Sandy beaches and some Bora

On August 13th Sophie and Chris arrived again on board with their son Laurenz for another cruise. They both climbed the mast and helped me replace the broken shackle of the genua head. August 15th we sailed south into the small and quiet bay Radiboj in the north of Losinj Island, where we anchored for the night in turquoise waters. 18 month old Laurenz enjoyed swimming with his parents. Next morning just on time at 09:00 local time we reached Osor and passed the turning bridge through Osor channel southwards. We reached the island Orulje Male and spent the afternoon and the night again at anchor in beautiful surroundings with a specific Caribbean feeling.

Next moring we sailed east with Slight westerly winds brought us further east to Island of Pag, where we anchored in front of the crowded beach of Camping Simunj. We enjoyed the beach, beautiful weather, and late at night fireworks just in front of our boat. The following day we left at noon south for Zadar harbor, where we moored at Tankerkomerc Marina and visited the old city and had dinner at Konoba Donat. After an early morning thunder storm with a lot of rain, thunder and lightning we continued sightseeing and replenished our provisions.
Early afternoon we set sail again north and anchored at sandy Zaton Beach for the night.




On August 20th we strolled along Zatons's Sepurine beach and then continued north to Sapavac bay in the south of island Vir, where we anchored again near the sandy beach, which Laurenz enjoyed. Next day at noon we received a gale warning up to 9 Bft. So we sailed further north to ACI Marina Simunj where we weathered this rather strong Bora for the next three days hiking, playing, and having nice dinners at Konoba Didova Kuca.

With weakening winds we sailed north to Uvala Meli in the SE end of Cres, where we anchored again and Laurenz and his parents enjoyed their favourite sandy beach. On August 25th we sailed north with rather strong westerly winds, slipped through Osor channel at 17:00 and anchored in Uvala Ustrine for the night. The last day of our joint cruise we were happy to sail north with firm westerly winds right into Cres Marina, where we met my other grandson Jonas and his parents Matthias and Isabella. So we spent a rather crowded night on board with two young sailors and their parents.

We sailed 33h and logged 172sm in 13 days.

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Choppy Summer Cruise

My two consulting friends Eva and Evi boarded Sea of Joy after a long drive from Vienna on August 6th. After one harbor day with some sight seeing because of bad weather we sailed south to the east coast of Unije and anchored in Uvala Vognisca. We enjoyed two nice branzinos cooked in the oven with wine and vegetables.















Next morning we sailed further south with faint northerly winds via Susak along the west coast of Premuda to the small island Skarda, where we took a buoy in Uvala Griparica and had a good swim in crystal clear waters.













Next day a cloudy sky welcomed us with no wind. So we motored back north along Silba Island into Ilovik channel, where we took a buoy and had a nice walk around the island and a good dinner at Konoba Oliva. At night we had some rain and wind. In the morning of August 11th with some rain but with a nice easterly wind we sailed north along Losinj.







As we rounded Cap Kurila, waves and wind got rather strong. Suddenly a loud bang came from the rig and I saw the genua coming down. After momentarily heaving to we tried to furl in the genua and secured her with some ropes. Tacking slowly with main sail and motor we made it into Uvala Vognisca in Unije again and anchored there safely. Later I found the head of the genua intact but a broken shackle. This is the second time that an expensive strong looking Wichard shackle has broken after only one year of use. Sailors are advised avoid those shackles!







The strong wind lasted through the night and next morning we continued tacking along the west coast of Cres and finally moored happily back in marina Cres. We celebrated our short cruise with a nice dinner at Konoba Roza and next morning Eva and Evi drove home back to Vienna.

We sailed 24h and logged 126sm in 6 days.

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Birthday in the Kornati Islands

After my grandson Laurenz and his parents left us for Vienna my wife and I started our next cruise on July 28th with dark clouds and some southerly wind to the north of Cres. After rounding Cap Jablanac we sailed southeast to Krk and finally anchored in the busy bay of Fuska and cooked spagetthi tonno. Next day we continued south with favorable northerly wind along Pag island to Uvala Sapavac on Vir island, where we anchored again and enjoyed a vegetable risotto.
Next morning we sailed west to the northern top of Dugi Otok and took a buoy in the large and beautiful bay near Veli Rat. In the evening we took the dinghy to Laterna restaurant. Shrimp risotto was very good, but the rest was awful and rather expensive.

On July 31st, my 65th birthday we decided to have a very special treat and sailed along the west coast of Dugi Otok directly to Levrnaka island in the center of the Kornati Islands. Crystal clear waters and a friendly staff welcomed us at Konoba Levrnaka and we had a wonderful birthday dinner with raw fish carpaccio, heavenly fish brodetto and chocolate mousse with truffles.
After a stroll around the island and a hearty breakfast we sailed through Vela Proversa with dark clouds, thunder and lightning. Suddenly a strong thunderstorm with squalls up to 40 knots and flying water forced us to take shelter by anchoring in Uvala Cuscica.




After one hour it was over and we proceeded to Knez Bay west of Iz island, where we took a buoy from Baroni restaurant and had a nice Croatian dinner there. Next day we sailed with fair easterly wind to Olib, where we moored at the busy harbor quai and took a walk around this quiet and down-to-earth island. In the evening a strong swell started and got stronger in the night. Some boats went away causing some chaos but we stayed trusting our strong aluminium boat.






On August 3rd we sailed with nice easterly winds through Ilovik channel and directly to beautiful Uvala Krivica at the west coast of Losinj, where with some luck we took the last free bouy and enjoyed the peaceful surroundings and took a nice walk to Konoba Bevandia where we had a rustic dinner. On the last day of our cruise nice northeasterly winds brought us back to Cres marina, where we had a sumptuous lamb dinner at Konoba Bukaletta.

On this leasurly cruise we sailed 48h and logged 234sm in 8 days.

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