Monday, August 3, 2015
I woke up in the middle of the night thinking the boat's anchor was
loose and we ran aground. My mind was playing tricks with me. The same
thing happened last year with the Florida trip. Being back on land at
night and not constantly thinking about your vessel's position takes
some getting used to. A few more days of remembering I'm no longer on the boat are necessary before these dreams stop.
My legs are definitely feeling all those stairs I climbed yesterday! Fortunately, it's just a lazy morning now.
Terry and I walked into town to explore for our last few hours here.
We looked for a nice little café for breakfast. On our walk saw a
five piece band called Gadjo Manouche, which consisted of a bassist, two guitarists, a
clarinetist, and a female singer. Their jam was swinging! If only
there was someone else here who could swing dance.
Sadly, it started to rain, so Terry and I took cover under an
umbrella at Café La Bodega so we could continue to listen to their music.
Unfortunately, again, it ceased with the start of the rain.
Soon after a couple of breakfast sandwiches and conversation, the sun came out and
we continued to wander Dubrovnik. We saw a building that was burned down in 1991.
The owner - an artist - was safe, but he lost all of his work. After the
war, he rebuilt the building to look exactly as it was before the
shelling.
Looks like a big F-U to their opponents...
Soon, the time came when we had to head to the bus station to ride
back to Split. A long four or five hour ride, but it gave me time to
work on my earlier entries and getting them posted on my blog.
It was fun reliving the memories as I typed up my narrative. There
are so many little things that happen on trips that are such treasures,
but get easily forgotten. That's why I liked jotting down what I learned
and sensed in different places.
Upon returning to Split, I didn't initially see what all the hype
was about. Until I walked along the water in front of Dioclesian's
Palace. The main drag was beautifully built, and quite a hopping place! After getting out things situated in the apartment for the night, we looked for dinner nearby, and ate at Konoba Varos.
We split an assortment of fish as the entree, but it just wasn't the same as we had on the islands. I bit into a fish no longer than 3 inches, and no wider than a quarter inch. I didn't realize it had all the bones. I must have chewed or swallowed a fair amount before realizing I still had to slice it open and gut it before consuming.
We decided on a Posip Cara wine from Korcula. I felt at home knowing that Croatia had so many wines of its own. Reminded me of New Jersey! Though, it sounds like Croatia is certainly growing in regards to the quality of their wines, more so than Jersey.
I was feeling pretty full of food, but I hate seeing it go to waste. Terry kept on eating. My eyes wandered to observe my surroundings.
Kitty!
I tore up the small fish into bite-size pieces and threw it next to me to see if he would eat it. Sure enough, the little feline feasted! I kept throwing food, keeping an eye out so the waiter didn't see my charity.
Once I stopped, the cat started to move away. I threw more food on the ground, then she
ended up hiding on the floor behind my chair towards the sidewalk. How cute.
I looked behind me. He stared up with these eyes
you'd see on an ASPCA advertisement.
After dinner, we checked out Dioclesion's Palace. This certainly made Split worth visiting.
"Oooo-oo-oo-oo-ooo-oo-oooo-ooooo...don't worry. Be happy."
There was a main performing in large gathering space, where people sat on the steps, listening and relaxing. Then he started playing another song.
"And she said- do you come from a land down under?"
Haha. Playing both Bob Marley and Men at Work. Gotta love how common old Pop music is!
Our last night in a Croatian city. I love this country, but I must admit, I'm feeling a bit homesick. Three weeks was a good amount of time here. I can't wait to return!
Monday, August 31, 2015
Friday, August 21, 2015
Day 16: Figs, Frog legs and Fish
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Cock-a-doodle-dooooo!
Well, I can tell you that that sound is truly onomatopoeia. Maybe I should rethink that dream of having my own chicken coup if I want to sleep past 5:30 A.M.
For breakfast we an assortment of foods, accompanied by two kinds of coffee, one of which was Turkish coffee. We also had drinkable yogurt.
"You can't get it in the States," I was told. I've seen it as a sweetened kid's version, just not as an unsweetened version I saw in front of me.
Marijo's mom brought out some more figs. Mmm... The scraps sat on the table.
"Throw the scraps to the chickens."
I walked them to the chickens. They went crazy running for them!
"See, nothing goes to waste here!"
I felt like I was back at my relatives' places in Herzegovina, hearing that phrase.
"How long do the chickens lay eggs?" I asked.
"About five years. And when they stop...?" Aurora paused. "Chicken soup!"
"How long do the roosters last?"
"They all go about the same time. You don't know what gender the chicks are 'til they grow. And if we have too many roosters? Chicken soup!"
After breakfast, we drove through Metković to get to Narova Vid, home of Roman ruins. It was escavated in 1995.
"If you look, there are no heads on the emperor," Marijo began telling me, upon entering. "A new head goes on with each new emperor." Marijo was an excellent tour guide.
"Augustus romanization helped build roads. Napolean helped build roads. That Napolean was good for us in that way," he said. We continued around the museum until we exhausted all the sights.
"We're getting frog legs next. Don't think you got away from it!"
I smiled in agreement.
We walked to Duđe and Mate, a restaurant across the street, and ordered our lunch snack. The plate arrived.
"You'll like it. It tastes like chicken!" I was told.
Here goes nothing. I took a bite of what was the lower half of a frog. The meat on its legs was concentrated into small bulges around its bones.
It shockingly did taste like chicken. Very tender chicken.
We watched kids jump into the water from a small bridge. One kid even back flipped. The group of men at another table, also watching, started clapping for the boy. Another boy stepped up, hesitant, and jumped out.
"He must not be from the area," Aurora told me. I suppose the natives have had practice with their dives.
Marijo knew the man who worked there, who I presume is the owner, and asked to see their catch, so I could see them up close. He pulled out a container from the water and opened it up. Live eels, packed into the container, swimming around each other. I put my hand in to pick one up. Slimy, but surprisingly strong. I thought it would feel more like a worm. I didn't realize how thick of a spine and muscles it would have.
After this excursion, we continued on to Ston, to see an old salt bed and the Dubrovnik walls. The salt bed has been how salt was collected for hundreds of years. It's still in operating order, but it's not as financially efficient as other methods to get salt.
After wandering Ston for a bit, we sat down for drinks.
"Do you want to go up?" I was asked about the Dubrovnik walls. "We'll sit here and wait."
"Don't tempt me," I responded.
"You should be able to do it in a half hour."
"Oh... alright."
"I'm starting the timer at 2:17 P.M."
I walked around to the wall entrance. 40 kuna to enter. I was so excited. My mind started imagining myself standing there hundreds of years ago. Just walking up to the wall lookout was beautiful, but I had some distance to go. I made it to the top of one of the peaks, and then realized it was in fact possible to climb all the wall to the top of the mountain.
I can do this, right? Well, at least see how far I can go. I started running up the stairs to save time so I could get as far up as possible. But after jog-climbing, it takes a toll on your thighs. Especially when you're out of shape. I had already been gone twenty minutes. I'd have to sprint to the top and back down, and I'd still not make it down in time. I went as far as my little legs would carry me before throwing in the towel.
I need to come back here one afternoon in the future and climb to the top. With someone by my side, though. I was too lonely doing something like this all alone. While fun, because I can go at my own pace, it's better experienced with someone.
I practically ran down the steps back to the bottom. I was sweating profusely. So much that I was dripping in sweat all over. Way to go, Mer. Walking go the bathroom and wiping off as much sweat as possible mitigated the situation, but didn't solve it.
Gross.
We left Ston and drove to Dubrovnik. As we drove along the shore, I saw a schooner anchored in a cove. This was where I saw The schooner three years ago, that I had wished I could be so lucky to be on it. In this moment three years ago, I never could have guessed I'd be where I am today.
Aurora and Marijo dropped us off at the hotel and we said our goodbyes. They truly are such wonderful people for how kind they were this weekend.
The hotel had a gorgeous view of Dubrovnik. Certainly a different experience from last time I was here.
I looked at the map of Dubrovnik.
"Let's go to Fort Lovrijenac. It's right here."
And of course- more climbing! We walked up to the top for some amazing views of old town Dubrovnik. Then we came back down and went to walk the city walls. It took us about two hours, since we stopped and relaxed periodically. We neared the end and took pictures at one last look out point.
"Closing time!" A man told us.
What perfect timing!
After all the climbing I did today, I was more than ready for dinner. We decided on Konoba Jezuite, a restaurant with outdoor seating near a Catholic church. This choice was mostly because I was tired of Terry looking for the "best" restaurant, and figured most restaurants would be really good. And I just wanted to sit down and eat.
"I bet you Jezuite translates to Jesuit," I said to Terry after looking at the menu.
"Nah, I bet it's Jesus."
The waiter came around, so we inquired about the restuarant name.
"We're right next to St. Ignatius church, known for its Jesuits."
That's the nice thing about European languages as an anglophone- words often sound similar enough you can piece together a meaning.
"What do you recommend?" I asked the waiter.
"Definitely the tuna steak, since it was caught a few hours earlier."
I'm sold. As was Terry, since he ordered the same.
Olives and bread were served as a welcoming snack with our Croatian white wine. Dinner was fantastic, as always.
