First Sails

All the anticipation, the preparation and the frustration of the weather was over as we freed our lines and set off in calm condition and sunshine at 9am on Thursday 18^th May. We found a cool Westerly breeze south of Pasman Island and had a cracking sail to Kakan, one of our regular stop overs. It is an uninhabited island that used to be called Children’s island, as in days gone by it was used as a recreational facility for the youth. Now it is a useful anhorage sailors as it affords shelter from most wind directions.

We had a fine sail until Nigel heard some very unnatural banging at the bottom of the boat. It was not anything falling off, thank goodness, but we soon realised we had run over a crab pot and feared for a fouled propeller. With reduced sail we sailed into the shelter of the bay, planning to pick up a buoy under sail – some feat that would have been, but in the event when Nigel started the engine, an enormous buoy maker popped out the back of the boat. We had control, so all was well. We decided to stay for the night and picked up a buoy the usual way, although it took a while as the buoy rings were so tiny, Mo could not hook it up! Suffice it to say, we got there in the end and had a happy overnight stay. The wind is still very cold, but at least the sun was shining.

Saturday 19^th May, we sailed from Kakan to Trogir and anchored up in a bay opposite the city.

Quite magical to be at anchor surrounded by natural coast,  within sight of the city, and Nigel managed a swim, just to check the bottom of the boat for any damage from the day before. It was clear the crab pot lines had snagged the keel , so apart from losing some anti-fouling, there was no damage.

An afternoon cleaning the decks and polishing, then dinner on board and an early night.   Alas the forecast is for more gales and lots of rain, so tomorrow we are heading into the fascinating town of Trogir, more on that later.