Deja Vu

Last trip of the season

We had a couple of days in Sukosan, weathered another storm there, but most importantly met up with American friend John and his partner Isabella and enjoyed their good company. This included toasting John’s recovery from Hep C, going out for supper to a Thai restaurant in Zadar and catching a light entertaining film at the cinema as well as Mo taking advantage of Isabella’s new found skills as a professional masseuse with a massage delivered on the bow of their boat Forgiveness.

Massage — Isabella giving a massage on the foredeck of Forgiveness

Friday August 29^th was warm and sunny with light northerly winds so we cast off for our last trip before returning around 13^th September to have Deja Vu lifted out before our flight home on 17^th.

Three hours into an otherwise pleasant and gentle broad reach, the northerly winds decided to freshen just as we hoisted the cruising chute about 10 miles north of Zirje. Unfortunately the knot holding the shackle on the halyard failed and seconds later our brightly coloured chute was in the water dangerously close to going under the boat. We retrieved the sail in the nick of time with a huge amount of pulling and tugging as the boat was charging off at 5 knots under just the mainsail. We realised that heading up too soon would increase the chances of losing the sail altogether and making a bad situation worse. All was well in the end except that we had a huge, wet, salty sail out of its sock to contend with on the deck. Zirje made for a pleasant overnight stop to sort ourselves out!

We called in at Vinisce and then headed for Milna on the south coast of Brac, where we are now as an even worse storm is raging this Monday September 1^st. We took a bus trip to Supetar on the north coast of Brac,

We both had wanted to visit Vis and discover some of the WWII history of the island. Vis was the only part of Yugoslavia not occupied by enemy forces and so presented an opportunity for the Allied forces to use and transfer much needed supplies to the partisans, led by Tito, who were fighting a guerrilla war on the mainland. This desire was fuelled by us both reading Fitzroy Macleans’ excellent book recounting his experiences during WWII, including assisting Tito and the Partisans in their fight against the Germans

However our efforts to go further south are being thwarted by some atrocious weather that is covering the whole Mediterranean. The pressure plummeted from 1015mb to 1004mb overnight.

We eventually reached Vis on Wednesday 3^rd September and booked ourselves onto a 3 hour ‘military tour’ of the island. With a German couple as our travel companions (slightly embarrassing; don’t mention the war!) in a useful off-road vehicle, our guide, Robert, was suitably factual in showing us an interesting WWII operations site, the site of the Allied Forces WWII airstrip, Tito’s WWII hideout and then some of Tito’s Cold War defences of the 1960’s including a massive cave to hide missile ships in which was 120m long and 18m high.

Site of airstrip — Site of Allied forces airstrip during WW II

WWII defenses on Vis — Entrance of the underground network

Tunnels — Down into the tunnels, built in WW II

Sound tubes provided a quick communications system. It is all still in perfect condition.

Bofors gun emplacement — Bofors Gun emplacement at end of one of the tunnel stairways

Mo had to rein in her claustrophobic tendencies to explore the WWII tunnels but it was worth it as they were quite a revelation. The secret underground passages that led from a simple looking shepherds house gave way to living quarters, communication systems, (still in place and in remarkably good order), munitions rooms and stairways up to more than one Bofors gun emplacements. (Mo’s father had been a Bofors gun commander in Italy, at this same time during the war)

Plaque at Tito's cave — Plaque at Tito’s cave where he was alleged to have lived for 3months in hiding

Tito's cave — The ‘confernence’ room near Tito’s cave which was used by leaders of the Allied forces meeting Tito in 1944.

Submarine pen built by Tito during the Cold War, about 1960

Cold war defenses — More Cold War defenses

Neither of us really believed that Tito did live in his so called cave and according to Robert he actually spent most of his time in the nearby village. We had a really interesting day and followed it up the next day by renting a scooter to see the remainder of the island. Had an excellent lunch in a lovely bay to the South East of the island.

Fort George overlooking Vis town, built by the British to defeat Napoleon in 1815 – it is now a bar and nightclub

War memorial — 1990’s Balkan war memorial on Vis hilltop

Time to head north again via Sesula Bay on Solta, Rogoznica, Kakan and Murter, and yet, another big storm with the usual sound and light show.

Next stop will be Sukosan where we clean up and lift out the new Deja Vu in readiness for her winter storage. We look forward to a new season next year.