Though we declined on dessert, the waiter brought out two small glasses.
"Grappa with herbs for the man and a Cherry brandy for the lady."
Was it a stereotype to bring out those flavors for each if us? Probably. But I really liked my cherry brandy, so I didn't mind.
Since we were so close to such a beautiful church, we walked in and sat down with reverence. The lights were pretty dimmed, but it was still open to the public. Gorgeous architecture. After five minutes, the lights flicked off and a man came down the aisle.
"We are closing."
Perfect timing! We've been pretty fortunate with timing on this trip.
We walked around a bit more. I bought ice cream, then we started to head back to the hotel for the night. We saw a poster of the damage done to Dubrovnik in 1991-1992 during the war. A few buildings were burned down, but many were hit. As we were talking, we passed by a man who overheard our conversation as he was cleaning up his booth. He chimed in to clear up our disagreement.
"Before the war, I had close friends who were Serbs, but once the war began, everyone picked a side and it was never the same...Dubrovnik was blocked by the sea by Navy, by air by planes, and by land by the Army. We had no food or water coming in for days..."
After some research into the seige of Dubrovnik, I can only imagine the horrors that Croats living here endured from the war. The fact that they've rebuilt so much and brought Dubrovnik up as such a popular destination really shows how strong these people are, and how much they love their homeland.
Cock-a-doodle-dooooo!
Well, I can tell you that that sound is truly onomatopoeia. Maybe I should rethink that dream of having my own chicken coup if I want to sleep past 5:30 A.M.
For breakfast we an assortment of foods, accompanied by two kinds of coffee, one of which was Turkish coffee. We also had drinkable yogurt.
"You can't get it in the States," I was told. I've seen it as a sweetened kid's version, just not as an unsweetened version I saw in front of me.
Marijo's mom brought out some more figs. Mmm... The scraps sat on the table.
"Throw the scraps to the chickens."
I walked them to the chickens. They went crazy running for them!
"See, nothing goes to waste here!"
I felt like I was back at my relatives' places in Herzegovina, hearing that phrase.
"How long do the chickens lay eggs?" I asked.
"About five years. And when they stop...?" Aurora paused. "Chicken soup!"
"How long do the roosters last?"
"They all go about the same time. You don't know what gender the chicks are 'til they grow. And if we have too many roosters? Chicken soup!"
After breakfast, we drove through Metković to get to Narova Vid, home of Roman ruins. It was escavated in 1995.
"If you look, there are no heads on the emperor," Marijo began telling me, upon entering. "A new head goes on with each new emperor." Marijo was an excellent tour guide.
"Augustus romanization helped build roads. Napolean helped build roads. That Napolean was good for us in that way," he said. We continued around the museum until we exhausted all the sights.
"We're getting frog legs next. Don't think you got away from it!"
I smiled in agreement.
We walked to Duđe and Mate, a restaurant across the street, and ordered our lunch snack. The plate arrived.
"You'll like it. It tastes like chicken!" I was told.
Here goes nothing. I took a bite of what was the lower half of a frog. The meat on its legs was concentrated into small bulges around its bones.
It shockingly did taste like chicken. Very tender chicken.
We watched kids jump into the water from a small bridge. One kid even back flipped. The group of men at another table, also watching, started clapping for the boy. Another boy stepped up, hesitant, and jumped out.
"He must not be from the area," Aurora told me. I suppose the natives have had practice with their dives.
Marijo knew the man who worked there, who I presume is the owner, and asked to see their catch, so I could see them up close. He pulled out a container from the water and opened it up. Live eels, packed into the container, swimming around each other. I put my hand in to pick one up. Slimy, but surprisingly strong. I thought it would feel more like a worm. I didn't realize how thick of a spine and muscles it would have.
After this excursion, we continued on to Ston, to see an old salt bed and the Dubrovnik walls. The salt bed has been how salt was collected for hundreds of years. It's still in operating order, but it's not as financially efficient as other methods to get salt.
After wandering Ston for a bit, we sat down for drinks.
"Do you want to go up?" I was asked about the Dubrovnik walls. "We'll sit here and wait."
"Don't tempt me," I responded.
"You should be able to do it in a half hour."
"Oh... alright."
"I'm starting the timer at 2:17 P.M."
I walked around to the wall entrance. 40 kuna to enter. I was so excited. My mind started imagining myself standing there hundreds of years ago. Just walking up to the wall lookout was beautiful, but I had some distance to go. I made it to the top of one of the peaks, and then realized it was in fact possible to climb all the wall to the top of the mountain.
I can do this, right? Well, at least see how far I can go. I started running up the stairs to save time so I could get as far up as possible. But after jog-climbing, it takes a toll on your thighs. Especially when you're out of shape. I had already been gone twenty minutes. I'd have to sprint to the top and back down, and I'd still not make it down in time. I went as far as my little legs would carry me before throwing in the towel.
I need to come back here one afternoon in the future and climb to the top. With someone by my side, though. I was too lonely doing something like this all alone. While fun, because I can go at my own pace, it's better experienced with someone.
I practically ran down the steps back to the bottom. I was sweating profusely. So much that I was dripping in sweat all over. Way to go, Mer. Walking go the bathroom and wiping off as much sweat as possible mitigated the situation, but didn't solve it.
Gross.
We left Ston and drove to Dubrovnik. As we drove along the shore, I saw a schooner anchored in a cove. This was where I saw The schooner three years ago, that I had wished I could be so lucky to be on it. In this moment three years ago, I never could have guessed I'd be where I am today.
Aurora and Marijo dropped us off at the hotel and we said our goodbyes. They truly are such wonderful people for how kind they were this weekend.
The hotel had a gorgeous view of Dubrovnik. Certainly a different experience from last time I was here.
I looked at the map of Dubrovnik.
"Let's go to Fort Lovrijenac. It's right here."
And of course- more climbing! We walked up to the top for some amazing views of old town Dubrovnik. Then we came back down and went to walk the city walls. It took us about two hours, since we stopped and relaxed periodically. We neared the end and took pictures at one last look out point.
"Closing time!" A man told us.
What perfect timing!
After all the climbing I did today, I was more than ready for dinner. We decided on Konoba Jezuite, a restaurant with outdoor seating near a Catholic church. This choice was mostly because I was tired of Terry looking for the "best" restaurant, and figured most restaurants would be really good. And I just wanted to sit down and eat.
"I bet you Jezuite translates to Jesuit," I said to Terry after looking at the menu.
"Nah, I bet it's Jesus."
The waiter came around, so we inquired about the restuarant name.
"We're right next to St. Ignatius church, known for its Jesuits."
That's the nice thing about European languages as an anglophone- words often sound similar enough you can piece together a meaning.
"What do you recommend?" I asked the waiter.
"Definitely the tuna steak, since it was caught a few hours earlier."
I'm sold. As was Terry, since he ordered the same.
Olives and bread were served as a welcoming snack with our Croatian white wine. Dinner was fantastic, as always.
Though we declined on dessert, the waiter brought out two small glasses.
"Grappa with herbs for the man and a Cherry brandy for the lady."
Was it a stereotype to bring out those flavors for each if us? Probably. But I really liked my cherry brandy, so I didn't mind.
Since we were so close to such a beautiful church, we walked in and sat down with reverence. The lights were pretty dimmed, but it was still open to the public. Gorgeous architecture. After five minutes, the lights flicked off and a man came down the aisle.
"We are closing."
Perfect timing! We've been pretty fortunate with timing on this trip.
We walked around a bit more. I bought ice cream, then we started to head back to the hotel for the night. We saw a poster of the damage done to Dubrovnik in 1991-1992 during the war. A few buildings were burned down, but many were hit. As we were talking, we passed by a man who overheard our conversation as he was cleaning up his booth. He chimed in to clear up our disagreement.
"Before the war, I had close friends who were Serbs, but once the war began, everyone picked a side and it was never the same...Dubrovnik was blocked by the sea by Navy, by air by planes, and by land by the Army. We had no food or water coming in for days..."
After some research into the seige of Dubrovnik, I can only imagine the horrors that Croats living here endured from the war. The fact that they've rebuilt so much and brought Dubrovnik up as such a popular destination really shows how strong these people are, and how much they love their homeland.
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Day 15: Croatian Hospitality
Saturday, August 1, 2015
I looked out to the boat next door - Six millenials sleeping on either the deck or cockpit, with the center table littered with beer cans. A man came out from below deck to walk to the stern, lean his head over, and cough into the water.
Splash. Splash.
Sigh. Two more boys followed his actions in the next half hour. This is what my generation has come to. It's so nice to be on vacation and not wake up feeling like that.
Alicia left early for her 7:45 A.M. flight. Terry and I wanted to catch a bus around 9:00 A.M. from Split.
I looked up available tickets.
"Terry, the earliest we can get is the 1:30 P.M. bus from Split to Ploče."
"Alright, buy tickets, and I'll let Aurora know we'll be late. Aurora is a friend of Terry's from NYC, who we'd be visiting today.
Terry checked our luggage at the marina so we wouldn't have to carry it with us the next few days. I was waiting by Pipi until we were ready to go.
