Sailing in Croatia 2013

After some very soggy weekends sailing in the Solent during our ‘summer’ of 2012, I was determined to get away for some ‘shorts & T-Shirt’ sailing in 2013! I booked up to go on a sailing holiday around the many islands on the coast of Croatia!

 

Summer Sun moored up in the port of Rab

At the end of August I boarded a plane at Stansted, bound for Port-City of Pula in northern Croatia. Unfortunately it wasn't a very relaxed start to the holiday and due to delays in security I had to run virtually the length of the airport to catch the flight! Due to the same delays, one of our crew whom I’d been travelling with actually missed the flight completely!

Not a great start to a holiday away. Our crew was now down by one member and the remainder of the crew took great mirth in pointing the finger at me for ‘leaving someone behind’! –Great first impression I’d made!

We were soon at the marina and enjoying the warming sun in Pula! Due to an initial mix up with the charter company, our original 36 footer ended up being a nice big Bavaria 44, aptly called Summer Sun!

Spacious luxury on board Summer Sun

By the time we had stowed all our gear and fetched some supplies from the local store we were joined by our errant crew member who had managed to hop the following flight. Early the next morning we were motoring out into the deep blue of the Aegean and unfurling the sails to make our way to our first port! The holiday had now truly begun!

Sailing on the Aegean in August was very relaxed. A far cry from the Solent (which had had a bit of a stormy year up to that point). The winds were generally very good early in the morning and then tended to ease off by lunch time.

We all slipped into a nice routine of sailing in the morning, anchoring in a beautiful secluded bay for lunch, afternoon swim and then generally motoring to a new port each evening.

Port of Rab

Some of the more notable ports we visited were Rab and Osor. Both stunning places, but I’d have to favour Osor as it is a lovely little town, steeped in 12^th Century architecture that gave it a very distinct ‘medieval’ feel! That evening we had a sumptuous meal at a stunning restaurant. We ate in the garden, under vines bearing fruit!

The crew got on really well and we all shared responsibilities for cooking/cleaning and fetching supplies. The duty of ‘Ships’ Purser’ fell to me. A thankless task generally but made easy by everyone chipping in regularly to help purchase supplies.

We were all relieved that one of our crew could speak Croat, so if an emergency arose or we needed a quick translation, Renato would be on hand to help out. However, much to the amusement of the crew, whenever Renato tried to converse with a local, they did not seem to understand each other! After a few attempts he would simply quip that they could not speak Croat and they were not making any sense! 

Blue sky sailing!

For myself, on my daily shopping trips I managed to progress from pointing and smiling to being able to offer a simple greeting, saying 'please' and 'thank you'... and 'sorry' (when the person I was speaking to got carried away and launched a whole sentence at me)! I have to say that everyone I met were so helpful and understanding. They did appear to be very amused to listen to an Englishman try and order in their native language! 

Summer Sun moored up in Osor

When I go away I generally like to explore the places I visit. This holiday was no different and I’d got into the habit of having a solitary wander when we got into port and take in some of the local sights and sounds. On this particular evening I bumped into a lady, who I’d met earlier in a shop whilst I was picking up some little porcelain trinkets for family. This lady was out with her husband and they both invited me to join them for a drink. I have to say it was one of the best nights out of the holiday and they and their friends made me feel really welcome!

I awoke the next day, bleary-eyed and with a pounding head (luckily back in my bunk, on board ‘Summer Sun’)!

The last day was spent travelling around Pula itself, which is a beautiful city. The Romans had left some amazing buildings throughout the city, one of which was a giant Amphitheatre. 

PJ and I in front of the Amphitheatre, Pula

On the whole the week was a nice change of pace from racing. The holiday came at a perfect time for me as I’d completed a busy racing campaign with PM Racing in the Solent. I was also gearing up for the competition in South Africa so it was a nice chance to ‘take a breather’ before the hard-core training kicked off.

In short I would thoroughly recommend Croatia. It is a beautiful country and the people are fantastic. Thank you to all the crew: Renato, PJ, Joe, Maarit and Skippers: Fergal and Amanda.