The first 200 miles in our new Déjà Vu

The Italian forecast for Wednesday August 13^th was for no wind in the Bay of Trieste. We set off to return to Izola in Slovenia with low expectations of much sailing. As it turned out, no sooner had we set the sails in a pleasant 8 knots of south westerly breeze, than we were hit by 25 knots on a very close reach! Needless to say we learned about reefing very quickly and discovered what a fast and responsive boat this Sunbeam 42.1 is. It was a quick trip. We covered 20 miles in less than 3 hours!

Our time in Slovenia was to resolve the VAT issues around the boat, which we did, thanks to the assistance of Cedo, a very helpful Slovenian agent. We were held up there too waiting for a Bura to pass through before we set off to re-enter Croatian waters.

Whilst dodging storms, we completed immigration formalities in Umag, sailed nonstop down the Istrian coast, crossed to the pretty island of Unije and then onto Losinj where we stopped to celebrate our first 100 miles solo sailing.

Mali Losinj is a necessary stop over on this trip for provisions and shelter, but as yet another storm approached we were not alone heading there. We arrived at the town marina too late and were turned away. No room! We spent the night of Wednesday 20^th August at anchor in the bay watching a spectacular 360 degree lightning show before the wind and rain kicked in in the early hours of the morning. We were well sheltered and survived albeit with less than adequate sleep! Our early arrival in the harbour the next morning ensured us a berth so we set about having a cleanup and reprovisioning for the remained of our trip. Imagine our surprise when another Sunbeam yacht turned up next to us, with Gunter Ambrosi, the Sunbeam sales director who had done the Déjà Vu handover with us, and his family on board. They were returning from their 2 week sailing holiday in the south! A very happy coincidence and we enjoyed a pleasant evening with him, his wife and children. The children loved “Talking Tom” on the ipad!

In between the storms we had some lovely sails as we were pottering south. We enjoyed the new sailing experience and learned a lot of new ways of doing things as, inevitably, everything is different and in a slightly different place.

We cannot let our day in Silba go unmentioned though. We were safely secured on a buoy and sheltered from the almighty north easterly storm that raged overhead for the best part of Saturday 23^rd August. We agreed that we had not before experienced such a force of nature at such close quarters. Déjà Vu strained under 40knots of wind and was jet washed with stair rods of rain. It was sobering and a salutary reminder of what Croatian storms can be like, reinforcing the respect for the weather one needs to have out here.

To contrast the Saturday storm, Sunday was beautiful and we sailed about 15 miles to the island of Ist in brilliant sunshine and a pleasant wind. As Monday dawned cloudy we decided to climb the hill above Ist to the church on the top before the sun came out to make it too hot. We were not disappointed by the stunning 360 degree view from the top, but the path was difficult going and Nigel’s hip started to complain.

It is now Wednesday 27^th August and we have called into our home port for a couple of days rest up. We have clocked up 240 sailing miles and all is very good. Sadly though we are still sheltering from another storm, they seem to come along every three days. This is not the Croatian summer we are used to.

Changing Boats

It turned out to be a slick operation, taking delivery of our new Sunbeam 42.1 and transferring all the gear from our old one, a Sunbeam 44. It was not, however, without a lot of hard work, reminiscences and many mixed emotions!

We had driven to Matsee, near Salzburg for the factory handover on July 29^th. We were amazed at the speed of the transformation of our new boat from raw hull and separate deck that we had seen on June 19^th, to a fully furnished and functioning boat interior that we inspected on July 29^th. It was a happy day and we both felt the reality of the project we had spent the last few months planning. As we took our car back to UK, the new boat was transported to Slovenia for rigging and launching.

We rejoined her in Izola, Slovenia, on August 8^th for the maiden sail with Sunbeam sales director, Gunter Ambrosi. We had sunny and light wind conditions for the 20 mile trip during which time we were trying and testing all the sailing gear.

Nigel and Gunter — Handover sail with Gunter Ambrosi

We were fortunate to be able to tie up the new alongside the old boat in San Giorgio, Italy, as it made for easy gear moving. Notwithstanding that, it took 3 days to empty every locker, cupboard, nook and cranny and relocate everything to an accessible place on the new boat.

We soon had Deja Vu looking lovely!

During our time in San Giorgio we had the pleasure of meeting Bernhard and Gabby, a very friendly German couple sailing on Vivace, another Sunbeam 44. We enjoyed our evenings together and hope we will see them again one day.

