As the wind was very light after the rain last night we just motor sailed through the small islands of the North West of the Kornatis.  Our Pilot book says the marina at Zadar is small and crowded and hard for a big boat to get in.  However we were pleasantly surprised that since the pilot was printed there is now a very big floating jetty right in the harbour entrance.  It is a bit exposed to the ferry jetty but any sea breeze comes straight in and cools everything down.

The ferry drivers here are more considerate to other boats and really slow down as they come into the harbour not like the ferrys in Messina we experienced last year. There is even a man in a little row boat taking passengers across the harbour to the old town for a fare of a few Kunas.

The old town of Zadar was pretty quiet being Sunday after noon and we wandered around admiring the old Roman Ruins and cobbled streets.  This town has copped it everytime there is a war and their War of Independance was no exception.  However they are gradually restoring the old buildings and this part of town is their only tourist area.  They had just had a Film Festival in amongst the old Roman Ruins which we were sorry we missed as the outdoor cinema looked a great venue for a hot summer night.

We met up with Jan and Peter enjoying a drink waiting for the sunset over the Kornati Islands.  They directed us to the Zadar Hotel where Alfred Hitchcock, the famous American director, is said to have filmed the best sunset he had ever seen from Room 64 of this hotel which is right on the waterfront.  They had eaten a big lunch but we found Ida and Leo also waiting for the sunset in the patio garden and yes it is a beautiful sunset but then Alfred Hitchcock hasnt seen a sunset over Rottnest from the foreshore at Scarborough Beach, especially from Appartment 404 with Dennis and Val Best!

The hotel itself is looking a bit tired but the menu was exceptional.  We were led to believe from the Lonely Planet and other tourist books that the food in Croatia was very average but we have found if very good.  To our delight we enjoyed a very good Beef Stoganof  as we get further north we are expecting more Baltic quiseine.

We had a good following wind as we left Zadar and with just the big headsail out we were away for a pleasant days sailing.  It wasnt far till we came to the little bay of Simuni which is a very safe marina and as menacing clouds were gathering we were very pleased to find a place to tie up to wait for the blow.

The small fishing village is a very popular Croatian holiday spot with a big camping area on the other side of the bay from the marina.  Plenty of room for all the little pleasure crafts, clean water for swimming that is if you can avoid the rocky shoreline and the nasty nettles that bed in the rocks on the edge of the water. 

Everyone wears reef shoes and Jan was very glad she purchased hers back in Dubrovnik.  Ida and I manage with our rubber flip flops I managed to pick up a rather swish pair at the supermarket in Dubrovnik before I knew about the reef shoes, not quite as functional as Jan's but more spectacular, so much so that Leo took a photo of them which I will post in the photo page if he will release it to me!

Ida had stocked up on food in Zadar so we cooked on board and then went up to the pleasant marina cafe for coffee and a stroll before bed.  Everybody is in holiday mood and we are amazed how so much English is spoken here.  Of course the Boxing Kangaroo flag has again received a lot of comments and it seems everybody in Croatia knows someone who lives in Australia.

19th July, 2005 to the town of Pag

The weather report was right and the wind and rain came in last night with full force and we were very glad to be safely tucked up in the safe marina. There is very little to do when it rains on a boat except curl up with a good book however Jan, Peter, Ida and I decided to catch a taxi into the town of Pag which is right  over the other side of the peninsula.  We arranged to go around to the Marina office to wait for the taxi but an enormous shower of rain fell on us as we tried to run right around the marina from our boat and I was drenched and pulled out.

One hour later Ida arrived back at the boat also drenched and the taxi still hadnt come to pick them up.  We settled down to a very quiet day.  The locals had assured us that it would blow over quickly and sure enough by 3pm the sun was shining brightly and Jan and Peter arrived back to the boat in the taxi and reported that the drive over to Pag was well worth it so we 4 took the taxi back.

This town is very, very old with tiny narrow streets and little old ladies sitting in their doorways making lace for which Pag is famous.  We were told that the wind blows as hard as 250kms an hour down the valley in the winter so sitting around making lace and cheese, for which Pag is also famous, would be all you could do! The scenery on the drive over was spectacular.

