Having enjoyed a couple of days on the water in Sukosan, socialising with old friend (well not so old!) John from Forgiveness and new found friends Pete and Pat from Independent Feeling, the weather improved enough for us to set off on Saturday 17th May.
We motor sailed to Biograd and then set the sails for a brisk close reach down the coast of Murter to the southern most tip then round to the Marina at Jezera.
Although we had visited Murter before we had not been to Jezera, so we were keen to explore this end of the island. We were rather underwhelmed by what we found in the environs of the Marina, but the highlight of our visit was meeting Norbert from the boat moored opposite us on the Marina pontoon. Norbert, from Munich, was a wonderful character with a face that told a lifetime’s worth of tales. Over a glass of wine on board Deja Vu he shared many of his stories with us and we felt as if we had stepped into his shoes and shared many good and sad times with him. We hope we might meet him again one day.
The winds remained lively and we decided to head off again the next day, now Sunday 18th May. We reefed both sails for our close reach to Sibenik and delighted in our speed, touching over 8.5knots in 20knots of apparent wind.
Needless to say it did not take long to get to Marina Mandelina which although remote had good facilities. Recently acquired by D Marin, the same Turkish company that now owns Marina Dalmacija, our home port, we had the promise of concessionary mooring rates!
We took the taxi boat in the company of several Slovakian visitors to the main town of Sibenik and enjoyed re-acquainting ourselves with the fascinating back streets and beautiful buildings. The cathedral boasted unique architectural features including a frieze of 70 carefully sculpted heads.
We especially enjoyed visiting the medicinal gardens at the monastery of St Lawrenece. The roses in the garden flanking the herbs were spectacular and had the sweetest of scents and we must find out what medicinal qualities Artichokes have!
Unfortunately upon leaving the Marina we discoverd D Marin had withdrawn all the reciprocal concessions we had expected, so we ended up with a more costly night than expected! With the sun shining and the winds moderating we set sail for Kakan and enjoyed two very peaceful days, almost alone, in the bay where we caught up with boat polishing and reading!
Rogoznica was our next destination where we reprovisioned and had a delightful supper in Marco’s Konoba. We met up with a delightful family from Hertfordshire and exchanged stories with Jane, Vernon and daughter Amy. It was a great pleasure to meet them.
Next stop Vinisce and another night at anchor. By this time both of us had been swimming in spite of the unexpected cold temperatures. Hope the water temperature warms up soon!
The time had now arrived for us to get to Trogir and prepare for the arrival of our US visitors, Ken and Cathy Otto. Previously a colleague of Nigel, Ken had meticulously planned a road trip around eastern Europe with Cathy, in the early stages of his recent retirement. We were so pleased that we were able to rendezvous and take them out sailing to a few offshore islands. More about their visit on the next blog.
Deja Vu 
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