Thursday, July 23, 2015
Waking up while anchored in a bay never ceases to be so incredibly quiet. Terry and I motored out of Mali Lago by 7:00 A.M. to get on our way. The rising sun was pretty, as she tried to squeeze through the morning clouds to show her shine. The water was like glass. No wind. So tranquil.
When the wind is this terrible for sailing, what do you do? Go for a swim in the Adriatic! The boat was reading a depth of 90 meters, so of course, to be on the safe side, one person held onto a rope attached to the stern of the boat while the other person was at the helm, with Pipi in idle.
Alicia was coming in by ferry from Split today, which meant we had to be in Vela Luka, settled by about 1:30 P.M. We finally had some wind, later in the morning, and began sailing back and forth outside the bay by Vela Luka. However, the clouds started increasing in size and the wind was sustained at fifteen knots. Rather than sailing further out at sea, I decided to stay close to the bay, in case a thunderstorm was in store. Terry went below deck to look for a radar map to determine if we would be in danger, as I continued to sail.
I looked to the side and saw a bolt shoot straight down into the water.
"Lightening!" I yelled. "I'm taking the sails down."
I didn't want to chance it. With storms come high wind, and I didn't want to get overpowered with both sails up. I quickly started taking the headsail down, partly limping with my injured toe.
One sail down, one to go. I checked the iPad charts. There was an underwater obstruction in my path, which was in the direction of the wind. When raising or lowering sails, it's easiest when the boat is pointed into the wind, so I had to wait until the obstruction was out of my path before I could bring in the mainsail.
I looked behind me. The clouds seemed to be following behind. I looked up. They were visibly growing. Though I was moving away from the mass of clouds, the wind speed was maintained at ten knots, rather than decreasing as I moved further toward land. I was trying to out-motor the storm!
As I pulled in closer to port, the winds died down and the sun remained strong. The storm preferred the sea, I suppose. I was just happy that we were safe. By this point, I had taken down everything on my own in a hurry. I felt accomplished, even if Pipi was a boat that was rigged in a super user-friendly way. Doing this all by myself on a J-24 sailboat in anything more than light wind is no easy feat. The frustration from that task made me appreciate the phrase "curses like a sailor."
Terry was still in the salon. I didn't know where exactly I was going, since he had the iPad, I just knew to stay in the middle until I saw the port. The benefit of the seafloor topography in Croatia is that it generally stays relatively deep, even close to shore. Much unlike Florida on the Gulf coast with its Intercoastal Waterways.
Finally I got to port.
"Terry! We're here! Do we get a mooring ball or a berth on the pier?"
He didn't know, but we did see fuel, so we waited for the current boat to leave, and filled up. The parking attendant said we could pull up on the pier.
This was going to be our second med mooring, and we did it! Not perfect, but it was another round of practice. Even easier than Korčula, since this marina had much more space between boats.
We each showered on our boat, making it the second time we showered in five days. You reach a certain point when you just stop caring. You're just going to sweat and swim in salt water anyway.
Terry found Alicia, and she got settled in before we decided to wander Vela Luka.
At the last two restaurants Terry and I visited, we wanted Peka, but weren't able to stick around for three hours, so we were on a mission to find a restaurant who prepared the dish. Peka requires you to order three hours in advance since they slow cook it under a lid. We put in an order for Lamb Peka at one restaurant, and had a drink at Konoba Casablanca to kill some time until dinner.
We returned to the restaurant early, to try an appetizer before dinner.
"I really want to order squid in Croatia," Alicia had told us. Since Terry and I loved the cuttlefish black risotto at Skrivena Luka, we decided to order it again, for Alicia as much as ourselves. Unfortunately, this time, it was not as stellar, though still tasty. Then again, shooting pain in my toe and feeling defeated the other night might make anything taste better. Who knows.
The three of us shared our first meal of Lamb peka with potatoes and carrots, and a side of cabbage salad. So much food. So simple. So delicious.
We were all in food comas by the end of it. We passed out within the hour of returning to the boat. Terry on deck. Alicia and I in our respective bedrooms. The loud music coming from town couldn't keep me awake.
I fell asleep with music blaring, and woke up to the complete opposite at 3:00 A.M. I only saw one group of four people sitting an talking a quarter mile away. If I was going to Skype Alex, I should at least do it where other people are conversing. I didn't want to wake up anyone on Pipi or the other boats berthed all around.
"Are you sure you'll be safe, walking around alone?" Alex asked me on Skype.
"Yeah, everyone is asleep. I feel fine."
An hour later I decided to return to my mobile home and squeeze in a few more hours of sleep. It now felt like I was the only person awake in the entire town. Not a creature was stirring. Nor should I be.
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