We took a taxi to Split so we could take the bus to Ploče.
"Where are you from?" I asked the driver.
"I was born in Split, but now I live in Kaštela."
"Has Split been built up in the last decade? Or any renovations?"
"No no, we don't do that here! We'll fix old buildings to keep the culture alive."
The traffic in Split was awful. Granted, this was a Saturday morning, but I felt bad for our driver.
"Is it okay if I drop you off close to the bus stop, and you just have to walk 100 meters?" He asked. "Otherwise we'll be sitting in traffic for the next thirty minutes."
"That's fine. We don't mind walking." I'd rather not sit in traffic and take up a higher taxi bill.
Arriving at 9:45 A.M., Terry and I began to wander, looking for a place to stop and eat breakfast.
"How about this place?" I asked. It was a small cafe off of the street. Terry doesn't like going to the main street places, so we had already been walking in a residential area off the main drag.
I looked at the menu. Cafe Bistro TTOC. TripAdvisor 2015, 4.5 stars.
"Omelettes, breakfast burrito, looks good to me!"
I ordered a breakfast burrito and Terry ordered the English breakfast. As always, the bread was simply amazing. After eating and using the WiFi, we went on our way.
"I need to find an ATM. Wait here with the suitcase and I'll go look."
So I sat under a tree and watched countless people walk by. 11:00 A.M. on a Saturday and it was quite the bustling area. There were two people, a man and woman, dressed in white, making sure people didn't J-walk. A woman started to cross the street.
"No no no, walk up there," the uniformed woman told the tourist. This was a heavily commuted turn, with a sign for the ferry. I was surprised that they had two people policing the area until I counted how many violators there were. Probably one person each minute or so tried to J-walk.
We stopped again for coffee and drinks to kill some time before we took the bus inland.
The bus station was a mad house once the bus pulled up. It arrived about a half hour before the scheduled time, and people crowded in line to get as close to the front as possible. I was able to get first in line and grab a seat at the front of the bus, for the best views.
We were finally off to Ploče, driving on what appeared to be a relatively new highway system. We arrived in Ploče to see Aurora and her husband Marijo. Terry and I stepped off the bus. Terry expected the bus driver to help remove luggage, but he went off to sit down while people grabbed their luggage and went.
We arrived to a home with its own Eden in the backyard. Cats, a German Shepherd, chickens, olive trees, kiwi fruit, grapes, peppers, lemons...this is a classic Croatian home.
Our lovely friends drove us to Baćinska Jezera, a connected set of freshwater lakes. We took a boat ride around the different lakes.
Wildlife was sprinkled all around us. Baby ducks, a water snake, frogs. It was a scavenger hunt to see what you could find.
The perimeter of the lake was covered by grass. We approached the edge, and I assumed we'd then turn around, but the boat kept moving! There was a small channel, which went under a bridge that previously had doors to keep people from fishing, and connected us to another lake.
We continued through. Multiple times we passed through these narrow sections of water without grass.
"Peep peep!" the driver called, as if to tell us to look at the baby ducks, assuming his English skills weren't very good.
"Ducks didnt always used to be here," Marijo told me. "Karlovačko, the beer company, did a commercial where they brought in ducks, amd left them when they were finished with their project. They then bred and multiplied, even with native ducks. Before, you could shoot anything that moved, other than humans. Now you can't even throw rocks at them!"
He later tried to look up the commercial on YouTube, but unfortunately, couldn't find it.
We rounded another lake and came back to where we started. We exited the boat and sat down back on land for some drinks.
"What would you like?"
I looked at the drink menu. Various beers, some wines. I didn't want to drink anything with alcohol right now. I wanted something native to the area.
"Pipi? What's that?" I asked.
"Just try it!"
A bottle with a light yellow liquid arrived to the table. I examined the label.
"There's a blonde girl on the bottle!"
How perfect!
We then went for a swim. It's amazing how freshwater feels to swim in verses saltwater. I had to tread water more since my body wanted to sink, but I needed the workout. I've been eating so much in Croatia! Earlier this week, Alex asked me, what will you miss most? I told him, The food!
While swimming, Terry and I continued to talk with Marijo.
"Do a lot of young Croatians leave the country?" I asked.
"They may want more, but there is nothing they lack," he told me. Kids leave to explore more of the world, but they generally and come back.
It was a great response.
When we were back at the house, I talked about how my favorite food in Croatia was the fig. I've only eaten figs from my Great Aunt's house in the Bronx, because they don't last long once off the tree.
Soon after getting back to the house, Marijo's mom brought in a bowl of fresh figs from their tree. I was so happy! She must have heard how much I liked fresh figs.
"They're not perfectly ripe, they're a bit early, but that means they're not as sweet," Aurora told me.
I opened up one of the fruit and took a bite. I had forgotten exactly how delicious they were. Ah. I was a happy camper. Terry seemed amused by my expression.
Croatian families are known for their hospitality. As much as Terry wanted to help, he was a guest.
"No, no, relax!"
Dinner consisted of a homemade Croatian barbeque. Sausage, beef patties, chicken kebobs, a salad of cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, with a side of peppers stuffed with a cheese and grape tomatoes. And yummy bread. With Majmak.
"You can't find Majmak in the States!" Aurora told me.
"Have some more wine!" They saw Terry had an empty glass amd promptly filled it. From my last trip, I learned that it's impolite to have your guest sit with an empty plate or empty glass.
"I'm stuffed, but I don't want the food to go to waste," Terry told his hosts as he looked at his now filled glass and the food that lay untouched, ready to be consumed.
"Nothing is wasted, here. The cats love the meat, and the hens have been waiting for this bread! We'll pick up a fresh loaf tomorrow morning."
"What is considered old here is fresh in NYC!" Terry said, thinking about the differences between NYC and a Croatian home.
As Terry and Marijo talked world history, I asked Aurora about local food.
"I've loved the black risotto with cuttlefish here. I've never had it before," I told her. "What makes it black?"
"Ink from the cuttlefish."
Fascinating. Who would have thought such a thing?
Any large meal with some wine is enough to put a person into a food coma, and since Terry woke up before the sunrise this morning, he was really feeling it, so he headed to bed. I stayed an extra hour to hang out and chat.
It turns out that Aurora and Marijo lived in New Jersey for a few years while working in NYC. So naturally, we talked about my home state. Jersey tomatoes, my teaching career, and my fiancé.
"Why didn't he come?"
"He wasn't able to take off that much time from work, unfortunately," I told them.
"We're currently in a pre cana program. Traditionally, it's a year minimun between the engagement and the wedding. Is it the same here?"
"Croatia is just 45 days," they told me.
"So, if I got Alex to come to Croatia..." I joked. "but my family needs the party. We couldn't elope."
"In Croatia, family is very close," Marijo began. "The wedding is more for the family than the couple. It's the time for them to give their blessings and celebrate the marriage."
I hadn't thought of it like that, but he was right. What a wonderful day. Croatian hospitality is amazing. I'm really going to miss this.
I looked out to the boat next door - Six millenials sleeping on either the deck or cockpit, with the center table littered with beer cans. A man came out from below deck to walk to the stern, lean his head over, and cough into the water.
Splash. Splash.
Sigh. Two more boys followed his actions in the next half hour. This is what my generation has come to. It's so nice to be on vacation and not wake up feeling like that.
Alicia left early for her 7:45 A.M. flight. Terry and I wanted to catch a bus around 9:00 A.M. from Split.
I looked up available tickets.
"Terry, the earliest we can get is the 1:30 P.M. bus from Split to Ploče."
"Alright, buy tickets, and I'll let Aurora know we'll be late. Aurora is a friend of Terry's from NYC, who we'd be visiting today.
Terry checked our luggage at the marina so we wouldn't have to carry it with us the next few days. I was waiting by Pipi until we were ready to go.
We took a taxi to Split so we could take the bus to Ploče.
"Where are you from?" I asked the driver.
"I was born in Split, but now I live in Kaštela."
"Has Split been built up in the last decade? Or any renovations?"
"No no, we don't do that here! We'll fix old buildings to keep the culture alive."
The traffic in Split was awful. Granted, this was a Saturday morning, but I felt bad for our driver.
"Is it okay if I drop you off close to the bus stop, and you just have to walk 100 meters?" He asked. "Otherwise we'll be sitting in traffic for the next thirty minutes."
"That's fine. We don't mind walking." I'd rather not sit in traffic and take up a higher taxi bill.
Arriving at 9:45 A.M., Terry and I began to wander, looking for a place to stop and eat breakfast.
"How about this place?" I asked. It was a small cafe off of the street. Terry doesn't like going to the main street places, so we had already been walking in a residential area off the main drag.
I looked at the menu. Cafe Bistro TTOC. TripAdvisor 2015, 4.5 stars.
"Omelettes, breakfast burrito, looks good to me!"
I ordered a breakfast burrito and Terry ordered the English breakfast. As always, the bread was simply amazing. After eating and using the WiFi, we went on our way.
"I need to find an ATM. Wait here with the suitcase and I'll go look."
So I sat under a tree and watched countless people walk by. 11:00 A.M. on a Saturday and it was quite the bustling area. There were two people, a man and woman, dressed in white, making sure people didn't J-walk. A woman started to cross the street.
