotica, hired a car and headed to Germany and Austria for a dose of culture.  More about that in future posts.

Course of Exotica through the Croatian Islands.

The Croatian Islands between Dubrovnik and Split continue to provide the greatest pleasure.  We swapped crew at Korcula town and were joined by a regular Senta crew, Mark Prior and his wife Gayle Tollifson.  After a massive supermarket shop we returned to Uvala Luka bay on the tip of the Croatian mainland peninsular at Loviste, we picked up a mooring and had a wonderful meal at the restaurant ashore.

The evening was somewhat spoiled when the wind came roaring in at 2am and Terry, being a little uncertain about the security of the mooring we were on, spent the rest of the night in the cockpit on anchor watch.

The next morning we had a good breeze as we set off for the island of Hvar, however as is often the case, it came from dead astern and as the morning went on it decreased to a light puff, so the engine back on again.

Floating crew in idyllic water

In the early afternoon we entered the bay of Vinogradisce on the south of Pakleni Islands, it was very busy with many craft, swimming areas and restaurants but we found a good spot to anchor and enjoyed a peaceful afternoon and night, swimming frequently in the warm water.

We stayed in this bay for an extra day, moving Exotica to a position on the shore and taking 2 lines to trees on the beach.  This was the first time we had done this and was a useful learning experience, (which is code for –  we didn’t do it very well the first time.)

Shore lines in Vinogradisce Bay, Pakleni Islands

Hvar town and Pakleni Islands from the fortress

A water taxi to the picturesque town of Hvar, very popular with tourists, and climbed yet another hill to another mountain fort with a fine view.

Fish cannery along Milna’s third “marina”. Exotica sets the trend tying up to Emile’s dock

Two nights on the island of Brac.  One in Milna, a small port almost totally dedicated to yachts and the rather smelly fish cannery.

Charter boats line the shore in Milna

The lengths our crew will go to for the best photo of Milna

Expensive cocktail in Milna

Exotica’s home for the night in Milna

Sundowner time in Milna

Fore & aft mooring in Bobovisce, Brac

Then to the small bay at Bobovisce where the mooring buoys are packed into the fingers of the bay, very well organised and the surroundings idyllic.

Gayle & Mark, cocktails on deck

Sailing into Split

Finally, on this part of our travels to the mainland near Split where, at Marina Kastela, Gayle and Mark left us.  The marina is huge with supermarket, restaurants an efficient boatyard and only 20 minutes from Split airport. Six charter companies keep their boats here, but the facilities for overwintering on the hard seem excellent.  In consequence, we have decided to leave Exotica here this winter.

On Friday July 19th we left Exotica in the marina and set off north to Germany for our holidays!

Thursday July 9th 2015 Korcula

Dubrovnik to Korcula

The islands off the Croatian Coast between Dubrovnik and Split, where Exotica is now cruising, are a yachting paradise.  Warm settled weather, multiple attractive islands with plenty of small bays and anchorages and fascinating villages and walled towns.  Of course this makes it very attractive and thus busy, particularly with charter yachts and massive cruisers.  Nonetheless we have managed to find quiet moorings and anchorages at least in early July.

Prozura

From the island of Sipan we made the very short trip to the neighbouring island of Mljet where we put into the tightly enclosed bay of Prozura.  Here we picked up another mooring buoy belonging to the Restaurant Marijana.  The mooring is free but one is honour bound to eat at the restaurant.  Here we had a delicious meal of roast wild boar and baby goat both from the island we were told.

Roast baby goat and wild boar, Konoba Marijana

Girls shopping trip!   Julie, Janelle and Kate

Exotica tied up in Pomena

Yet another very short trip took us to the tip of Mljet and to Pomena where we moored against the quay owned by Konoba Nine, a restaurant recommended to us.  This proved to be an excellent choice as the owner of the restaurant, who is also the cook, presented to us a huge grouper he had speared in the morning and which along with lobster (more like a Moreton Bay Bug) and prawns he made into a huge stew – his signature dish.  It came in an enormous casserole dish and was spectacular.

Nino, fisherman, chef and owner

Fish stew, Konoba Nin

Exotica sunset, Pomena

Pomena is situated in a National Park and a short walk took us to two inland salt lakes with an island on which there is a church and a monastery and the requisite Roman ruin.

Last lunch & swim Racisce Bay, Korcula

Korcula old town

All these places were quiet and remote, however our next destination was the island and town of Korcula.  Here we booked into the marina, rather expensive but very secure. When we arrived in the early afternoon it was quite quiet but by nightfall it was packed solid with boats of all shapes and sizes and people being turned away.  Korcula town, famed as being the birth place of Marco Polo (the Italians also claim this) is a neat walled city full to bursting with tourists, restaurants and souvenir shops. On our second night, a Sunsail boat berthed alongside, on board, the Pollards and Connellys, RSYS members!

Marko Polo’s house and tower, his washing still on the line

Exotica in Korcular Marina, taken from St Marks Cathedral tower

Janelle and Kate left us to return by ferry to Dubrovnik and we took off for a quiet night at anchor in a delightful bay – Uvala Luka – on the western most tip of the mainland peninsular.  The water is now so warm that one can just fall into the sea two or three times a day.