There is a nice long beach area which is packed with bathers and all the usual summer stalls etc.  Jan and Peter had highly recommended us to eat at the restaurant they had found but we couldnt find it after wandering around for a couple of hours taking photos and drinking coffee but we were more than happy with the very authentic Pag style one we found tucked away in a cosy cave-like patia covered with a huge fig tree.

All the architecture is designed obviously to protect themselves from this terrible wind they get and we had to bend down and practically crawl into this restaurant but it sure was protected.  The fish soup, the salad with the famous Pag cheese,  Pork fillets and Venison patties were delicious and I had the Spaghetti Marinara which was full of local fish and crustatians.  The caraf of local white wine, coffees and a complimentary Malvarian wine all came to just $20A per head.  This area is off the touristy track so things are a lot cheaper.

When we got back to the boat there were two motor boats next to us with two German families who had been caught in the storm because one of the boats had motor trouble. One lady spoke very good English and they were amazed we had found this place.  They have been coming down to this area for holidays for years and were so happy for the Croatians that the rest of the world is finding out and coming there too as they have had such a rough time what with 50 years of communism and then their Independence War.  They didnt mind paying extra now as they know it is their only big industry and it only lasts for a few months of the year.

Tomorrow we will push on the Island of Cres which is the last island of the Dalmatian coast. 

We had lovely sail over to the island of Losinj and just missed out on getting into the town marina which is situated at the end of a beautiful natural harbour surrounded by big old houses which were owned by sea capitans because Losinj was a very busy port and boat building before the 19th and steam was introduced.  

We did manage to get into the marina which is right next to the bridge to the inlet which opens only once in the morning and once in the evening to let boats in and out of the inlet which is lovely for boating and safe anchorage.  We decided not to go into the inlet as Ida and Leo are keen to get up to the Istrian peninsular to go by road up into Slovenia for a few days.

23rd July Losinj to Pula on the coast of the Peninsular of Istria

After a lovely day of sailing until the wind ran out we arrived in the natural hourbour of Pula our first stop in Istria.  The harbour is surrounded by forrest and a big ship building yards with ferries coming and going to all parts of Croatia and Italy.  The ACI marina is right in the main street of the town and we were fortunate to get a pen in this busy port.

The entrance to the harbour is dominated by the old Roman Ruins of a collusium and there is evidence of Venitian architecture but 50 years of Tito-style concrete boxes has dulled the ambiance of this big important port.

Stan and Leo went off to purchase a chart of the northern Adriatic and Ida and I found a good supermarket to stock up our stores cupboards.  The weather is getting very hot so we decided to go into the old town to see if we could buy some sleeveless cotton tops for next month or so as we have experienced the European summer in August.

24th July, 2005 Pula to Rovinj

We sailed around the National Park Islands of Brijuni>  Tito built a big mansion on one of the islands and stocked the grounds with exotic animals.  It is now the President of Croatia's residence and visitors can go there on an organzed tour.  Boats are allowed to visit the island but you have to pay E200 for one day and only 2 people are allowed t6o sleep on the boat and any other crew have to go to the hotel on the island which is very expensive.

Rovinj was our estination and we were again lucky to get into the very crowded marina.  Our luck is a combination of timing, we always try to arrive around 4 to 5pm before the rush and the Boxing Kangaroo flag helps too.

Opposite us in the marina was a big catameran flying an Austrian flag and a beautiful Venitian flag.  I spoke to the lady on board and asked her when they had gone to Venice in their boat.  She was delighted to tell me that they had just spent 6 wonderful weeks in Venice in their boat and when I told her we were heading there after we left Croatia in a week or so she invited me on board to meet her husband and they would show us their charts and any information they could pass on.  I quickly called Stan over as I knew he was anxious to know about the navigation into Venice.

We were delighted to get any info on Venice and Werner and Renata were more than happy to help us.  We came back to Affinity with charts, phone numbers of marinas and a list of wonderful restaurants to try.  Later that evening we were enjoying a Lemonchelo in the cockpit when Werner and Renata came back from dinner so they joined us for a drink and more tales of Venice.  All making us really keen to visit Venice and to know it was doable in Affinity because their boat was much bigger than Affinity.

They also gave Leo and Ida the website and VHF calling for cruising yachts in the Med. which passes on interesting information about weather, out of the way coves and anchorages.  Recently a warning about some young thugs who accosted, came aboard a single handed yachty moored in a little bay just up the east coast from Messina.