August 13^th and time had come to bid our final farewell to Déjà Vu II. She had looked after us well! We were ready to set off and start a new wave of adventures in our new Déjà Vu.

Deja Vu II’s last voyage Part 3 – Pula to San Giorgio

We had been looking forward to Tom and Faye joining us for part of this last leg of the journey and it was to be special time having the Cuthbert family altogether, although we did miss Guy. Faye’s partner Guy was unfortunately left behind as he had run out of holiday and Faye had just four days to take or lose before the beginning of August. They were both exhausted, Tom having just finished his school summer term, and Faye working very long hours in Brighton hospital, so they were ready for a break.

Tom and Faye arrived late afternoon on Saturday July 19th in Pula, just time enough to show them the sights of this now familiar city. The day marked the end of the Pula film festival and we were royally entertained to a magnificent firework display just as we got back to Deja Vu at the end of the evening having had a lovely stroll around the city’s highlights.

The Forum in Pula — Faye, Nigel and Tom outside the Forum in Pula

Fireworks in Pula, as seen from Deja Vu!

The next few days saw us travelling north, making about 15 miles a day, calling in on the pretty towns of Rovinj, Porec and Novigrad, sailing, sightseeing, swimming, generally having fun and enjoying the good company.

Tom, Nigel and Faye walking in Rovinj Park

Porec quayside — Nigel, Mo and Tom on quayside in Porec

Swimming — Faye, Tom and Nigel on the noodle!

Tom and Faye left us in Novigrad and caught a bus to return to Pula for their flight home. We set off for San Giorgio, a 35 mile trip north west. Guess where the wind was due to come from! For the first 3 hours we motored in hot sultry conditions, perfect for the storm forecast to materialise. Sure enough as the wind came up and as the sails got hoisted we realised we had the fringe effects of the storm visible over Venice. With the 30knot wind on the nose we were back to motoring and Deja Vu II ploughed her way through the now rough sea. Not the most ceremonious of final passages but we were glad to tie up in the marina up river in San Giorgio di Nogaro.

A lot of journeying by train, bus and car followed in the next week as we set about organising the boat changeover.We travelled over 2000km from Italy to Croatia, then back to UK. We visited Trieste for the first time and enjoyed a couple of hours exploring. We came across another bronze of James Joyce in Trieste, last seen reclining in Pula. He obviously got around!

San Giogio — San Giorgio railway station

James Joyce in Trieste — James Joye in Trieste

Nigel in Senj having a break from the bus trip

The next blog is planned to be for the next Deja Vu starting sometime in August with any luck!

Deja Vu II’s last voyage Part 2 – Arriving in Istria

Mali Losinj did indeed provide the shelter we needed from three days of strong winds and frequent thunderstorms. We did our best not to get cabin fever and broke out for a few good walks and a couple of bike rides to parts of the island that we had not previously visited.

Canal at Mali Losinj, 3m deep, an access way for yachts and other boats

Sv Ante between Mali Losinj and Veli Losinj

Other highlights included being able to watch both football world cup semi finals. We only watched the second because the first between Germany and Brazil was so entertaining with a 7-1 result for Germany. Unfortunately the second match was dull in comparison but we stayed the course, in spite of the deluge, under the large umbrellas of a very accommodating outdoor cafe. We also met a charming Dutch couple with whom we shared our restaurant table and then spent the evening with a groovy Bavarian couple in a bar with a very talented Croatian duo playing brilliant guitar and singing many of our old favourite songs. It transpired later, when the Bavarian couple took the guitar and microphones, that they themselves were a famous Bavarian country and western act. It was a feast of music!

After the dark days Monday 7^th – Thursday 10^th July in Mali Losinj, we set off on Friday 11^th for our next destination, the underdeveloped island of Unije, just 25 miles south east of the Istrian peninsular. We stopped in the bay of Maracol, perfect scenery and lovely to swim off the back of the boat. It is unusual to have such a long run of disturbed weather and it was not over yet. Our three nights in Unije saw more spectacular electrical storms, fierce winds and torrential rain. In between times we did get ashore for a walk and found our way over the hill to the village, some 2km distant, where we located a restaurant with a TV screen. Here we booked our place for the final of the FIFA World Cup on Sunday 13^th July. Germany won, but only in extra time, after a tight and lack lustre match. But we are not experts! We walked back over the hill very late that night and the full moonlight illuminated the path superbly so there was no need for the plethora of torches we had carried.

