Croatia
Sept 14th- Oct 18th , 2020
Passage from Greece
Passage from Erikoysa, Greece to Cavatat, Croatia. It took us 2 days. And we averaged 3.6 Knots. The shortest great circle distance is 173 Nautical Miles. We sailed 210 Nautical Miles to get here.
Change of course 6nm from Albania
Welcoming sunrise over Montenegro coastline
Very challenging conditions tonight. Ever changing wind conditions
The wind changed abruptly from NW to East
Cavtat, clearing in...
After a very ever changing and challenging sail we arrived in Cavtat, Croatia after two days. We are now cleared in and good for 30 days, after paying the cruising tax.
Our anchorage in Cavtat
Well deserved dinner in Cavtat. Watching the locals practicing water polo in the sunset
The attachment of the boom Vang in the mast has been getting loose. This was the fix for now. We have high hope, but we will se....
Sailing by the historical town of Dubrovnik. We didn't stay this time but might do that on our way back south
This is a picture of the very rare Medicane (a hurricane in the Mediterranean ) That formed and passed through the area of west Greece just a week after we've been sailing there for a week with our Swedish friends. Really scary. Luckily we headed north all the way up to Croatia. So we were safe and far away from the hurricane when it hit
Our anchorage in Uvala Sunj, Lopud island
There is a lot of these small very very old churches around here. This one was very small and in the middle of the forest
The trail up to the old fort
The view from the fort
Another view from the fort. This is the town of Lopud
The town of Lopud is very cute with narrow roads and a beautiful beach walk
Up there is the fort I hiked to and took the pictures from
Our boom vang project got more serious. Now we have a broken spring :-(
The view from this amazing restaurant, You can see Horizon between the trees
The best seafood dish in a long time, And I got a cute bib :-)
Lots of small flies wanted to try our wine. so the server gave us these plates to cover up our wine. Excellent!
Of course they give out for free local liqueur. The grappa was not our favorite but the other one was good
Sailing in to the beautiful National park of Mljet
We hiked to the two famous salt water lakes in this national park
Map over the park
There is a free ferry service out to the Marije island in the lake, where there is an old monestary
Historical old town of Govedari in the middle of the National Forrest
We thought it was fun that Skola is the same word in Croatia as in Sweden (School)
This cute old car was left here...a little sad
Our anchorage in Mljet national park, in the town of Polace
Perfect private dock right outside the restaurant
At least we were very close to a very good restaurant.
We moved to the little town of Pomena on the western side of Mljek. Crystal clear water here
We stayed one day extra here because of this weather. First rain since way back in the spring. We stayed at a privat restaurant dock. Very good restaurant and very good free WiFi.
And we complimented their local olive oil so we got a big bottle for free :-)
Epic anchorage outside this beautiful monastery. We were the only boat here.
These cute guys welcomed us when we hiked around the island. They were not afraid of people and was begging for food
The old town of Korcula from the ocean
Next stop and sightseeing, Korcula. This is the entrance to the old town
One of the many narrow alleys in the old town of Corcula
Korcula is also the birthplace of Marco Polo, so we visited the museum
Spectacular weather and views as we sailing north from Corcula
Came in to this beautiful sheltered bay in the sunset, Loviste
It was a magic evening here. So calm with bright stars...
We decided to stay here another night because there was a storm approaching and this is very sheltered. Beautiful sunset though. More to come...
Love our anchor alarm app. During the storm in the middle of the night we suddenly had a 180 windshift
They predicted a big storm coming in. Thunderstorms and 50+ knots of wind. Since we don't have a micro we have these metal boxes for our electronics. We put the electronics in the box and then in the oven when thunderstorms are approaching
This was our sheltered harbor for the big storm. It was one of the calmest big storm we experienced so far
We always find the most interesting trails, thanks to Maps.me :-)
The day after the storm we moved north to a secluded, and free, anchorage on the island of Scedro
Beautiful sunset the night after the "Storm"
View from our secluded anchorage towards the neighboring island of Whar
Red light at night sailors delight...that's what we hope for...