"No no no, walk up there," the uniformed woman told the tourist. This was a heavily commuted turn, with a sign for the ferry. I was surprised that they had two people policing the area until I counted how many violators there were. Probably one person each minute or so tried to J-walk.
We stopped again for coffee and drinks to kill some time before we took the bus inland.
The bus station was a mad house once the bus pulled up. It arrived about a half hour before the scheduled time, and people crowded in line to get as close to the front as possible. I was able to get first in line and grab a seat at the front of the bus, for the best views.
We were finally off to Ploče, driving on what appeared to be a relatively new highway system. We arrived in Ploče to see Aurora and her husband Marijo. Terry and I stepped off the bus. Terry expected the bus driver to help remove luggage, but he went off to sit down while people grabbed their luggage and went.
We arrived to a home with its own Eden in the backyard. Cats, a German Shepherd, chickens, olive trees, kiwi fruit, grapes, peppers, lemons...this is a classic Croatian home.
Our lovely friends drove us to Baćinska Jezera, a connected set of freshwater lakes. We took a boat ride around the different lakes.
Wildlife was sprinkled all around us. Baby ducks, a water snake, frogs. It was a scavenger hunt to see what you could find.
The perimeter of the lake was covered by grass. We approached the edge, and I assumed we'd then turn around, but the boat kept moving! There was a small channel, which went under a bridge that previously had doors to keep people from fishing, and connected us to another lake.
We continued through. Multiple times we passed through these narrow sections of water without grass.
"Peep peep!" the driver called, as if to tell us to look at the baby ducks, assuming his English skills weren't very good.
"Ducks didnt always used to be here," Marijo told me. "Karlovačko, the beer company, did a commercial where they brought in ducks, amd left them when they were finished with their project. They then bred and multiplied, even with native ducks. Before, you could shoot anything that moved, other than humans. Now you can't even throw rocks at them!"
He later tried to look up the commercial on YouTube, but unfortunately, couldn't find it.
We rounded another lake and came back to where we started. We exited the boat and sat down back on land for some drinks.
"What would you like?"
I looked at the drink menu. Various beers, some wines. I didn't want to drink anything with alcohol right now. I wanted something native to the area.
"Pipi? What's that?" I asked.
"Just try it!"
A bottle with a light yellow liquid arrived to the table. I examined the label.
"There's a blonde girl on the bottle!"
How perfect!
We then went for a swim. It's amazing how freshwater feels to swim in verses saltwater. I had to tread water more since my body wanted to sink, but I needed the workout. I've been eating so much in Croatia! Earlier this week, Alex asked me, what will you miss most? I told him, The food!
While swimming, Terry and I continued to talk with Marijo.
"Do a lot of young Croatians leave the country?" I asked.
"They may want more, but there is nothing they lack," he told me. Kids leave to explore more of the world, but they generally and come back.
It was a great response.
When we were back at the house, I talked about how my favorite food in Croatia was the fig. I've only eaten figs from my Great Aunt's house in the Bronx, because they don't last long once off the tree.
Soon after getting back to the house, Marijo's mom brought in a bowl of fresh figs from their tree. I was so happy! She must have heard how much I liked fresh figs.
"They're not perfectly ripe, they're a bit early, but that means they're not as sweet," Aurora told me.
I opened up one of the fruit and took a bite. I had forgotten exactly how delicious they were. Ah. I was a happy camper. Terry seemed amused by my expression.
Croatian families are known for their hospitality. As much as Terry wanted to help, he was a guest.
"No, no, relax!"
Dinner consisted of a homemade Croatian barbeque. Sausage, beef patties, chicken kebobs, a salad of cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, with a side of peppers stuffed with a cheese and grape tomatoes. And yummy bread. With Majmak.
"You can't find Majmak in the States!" Aurora told me.
"Have some more wine!" They saw Terry had an empty glass amd promptly filled it. From my last trip, I learned that it's impolite to have your guest sit with an empty plate or empty glass.
"I'm stuffed, but I don't want the food to go to waste," Terry told his hosts as he looked at his now filled glass and the food that lay untouched, ready to be consumed.
"Nothing is wasted, here. The cats love the meat, and the hens have been waiting for this bread! We'll pick up a fresh loaf tomorrow morning."
"What is considered old here is fresh in NYC!" Terry said, thinking about the differences between NYC and a Croatian home.
As Terry and Marijo talked world history, I asked Aurora about local food.
"I've loved the black risotto with cuttlefish here. I've never had it before," I told her. "What makes it black?"
"Ink from the cuttlefish."
Fascinating. Who would have thought such a thing?
Any large meal with some wine is enough to put a person into a food coma, and since Terry woke up before the sunrise this morning, he was really feeling it, so he headed to bed. I stayed an extra hour to hang out and chat.
It turns out that Aurora and Marijo lived in New Jersey for a few years while working in NYC. So naturally, we talked about my home state. Jersey tomatoes, my teaching career, and my fiancé.
"Why didn't he come?"
"He wasn't able to take off that much time from work, unfortunately," I told them.
"We're currently in a pre cana program. Traditionally, it's a year minimun between the engagement and the wedding. Is it the same here?"
"Croatia is just 45 days," they told me.
"So, if I got Alex to come to Croatia..." I joked. "but my family needs the party. We couldn't elope."
"In Croatia, family is very close," Marijo began. "The wedding is more for the family than the couple. It's the time for them to give their blessings and celebrate the marriage."
I hadn't thought of it like that, but he was right. What a wonderful day. Croatian hospitality is amazing. I'm really going to miss this.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Day 14: "You're Like Baywatch!"
Friday, July 31, 2015
Clouds covered the sunrise, the first time it was this dark all trip. I felt some rain drizzle down, but nothing more.
The wind was eight knots by our anchorage in the bay. Nice! This bodes for great sailing weather! Barely five minutes after putting our sails up did the wind pick up to eighteen, soon stabilizing at twenty-two.
"This is great!" Terry was like a kid on Christmas. He lives for these sailing days.
"Ems, want the helm?"
Might as well. I took the wheel. I've never steered under sail with this much power. There have been a couple times on the J24 when the winds were sustained close to twenty knots, but that was a smaller boat with smaller sails.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit worried. I looked at the panel. Sustained winds at twenty-two, going up to twenty-five. Once I saw the wind speed reach thirty! My top speed on a beam reach was 4.8 knots, which meant we were flying as fast as the boat would be under motor.
"Terry, I think we need to bring in the sails."
"You're good!" He loved when the boat heeled a lot.
"Terry, I'm getting overpowered." A strong gust pushed the boat upwind, and I started to lose control of the wheel as the wind took over.
Terry grabbed the winch handle and started pulling in the headsail and mainsail. In high wind, if you have too much sail up, the wind pushes the boat with more force than the rudder can handle, and thus gets overpowered. Our speed slowed down a bit once the sails were brought in a bit, but I felt much more in control of the boat. Today was all about team effort, since we didn't want to put the autopilot on. If the boat for overpowered, the autopilot was worthless.
We looked around at other sailboats with their sails completely down, motoring along. No one was as brave as us. The weak would call us crazy. We laugh. We're adventurous. We're sailors.
We were sailing with about half a headsail and half the mainsail, and still moving about three knots. That is crazy. We even passed a sailboat motoring with no sail.
The waves were rough. Don't get me wrong, it was fun, but the seas were roaring. Watching the nearby boats go way up and way down in the water was impressive.
As we sailed around, the wind slowly started to die down, sustaining winds barely at twenty knots and rarely with gusts above that, and within a half hour the wind was down to twelve knots.
"What happened?"
Well, it was fun while it lasted. The dinghy filled with water from getting tossed around, so Terry had to go in with a bucket to remove the water that collected inside.
All the Yacht Week boats were coming back inland. I must have seen twenty boats come back in as we were leaving the channel. They all had a blue banner with "The Yacht Week" posted on the backstay, with nationality flags of the customers flying on the boat as well.
Our lunch was leftover pasta with pesto sauce, the rest of the meat and cheese, and sliced tomatoes. We tried to consume as much as we can to minimize food we have to throw out tomorrow.
"Are there any plans for today?"
"Nope," I said. I made today a sailing day, so we can go wherever."
"How about a monastery? There's one on Brač island." Alicia looked this one up.
"Put it on the iPad charts and see how long it will take to get there and back to the marina," Terry told her. With a straight shot at the speed we were going, we would get to the marina about 4:00 P.M. Not ideal, but we decided to go for it. Sadly, this meant no more sailing, since we needed top speed attained by motoring.
I had been wearing a rashguard all week to keep my skin protected from the sun, but this resulted in my face, arms, and legs being tan, with covered areas still their pastey white color. So I took a nap while sunbathing as Terry drove to our destination.
I woke up to arrive at Uvala Blaca. We didn't see any buildings on the mountainous island, but we did see hikers.
Alicia and I went for a swim toward shore. It was a fair distance of a swim- just what we needed to work off that lunch!
When we reached the shore, we saw a man in a small boat with a motor.
"Do you know where the monastery is?" Alicia asked.
"It's further down the island."