Another walk on Unije led us to an extensive site of underground bunkers high on the hill overlooking Istria with gun emplacements. The Germans had occupied this whole area in WWII.

We left late, after lunch, for our sail to Istria as another squall ran through in the morning, but we had a quick trip under motor which was rather a disappointment after all the wind. Nevertheless we found an anchorage up the east coast of the peninsular and spent a couple of days exploring the area around Pomer, before rounding the point and visiting Soline on the west coast.

We are now in Pula which we have visited before and is well documented in 2012 and 2013 descriptions. The large harbour we enter to get to Pula still amazes us as there is so much dereliction and archaeology from World War II. Huge buildings lie empty, wharves are in disrepair, watchtowers and walls speak of military action and maybe a prison camp long since gone. Maybe one day it will be redeveloped.

Approach to Pula — Derelict buildings on our approach to Pula

Tom and Faye are joining us tomorrow, Saturday 19^th, to sail north up the coast for a few days and then we set them down on Thursday 24th and head off across the Bay of Trieste to San Giorgio, which is to be Deja Vu II’s final destination under our command. The next blog will document this and be the final Part 3.

Deja Vu II’s last voyage Part 1 – Rab at last!

Another adventure began for Deja Vu II on Tuesday July 1^st. We were heading off for her last voyage to St Giorgio in Italy, a distance of about 150 miles, where we are due to rest her up on July 26^th. With four weeks ahead to cover the distance we have decided to travel north slowly and visit some islands that have previously eluded us.

Rab has been on our wish list since 2008, but time and winds have prevented us in past years, so now we can await the right conditions to venture up towards the infamous Velebit Channel where Rab sits guarding its northern entrance.

We stopped en route in Molat for a beautiful sunlit evening and then again on Silba, just 15 miles further north. Next stop Ilovik, an island at the foot of Losinj separated from Sv Petar Island by a narrow channel in which we moored up for a windy night. This became our setting off point for Rab, only 20 miles to the North West. Light winds had us motoring, but better too little than too much in these waters!

Rab sits just under the Velebit mountains, a coastal fringe of the high Dipara mountains which run as a backbone north to south in Croatia. Rab also acts like a plug in the northern end of the infamous Velebit channel, renowned for its very strong winds. Not a place for sailors and we spotted few yachts there despite the benign conditions.

Our first sight of Rab town was impressive, three towering churches flanked the old coastal approach and we looked forward to exploring later on. The marina was deserted when we arrived but did start to fill with mostly motor boats. You could count the masted boats on one hand, clearly this island does not attract many yachts!

Rab dates back to Roman times and the town is laid out in Roman style with a Lower Street, Middle Street and Upper Street which we enjoyed exploring. Since those days it has had many cultures influencing it from the Byzantines, Venetians, Hungarians to the current Croatians. The old town sits on a peninsular with the harbour to one side, a sheltered bay to the other. Rab is mostly a holiday and tourist destination with busy bars, restaurants and markets, rather too many for our taste. We sailed around the island from the south to the northern bay of Kamporska Draga and saw plenty of pretty south facing bays and anchorages.

Leaving Rab on Sunday 5^th July we headed for Cres and en route we were entertained by a lone dolphin swimming with a smile in our bow wave. Another unusual natural sight was that of a few dozen small cormorants just hanging about in a circle in the sea. It must have been the nursery! On Cres we found the idyllic bay of Kolorat, well sheltered from most weathers. We were expecting an anchorage, according to the pilot books, but this has now become a buoyed concession, so fees were due!

Having enjoyed a few settled days, the forecast for the next few days, true to form, is well into decline with storms and very strong winds coming our way. With the pressure plunging we have decided to hang out in Mali Losinj, a well sheltered and buzzing little town, until the worst passes. Should be able to upload this blog on the 8^th or 9^th July and will try to make some calls whilst near the internet cafes.

Around Zadar for a week with old friends

Nigel met Brian in 1973, they were fellow graduates starting work in the Esso refinery in Fawley. We have been friends with Brian and Michele for over 40 years and it was a great pleasure to welcome them on board for a week sailing around Zadar and it’s neighbouring islands. We had a great week, sailed about 120 miles, visited at least 5 different islands and had a delightful rendezvous with the crew of MaXian. Max, Celia, Sheena and Tony entertained us to drinks and supper on board. This trip was Michele’s first sailing experience and in spite of 20knot winds on the nose most afternoons, she survived very well and, we hope, enjoyed it. Brian certainly did. He is a keen and willing sailor and was soon number one crew as Mo was nursing a bruised shoulder. The story of our week is told in pictures below!

water tanker at molat — Water tanker close to boats on quay at Molat

Deja Vu and water tanker — A bit close for comfort!