Next stop was the island of Vis. A very protected harbor. Here we're passing a monastery, a church and a graveyard on our way in to the harbor
Magic evening here in Vis island, Croatia
We did a bike ride around the island from the town of Vis to the western most town of Komiza. Here we are at the highest point overlooking Komiza
This is the little fishing village of Komiza. Very cute with some good restaurants. Love these old fishing boats
From Komiza it was once again a long stretch of uphill. Tough ride but great views and scenery
The view from the hill coming back down to Vis and the harbor where Horizon is on a buoy
The reward on the way back was to visit some local wineries
We rounded Vis and this lighthouse on the eastern tip, sailing around on the south side
We stopped at the small island of Bisevo, south west of Vis. In high season you have to pay to go in to this spectacular Blue Cave, and you are not allowed to go in with your own dinghy. Once again, the beauty of cruising in offseason we didn't have to pay. Got a free buoy and went in with our own dinghy :-)
And the cave was spectacular. Blue cave is indeed a good name :-)
After Blue cave we spent the night in the town of Komiza which we biked to yesterday. To the right you can see the road were we biked. We went to a really nice restaurant in the village. They had their own dinghy garage for their guests. How cool is that :-)
We saw this sign in one of our anchorages on the island of Sveti Klement. We walked in and the owner looked a little surprised, it is after all the end of the season. But they were really nice and said that they could definitely make some dinner for us. We had a delicious dinner and fun chat with the owners
The next day the once again predicted very high winds so we moved to a more protected harbor on the same island. The next morning it was all sunny again and calm
During my walk around the island I found this vacation home where everything was built in stone. So pretty
Croatia has ATM's everywhere, even here in a deserted resort
The view on the windy side of the island
I found a close, for the season, resort. Probably very nice when it's up running
The view looking north east towards the island of Hvar and the city with the same name
This is Stari Grad on the island of Hvar. They say it's one of the oldest towns in the Mediterranean. It dates back to 350BC. Super cute with lots of narrow alleys and small local good restaurants if you walk up in the old town
Got invited to the neighbor boat for a drink tonight. That turned in to a dinner invitation. Good time indeed with fellow Americans on a fancy super yacht. We had a wonderful time
with great company. Sometimes you’re lucky with your neighbors
Madde and Johan signing on at Horizon
Preparing for our guests to arrive. Laundry, cleaning and shopping
Magic night in marina Kastela near Split
And the guests arrived! Johan and Madde will sail with us for a week from Split to Dubrovnik. Really fun to have company again :-)
A little stormy on our way from Vis to Korcula
Found a nice and sheltered anchorage on the west bay of Korcula
We hiked up to this all church
The view from the church. Perfect spot for watching the sunset, if it's not cloudy ;-)
And this was the sunset from our boat
The Croatian love this up side down black anchorage sign, which means anchorage forbidden
Once again visiting the charming town of Korcula. The birth town of Marco Polo
Beautiful back drop from the city to the north
The flowers are amazing in all these small alleys
We walked around the small, green lake
We sailed back to the National Park of Mljet, to show our guests this amazing place. Now off season it was free, no charge. The weather was a little cooler, but the lakes where still stunning
View of the monastery from a distance
We stayed at the private dock right outside one of the now only two open restaurants
I ordered mussels, the chef is here picking them up to cook. Talking about local and fresh
Our anchorage on the small island of Kolocep, very close to Dubrovnik
View over Dubrovnik from Kolocep
Beautiful hike around the island of Kolocep.
A common transportation on the island...
...And you know why when you see the "streets"
Sundowner on the foredeck of Horizon :-)
And this was the beautiful sunset
And we arrived in Dubrovnik. Once again the beauty of offseason. We tied up to the city dock, no charge, right in the old town.
Definitely worth pay the fee for walking the city wall. It's just stunning
Another fort seen from the wall
So many narrow alleys, but I think this had the best views
Someone said, The old town of Dubrovnik is best seen from above, and it's true
This is actually a working school, believe it or not
The city wall. A great walk with beautiful views all around
A pomegranate drink with a view, from the wall
I just love how the cats are relaxing in the playground. One on top of the slide and the other one on the double swing. And then the laundry behind that scene....
You can't be to big if you work as an electrician here ;-)
A very old church in the old town of Dubrovnik
Friends signing off... Leaving for Montenegro.
Last night with our friends. A sundowner on Horizon, in Cavtat
At the Q-dock in Cavtat, cleared out and ready for Montenegro
On our way along the coast towards Montenegro we met these guys,
Getting closer to the border to Montenegro
The southern most tip of Croatia...Montenegro here we come :-)