Swimming in Slovenia with young crew

After spending some nice days in Marina Stella with my wife Ilse, our daughter Sophie and our grandchildren Valentin, 4 years and Louise, 9 month, we decided to sail for a swim to Slovenia. On Tuesday, August 10th 2021 we set sail, motored to Lignano and then set sail  southeast to Strunjanski Zaliv, where we anchored at our favorite place for 3 days. 

In very nice weather we all did a lot of swimming and paddling and cooked nice meals on board. 

August 13th we returned into Laguna di Marano and spent a quiet night at anchor near canale Cialisia. 

Next day we motored back at high tide to Marina Stella and enjoyed a very nice dinner at Al Cacciatore.

We sailed 11h and logged 60sm in 5 days. 

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

 

Short Cruise to Venice in a Temporary Corona Low

A short look at the current Corona situation in the northern Adriatic told me: it's time to sail! So my next crew arrived in Marina Stella on Friday, 9th July 2021: my sister Gabriela, her friend Herbert and my nephew Nikolaus. On Saturday we bunkered food and drinks, had a nice traditional dinner at  Al Cacciatore. Sunday we left Marina Stella 2 hours before high tide and took course to Venice. With nice southwesterly winds against us we first motored and then had to tack. In the evening we entered the Venetian lagoon through Porto Lido and anchored finally in Canale San Felice in a quiet and beautiful space. We roasted a nice Bistecca alla Fiorentina with potatoes and salads on the side.

Next morning we motored to Burano, Murano, San Michele, took a left turn at Fondamente Nove, continued to St.Elena and via Giardini we finally reached San Marc's Square and moored at a beautiful spot in Compagnia della Vela at Isola San Giorgio Maggiore. The very nice marinero helped us with the lines an than we had a rather unfriendly welcome by the new appointed Swiss manager. Anyway we enjoyed the nice view for the next 2 days and explored Venice in detail: We took the Vaporetto for a lot of trips, had some tasty Cicchetti at Al Squero, visited the old Jewish Ghetto and a lot of churches on the way, returned to Piazza San Marco with a stop at Gelato Fantasy. 

In the evening we had a delightful dinner at Al Giardinetto Da Severino: Sarde in Saor, Pasta con Grancchio, Sogliola Meuniere, grilled Seppioline. Early next day we visited Mercati di Rialto, had some Cornetti at Farini and spent some hours with wonderful paintings in Galleria Accademia. For refreshment we had some exceptional Tramezzini at Bar alla Toletta and then we took the trip via Arsenale to the famous statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni and visited Basilica dei santi Giovanni e Paolo. We took the Vaporetto to the cemetery of San Michele. Dinner was at al Storia di Crea, with a nice view over the lagoon, but not as good as in the last years. In the night we experienced some lightning and thunder. Apart from wearing masks in museums, restaurants, shops and vaporetti we experienced no Corona-based constraints whatever. 

On Wednesday 14th we left Venice via Porto Lido with some westerly winds and a remarkable swell. When the wind eased away we motored into Laguna di Marano and anchored at our favorite place. We cooked gnocchi with roasted vegetables and parmigiano and enjoyed a quiet night. At noon next day we motored through canale Cialisia and finally moored in Marina Stella. We celebrated our cruise at Al Pescatore with a sumptuous fish dinner with roasted mussels, Spaghetti Vongole, Anguilla and Rombo.

 

 

We sailed 21h and logged 113sm in 5 days. You may download our track in gpx-format or view it directly on GoogleMaps. 

Easy Sailing after a long Pandemic Winter

As Corona Lockdown measures were relieved end of May 2021 and we had our two vaccinations, my brother Andreas and I decided to check on S/Y Sea of Joy and to try a first little cruise in the Northern Adriatic. So we arrived in Marina Stella by car from Austria with no interference or regulatory control on Wednesday, 26th May.

After intensive cleaning the boat internally and externally we checked navigation equipment and started the motor: everything worked fine at the first attempt. Perfectly happy we celebrated at Antica Osteria ai Tubi with large plates of crudi di mare.

Sunday 30th May we left Marina Stella, motored down Fiume Stella into Laguna di Marano at high tide with no problems in shallow Canale Cialisia, passed Faro Rosso in Lignano and sailed with moderate winds to Grado, were we moored in the town harbor. Strolling around the city we saw a lot of happy people enjoying fine spring weather and fresh air. We had an exceptional fish dinner at Ristorante Zeromiglia di Grado which is professionally operated by the Cooperativa Pescatori di Grado.

After buying some fresh sogliole from the cooperative's shop next day we left Grado with nice westerly winds and sailed into the port of Monfalcone, checked Banchina Lamiere for a mooring place in vain and finally anchored in our favorite place Bachino di Panzano west of busy Fincantieri shipyard. We fried slowly our sogliolas, enjoyed some Prosecco and spent a quiet night.
 

 

Next morning we motored to Duino with no wind, passed Grignano with famous Castello Miramare and continued to Trieste, where we moored in Marina San Giusto. We had a nice fish snack at the nearby Eataly, took a long walk through the busy city, had a nice aperitivo at Gran Malabar and completed the evening with a tasty classic Triestinian dinner at Trattoria Mara.
 

 On Wednesday 2nd of June we crossed over into Slovenjia, bunkered diesel in Izola and anchored for two relaxing days in Strunjanski Zaliv, where we swam in clear waters and cooked a well-aged Bistecca Fiorentina with some potatoes.

Slight westerly winds took us slowly back to Lignano with no health-checks whatever. We crossed Laguna di Marano three hours before high tide and reached our permanent mooring place at Marina Stella. We spent some more days in the marina with some servicing, visiting exceptional Trattoria Alla Nave in Marano and Al Pescatore in Precenicco, and bought some Prosecco near Treviso at Vini Pavan wine cellars.
We drove back to Austria with no complications and an easy-going corona check after the border (a young soldier just asked us if we were vaccinated and we only had to nod). So up to date we can summarize, that we experienced rarely no Cornona-based constraints in the northern Adria and therefore expect a nice sailing summer.
 

 

 

We sailed 20h and logged 95sm in 6 days. You may download our track in gpx-format or view it directly on GoogleMaps.