On Maxian — Supper on Maxian in Veli Rat on Dugi Otok. Michele, Celia, Max, Sheena, Mo, Brian, Tony. Nigel was the photographer!

Across Europe by road

With Deja Vu back in Sukosan, she was lifted out onto her cradle whilst we took a week out to make the journey home to collect the car. Four days of gardening convinced us it was time to set off again and our plan was to take the car across Europe to Sukosan with a load of gear that we needed to deliver. Crossing the channel from Dover we drove for 2 to 3 hours to Namur in Belgium which was to be our first stop. We stayed in a hotel right next to the casino, which on a Monday night was not much of a disturbance! There was a cold northerly wind blowing so our walking tour of Namur old town turned into a bit of a scurry for a cosy bar! It was however an attractive town with old fortifications around a castle and houses, slightly reminiscent of the Tower of London. The river Meuse sliced the town in two and more modern riverside apartment blocks stood reasonably sympathetically alongside the older houses.

Nigel had never been to Luxembourg and as he has visited every other European country we could not pass up the opportunity to deviate from our more direct route to visit this tiny Duchy to complete Nigel’s European country visits. We parked up in the city in spite of the optimistic car park signposts petering out at the last and most vital moment. The city sits astride a huge natural ravine with fine bridges and aqueducts spanning a very green parkland area.

There were plenty of cobbled pedestrian streets, grand buildings and a lovely catherdral. Sadly we were rather underdressed for the lunchtime cocktail party being hosted in the grounds of the British Embassy and we had to pass by and decline the champagne on offer! However we did take a picture of one of the guests who bore a striking resemblance to General de Gaulle!

British Embassy guests — Guests arriving at the British Embassy

Our onward journey to Stuttgart took us through some magnificent countryside. We drove off the motorway into the Northern Alsace area and the Vosges mountains. Timber framed houses festooned with lots of geraniums was very typical.

Our next overnight stop was in a small hotel just to the south of the city of Stuttgart so we would be well placed to take some faster routes the next day to take us past Munich to Salzburg.

Fiona, our in-car sat nav took us on the main German autoroutes and we made great progress until about 100km from Munich Fiona advised us of ‘blockages ahead’. The motorway was at a standstill so we took to the country routes once again. It was slower going but such a treat. The sun was shining brightly and we both enjoyed the wide expanse of beautiful undulating German countryside and seeing some very local rural agriculture. We stopped for a picnic!

Vosges — Scenery in the German countryside

We stayed just outside Salzburg but took a walk up through the forest from the village we were staying in to a magfincent view point, St Mary Plain, from where Salzburg stretched out at our feet. It was breathtaking and The Sound of Music seemed very much alive! St Mary Plain, with its adjacent monastery was quite a sight too, inside and out! Inside there were potted trees set amongst the very opulent catholic adornments.

Thursday 19^th June and the day to visit the boat builders, Sunbeam, at Matsee, just 30km from where we stayed near Salzburg. This was our second visit to Matsee and we were reminded just what a magnificent ‘chocolate box’ Austrian mountain town it was! Even though it was a national holiday in Austria we were given an interesting tour of the factory to see the new Deja Vu in her infancy but we were sorry not to meet with the production team.

From Salzburg we travelled through the Alps via the pretty town of Werfen, into Slovenia and then onto the Croatian motorways to Sukosan.

We had travelled 2000km in 4 days of driving. Deja Vu II was just as we had left her 10 days earlier and on Saturday 21^st June she was re-launched for the next sailing experiences.

A whistle stop tour of the Kornati islands with Pam and Alan

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-GB
X-NONE
X-NONE

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0cm;
mso-para-margin-right:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0cm;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

Having had their fill of waterfalls and Nigel’s famous seafood spaghetti, Pam and Alan were up for a trip out to the Kornati Islands. The wind was, as ever, on the nose, wherever we decided to go. We stopped conveniently at Vodice overnight before setting off for the southern tip of the Kornati islands. The wind was not in our favour and so the decision was made to divert north on a close reach to the island of Zut, with a view to entering the Kornati chain from the top. We stopped on a buoy on Zut for the night.

racing fleet — Racing fleet we passed en route

The next day we ventured through the narrow channel heading for Lake Telascica and another overnight buoy. From here we went ashore to walk alongside the inland lake and then up to view the magnificent and unusual (for Croatia) cliffs!

