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David
Bains
United Kingdom
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 Posted - 26th
April 2005
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Cruisin'
the flat way. |
Adriatic 2004. |
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One Thursday in late July,
first mate Humphrey found me at Heathrow and two flights later we were
in western Greece, negotiating Preveza Marine in the dark to find a
ladder helpfully propped up against Aqua Blue, my Kelsall 39' tri. Two
days rapid fit out with Humphrey's help include several trips up the
mast and antifouling all three hulls in the fierce boatyard heat. We
also fitted a groundplate while the boat was out of the water and I
looked critically at the rudder and centreboard which seemed as strong
as ever.
On Saturday we motored straight down to Vliho lagoon to anchor off
restaurant Hippocampus, above which live good friends Danny and Sue
Keane of IGR Yacht Services, who entertained us to several good meals.
Fitting out continued afloat; being able to dive overboard does ease the
heat acclimatization, since Vliho is very hot in July/August. I bought
new chain and a 35lb Delta anchor from IGR and left the rusty old
45lbCQR and chain buoyed on the bottom as our private mooring!
We left on Monday morning in an unusual strong southerly and had the
strange sensation of being blown down the Levkas canal towards the
swinging bridge which was not yet open!! Just as I was doubting my
ability to hold Aqua Blue in reverse or do a three point turn, the
bridge operator relented and we were through into the Ionian Sea.
Leaving Preveza behind to starboard after six years, we ran north in an
increasing swell and made very good time to crowded Lakka on the north
tip of Paxos. Max speed 9.8kts, not bad in a 28yr old cruiser full of
fuel and water.
Overnight there was a violent thunderstorm with very strong gusts,
enough to get me up to dress in a jumper and oilskin top in case we
dragged, but the Delta passed it's first test. However the rain at dawn
was torrential and was filling the cockpit lockers as fast as they could
drain. Unbeknown to me the bilge pump exit hose was underwater and a
siphon set up, which partially flooded the engine compartment. Humphrey
in the rear cabin was alerted by his wet feet! Bucket bailing was called
for until the penny dropped and I fished the exit hose out of the
locker. Fortunately the starter motor survived it's near immersion.
Needless to say the exit hose now has a one way valve! After a few other
jobs the sea outside started to go down, so we ventured out and again
made good time in fresh westerlies to enter Gouvia Marina for a meal
ashore and a good night's rest. I was already a bit stressed!
Gouvia in the morning is very convenient for shopping, fuel and a
written weather forecast at the office. We motorsailed up the Corfu
channel, overtaken by the daily hydrofoil from Corfu to Sarande in
Albania only a few miles away. In fact I do suspect that close hauling
up the Albanian coast is the right way to head north, but like everyone
else we turned left for southern Italy and beat all day into a WNW F4 or
5 over an increasing swell and made the south bay on Erikoussa (the most
northerly Ionian island) by 6pm. There were only three yachts there in
late July. The mobile still worked and I rang home to report progress,
while Humphrey demonstrated his culinary skills in the galley, laughing
like a drain to a Jeremy Hardy tape.
We left by 7.00am, it was pretty lumpy until we got off soundings since
the wind had blown all night, always a sign of real weather in the Med.
We close hauled past Othoni and the wind increased to 22 kts at times
with short steep seas as we crashed our way across the Otranto Straits
under cutter rig, fetching Cape Otranto by teatime. A few more tacks
into the low setting sun brought us into Otranto harbour itself after 13
hours, to anchor under the castle walls where we enjoyed Humphrey's
cockpit dinner, listening to Jazz coming down from the cafes above. We
crashed out ourselves shortly afterwards.
Up early to start again we had another very long day beating up the
coast from Otranto to Brindisi. I had a numb right arm from nerve
compression and Humphrey was heroically doing all the winching while I
steered with my left arm into the night, until eventually we passed the
huge breakwaters in the dark at some speed under sail. In fact you
continue for a mile into the harbour before rounding up to drop sail and
motor into Brindisi town basin, where we tied up under the Sailors
Monument.
