Island Hopping
Sunday 11th July... Dean - Up early today, well up most of the night mozzy hunting. I bought some very expensive mozzy attracting spray some months ago and it definitely works! Rubbish! Anyway I managed to squash about a dozen in the end.
Tourist attraction sailed by during coffee time
We wanted to move back around to the harbour which we anchored outside of yesterday. Timing is everything! We weighed anchor at 10 and by 11 we had picked up (first time) the last but one buoy. We sorted ourselves out and went ashore for a walk to the other end of the island, it's only small, no cars! lovely. It's packed here now!
Our view from the boat
Faust Vrancic
There is a museum here, it's all about Faust Vrancic. I won't go in to any more detail as I'm sure you all know about him........he invented a few things one of which was the parachute.
Along the walk
And again
Church & bell tower at Sepurine village
Beer at Sepurine, not sure what happened to my hair!
Few nice houses on the sea front
Grass needs watering matey!
Not sure! front door to some big place years ago maybe
Three beautiful flowers
Highly poisonous zebra butterfly, deadly to even look at!
Linda - This afternoon we spent a lovely leisurely time on Thesee watching the world go by. There were so many boats coming in for a buoy or a berth, but it was full. Needless to say there were quite some antics with boats trying to get into spaces they shouldn't be. We had a whole afternoon's entertainment. The poor harbour guy was the only one on duty and he definately had his hands full with people mooring in reserved places too. I kind of felt sorry for him.
Monday 12th July... Linda - Leaving Prvic Luka at 8am we travelled north to an island called Murter with a town of the same name. It was a scenic journey and our first glimpse of the islands in the Kornati National Park, albeit they were offshore and in the distance. I don't know too much about them, but I believe that they are all very barren and rocky. Copy and paste this link below to see more info...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kornati
Just about making out the start of the Kornati Islands
Nearly at Murter, I took a liking to this dinky islet
There is good protection in the bay at Murter, which is the main reason we came as there is some wind coming through tomorrow from the south. Also, we just wanted to come here. As we had arrived quite early we had the afternoon to go ashore, take Dean's dive cylinder for refilling, and have a bit of a look about the town and do some shopping.
Oh, and get an ice cream
There was an awful lot of boats around the island today so a lot of wash being thrown about. There are loads of tiny islands and we had to carefully chose which channel to take as most are very shallow. The channel we took was north of Otok Radelj and we saw minimum depth 5 metres.
We'd been up early this morning and so after a walk ashore we had a snooze. Then some of our friends who were anchored just up the coast paid us a surprise visit in their dinghy. It's a very nice town, and quite big this time. Two marinas and lots of quaint restaurants.
Boats everywhere
Sunset
Tuesday 13th July... Linda - Possibly the shortest ever blog post today. It was a very windy day with gusts up to 30 knots. I always get nervous when winds are forecast and we are at anchor. Whist Dean is outside keeping his eye on nearby boats, I keep busy inside to take my mind off it all. There were a couple of boats that had come in and anchored just that bit too close to us, which makes it all the more annoying. However, for us all was well and it has calmed down quite a lot now. No walk today.
This also helps to take our mind off the wind
Who is that about to steal the cider?
Looking across the anchorage
Boats in the marina
Wednesday 14th July... Linda - Up from 1.30am until 6am because of the winds again. Everything was fine but it's pointless lying in bed wide awake and listening to it. It was a south easterly blow and due to turn a complete 180 degrees around 4am and blow back from the north west. I was waiting up for this to happen as all the anchored boats would swing around, however by 6am the wind had still not turned and I just went to bed. At 7am I woke up and we had turned! During the night we had a little thunder and lightning at 3.30am. I think we were right on the edge of it as it passed across the mainland.
By the time we got up proper the wind had calmed enough to get the dinghy off and go ashore. First we went across to the dive centre to pick up Dean's dive cylinder that had been filled. The lady was so nice and her two dogs very playful. Then we wanted to go into the town for a walk. This place is great but there is no specified place you can leave your dinghy (and go to spend money in the town!). We couldn't find a spot as being blustery non of the boats had left their moorings, so we went back to the boat, got the dinghy wheels, and went back ashore pulling the dinghy up one of the slipways. It was still a fairly difficult situation as the wind and waves were coming onshore with no shelter. Job done, it turned out to be a safe place to lock the dinghy and go walkies.
We walked ourselves around the two marinas here to be nosey and see if we could find campingaz and a launderette. The travel lift at Marina Betina was the biggest thing i've ever seen! Capable of lifting 440 tons. Thesee would have been dwarfed in it, being a mere baby at 16 tons.
Superyacht in the travel lift slings
Not sure if it was coming or going
Quite an oriental looking bell tower in Betina
On the way back to the main part of town we (eventually) stopped for lunch (after finding a restaurant with tablecloths, lol), and burgers for Dean as I think he was craving. I had ceasar salad, and along with the chicken I found some strange bits of fatty pork stuff and two anchovies! Well that's what Dean said they were. Definately enough to put me off the lettuce delight. The tables were set nicely though.
Nice table decs
Ceasar salad, what's lurking beneath?
Nice burger and chips
So we got back from lunch, gathered the laundry and the campingaz bottle. Went to the big marina, Marina Hramina and took the laundry for a service wash. No cheap launderettes here, the service wash cost about a tenner. But we had bed clothes and towels and I can't wash them on the boat, so it had to be done. The guy Dean found for the campingaz refill was very efficient. We arranged to meet him at the marina, he took the bottle away and came back with it filled and all in 20 minutes. Great service.