So we swam back and drove the boat a bit further down Brač. After scoping out a few more coves, we decided to turn around and head back to the marina.
I went down below for a bit.
"Ems, come up!" Terry said in an urgent tone. I ran up.
"There's a guy in a flipped kayak who needs help," he told me as I came up. It turned out to be a sail kayak.
"Do you need help?" We yelled to him.
"Yes," he nodded. He was clearly struggling.
We tied a rope to the stern of the boat and, after two throws, were able to throw it so he could catch it.
"Tie the rope to your kayak, and we'll take your things so you can come on board." It took the man some time to tie up his kayak and get his things to us. The wind was sustained at twenty knots, and the waves reflected that. He was pretty lucky that we saw him- not many boats had passed by this area, and the ones that did were smaller powerboats. They might not have been able to tow him to shore in this crazy water.
We got him on board and drove to a cove where some people had lived. It looked like a very small private beach, nothing commercial.
"Take the rope with you to shore, with the kayak. Then we can get it back." We approached the shore, Terry watching his depths to get as close as possible without running aground. The keel is 1.6 meters. He got as close as 2 meters at one point.
"Should we swim his things to him?" Alicia and I grabbed his bookbag and oar and swam them to shore, in exchange for the rope he borrowed.
"Thank you so much," he told us gratefully. Let's just hope he doesn't go back on the water to get back where he started.
The whole thing from start to finish took about a half hour.
"I find it interesting that we were looking for a monastery, and helped out someone in need instead!" Alicia said.
Alright. Our ETA was now 5:30 P.M. Let's go!
We had three hours of motoring ahead of us. The water was still very rough in the high winds.
At one point, we raised sails since we were on a beam reach, to add some more speed to the motor.
Our last few hours.
"Might as well do some laundry before we get to the marina," Terry told Alicia and me. Croatia doesn't seem to have dryers, only washers. The wind will help us right now. We each used the kitchen sink and dish detergent to clean out some clothes for the next few days, and used clothespins to hang them on the lifelines to dry.
We turned the last corner and could see the marina. We saw a young man and his lady trying to swim against the current back to their beach. They were making no progress.
"Do you need help?"
They nodded yes. We put the ladder back down and hovered near them so they could climb on board after handing us their flotation device.
"Thank you," they said with a Slavic accent. We drove them further up to an area where people were swimming and dropped them off.
"I'll drop you off further up, so the current will push you to shore," Terry told them, and they were on their way.
"Two rescues in one day!"
Certainly an adventurous way to end a trip. We filled up on gas before pulling up to the marina. We didn't see an open berth.
"Let me jump off and we'll take the berth closest to the edge," I said. Terry neared the pier and I jumped off, barefoot. I looked around for a SailCroatia guy, but didn't see any. I walked back and Terry started motoring down the pier. I ran down the pier to follow him, wherever he ended up.
There was a SailCroatia worker with the last open berth. It looked tight. This was going to be Terry's toughest med mooring. It's a shame I was dockside and not on the boat to help.
Terry reversed back into the open spot, more quickly than I would have anticipated, but in this wind, if you went too slowly, you'd get pushed to the side and have to adjust even more.
Not a perfect moor, but he did it, and nothing was broken. We brought back the boat in one piece!
"We're still getting used to med-mooring," Terry said.
"You did great!" He told us.
We fixed up the lines to secure us in. There was another SailCroatia guy there as well.
"So where did you visit?"
Terry attempted some names, with hesitations in between, so I jumped in to help him out.
"We went to Šolta Island to anchor at Uvala Nečujam, then to Korčula, Lastovo, Stari Grad, Vis Island, the Blue and Green Caves, Šibenik, Kornati, then down to Žirje and Drvenik Veli for the blue lagoon."
"Wow, she even learned all the names!"
I think he was impressed at how easily an anglophone rattled off correct pronunciations of all the islands and towns we went to.
"She told me where to go, and we went there," Terry said with a smile.
"We even saved three people on the water!" Terry started telling them our rescue stories.
"You guys are like Baywatch!"
Haha. That was one of the best comments from our trip, I think.
After settling back in, we went to the Marina center to shower and have a drink. We ate dinner at a local Konoba, where a lot of other people had already scoped out. One last family-style dinner for the three of us, since we'd be leaving the boat in the morning.
As we walked back to the boat, we saw the moon starting to rise over Split. Our last night on the boat.
We spent about an hour or two cleaning up the boat, throwing out trash and unusued food after packing up our things. We wanted her to be in step-off condition before we retired for the night.
"Ya did good, Pipi. Ya did good, kid."
Clouds covered the sunrise, the first time it was this dark all trip. I felt some rain drizzle down, but nothing more.
The wind was eight knots by our anchorage in the bay. Nice! This bodes for great sailing weather! Barely five minutes after putting our sails up did the wind pick up to eighteen, soon stabilizing at twenty-two.
"This is great!" Terry was like a kid on Christmas. He lives for these sailing days.
"Ems, want the helm?"
Might as well. I took the wheel. I've never steered under sail with this much power. There have been a couple times on the J24 when the winds were sustained close to twenty knots, but that was a smaller boat with smaller sails.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit worried. I looked at the panel. Sustained winds at twenty-two, going up to twenty-five. Once I saw the wind speed reach thirty! My top speed on a beam reach was 4.8 knots, which meant we were flying as fast as the boat would be under motor.
"Terry, I think we need to bring in the sails."
"You're good!" He loved when the boat heeled a lot.
"Terry, I'm getting overpowered." A strong gust pushed the boat upwind, and I started to lose control of the wheel as the wind took over.
Terry grabbed the winch handle and started pulling in the headsail and mainsail. In high wind, if you have too much sail up, the wind pushes the boat with more force than the rudder can handle, and thus gets overpowered. Our speed slowed down a bit once the sails were brought in a bit, but I felt much more in control of the boat. Today was all about team effort, since we didn't want to put the autopilot on. If the boat for overpowered, the autopilot was worthless.
We looked around at other sailboats with their sails completely down, motoring along. No one was as brave as us. The weak would call us crazy. We laugh. We're adventurous. We're sailors.
We were sailing with about half a headsail and half the mainsail, and still moving about three knots. That is crazy. We even passed a sailboat motoring with no sail.
The waves were rough. Don't get me wrong, it was fun, but the seas were roaring. Watching the nearby boats go way up and way down in the water was impressive.
As we sailed around, the wind slowly started to die down, sustaining winds barely at twenty knots and rarely with gusts above that, and within a half hour the wind was down to twelve knots.
"What happened?"
Well, it was fun while it lasted. The dinghy filled with water from getting tossed around, so Terry had to go in with a bucket to remove the water that collected inside.
All the Yacht Week boats were coming back inland. I must have seen twenty boats come back in as we were leaving the channel. They all had a blue banner with "The Yacht Week" posted on the backstay, with nationality flags of the customers flying on the boat as well.
Our lunch was leftover pasta with pesto sauce, the rest of the meat and cheese, and sliced tomatoes. We tried to consume as much as we can to minimize food we have to throw out tomorrow.
"Are there any plans for today?"
"Nope," I said. I made today a sailing day, so we can go wherever."
"How about a monastery? There's one on Brač island." Alicia looked this one up.
"Put it on the iPad charts and see how long it will take to get there and back to the marina," Terry told her. With a straight shot at the speed we were going, we would get to the marina about 4:00 P.M. Not ideal, but we decided to go for it. Sadly, this meant no more sailing, since we needed top speed attained by motoring.
I had been wearing a rashguard all week to keep my skin protected from the sun, but this resulted in my face, arms, and legs being tan, with covered areas still their pastey white color. So I took a nap while sunbathing as Terry drove to our destination.
I woke up to arrive at Uvala Blaca. We didn't see any buildings on the mountainous island, but we did see hikers.
Alicia and I went for a swim toward shore. It was a fair distance of a swim- just what we needed to work off that lunch!
When we reached the shore, we saw a man in a small boat with a motor.
"Do you know where the monastery is?" Alicia asked.
"It's further down the island."
So we swam back and drove the boat a bit further down Brač. After scoping out a few more coves, we decided to turn around and head back to the marina.
I went down below for a bit.
"Ems, come up!" Terry said in an urgent tone. I ran up.
"There's a guy in a flipped kayak who needs help," he told me as I came up. It turned out to be a sail kayak.
"Do you need help?" We yelled to him.
"Yes," he nodded. He was clearly struggling.
We tied a rope to the stern of the boat and, after two throws, were able to throw it so he could catch it.
"Tie the rope to your kayak, and we'll take your things so you can come on board." It took the man some time to tie up his kayak and get his things to us. The wind was sustained at twenty knots, and the waves reflected that. He was pretty lucky that we saw him- not many boats had passed by this area, and the ones that did were smaller powerboats. They might not have been able to tow him to shore in this crazy water.
We got him on board and drove to a cove where some people had lived. It looked like a very small private beach, nothing commercial.
"Take the rope with you to shore, with the kayak. Then we can get it back." We approached the shore, Terry watching his depths to get as close as possible without running aground. The keel is 1.6 meters. He got as close as 2 meters at one point.
"Should we swim his things to him?" Alicia and I grabbed his bookbag and oar and swam them to shore, in exchange for the rope he borrowed.
