Cruising in Croatia

Olive Marina is on the island of Uglijan just off the coast of Zadar.  There we picked up the yacht we'd chartered for 2 weeks.  Our yacht Bracera is a Beneteau 47,4 (16m) and is ideal for us - roomy (4 double cabins plus big saloon), comfortable and easy to get back on to after swimming.  And she sails nicely too!  After finding our way around the boat, we headed across to Zadar to victual at the supermarket and to collect Mike and Kay (Geoff's parents) and his aunt Jenny.

Bracera - our home for 12 days

The Crew (day one, still pale skinned!) - Mike, Kay, Jenny Selfe, Jenny Hart, Diny, Neville, Geoff and Jamie Hart.

Geoff helping through stunningly blue water.

The cruising in Croatia is beautiful.  Hundreds of little islands and bays, warm water and nice breezy to sail in in the afternoon.  The islands that we've been sailing through have fantastic names such as Dugli Otok, Zut, Molat, Iz, Zverinac and Rivanj.  They have dry low forest on them with limestone outcrops.  In many of the protected bays there will be a small cluster of terracotta tiled houses swaying in the heat and the cicada's make an absolute racket (song?) in the olive trees.  We're not quite sure what people do on the islands - we assume they are mostly holiday homes, but we've seen quite a few olive groves and a handful of sheep, so perhaps there's more happening than just tourism and holidaying.  Once it cools in the late afternoon, we've enjoyed exploring the  rocky hills, finding quaint churches and contemplating salt lakes and sea cliffs. 

The foredeck is one of the best places to catch a tan on the boat - Kay.

Sundowners after a swim - Kay, Neville, Jenny S

We celebrated Kay's birthday with fantastic croissant cake for breakfast.

Jamie and Jenny Hart

Off to find ice creams in one of the small villages.

Our little tender works hard getting us to shore in 2 trips

Another pretty anchorage

Cooling down on the shore.

The harbour of Iz Veli

Happy Skipper

Geoff's been working on his tan.

Stunning landscape

The anchorage at Ist.

A largish town on one of the islands.

The snorkelling has been lovely in the warm water, but we have been very surprised at the limited sealife there is down there.  A couple of sea cucumbers and black spiny sea urchins,  the odd octopus and lots of little to medium size fish (max 15cm long), but not much more.  We really take it for granted what fantastic diversity we have in our ocean at home - long may we protect it.  Yet the restaurants all promise delicious seafood meals - at exorbitant prices. this painfully ironic as we found out - we went out or dinner at one of the local little restaurants tucked into a bay.  The fish they serve is Halibut, caught in Canada.  Frozen and shipped to Europe and distributed to all the coastal restaurants so that you can sit at a restaurant on the Mediterranean and eat fish and feel like you're having a traditional/authentic experience.  And the saddest part is that most people we spoke to about this were unphased about it because they've never known a coastline with abundant life like we have it. We've subsequently been eating more red meat and veggies instead!

The du Toit synchronised swimming team - Geoff, Jenny, Mike and Kay.

Our Happy Flag

Motoring on a glassy morning.

Jamie snorkelling around the boat

Sea grass forms one of the keys in this ecosystem.  Here dried sea grass forms thick layers on the beach.

We've all slipped into the laid back life of being on a cruising boat in great weather and are thoroughly enjoying the scenery, our books and the fresh air.

Happy Crew - Diny, Kay, Geoff, Lucy, Neville, Mike, Jenny S, Jenny H, Jamie