The view from the marina of Rovinj is wonderful and the old city beacons to explore. The big old cathedral is high on a hill overlooking the city with a big bronze statue of St. Euphemia at the wheel of a boat.  This is set on a revolving wheel which is a wind vein.  St. Euphemia was legened to have been  tortured and thrown to the lions by Emporer Diacletian in the year 290 when she was only 14 years of age.  Her body was taken to Constantenople. 

 On a very dark night around the year 800 her body in the scarcopholus disappeared and miraculously reappeared ion a boat off the coast of Rovinj. The locals carried it all the way up to the cathedral and there you can see the scarcopholus and she was immoralised on the steeple showing all sailors the direction of the wind.

Why have we been so interested in St. Euphemia you ask?  Well her feast day is on the16th September which also happens to be Stan's birthday.

25th July, Losinj to Porec, Istria

We were having such a wonderful sail down wind and Stan announced that we should be in the marina by lunch time.  Everyone was in agreement that this was a jolly good idea and sure enough we arrived and then we realised we were in Porec instead of Umeg, Stan had misunderstood Leo's instructions but when we looked around Porec was a very nice place to be.  Umeg will be our last port of call in Croatia so Leo and Ida are keen to visit Slovenia from there across country as sailing into a Slovenia coast will only mean more paper work and possibly a fee for the boat.

After a few cold beers and a nice lunch we decided we would stay for the day and look around.  We discovered an extremely nice town with lovely preserved old buildings, white stone piazzas and crowded with Croatians and Italians on holiday.  A young lass told Jan and Peter that Porec wins prizes every year for the best tourist town.  It is also the administrative centre for Tourism Croatia.

I found an internet point in a night club would you believe.  Of course it was the middle of the day and it was pretty quiet but I did feel a bit unusual as all the patrons were young people and there was I perched up on a stool tapping away on the computer while drinking coffee.  You find internet points everywhere.

26th July, 2005 Umag, Istria

The wind was behind us again this south easterly is just what we want as we cruise up the coast of Istria.  No wonder Europeans flock here to spend the summer in boats it is just ideal.  Umag is the first port of call for a lot of German and Italian boats so they have to report into Customs and Immigration here.  The office is open 24 hours a day in summer and situated right at the entrance of the ACI marina we were able to watch the enormous flow of traffic in and out of Umag harbour.

The Adriatic Croatian International marinas (ACI) throughout Croatia have been supurb.  Well priced, well run, clean and by far the best we have experienced in Europe so far. 

Umag is hosting the Croatian Open Tennis champion ships at the huge tennis stadium not far from the marina.  The town is buzzing with competatives, fans and tourists and from the cockpit of the boat we can observe the town.  There is a little tourist railway travelling around the whole town picking up people from the Tennis stadium, tourist hotels and the marina and going along the waterfront passed the fun park area and into the old town where most of the restaurants seem to be situated.

We will be in this marina now for a few days while Ida and Leo go into Slovenia and Jan and Peter have hired a car and are going off into the countryside to explore.  Unfortunately I slipped on the damp deck and cracked a bone in my left foot so it will be RICE for me for a few days (rest, ice, compression and elevation).  Ida had some anti-inflamitory tablets in the first aid box and a phone call to Anna,our doctor friend in Sydney who miraculously was having dinner with Greg and Lil in Sydney when I rang, and I am doing all the right things so heres hoping it gets better before Venice. 

30th July, 2005 Umag to Venice

Ida and Leo loved Slovenia and want to spend more time there as it is a very special country and Jan and Peter loved the interior of Istria also worth another trip.  However, Jan and Peter have not been able to change their airline tickets back to Perth to allow them to stay longer so they really need to be in Venice to leave Rome on the 2nd August. 

So we bid farewell to Croatia it has been a wonderful 6 weeks cruising around some of the best cruising waters we have ever experenced.  We would definitely recommend any traveller, be they sailors or just travelling around the world to visit and enjoy the people mostly and the scenery is spectacular.

We now go back to Italy for the next few weeks to finally leave Affinity 473 in Pescara on the east coast.  We are all looking forward to visiting Venice but as yet we have not been able to ascertain whether we will get a berth there but with our luck,  the Boxing Kangaroo fla, Jan and Peter's Fremantle Sailing Club cards and a little bit of help from an Italian friend of Sue, our niece, we will let you know later.