"Thank you so much," he told us gratefully. Let's just hope he doesn't go back on the water to get back where he started.
The whole thing from start to finish took about a half hour.
"I find it interesting that we were looking for a monastery, and helped out someone in need instead!" Alicia said.
Alright. Our ETA was now 5:30 P.M. Let's go!
We had three hours of motoring ahead of us. The water was still very rough in the high winds.
At one point, we raised sails since we were on a beam reach, to add some more speed to the motor.
Our last few hours.
"Might as well do some laundry before we get to the marina," Terry told Alicia and me. Croatia doesn't seem to have dryers, only washers. The wind will help us right now. We each used the kitchen sink and dish detergent to clean out some clothes for the next few days, and used clothespins to hang them on the lifelines to dry.
We turned the last corner and could see the marina. We saw a young man and his lady trying to swim against the current back to their beach. They were making no progress.
"Do you need help?"
They nodded yes. We put the ladder back down and hovered near them so they could climb on board after handing us their flotation device.
"Thank you," they said with a Slavic accent. We drove them further up to an area where people were swimming and dropped them off.
"I'll drop you off further up, so the current will push you to shore," Terry told them, and they were on their way.
"Two rescues in one day!"
Certainly an adventurous way to end a trip. We filled up on gas before pulling up to the marina. We didn't see an open berth.
"Let me jump off and we'll take the berth closest to the edge," I said. Terry neared the pier and I jumped off, barefoot. I looked around for a SailCroatia guy, but didn't see any. I walked back and Terry started motoring down the pier. I ran down the pier to follow him, wherever he ended up.
There was a SailCroatia worker with the last open berth. It looked tight. This was going to be Terry's toughest med mooring. It's a shame I was dockside and not on the boat to help.
Terry reversed back into the open spot, more quickly than I would have anticipated, but in this wind, if you went too slowly, you'd get pushed to the side and have to adjust even more.
Not a perfect moor, but he did it, and nothing was broken. We brought back the boat in one piece!
"We're still getting used to med-mooring," Terry said.
"You did great!" He told us.
We fixed up the lines to secure us in. There was another SailCroatia guy there as well.
"So where did you visit?"
Terry attempted some names, with hesitations in between, so I jumped in to help him out.
"We went to Šolta Island to anchor at Uvala Nečujam, then to Korčula, Lastovo, Stari Grad, Vis Island, the Blue and Green Caves, Šibenik, Kornati, then down to Žirje and Drvenik Veli for the blue lagoon."
"Wow, she even learned all the names!"
I think he was impressed at how easily an anglophone rattled off correct pronunciations of all the islands and towns we went to.
"She told me where to go, and we went there," Terry said with a smile.
"We even saved three people on the water!" Terry started telling them our rescue stories.
"You guys are like Baywatch!"
Haha. That was one of the best comments from our trip, I think.
After settling back in, we went to the Marina center to shower and have a drink. We ate dinner at a local Konoba, where a lot of other people had already scoped out. One last family-style dinner for the three of us, since we'd be leaving the boat in the morning.
As we walked back to the boat, we saw the moon starting to rise over Split. Our last night on the boat.
We spent about an hour or two cleaning up the boat, throwing out trash and unusued food after packing up our things. We wanted her to be in step-off condition before we retired for the night.
"Ya did good, Pipi. Ya did good, kid."
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Day 13: A Boat Breakfast and Wine Pick-Up
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Bacon and eggs and toast and blueberry juice! That's how we started off our morning while anchored!
Pipi was free of her anchor by 9:30 A.M. We passed by the small town of Muna to have a look see before continuing on.
Again, such a peaceful morning, but we wanted to sail so we raised her sails. Too peaceful. The wind speed was down to 3.5 knots so we motored to sea.
As the wind crept up to a steady five knots, it was time to put the sails back up. We were moseying along at barely at a knot, but we were in no rush.
A half hour later as we were pushed further out to sea, the wind picked up to seven knots. 2.6 knots was our actual speed, and we were on a beam reach! Woo hoo!
Good things rarely last, and we lost wind after a while, way out at sea. Sadly, we had to motor all the way back to shore.
"What is that?"
We saw something floating in the water.
"A deflated floatie? A dolphin? No no, a smurf!" I guessed.
We approached the unknown object and discovered it to be an inflatable that, despite being water logged, was still drifting at the sea surface.
"Our good deed for the day- cleaning up the sea!"
"Tuna pašteta, anyone?" I said.
We had a few hours before dinner, and still had some tuna pate to finish before we left the boat.
"Can I get some cat food?" Alicia asked. She was right. The pašteta in the can could easily pass for cat food in the U.S.
We headed toward Uvala Krknjasi on Drvenik Veli for the blue lagoon. This was quite a popular anchorage, that by 7:00 P.M., at least ten boats called this area home for the night.
"Alright, think there's a store to buy wine?" Terry asked.
"Well, there's a restaurant," I told him.
"Okay, we'll buy a bottle from the restaurant!"
We took the dinghy to shore for wine. There was a small passage between two coves where boats were anchored. The depth couldn't have been more than a meter here, but it was quite lovely looking down into the transparent water and seeing what covered the seafloor.
We walked up the restaurant, which had a nice walkway from the small pier leading up to outdoor seating. After about five minutes and feeling like we were bitten by as many bugs, we decided to quickly finish our wine, buy a bottle, and head back to our boat oasis.
There was an adorably large and sweet black dog wandering the premises going from person to person. He finally retired to the floor and put his head by his paws, which were lying off a step as he looked at us with a face you'd see on an ASPCA advertisement. So darn cute. Can we take him home with us?
It certainly is a full moon tonight, shining over the glass-still water, creating a pathway toward our boat. The occasional fish jumping out and what sounds like bats squeaking are the only sounds that dominate the air.
One more full day to go.
Bacon and eggs and toast and blueberry juice! That's how we started off our morning while anchored!
Pipi was free of her anchor by 9:30 A.M. We passed by the small town of Muna to have a look see before continuing on.
Again, such a peaceful morning, but we wanted to sail so we raised her sails. Too peaceful. The wind speed was down to 3.5 knots so we motored to sea.
As the wind crept up to a steady five knots, it was time to put the sails back up. We were moseying along at barely at a knot, but we were in no rush.
A half hour later as we were pushed further out to sea, the wind picked up to seven knots. 2.6 knots was our actual speed, and we were on a beam reach! Woo hoo!
Good things rarely last, and we lost wind after a while, way out at sea. Sadly, we had to motor all the way back to shore.
"What is that?"
We saw something floating in the water.
"A deflated floatie? A dolphin? No no, a smurf!" I guessed.
We approached the unknown object and discovered it to be an inflatable that, despite being water logged, was still drifting at the sea surface.
"Our good deed for the day- cleaning up the sea!"
"Tuna pašteta, anyone?" I said.
We had a few hours before dinner, and still had some tuna pate to finish before we left the boat.
"Can I get some cat food?" Alicia asked. She was right. The pašteta in the can could easily pass for cat food in the U.S.
We headed toward Uvala Krknjasi on Drvenik Veli for the blue lagoon. This was quite a popular anchorage, that by 7:00 P.M., at least ten boats called this area home for the night.
"Alright, think there's a store to buy wine?" Terry asked.
"Well, there's a restaurant," I told him.
"Okay, we'll buy a bottle from the restaurant!"
We took the dinghy to shore for wine. There was a small passage between two coves where boats were anchored. The depth couldn't have been more than a meter here, but it was quite lovely looking down into the transparent water and seeing what covered the seafloor.
We walked up the restaurant, which had a nice walkway from the small pier leading up to outdoor seating. After about five minutes and feeling like we were bitten by as many bugs, we decided to quickly finish our wine, buy a bottle, and head back to our boat oasis.
There was an adorably large and sweet black dog wandering the premises going from person to person. He finally retired to the floor and put his head by his paws, which were lying off a step as he looked at us with a face you'd see on an ASPCA advertisement. So darn cute. Can we take him home with us?
It certainly is a full moon tonight, shining over the glass-still water, creating a pathway toward our boat. The occasional fish jumping out and what sounds like bats squeaking are the only sounds that dominate the air.
One more full day to go.
Day 12: Jammin' in the Kornati Archipelago
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
"Let's make like a bee and buzz off!" I said, jokingly.
There are bees hanging around the boat. Terry hates bees, after some bad experiences when he was younger. He's down below, hatch closed, with a towel swatting them away.
"Okay, let's get out of here."
We started motoring up.
"Ems, clean up the deck, I'll get the salon floor, and give Alicia the helm."
Gah, cleaning the deck. While the boat is moving, now. I guess I'm really getting experience in all areas of a boat. I used a bucket to collect sea water to dump on deck, and a long brush to scrub off grime.
"How does a boat get so dirty so quickly?"
After about fifteen minutes I called it quits and put everything away. We approached a very narrow channel. Alicia slowed down, as the boat in front of us. Not so bad. Then we approached another area that wasnt as clearly marked to tell yoi how shallow the water was. We had to stay near a beacon, and check our depth meter alongside the iPad chart so we wouldn't run a ground. It was some excellent eamwork with Alicia and me. Terry took pictures as we were working together.
