Thursday 6th September. We were promised a Beaufort scale force 5 – 6 on the beam to make the sail from Mali Losinj to the Istrian peninsular, so off we set. The direction was good, but we ended up with storm force winds, over 42 knots for a time, and we had to reef heavily. Thankfully we had a very fast trip, averaging over 7 knots and much of the time showing over 9 knots on our instruments, well in excess of our hull speed!
We had a truly stoic and uncomplaining crew Blake and Martha, both new to sailing. They say ignorance is bliss! Needless to say the wine we enjoyed for our late lunch in the Marina Pomer, on the south eastern side of the Istrian peninsular, went down a treat.
Friday 7th September as the winds were moderating we sailed 15 more miles round to Pula, famous for its Roman remains.
We spent 2 lovely days here exploring the pretty old town, the Forum, a 2nd century amphitheatre, the old city gates and the piece de resistance, the fabulously well preserved 1st century Roman amphitheatre, one of the largest in Europe, second or third in size to the Colliseum in Rome. We heard tales of gladiatorial contests but it was hard to imagine as the arena was being fitted out with a full sized ice rink to host Ice Hockey games!
Pula was also home for James Joyce as he taught in Pula for a few years around 1904. He is remembered fondly with a larger than life bronze statue of Joyce reclining in a chair at a kerbside cafe under the Roman arch in the Old Town.
Farewell to Blake and Martha on Saturday 8th September as they left to start their journey back to Houston Texas.
In lovely sunny weather, we sailed 30 miles or so north to Vsar, a pretty hill town, where we spent a very pleasant evening and morning. Vsar’s claim to fame is that nearby it has the second largest naturist camp in Europe!
On Monday we returned south to the famous old town of Rovinj, picked up a buoy off the town and had a lazy day swimming. On Tuesday 11th, we headed into the Marina. Sue and Dick have just arrived in glorious sunshine and we are looking forward to a good week. As we have a couple of inclement days ahead, we plan to explore the very historic town of Rovinj together.
Deja Vu 