Dubrovnik to Venice Trip
Richard, Boo, Nathaniel, Lia and their guests Greg, Susan, Ellie, Jamie and Matilda joined Timoneer 5 miles south of Dubrovnik in the pretty little town of Cavtat. Soon after arriving they went for a walk around Cavtat and the kids had a slice of pizza. The rain then arrived and they had dinner onboard.
In the morning the rain cleared and they caught a taxi to Dubrovnik and walked around the city wall. Meanwhile we motored to Dubrovnik and picked the guests up by tender and continued 40 miles to the island of Korcula. The rain arrived as we were docking but cleared up soon after giving the guests enough time to walk around inside the walled old town and climb the church tower before returning to the boat for dinner.
Thursday morning we left during breakfast to arrive in Hvar for our 12-1pm slot to dock. After lunch the parents went walking around town and some climbed to the fort above town. Matilda took the kids to the beach but some didn’t want to get in the water so they came back to the boat. Late afternoon the tourist boats started coming in and rafting up on the dock beside us. Eventually they stopped coming but by this stage there were 10 boats a similar size to us all tied to each other. I’m glad there was no bad weather forecasted . That evening the parents enjoyed a meal ashore.
Next stop was Brac Island, we anchored off the little town of Milna where the kids enjoyed some tubing. After a tender ride around the coast from Milna to Bobovisce we continue to Split where we tied up alongside, 5 minutes walk from the old town. The afternoon was spent exploring the narrow streets inside the walls of the city. After dinner the parents went to see Split by dark on a Friday night.
After breakfast Penny went to the market to get fresh supplies. The fruit and veg in Croatia is grown locally and picked when ready to eat so taste great but don’t last long in the fridge. The guests explored a bit more of town. We then headed off towards Trogir and stopped in a pretty bay for lunch, swimming and tubing. We then moved closer to Trogir and the guests went and explored this amazing island fort town, one of the highlights of any trip to Croatia. We went another 10 miles and anchored in Stari Trogir bay for the night.
Sunday we headed up the coast another 10 miles to the pretty little town of Primosten before heading out to the Island of Kakan. The first bay we went to was full of little cruising yachts and we continued to another anchorage on the island. This island had stone walls everywhere. The kids went tubing and then the parents went for a short tender ride exploring the bay full of yachts.
In the morning we continued north to the Kornati Archipelago National Park. These islands are barren and have stone fences but very little sign of life. We stopped in Vrulje at the Park office and then the guests walked up a hill above the bay getting great views over the islands. The small village in this bay produced olive oil, honey and dry figs which we stocked up on. We continued up the western side of the islands until we reached the 15’ (4.2m) deep very narrow passage through to the eastern side. We certainly drew some looks as we passed mere meters from the restaurant on the side of the passage. We anchored on the East side of Katina Island near the even shallower southern passage. Here the kids had a boys verses girls stand up paddleboard (SUP) water battle which kept them busy for an hour or more. We cooked a BBQ on the back of the boat that night and introduced the guests to kangaroo steaks and also had Penny’s world famous ribs.
Tuesday the islands got greener and greener as we continued north. They also became populated as we headed out of the national park. Further up Dugi Island we stopped near Dumboka and took the tender into a Cold War cave for hiding submarines. We spotted a few of these along the coast of Dugi Is. We anchored up off Molat Is. And the kids continued their SUP water battle.
Greg decided to give the SUP a go and went exploring the bay before breakfast. We stopped for a swim and lunch off Silba Is. before continuing on to Mali Losinj. Here the guest’s went ashore for a short explore before coming back to Timoneer, which was anchored just outside the harbour in a nice little bay.
We left during breakfast to head to Pula arriving in time for lunch. Pula has a huge harbour and a ship building industry. It also has one of the best preserved Roman amphitheaters just beside the harbour. The guest’s went ashore for a quick look around and then we continued to Brioni National park where we tied up in the marina just before a thunder storm came through. This is a very strange place with Soviet era hotels and villas. Tito use to entertain world leaders here. There are many state gifts here including zebras, ostriches and Somali sheep and also some sculptures scattered around the island. The guests took golf carts to explore the islands safari park and in the morning they also checked out some of the forts.
We left after lunch and spotted some dolphins that were too lazy to play with us. Once clear of the islands we tried sailing but there was not enough wind to turn the engine off so we motor sailed to our final Croatian town, Rovinj. This was yet another beautiful little town with a church on the hill in the centre. It was surrounded by water on 3 sides. Everyone got lost wandering its maze of narrow streets. That evening the guests took us all out for a lovely dinner sitting outside in the old town. Croatian cooking has improved dramatically in the last 10 years.
We cleared customs Saturday morning and were on our way to Venice by 7am. Once again there was no wind. This is the first guest trip that I think I have done that we were not able to sail any of it. We motored the entire 350nm. We approached Venice just after lunch and everyone enjoyed seeing it from sea. We tied up 5 minutes walk along from St Marks Square making for a fantastic view from Timoneer. The guests went and explored some museums for the afternoon and then went out for dinner at one of their favorite restaurants.
Sunday morning after breakfast they were picked up by water taxis and taken to the airport. What a great way to finish a trip.
Timoneer is now approaching Montenegro after a great sail from Venice. We will be here for 2 nights before fueling up and heading 950nm to La Ciotat in France.
“JC” John Cornish
Captain
Yacht Timoneer
Mobile +34 694 452 550
Boat +34 694 452 549
Sat +1 954 793 4581 (VOIP)
