Saturday, September 16, 2017

Rainy Cruise to Venice

My old sailing friends Gusti and Richard came on board on September 4th 2017 and we decided in unison on a trip to Venice. So next morning we set sail across Kvarner Gulf, rounded Hrid Porer, and turned into Fazansky Kanal north of Pula and east of the Brijuni archipelago, where we finally anchored at Uvala Peroj




Early next day we continued north, visiting Rovinj, VrsarPorec, Novigrad and finally moored in ACI Marina Umag, where we had a surprising good dinner at Restoran Lido. At 6:30 next morning we declared exit and left Umag during some thunderstorms with convenient NE winds. Early in the afternoon we entered Venice through Porto Lido and moored at my favorite place at Compagnia della Vela in San Giorgio Maggiore across from Piazza San Marco.





In rather strong rain we made a long round trip with the Vaporetto and enjoyed dinner at al storico da Crea. The following day we used the Vaporetto a lot travelling to Lido, Treporti, Burano, Murano and San Michele. In the evening we were enthusiastic about a dinner at Osteria Trefanti.







After an early morning stroll through the sleepy district of San Marco we set sail northeast along the sandy coast, entered Porto Santa Margherita di Caorle, and moored at Darsena dell’Orologio. We had dinner at Il Brigantino. At night we experienced thunderstorms with strong SE winds and heavy rain, which continued throughout next day. In the afternoon Richard was adversely affected by respiratory distress. An emergency doctor who arrived at once transferred him to Ospedale di San Donà di Piave. There it was decided to transport Richard back to Vienna, perfectly organized by the Austrian Automobile Club ÖAMTC. On account of the perfect cooperation of all  professionals involved I am happy that Richard is now in good health in Vienna again.

Because of strong onshore winds and heavy rain Gusti and I had to stay for another day in Caorle, where we walked in stormy weather along the Lungomare and had very good pizzas at Ae do Rode. On September 9th we were able to leave Caorle and with second reef and gusty 7 bft winds we reached Umag, where we declared entry and moored in the ACI Marina in heavy thunderstorms.



In the evening we walked to the old center of Umag and had a nice rustic dinner at Konoba Kaleta. Next morning we sailed south along the Istrian Coast and anchored in Uvala Banjole. Next morning we rounded Hrid Porer and with comfortable southwesterly winds sailed north to Cres, where we finally moored at out berth in ACI Marina Cres. We celebrated the finally positive completion of our eventful cruise at Restaurant Riva.

We sailed 51h and logged 264sm in 7 days.

You may download our track in gpx-format
or view it directly on GoogleMaps.

Saturday, September 2, 2017

Sailing Round Northern Croatian Islands

My experienced crew Eva, Evi and Ilse came on board on Saturday, August 26th 2017. From Cres Marina we set sail south, stopping at sandy Uvala Zanja for a swim into the famous Blue Cave. In the evening we anchored in lonely Uvala Radiboj and cooked fish with couscous. At 9:00 next morning we motored through Osor Channel and sailed with light winds to the south coast of Cres, where we anchored in Uvala Meli, enjoyed a walk in the woods and swimming in turquoise waters.







Under cloudy skies and westerly winds we sailed to Otok Rab next day, where we moored in the city harbor and had a nice dinner at Konoba Rab. Again with sunshine we sailed south through Barbatski Kanal and then northwest along the Velebit Channel. Strong easterly winds pushed us into the westerly bay off Lopar, where we anchored finally having a nice swim and crispy salads for dinner. On August 30th we sailed north to Krk and then west along the south coast of Otok Krk. With slight winds we rounded Otok Plavnik and anchored in Uvala Sv. Juraj.


After a visit to Krk town next morning we sailed east to Opatija, where we moored in ACI Marina Icici. We walked along Franz Joseph Promenade to Opatija, where we had a trendy dinner at Restoran Ruzmarin. Heavy rain and thunderstorms woke us next morning. After noontime we set sail south through Kvarner Gulf and finally moored in ACI Marina Cres, where we had a nice dinner at Konoba Roza.





We sailed 33h and logged 148sm in 6 days.

You may download our track in gpx-format
 or view it directly on GoogleMaps.