Day 1: Setting Off In Marina Kaštela With Pipi

Saturday, July 18, 2015

     After spending Thursday and Friday in Copenhagen, we arrived to Split Airport late Friday night and stayed at an apartment before our charter. Since we arrived after working hours for the Marina Kaštela, I had to hand over my passport for the night in exchange for the key.
     The plan for the morning was to get my passport back from the marina as soon as they opened, as well as getting a sim card for Terry's iPad. There's a great app that shows your current GPS location on charts with depths labeles around you. It's easier than using paper charts and more convenient for this boat because the electronic chart plotter was below deck. Plus, I placed a number of markers for anchorages on our version of the chart. That way, rather than having a set plan, we could sail anywhere we wanted, knowing there was a suitable anchorage in the vicinity. Besides, there were so many places to see in Croatia! I couldn't decide on an exact route.
     So off we were to the marina. It took about a half hour to walk there from our apartment, but this gave us the chance to explore a bit of the countryside by the water. After returning to our apartment, setting up the internet for Terry's iPad and phone, and packing up, a taxi brought us back to the marina by noon.
     Shortly thereafter, we could board the boat, called Pipi. We were shown around the sailing vessel to see how everything specifically worked since boats vary from model to model. The self-furling jib and mainsail were quite the luxury. Of course, this wouldn't be 2015 if the boat wasn't equipped with its own WiFi. That said, there was no air conditioning and the toilet required you to manually pump out your waste. You can't have it all.
     After the review, all that was left to do was buy bottled water, food, toilet paper and paper towels. By four o'clock, we were stocked up on supplies and ready to roll! Since this was our first sail in Europe, we had to leave our berth as a med-moored boat. To berth your sailboat in the United States, you tie two lines from the side of your boat and one line from the bow to a dock. In Europe, particularly Croatia, you back the boat toward a cement wall where you tie both sides of the stern to the wall, then pull up a mooring line to tie to the bow of your boat. We were already sandwiched in, as is. Maybe eight inches separating us from both boats next to us. Enough for a fender to be squeezed between boats. And to think- we'd have to successfully sandwich into this position when we return. As Terry motored out, I used a pole to push off the boat to our starboard side, since the wind was pushing the bow towards that boat. This helped straighten the boat and make sure we didn't slam into the neighbored boat. The widest part of the sailboat is in the middle closer the stern, so once that was wedged into open water, we were good!
     We motored out for a half hour or so before we put up sails. We had some decent winds for our first sail. I looked out at the landscape.
     "Is this real?" I asked Terry. "This feels like a dream!"
     In 2011, I visited over twenty NJ state parks and forests, and wrote a blog about my weekend excursions. I remember writing the thought that my favorite place would be where mountains are right next to the sea. It wasn't until 2012 that I was able to spend a weekend at Baška Voda in Croatia, but little did I know what my future would hold. I was looking around at my idea of the perfect place. And it was only going to get better.
     After sailing a few hours, we anchored at Uvala Nečujam, a cove on Šolta Island. There were a handful of sailboats who beat us there, but I loved that a few of our neighbors were schooners or tall ships, my favorite types of boats. There's just something majestic about ships that look like they were plucked from a few centuries ago.
     Terry and I jumped in for a swim in the refreshing bay water, and then ate a small dinner of bread, Gouda, and proscuitto. What a beautiful night to spend on the water. So many stars. We certainly weren't in New York City anymore!
     Sleeping in the cockpit under the stars was the only viable option. It may be a small wooden bench, but dress it up with a pillow and blanket, relax in the gentle rocking of the boat, and I'm out like a light.
     There may be other boats, but there are no crowds here. There may be people swimming, but we have our own space. If this is what sailing in Croatia entails, these next two weeks are going to be amazing!