Rather wearily we dragged ourselves on deck soon after dawn (we were
still on Greek time) and headed out. However after about an hour of
crashing offshore the wind was 26kts on the nose and the seas already
two metres, very short and building, so I only half reluctantly span the
wheel and we ran back even faster into the harbour. This time going
alongside just north of the steps at the end of the Appian way. The
trawlers seem to have been banished to the other side of the harbour.
From this fashionable and very convenient spot I rang my partner Stella
whom we had been trying to meet from a Ryanair flight into Bari. She
laughingly accepted the inevitable and for the second time had to take a
train with our daughter Louise from Bari to Brindisi where Humphrey and
I met them at the station on Sunday the 1st August. At least we had a
day and a half of much needed R&R and caught up on maintenance,
including beefing up the heavily used staysail sheet attachment points
and completing a new Formica covered saloon table. I also fitted the new
Nasa Weatherman and stuck it's aerial out of a deckhatch. It promptly
confirmed NW5-7 in the Southern Adriatic! However there were two good
Trattorias on the quay for dinner, after we'd walked the old town, as
well as water hydrants.
On Monday morning the sea of course was flat calm and we motorsailed
gently to Monopoli to dine at anchor in the company of only two other
yachts. Going alongside in the morning by the fishing boats enabled easy
shopping in the wonderful mediaeval port. We topped up the fuel tank and
commenced motoring NW along the coast past Bari where we turned more
north in a SE breeze under the MPG, or code zero as they seem to be
called now. Eventually we headed NE and sailed all night, including
running at speed before one persistent thunderstorm, arriving at the
Croatian island of Lastovo by mid morning. It's a port of entry in
season and the officials in Ubli readily trousered the €210 for the
cruising permit. We lazed away the rest of the day in Skrivena Luka bay
where I caught up on sleep.
We then started our progress up the Croatian island chain, first pausing
for a swimming lunch at the SW corner of Korcula, before continuing
under sail to Hvar town on Hvar island. Anchored off the crowded harbour
were a Cross 50tri and a Shuttleworth cat Solea. The Cross skipper
paused alongside in his dinghy to chat about tris. They were six years
into their circumnavigation from the US. Hvar is very fashionable in
August and Paul Allen's enormous gin palace Octopus was anchored
offshore with two helicopters on deck!! The Venetian town is well worth
a visit with it's marble Piazza. We had a good meal on a hotel terrace
overlooking the busy harbour, with Stella quoting from the Rough Guide
to Croatia. It then rained all night, strongly enough in the morning for
Stella to collect water for washing, as we watched torrents cascading
down alley steps into the harbour.
The rain clouds left no wind behind them and we motored all the way past
Brac and Solta to anchor in the large bay of Rogoznica on the mainland,
opposite the huge marina which strangely did not seem to have a fuel
berth.
In the bright morning we motorsailed to Zirge island for a lunch stop on
one of the mooring buoys. Then a good long afternoon sail in the
thankfully returned Maestro all the way to Lopatica Bay on Kornati
island. The islands, although mostly uninhabited, were dry stone walled
right over the summits to encase hardy brown sheep. The park rangers
called by in their RIB and made a small charge since the Kornatis are a
protected national park, but they were keen to take our bagged rubbish.
I understand they take a dim view if you don't have any!
We could have spent a week in the Kornati islands but Stella was keen to
see Zadar. So we continued north and exited the archipelago via the
narrow canal at the top of Kornati and then under the low bridge between
Uglian and Pashman. East of the bridge we paused for an afternoon swim
and were promptly joined by a small modern racing tri with four female
crew, who were keen to get extensive tans like everybody else in
Croatia. By evening we were backed up to the marina outer wall in Zadar
harbour, where water and power were still available. We were the only
diners in the yacht club restaurant but had a good meal. Zadar's
historic centre is worth a full day with it's walls and marble streets
and many fine old buildings, despite being extensively bombed in WW11.
There's an internet cafe and even a chandlery!
