The morning of Thursday 20th September saw us
departing Rovinj - Croatia, and 10 hours later after 60nm, dropping anchor in
the Lagoon of Venice just off Treporti and Marina Fiofita. We were able
to sail some of the way but the winds were light and the seas a little lumpy.
The last few miles was slow going as we navigated our way along the canal
system inside the Lagoon avoiding the ferries transporting visitors to and from
Venice and the surrounding Islands. This was my third visit
here. Alec and I passed through Venice doing a ferry flight from Europe
to the Middle East in 1987, but never had time to venture into the old
city. I returned in 1999 with my good friend Helen on our European trip,
and loved it then. So to come back to this wonderful old seafaring port in
one’s own boat was quite a buzz.
The birth of this city begins sometime in the 4th
century with the collapse of the Roman Empire. The invasion of Italy by
the Barbarians ( Huns ) forced the people on the mainland to seek refuge on the
Islands in the Lagoon. It did not take the Venetians long to develop trade,
first with the mainland selling salt, then moving down the Adriatic and then
soon further afield. Over time they also conquered lands and built forts
and cities as they went. Hence today we have been able to visit some of
these wonderful old places as we have moved not only up the Adriatic, but all
around the Mediterranean. One can always tell where the Venetians have
been as there ‘stamp’ is left in stone in the form of ‘The Lion of St. Mark’ as
a plaque on all their fortresses. See photo.
First many many thanks to all who have written of late to
keep us up to date with what has been happening with you. Love getting
your news.
Well a few more miles have been covered and lots of
interesting places have been visited since our last letter went out. We
left you in Split – Middle Croatia. From there we sailed towards Trogir,
stopping off for a night in a delightful bay towards the north western end of
the Island of Ciovo. This was the first time since arriving in Croatia
that we were able to anchor in sand – wonderful holding. We could see the
anchor well dug in at 11mt. The water temperature was 27.7 degrees so swimming
was a must. Then it was on to Trogir. Here we were to wait for Wendy and
her boat ‘Selinaris’ who had sailed into the Red Sea with us. She was
dropping off a crew member and picking up another, both who were also on that
Red Sea trip, and with whom we wanted to catch up with again. Kerry from Wales.
This time he had his wife Pam with him, they were leaving the boat, and Wendy’s
partner John joined the boat. It was a fun catch up time.
Croatia, what a night to remember !!! We arrived
at 6 PM at a small town called Cavtat. Cavtat is just 8 miles south
of the old walled city of Dubrovnik. Dropped anchor in 6 meters of water
amongst a dozen or so yachts in a nice big bay. Jumped into our tender
and off to check in. Very efficient but rather expensive. Navigation
fees, light dues, Govt. admin fee, chart and cruising permit for 3 months, a
total of NZ $ 400. Back to Shamal on dusk at 8.30 pm. The dreaded
Bora wind starts to increase. The Bora ( Katabatic mountain
wind ) is a “ speciality “ of the eastern Adriatic coast and can be very
dangerous. It can blow with sudden NE gusts. The wind by 10 pm is now
increasing to 25 Kts so the skipper decides to put more anchor chain
out. Another 10 meters so now we will have 45 in total. As the chain was
going out we started dragging and got rather too close to a yacht moored
behind us. An Italian yacht next to us also was dragging. Several
yachts were also trying to re anchor which made for a very busy bay. So
up anchor and out of here !!! But we also lifted the anchor of the yacht
behind us. Now the wind is 35 kts. If that wasn’t bad enough we
were towing him to our new anchorage !!! Alec wondered why at 2600 rpm
Shamal was only making 1 kt into the headwind. I took the helm while Alec
managed to drop the other yachts anchor. Really surprising nobody
came on deck of the yacht that we were towing being totally oblivious to
the drama that was unfolding. Now at midnight, after being at our
new anchorage for two hours, we again started dragging - bugger !!! We
wanted to go to bed. Finally we re anchored again in deeper water,
15 meters, amongst the Super Yachts.
Hello Again