I had to go back to bed at 5pm for a couple of hours. Meanwhile, Dean spotted a traditional wooden Croatian fishing boat sailing around the bay.
Thursday 15th July... Linda - Well I know this blog post is called 'Island Hopping' and we've only done one hop since Sunday. Trouble is we didn't feel that we had completed our stay yet here in Murter. It's a marvellous anchorage, extremely protected from almost all sides and the depth all over the bay is pretty much 3-5 metres which is perfect, with good muddy holding too. Lots of boats have come and gone since we arrived here on Monday, so always someone new to have a look at.
Just before lunch we dinghy'd across to the marina to pick up our laundry. I know yesterday I said it cost a tenner, but we did get it back washed, dried, and even ironed!. That's the first time Dean has had his T-shirts ironed in over 3 years!
The lovely laundry
Much later on about 3pm we went ashore for a legacy walk. There's a circular path about half way up the headland, and I was itching to get some panoramic views of the surrounding islands.
The headland notice board map
We found a Roman Cistern
This is it.... couple of walls and a big hole
Looking out to Marina Betina
at the rear of the headland
More views towards the mainland this time
A very nice path to walk
All to ourselves
We found a megalith and Dean added a small stone
Now approaching the inside of the headland
We found a tree house and I climbed it
... so did Dean
I just love the blue and dark green colours together
Overlooking the cemetary
Now back to the anchorage side
Thesee is the blue boat
We were hoping to go to the butchers again when we got back into the town but he doesn't open until 6pm! Plan B then, get an ice cream.
Tomorrow, probably a new anchorage.
Friday 16th July... Linda - Yes, a new anchorage. Not an island hop, but just a hop around the corner of the same island, Murter. But first, we got water and fuel top up as it was handy on the quay. Not the easiest of fuel quays considering the amount of boats here. Then we retraced our track through the islands and back down the west coast of Murter to an anchorage called Kosirina. It was a bit blowy on the way considering it was only 9am, and we had the genoa out when about six dolphins decided to come and play in our bow wave for about 15 minutes. They were big as well, we reckon about 3 metres long, swimming right in front of the bow with their tails almost touching. It's incredible how they adapt to go the same speed as the boat. They definately took a liking to Thesee.
We had planned to anchor, but when we arrived there were buoys and not much option for anchoring depth wise. We picked up a buoy, got it first time like experts, and settled in. Since we came further north of Trogir it seems that a lot of the nice anchorages have now been filled with buoys which is a shame. Anyway, once the wind had blown through it turned into a lovely afternoon. The water here is extremely clear and lovely, a chance for me to have a dip and a long awaited hair wash.
Ashore there is a campsite all around the bay, mainly motor homes and a few tents. The buoy we picked up was close to the east beach, which we soon realised was a nudist area. Yes another one. It seems they like to take their clothes off in Croatia.
Dean blew up the paddleboard and give it a run around the bay, apparantly to have a close look at the bar he said. I'm not so sure what he was having a close look at.
Paddle board inflating
When he came back he dived and checked the buoy, he said it was brand new, no slime or creatures. So we guessed someone would be round later to ask for payment, which they did at 6pm. 300 kuna seems to be the going rate for a buoy. That's about £35.
After an afternoon watching people entertaining us trying to pick up buoys (not us the entertainment this time), a lazy afternoon, and dinner, we took an evening stroll around the camp site. It feels like a very friendly place, we like it.
Looking over to the campsite
Straight up to standing position
and off he goes
A Thesee view from the shoreline tonight
Part of the bay
More bay views
A line of buoyed boats here
on the way back to Thesee
We were early birds again and arrived at the second inlet down from the bridge on the mainland side. I'm not sure if it has a name but it could be called 'Gracina'. We'd been a bit dubious of coming here on a Saturday because the reports said it was busy and noisy. That was obviously before Covid times as today was a haven of tranquility. Just us and a couple more at anchor. On shore there were signs of busier times, and it seemed that some people were starting to get ready for the big summer holidays.
The water was the clearest we've seen for a few weeks, just perfectly beautiful. Dean checked the anchor and paddleboarded round to the next bay. He said it was hard work. There can be strong tides coming under the bridge, which seems a bit mad as it's only 1.8 metres deep and only a few metres wide.
Views ashore from our new spot
I love it
Another seaplane came over
Shortly after we arrived another boat came in. It looked like a small houseboat, and I took a liking to it. He anchored close to shore with a second stern anchor to hold him straight. Then the rain started and carried on all afternoon with brief spells of thunder and lightning. Dean was looking forward to the rain as Thesee would get a free deck wash. Trouble is it rained three times and Dean had to wipe the boat down three times! Sun's out now though.
The little houseboat
I want one
Stormy skies before the downpours
Sunday 18th July... Linda - When one of the other anchored boats left this morning we moved into their spot on the east side of the anchorage. There's some wind due the next day or two and we can't really find anywhere suitable to go. It's quite nice here though, that was until they just started blasting out very loud music from the shore. We're not sure if they are just testing or whether there will be a full blown disco tonight. This afternoon there was a traditional boat race so that was something interesting to watch.
The returning race boats
The leader
The next blog post will be called 'Weather, Grebastica, and retracing our steps south'
Croatia looks amazing!
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