The threatened multihull surcharge was not levied when we left in the
morning. We paused at the top of Uglian and then had another good trip
under full cutter rig laying Simuni on Pag island where there is yet
another marina, but we managed to back 25ft wide Aqua Blue into one of
the few shallow spots in the outer bay. The bollards on the rough quay
were made of plastic buckets full of concrete! I was surprised to learn
later that the entrance is sometimes subject to dangerous gusts,
presumably in a Bora which thankfully are uncommon in high summer. In
the morning one of the island sheep was bloodily slaughtered on the
quayside!
We then had to motor along the rest of Pag before turning right to drift
over to Rab island, anchoring in Fumiga bay northwest of the main port.
All the vegetation on Rab is on the west coast since the east is so
mercilessly blasted by the Bora in the Velebitski canal.
Humphrey left on the six am ferry heading for Trieste airport and a
wedding in the UK. We enjoyed mediaeval Rab town with it's many bell
towers (campaniles) to climb, as well as the fine park we were anchored
off. We were visited by a radio ham from Slovenia (whom I had contacted
in the winter), who spent every summer there to enjoy the naturism on
the Frkanj penisula protecting our anchorage. In fact Edward V111 and
Wallace Simpson were there in 1936! However the nudist colony did not
protect us from the fresh southerly which arrived at 2.00am! I had to
rise and lay the second anchor to keep the stern away from the shore,
blessing the alloy Fortress I carry for just this purpose.
The depleted crew recovered both anchors in the morning without too much
difficulty, before we hoisted reduced sail and blasted across to
Jadriscica bay on the south tip of Cres island, where of course the wind
promptly dropped. We lazed away the rest of the day in the fjiord like
inlet with it's inevitable naturist campsite! Being British we kept our
empire building shorts firmly on! Even managed a film show in the
evening on Louise' new laptop.
In the morning we had to head south for an hour till we rounded the
southern tip of Losinj, then spending the afternoon in Balbanida bay,
before continuing to spend one night in Aratur bay. There was some
Croatian festival and two restaurants turned us away. So we bought fresh
pasta and returned to Aqua Blue for a cockpit meal to Cuban music, which
we've been fond of since a trip to Havana two years ago,( by British
Airways/Iberia I hasten to add!).
We made an early start for our crossing to Istria. In fact the
north-easterly was quite fresh as it often is in the gulf of Kvaerner,
and we had a fast bumpy close reach for several hours before rounding
Kamenjak the southerly point of Istria. We then siesta'd in shallow
Paltama bay where the previous industrial facilities are being converted
into holiday apartments. Later we motored in rain up and into huge Pula
harbour to drop anchor north of the marina off the impressive Roman
amphitheatre. We found ballet rehearsals in progress in the amphitheatre
which is one of the very few with complete oval walls. Pula also has a
small Greek temple to Augustus, unusually with it's roof in place.
Although after surviving two millennia it succumbed to American bomb
disposal (in the harbour of all places!) at the end of the war and was
not rebuilt till 1954.
I bought water in the morning by the tripper boats (20 Kuna). We then
motored inside the Brioni islands where Tito entertained foreign
dignitaries rather than in Belgrade, and slowly close hauled up the
coast in light winds to anchor in the bay immediately south of Rovinj.
The yacht population had exploded since our arrival in Istria, although
we were invariably the only Brit and trimaran.
We were ashore at 8.00am for the walk round Rovinj which is an artist's
colony and former Italian town with bilingual street signs like so many
on this coast. There had been several boats burnt out on the hard
standing at the marina. An electrical accident it was said! Great views
of the town and seascape from the front of the cathedral on the
headland.
The morning brought a southerly breeze so the rest of our trip up the
west coast of Istria was unusually downwind. At one point our path was
crossed by a nude yacht crew from a naturist marina! I had no idea there
was such a thing. The Limski canal is prohibited to yachts so we
continued to Porec. We sought shelter from the fresh southerly by
anchoring inside Nikola island, the town quay was quite choppy. Although
next time we'll use one of the mooring buoys off the marina. Another
Italian town with a wonderful Basilica whose tower we climbed before a
good meal in the courtyard below. Louise and I were in Mac heaven at the
local internet cafe. I was in email contact with Lucian Comoy* in
Trieste who was guiding our trip north to his boatyard up the Timavo
river. The southerly blew all night and we slept as though in the UK.
