What goes north must eventually go back south again if we want to get to Brindisi. There are relatively few options here, much fewer than there are in the multitude of islands further north. However we decide to head back to Vis - the farthest inhabited island off the Croatian mainland.
We have visited Vis Town before, so this time we will go to the other side of the island and the only other town of any size, Komiza, on the western side of the island. The trip started off completely calm and we motored for a few hours and then, as predicted, the wind picked up and we had a very enjoyable sail to just off the island.
Around here, close to Split and Hvar, you have to be careful what day of the week you arrive in a place. The schedule of the sailing charter boats is quite critical - if you go to a place at a time when charter boats might be able to reach it, it will be busy; otherwise it will not. We planned to arrive at the weekend when the charter boats are back at base and, as a consequence, it was really quiet.
An island of 3600 or so people doesn’t usually have much of a claim to fame in the modern world. However, Vis is a little bit of an exception.Some over-achieving business development individual from the Croatian film industry managed to land Vis as the main location for the second of the Mama Mia films which is odd given that the location is supposed to be Greece. The first was shot in Greece which has 227 inhabited islands, so it wasn’t that they were running out of islands. And Croatia has only 47 inhabited islands, so it wasn’t that there was a broader choice. Just one of those off-the-wall marketing coups, I guess.
Now in case you’re worried (as you should be) about the possibility of Pierce Brosnan singing again in this movie, I have bad news and good news. The bad news is “Yes he does”; the good news is that it’s an under-played semi-mutter of a rendition of “SOS” (how appropriate). Almost passable. To be safe, we kept our distance from any establishment that looked like it might want to highlight his well-hidden talents.
Inevitably, we have to head somewhat eastwards from Vis the next day and we decide to go back to the west end of Korcula. The weather forecasts we have are all at variance with each other in both the strength and direction of the wind. We reef the main just to be on the safe side (wise) but don’t quite succeed in reefing the genoa. So with a slightly unbalanced configuration, we head off into what rapidly becomes 20 knots on our beam. We have too much sail (probably) or the imbalance id not helping us (most certainly). So with a certain flamboyance we turn into the wind and reduce sail. The crew was unhappy with this maneuver. But we survived without even getting wet.
As soon as we did this, the wind dropped to less than 2 knots and looked like staying there. We put the genoa away and motor-sailed with the main along the south shore of the island. Given that the wind was likely coming from the northwest, I has hoping to pick up wind as we left the shelter of the island. Good prediction - the wind picked up to between 15 and 20 knots and we could sail again. But along with the wind we got a messy swell that was over three feet on occasion. Nothing to worry about but the ride, though fast, was a little sloppy at times.
By the time we got close to Korcula, the wind had swung behind us more and we had to thread a needle to get into the entrance to Vela Luka without gybing (deliberately or otherwise). We chose the second of the two bays on the north side this time - it was empty; all five buoys were open. Pretty easy mooring - we’re getting quite good at it, even in moderate winds. We thought we might walk into town but the wind was blowing directly into the bay and we didn’t feel like a bumpy dinghy ride after a bumpy sail.
The next day we planned to revisit a remote little anchorage we had used a couple of years ago off the northeast of Lastovo. This secluded spot is where Lori had to endure a chorus of malevolent goats angered by her consumption of their distant cousin.
There was almost no wind and we motored pretty much the whole way. But we diverted ourselves es to a nice little bay called Zaklopatica on Lastovo that had four good restaurant ts with quays where we could tie up. But there was no room at the inn - every space was reserved for later arrivals.So back to Plan A. However, a bay that two years ago had only us was now holding upwards of seven boats! This was not what we had in mind when we thought of “remote”.
On to Plan C (just as well there was a Plan C), we merged two days into one and motored over to Polace on Mljet where we found a nice restaurant quay with space and we could settle down with visions of a beautiful dinner to come. All roads seem to lead here. We’ve had three sets of family members join us here in the past. And it is a lovely spot.
The north end of Mljet is also a national park with two small but very beautiful lakes and some very enjoyable walks through the pine forest that surrounds them. Croatia, when it puts its mind to it, does a really good job on conservation.
As we walk through the forest there are butterflies everywhere and the scents of the forest ranging from the under note of pine to the more luscious smell of the flowering shrubs and plants.
I don’t remember ever seeing so many butterflies in one place. The most striking are white with yellow and orange markings and make a wonderful contrast with the dark green of the pine. from a distance it looks like the trees are blooming with live blossom. The aromas from all the different species of plants make a very heady mix (just right for the butterflies).
And it’s not that you just smell the plants every now and again, the perfume is everywhere, all the time. It is quite unlike anything we’ve experienced before.
Yes, that’s four butterflies
Dinner at the restaurant where we are moored features fish (of course) b ut we decide to try a whole fish baked in the oven. We’ve not really done this before. First of all, it can be pretty expensive. These are not farmed fish in any way, so catching them takes a bit of an effort. Also, we are not familiar with some of the varieties and so don’t know what is best and least challenging from a bone perspective. So we get input from the waiter and he fillets the cooked fish at our table.
His choice was excellent and his technique flawless. An excellent meal - we will do this again.
From Mljet we head south again to Slano - a nice bay that now has a marina in it. But we ignore the marina (which doesn’t warrant its price tag) and anchor (free) where we always have. It is just off the shore where there are a few increasingly sophisticated holiday homes and traditional fishing boats.
Lori likes to swim here.
Our final stop is back on Mljet, but this time on the leftmost end in another little bay which has a restaurant that we like. We know the people there now and they remember us each time we visit. It’s a family-owned and run place and we get to celebrate the upcoming arrival of a new member of the family. We start to be let in on the all the in-jokes and are treated like “regulars”. Some places just have an amazing vibe.
The food is excellent and we decide to go the fish route again.
If one fish was good, two different ones must be better. An d they are.
It’s time to leave Croatia for Montenegro and this involves checking out of the country in a place called Cavtat. In the past this has been difficult, but it has been steadily improving. However this year, they’ve moved the Harbor Master’s office to a new location and staffed it with new people. As a result here is a line which is waiting for one boat captain to get the cash he needs to pay for his cruising permit. No-one else can be processed while he is at the bank apparently. Those of us in line come up with a whole new set of use cases, develop the requirements specification, build the project plan, secure funding and are well on the way to implementing the first prototype by the time he gets back.
“Sorry..”, he says.
“Sorry..”, the Harbor Master says.
But it’s not really too bad. And Lori gets one of her favorite meat pastries as compensation from her captain. She looks wistfully at it (before devouring it). Could this be the last one of this season?