Alicia is still at the helm. It's nice having an extra person do some of the work.
We're heading toward Levrnaka. Mountains on both sides of us are jetting up, creating a simple, yet scenic landscape.
We set anchor at Levrnaka. Not even five minutes later, I hear music playing from a commercial travel boat.
"We're jammin. I wanna jam it with you."
A few minutes pass as we get the dinghy ready.
"Every very little thing is gonna be alright." More Bob Marley.
I've felt very low stress on this trip. Very much, whatever happens, happens in regards to each day's plans. So long as we explore new areas. And Croatia has so much to explore that there's certainly no shortage.
We went to land to get ice cream at the Konoba. Four scoops: rosemary, ginger, olive, and truffle-orange. I must admit, I was hesitant to trying some of those flavors, but I was pleasantly surprised.
We saw a fisherman come in on his boat with fresh fish. There was a lobster cage as well, right outside the restaurant. Adriatic lobsters look different from lobsters found in the U.S., in that the Adriatic versions are more striped, more spikey, and didn't have claws.
"Like a bigger version of shrimp." This is in reference to the Spiny Lobster.
We finished our ice cream and looked around. A little girl tried to get onto a yacht, but the gap between the dock and the plank was too far for her little legs. She attempted, but waited for her dad to extend the plank before reaching out and climbing into it.
"Alright, let's go back to the boat."
We saw anther girl try to water ski, but gave up and her older sister tried and was successful.
We should something fun like that.
"I'm going to jump off from the perch!" I declared.
The water felt amazing. Too deep to see anything around me, but very refreshing.
"Okay, I'm going to try a dive." I looked around me, thinking of how I was going to do this. I had to jump up a foot or two to clear the back rest of the perch, while going out enough so I didn't come too close to the boat. I hesitated, then dove overboard.
"Aww, she loses points for the splash," Terry said as he imitated a judge. He took pictures with his iPhone. "You start off good, we see some nice form," he starts as he shows me the pictures. "There's the jump, and oh no, the knees are too bent, but wait they straighten out but the feet aren't close enough together."
"I want to try!" Alicia followed suit, as did Terry. Each of our dives had their own flavor and style.
After our diving practice, we headed back out to sea. As we rounded out a channel, we looked back to see huge cliffs with small caves.
"Our own private cave!"
As we neared the cliffs, something felt eerie. Too many movies were making my thoughts run wild with creating a scene. We were motoring, so Terry had full control of the boat- we didn't have to worry about a wind shadow from the island.
"I want to go for a swim by the cliffs," Alicia told us. We pulled up closer. About three boat lengths from the cliffs and 80 meters deep.
"Alright, count me in." After seeing Terry get some pictures of Alicia, I decided I'd go in as well. After a few minutes I returned to the boat.
There were only four to five knots with gusts to six now. All we did was roll around in the waves as we headed south. The seas appeared to be three feet, at least. After spending some time down below looking up some things and Skyping Alex, I started feeling a bit queasy. That's what rougher waters will do to you when you're below deck and being thrown around by the waves. We had ten knot winds and now we're down to four knots. At least with higher winds you're tearing through the water. Otherwise you're just bouncing up and down on the boat.
We saw what we presumed to be a Navy ship pass us by. I wonder if they're patrolling.
We motored back through Kornati to anchor at Ravni Žakan, but saw how crowded it was so we kept going to Žirje Island.
I thought I escaped Yacht Week, until Terry and Alicia started dancing on the back perch to Iggy Azalea. They were having fun. I decided to just hang out on the bow instead. I was feeling more relaxed.
We arrived at Uvala Mikavica on Žirje, which was more relaxed than our previous stop. Only three other boats were anchored in the same bay.
For dinner, we started emptying the cabinets and made tuna salad sandwiches.
Another nice, cool night to sleep in my cabin. Much better weather than the previous week.
"Let's make like a bee and buzz off!" I said, jokingly.
There are bees hanging around the boat. Terry hates bees, after some bad experiences when he was younger. He's down below, hatch closed, with a towel swatting them away.
"Okay, let's get out of here."
We started motoring up.
"Ems, clean up the deck, I'll get the salon floor, and give Alicia the helm."
Gah, cleaning the deck. While the boat is moving, now. I guess I'm really getting experience in all areas of a boat. I used a bucket to collect sea water to dump on deck, and a long brush to scrub off grime.
"How does a boat get so dirty so quickly?"
After about fifteen minutes I called it quits and put everything away. We approached a very narrow channel. Alicia slowed down, as the boat in front of us. Not so bad. Then we approached another area that wasnt as clearly marked to tell yoi how shallow the water was. We had to stay near a beacon, and check our depth meter alongside the iPad chart so we wouldn't run a ground. It was some excellent eamwork with Alicia and me. Terry took pictures as we were working together.
Alicia is still at the helm. It's nice having an extra person do some of the work.
We're heading toward Levrnaka. Mountains on both sides of us are jetting up, creating a simple, yet scenic landscape.
We set anchor at Levrnaka. Not even five minutes later, I hear music playing from a commercial travel boat.
"We're jammin. I wanna jam it with you."
A few minutes pass as we get the dinghy ready.
"Every very little thing is gonna be alright." More Bob Marley.
I've felt very low stress on this trip. Very much, whatever happens, happens in regards to each day's plans. So long as we explore new areas. And Croatia has so much to explore that there's certainly no shortage.
We went to land to get ice cream at the Konoba. Four scoops: rosemary, ginger, olive, and truffle-orange. I must admit, I was hesitant to trying some of those flavors, but I was pleasantly surprised.
We saw a fisherman come in on his boat with fresh fish. There was a lobster cage as well, right outside the restaurant. Adriatic lobsters look different from lobsters found in the U.S., in that the Adriatic versions are more striped, more spikey, and didn't have claws.
"Like a bigger version of shrimp." This is in reference to the Spiny Lobster.
We finished our ice cream and looked around. A little girl tried to get onto a yacht, but the gap between the dock and the plank was too far for her little legs. She attempted, but waited for her dad to extend the plank before reaching out and climbing into it.
"Alright, let's go back to the boat."
We saw anther girl try to water ski, but gave up and her older sister tried and was successful.
We should something fun like that.
"I'm going to jump off from the perch!" I declared.
The water felt amazing. Too deep to see anything around me, but very refreshing.
"Okay, I'm going to try a dive." I looked around me, thinking of how I was going to do this. I had to jump up a foot or two to clear the back rest of the perch, while going out enough so I didn't come too close to the boat. I hesitated, then dove overboard.
"Aww, she loses points for the splash," Terry said as he imitated a judge. He took pictures with his iPhone. "You start off good, we see some nice form," he starts as he shows me the pictures. "There's the jump, and oh no, the knees are too bent, but wait they straighten out but the feet aren't close enough together."
"I want to try!" Alicia followed suit, as did Terry. Each of our dives had their own flavor and style.
After our diving practice, we headed back out to sea. As we rounded out a channel, we looked back to see huge cliffs with small caves.
"Our own private cave!"
As we neared the cliffs, something felt eerie. Too many movies were making my thoughts run wild with creating a scene. We were motoring, so Terry had full control of the boat- we didn't have to worry about a wind shadow from the island.
"I want to go for a swim by the cliffs," Alicia told us. We pulled up closer. About three boat lengths from the cliffs and 80 meters deep.
"Alright, count me in." After seeing Terry get some pictures of Alicia, I decided I'd go in as well. After a few minutes I returned to the boat.
There were only four to five knots with gusts to six now. All we did was roll around in the waves as we headed south. The seas appeared to be three feet, at least. After spending some time down below looking up some things and Skyping Alex, I started feeling a bit queasy. That's what rougher waters will do to you when you're below deck and being thrown around by the waves. We had ten knot winds and now we're down to four knots. At least with higher winds you're tearing through the water. Otherwise you're just bouncing up and down on the boat.
We saw what we presumed to be a Navy ship pass us by. I wonder if they're patrolling.
We motored back through Kornati to anchor at Ravni Žakan, but saw how crowded it was so we kept going to Žirje Island.
I thought I escaped Yacht Week, until Terry and Alicia started dancing on the back perch to Iggy Azalea. They were having fun. I decided to just hang out on the bow instead. I was feeling more relaxed.
We arrived at Uvala Mikavica on Žirje, which was more relaxed than our previous stop. Only three other boats were anchored in the same bay.
For dinner, we started emptying the cabinets and made tuna salad sandwiches.
Another nice, cool night to sleep in my cabin. Much better weather than the previous week.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Day 11: The Aroma of Pastries and the Sounds of Sheep
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Ding-dong…Ding-dong...Ding-dong.
I looked at the time on my phone. 6:00 A.M. Why must every town's church bells begin ringing so early? And why won't it stop? A whole minute!
Yes, yes. I am awake. Thank you.
I slept talked last night. I woke up feeling claustrophobic in my cabin bed, as if I was trapped in the dark areas of the fortress in Šibenik. Terry told me I was yelling "Help!" so he came over and said everything was fine. That's when I realized I was awake on the boat, and not trapped in a fortress.