Next day, with plenty of wind, we sailed under the jib only down the Kornati chain to Vrluje where we moored up alongside at Konoba Robinson. We had visited this place before and been greeted by a fine and very jolly old gentleman, the maitre d’ . We had learned that sadly he had died in a boating incident and his business partner was now running the establishment. The service and food did not disappoint and we ate one of the best St Pierre fish ever! We had climbed the hill opposite to give us an appetite and from the top there were wonderful affording views north and south up the Kornati channel. It was stunning. We were on the top of the world!

The time was nigh to begin our return journey and the winds dictated that we retrace our steps and sail from the island of Zut, south to the bottom of Pasman Island and round to Biograd on the mainland. All was well, gentle winds, a lunchtime anchorage, a fast reach across to Pasman and then we hit nearly 30knots to beat up the Pasman channel. Arriving at Biograd was not only exciting but quite a relief! Next day home to Sukosan and we have to say farwell to Pam and Alan tomorrow. Their taxi arrives at a rude 6.30am! We have had a lovely ten days with them and enjoyed their great company. Hope they will be able to come again one day.

Hvar to Skradin with new crew. Welcome to Pam and Alan Penson.

Before leaving Stari Grad on the island of Hvar we took the bus across the island to the ancient town of Hvar to show Ken and Cathy one of the most visited places in Croatia. The bus took us via the ferry terminal where we collected more passengers from the boat that arrived from Split – you can just see it in the distance in the photo below.

Hvar was duly enjoyed and we returned to Stari Grad for a delicious Konoba supper in restaurant Jurin Podrum in the back streets of the town. Highly recommended. Our return sail to Trogir was brisk with over 20 knots of headwind (is there any other sort?) but it was exhilarating for all and we averaged over 6 knots, peaking at 7.5 knots. Sadly we had to say goodbye to Ken and Cathy as they had to pack for their long and complicated flight routings back to hot, very hot Houston. We had enjoyed their stay with us.

We had a couple of days to turn around for our next visitors, this time Pam and Alan Penson from Lymington in the UK. We sorted out the boat and decided to chill out in Vinisce for a night where we were treated to a thunderstorm, lots of rain followed by the beautiful rainbow, which I hope you can pick out in the photo below!

Deciding to pick Pam and Alan up in Split we did the 15 mile sail to the harbour and tied up on the harbour wall, perfect, we thought, for collecting our next crew. Alas the harbour master wanted far too much money for the mooring fee and the anchorage was too full of catamaran to be suitable, so we headed off to the marinas in the adjacent bay. Eventually we tied up in Marina Kastel, not our favourite, but it served a useful purpose and Pam and Alan were on board early the next morning.

Our journey plan for the next 10 days is to travel north from Split to Sukosan, our home port and show Pam and Alan some sailing areas in Croatia further north than they have previously explored. We hope to get out to the Kornati islands weather permitting. The weather systems are still unsettled, but it looks like they might improve during the week. Needless to say the forecast is for northerlies and westerlies!

On Sunday June 1^st, wishing to escape the Marina, we did not allow Pam and Alan to unpack and, instead, whisked them off for, yes, a brisk 15 mile beat west. They are both experienced sailors so they were quite game for the blast that followed. The afternoon winds continue to be quite ferocious and this time storms were all around as well. We just managed to anchor up for an overnight stop in the shelter of Vinisce when a major storm landed right overhead, bad enough for Nigel to deploy the makeshift lightning conductor and stow the radios and phones in the oven!

Monday June 2^nd dawned brighter and warmer and we continued our journey round to the pretty coastal resort of Primosten.

We sailed from Primosten to Sibenik and then motored up the river to the famous waterfalls at Skradin.

Up river Sibeniik to Skradin — Up river from Sibenik to Skradin

Skradin Marina — Approaching Marina at Skrakin

We are there now as I write. We last visited with Tom and Faye in 2008, so as we do chores on board, Pam and Alan have gone off to explore the Krka National Park.