Back to the Euphrasian basilica in the morning to view the ancient
mosaics, the best outside Ravenna apparently. We'll check next year!
After our usual iced coffees (and how they vary) we struggled a bit to
recover the well dug in Delta. I think we must get an electric windlass
for the next ten years!!
The still fresh southerly blew us up the coast past Novigrad our
original destination and on to Umag or Umago as the Italians still call
it. Inside a very narrow entrance is a broad shallow harbour where the
council have usefully laid some moorings beyond the marina. We swung to
one all afternoon before a shore trip. All the restaurants are on the
south side of the town so we had a windy meal sheltering behind some
bamboo screens in one of them, with a good view of the cement works!
Ashore in the morning I found internet access in the public library,
still trying to arrange to meet Lucian. Then we had to bring Aqua Blue
alongside the ferry quay to visit the authorities before leaving
Croatia. The Port police complained that Humphrey had left the boat
without being stamped out or removed from the crew list. However a kind
lady at the harbourmasters where I had taken Louise amended the
documents so the port police would accept them. We then had great
difficulty leaving the quay since a light breeze was blowing us into a
corner. Three point turns are not easy in a trimaran. Finally we
extricated ourselves and headed for the Capo d'Istria.
We anchored for lunch in the lee of Piran(o) under the buttressed
escarpment below the cathedral. The echo sounder was on the blink and we
dropped the anchor in far too deep water and (missing Humphrey's gym
honed muscles) ended up hauling in a huge weight of line and chain. One
more job for the winter! After running past Izola and Koper we passed
through the southerly gap in the three huge breakwaters that shelter
Trieste now visible rising up the hill ahead. However we turned into the
new marina at Muggia, the Porto San Rocco. Where we found the beautiful
Shuttleworth 56ft tri La Goia. Painstakingly built over many years by an
Austrian surgeon. One can only wonder what the mooring charges are at
over thirty feet wide. We paid 55 euros for one night. It was very hot
and muggy in Muggia but we walked to old town and had a very good fish
meal in Trattoria Risorta, facing the belching chimneys across Muggia
bay. One could only hope the fish were caught some distance offshore,
although if you look at a satellite photo it's obvious how the river Po
is polluting the whole north Adriatic.
In the still very warm morning we took the Green Dolphin ferry across to
Trieste for some sightseeing in the formerly Austrian port, whose
inhabitants were celebrating the 50th anniversary of their town's
reunification with Italy in 1954. The waterside buildings are very grand
and there's both a Russian and Serbian Orthodox church. As well as a
small Roman theatre where Joan Baez had recently played. The heat
demanded an early pavement lunch with iced beer. We were back in the
marina by mid afternoon and left immediately since our overnight fee was
valid till 6pm.
We had to motorsail north past Trieste and Miramar castle to anchor in
crowded Sistiana bay where we'd arranged to meet Lucian on Sat morning
to act as our pilot up the Timavo river for which there was no info in
my Imray pilot by Thompson. Stella spotted a flea market ashore and
coveted something she could see in the binos. Before letting her go I
checked the Nasa Weatherman RTTY forecast and was surprised to read that
SW near gale force winds were expected in the early hours! This of
course is the one direction Sistiana is not sheltered from! It was
obvious we would have to leave immediately and find the Timavo river in
the remaining hour and a half of daylight. Another rapid anchor recovery
was followed by motoring northwest into the setting sun past Duino
castle till we could make out the fortunately plentiful wooden piles
guiding us up the winding Timavo river. In fact our 25ft beam was using
a lot of the channel! We rolled up the centreboard on one shallow patch
and it grew misty and cool before we finally made it to the ex
commercial basin that Nautec marine occupies. We claimed a vacant finger
pontoon and were promptly attacked by large mosquitoes! However they
were then dispersed by heavy rain so we retreated inside for yet another
DVD now we had shore power again.
The strong winds did arrive in the morning and the few boats that
ventured out soon returned. Lucian, surprisingly an art historian like
Stella, found Aqua Blue and introduced us to the friendly staff of
Nautec which will be our base for a while. I recommend the Adriatic to
anyone whose boat is in the Med. |
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Cruise 2004