This silly mind of mine. But another reason why I spent most of my nights sleeping on the cockpit bench rather than in my cabin.
"That looks like a great place to run," Alicia told us about the trail nearby. She had been waiting for the opportunity for a good location and cooler weather. This was her moment!
Terry dropped her off via dinghy and came back to pick me up once I was ready to go.
We started motoring toward town then saw Alicia, waving to us, so we motored to that side instead.
Then the motor died.
"There's no more gas, is there?" I guessed.
Terry looked into the motor. "Nope. Time for the oars!"
Fortunately we were pretty close to the pier where Alicia was waiting, so it only took a couple minutes of rowing.
All three of us walked to the market to stock up on food for the rest of the week.
"How about we stop somewhere for coffee?" Terry suggested.
An aroma of freshly baked pastries wafted by me.
"What is that intoxicating smell?" I looked back. A small bakery! We walked in and bought some pastries, and then came back after the supermarket to buy two loaves of bread.
On our walk from the Konzum, we even saw a man selling whole fishes I assume he caught that morning. Nothing too big, but fresh fish by the gram.
After our grocery run, Alicia and I walked with our bags to the closest area of land to the boat, and Terry rowed his way back. He filled up the dinghy motor with gas and picked us up.
We were ready to begin the next leg of our journey, but we still needed to fill up the tanks with water. We motored to the pier where boats were moored, and looked around for someone who worked the pier.
Couldn't find anyone.
"Drop me off at the ferry dock and I'll go look for someone," I told Terry.
"Alright."
We had our fenders ready, so Terry approached the dock and I jumped off the boat. I searched for a harbor master but couldn't find anyone.
Wait, why do I need someone? I can easily be that guy. I walked back to where Terry was idling in the water, waiting for me.
"Come around to an open berth. I'll pick up the mooring line and hand it to you," I yelled to Terry.
Pipi came around, I picked up the mooring line and handed it to Terry and Alicia, and they gave me a stern line to hook into a ring on the pier. A few minutes of maneuvering lines and we were berthed.
Still no one who worked there.
"Alright, let's fill up with water!"
Turns out we were really low on water, so filling up here was a great idea. This should last us until we return to Marina Kaštela.
We then began heading toward Kornati. I raised the sails by myself and was now single manning the boat. I've gained more confidence in my sailing ability on this trip. I only need more practice with maneuvering under motor in reverse. Terry is much much better than me at handling the boat under power.
We ate lunch at sea again, having salami, cheese and bread or crackers with cherry juice from Zadar.
Terry is sleeping. Alicia on deck by the bow. I'm sailing Pipi. I could have my own boat if she had autopilot and the lines were where they are here on this boat. If I had the money...
After a couple hours, I left my shift and rested my eyes. A catamaran sailboat came close to us on the open sea water. Did they not see us? No one was on deck.
Someone came up and finally noticed how close we were. They were clearly surprised. We waved to them, and they waved back
"No, you can't have our boat!" I yelled out with a smile. "Are you enjoying yourselves?"
We yelled a very short conversation. Turns out they're french. We let them continue to overtake us before we decided to tack.
"Everybody ready?"
"No!" Terry yelled. "They're dragging a fishing line. Let them go further before we tack."
We closed up shop soon after to motor four hours to Zut. Islands started to pepper the landscape. I get why Yacht Week boats don't come up this way. Very fee villages. No party venues. Too much distance between towns. This bodes well for us. It'll be more peaceful!
Terry went to the bow to fix the bow's red light, which later ended up falling off. Then we saw that the steaming light doesn't work. Clearly this boat doesn't move at night.
We pull in closer to Zut. The water is like glass, with a gorgeous sunset behind the islands. Timed it with just enough light to anchor.
Alicia made a chicken dinner with rice and green beans, accompanied with white wine. We set up everything for dinner on the cockpit table.
"Bahhhh....bahh..." There are sheep on the hillside, running along the elevation.
"Is that a ukulele?" A guy was playing ukelele off his boat. So nice. So relaxing. Then he retired after a few songs.
Terry is asleep. Alicia is in the salon reading. I'm writing this in the cockpit. A glass of white wine next to me. A glass left in the bottle. My father and grandfather taught not to waste food. Same applies to wine, right? I'm in the Kornati archipelago. Boats anchored around me with the hum of voices socializing with each other. There's a starry sky with the moon shining brighter every day. This is the good life.
Ding-dong…Ding-dong...Ding-dong.
I looked at the time on my phone. 6:00 A.M. Why must every town's church bells begin ringing so early? And why won't it stop? A whole minute!
Yes, yes. I am awake. Thank you.
I slept talked last night. I woke up feeling claustrophobic in my cabin bed, as if I was trapped in the dark areas of the fortress in Šibenik. Terry told me I was yelling "Help!" so he came over and said everything was fine. That's when I realized I was awake on the boat, and not trapped in a fortress.
This silly mind of mine. But another reason why I spent most of my nights sleeping on the cockpit bench rather than in my cabin.
"That looks like a great place to run," Alicia told us about the trail nearby. She had been waiting for the opportunity for a good location and cooler weather. This was her moment!
Terry dropped her off via dinghy and came back to pick me up once I was ready to go.
We started motoring toward town then saw Alicia, waving to us, so we motored to that side instead.
Then the motor died.
"There's no more gas, is there?" I guessed.
Terry looked into the motor. "Nope. Time for the oars!"
Fortunately we were pretty close to the pier where Alicia was waiting, so it only took a couple minutes of rowing.
All three of us walked to the market to stock up on food for the rest of the week.
"How about we stop somewhere for coffee?" Terry suggested.
An aroma of freshly baked pastries wafted by me.
"What is that intoxicating smell?" I looked back. A small bakery! We walked in and bought some pastries, and then came back after the supermarket to buy two loaves of bread.
On our walk from the Konzum, we even saw a man selling whole fishes I assume he caught that morning. Nothing too big, but fresh fish by the gram.
After our grocery run, Alicia and I walked with our bags to the closest area of land to the boat, and Terry rowed his way back. He filled up the dinghy motor with gas and picked us up.
We were ready to begin the next leg of our journey, but we still needed to fill up the tanks with water. We motored to the pier where boats were moored, and looked around for someone who worked the pier.
Couldn't find anyone.
"Drop me off at the ferry dock and I'll go look for someone," I told Terry.
"Alright."
We had our fenders ready, so Terry approached the dock and I jumped off the boat. I searched for a harbor master but couldn't find anyone.
Wait, why do I need someone? I can easily be that guy. I walked back to where Terry was idling in the water, waiting for me.
"Come around to an open berth. I'll pick up the mooring line and hand it to you," I yelled to Terry.
Pipi came around, I picked up the mooring line and handed it to Terry and Alicia, and they gave me a stern line to hook into a ring on the pier. A few minutes of maneuvering lines and we were berthed.
Still no one who worked there.
"Alright, let's fill up with water!"
Turns out we were really low on water, so filling up here was a great idea. This should last us until we return to Marina Kaštela.
We then began heading toward Kornati. I raised the sails by myself and was now single manning the boat. I've gained more confidence in my sailing ability on this trip. I only need more practice with maneuvering under motor in reverse. Terry is much much better than me at handling the boat under power.
We ate lunch at sea again, having salami, cheese and bread or crackers with cherry juice from Zadar.
Terry is sleeping. Alicia on deck by the bow. I'm sailing Pipi. I could have my own boat if she had autopilot and the lines were where they are here on this boat. If I had the money...
After a couple hours, I left my shift and rested my eyes. A catamaran sailboat came close to us on the open sea water. Did they not see us? No one was on deck.
Someone came up and finally noticed how close we were. They were clearly surprised. We waved to them, and they waved back
"No, you can't have our boat!" I yelled out with a smile. "Are you enjoying yourselves?"
We yelled a very short conversation. Turns out they're french. We let them continue to overtake us before we decided to tack.
"Everybody ready?"
"No!" Terry yelled. "They're dragging a fishing line. Let them go further before we tack."
We closed up shop soon after to motor four hours to Zut. Islands started to pepper the landscape. I get why Yacht Week boats don't come up this way. Very fee villages. No party venues. Too much distance between towns. This bodes well for us. It'll be more peaceful!
Terry went to the bow to fix the bow's red light, which later ended up falling off. Then we saw that the steaming light doesn't work. Clearly this boat doesn't move at night.
We pull in closer to Zut. The water is like glass, with a gorgeous sunset behind the islands. Timed it with just enough light to anchor.
Alicia made a chicken dinner with rice and green beans, accompanied with white wine. We set up everything for dinner on the cockpit table.
"Bahhhh....bahh..." There are sheep on the hillside, running along the elevation.
"Is that a ukulele?" A guy was playing ukelele off his boat. So nice. So relaxing. Then he retired after a few songs.
Terry is asleep. Alicia is in the salon reading. I'm writing this in the cockpit. A glass of white wine next to me. A glass left in the bottle. My father and grandfather taught not to waste food. Same applies to wine, right? I'm in the Kornati archipelago. Boats anchored around me with the hum of voices socializing with each other. There's a starry sky with the moon shining brighter every day. This is the good life.
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