Lots of Winds and Dolphins in September

Dolphin in Kvarner

 I looked forward to my new professional crew Andrea and Robert. They boarded Sea of Joy on Saturday September 10th in Marina Izola Marina. After a welcome prosecco we bought supplies in Trieste and had a traditional Slovenian dinner at Gostilna Doro. Sunday morning we left Izola, rounded Savudrija lighthouse, and declared entry in Umag. With nice westerly winds we sailed south along Novigrad, Porec, Vrsar, and anchored finally in Uvala Grota south of Rovinj for a swim, pasta and a peaceful night. 

Sunrise south of Rovinj

Before dawn next day we lifted the anchor and motored south. At sunrise we set sail and continued west of the Brijuni islands. With fair, but varying winds we passed Porer lighthouse and crossed the Kvarner Gulf. Incredibly often Andrea and Robert spotted many dolphins accompanying our boat. 

Sunset at Susak

After some 50sm and 10 hours of slow sailing we anchored in westward Uvala Porat of Otok Susak in splendid turquoise waters. We enjoyed a relaxing swim, a beautiful sunset, a nice pasta with vegetables, and a quiet night.  

Happy Crew

After a long morning swim and a rich breakfast we practised some MOB manouevres and moored alongside in Susak harbor, welcomed by the friendly harbormaster. We took a hike to the lighthouse and the upper village with its cemetery and beautiful church. After stepping down to the lower village we had a nice lunch at Sansegus. As the weather forecast warned us about increasing southeasterly winds we left Susak and motored westward to find shelter in Luka Unije for the night. Even here some dolphins came right into the bay. 

Evening in Luka Unije

Before sunrise, to make proper use of the strong southeasterly, we set our genua only and crossed Kvarner Gulf at a nice speed around 7kn. We passed Porer lighhouse at 9am and continued west of Briunji island to Pucini lighthouse west of Rovinj. Finally we took shelter in the small bay north of Vrsar behind Otocic Cavata. Weather forecast promised max 22kn southerly wind with up to 2.5m waves, which should prove no problem for our sturdy boat tomorrow.

Screenshot Grib Forecast

Thursday 15th after some breakfast we started early northwards with genua on 1st reef only.  It was fascinating sailing with strong 30kn winds from behind. As a precautionary measure we put on our life jackets and secured ourselves to some strong fittings of our boat. We reduced the genua to 3rd reef and shortened it further when the ship electronics warned us that we surpassed windspeeds of more than 40kn. As we had to declare exit from Croatia anyway, we decided to sail into Umag. Luckily we passed the shallow entry into the harbor. Somewhat exhausted and tired we decided to spend the rest of the day and night in ACI Marina Umag. After a short celebration with some prosecco we got some sleep. In the evening Andrea and Robert found a nice restaurant in the city and brought some sweets, which we enjoyed late at night.

Andrea Sailing

Next morning the wind slowed down but weather forecast warned us about some Bora starting in the afternoon. So we bunkered diesel, declared exit and sailed our last leg with slow winds to Izola, where we arrived at noon just before strong northeasterly winds started to blow. During a thunderstorm with torrential rain we celebrated our save return with a good dinner at Gostilna Sonja.

Map of Track

We sailed 40h and logged 180sm in 6 days. 

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

August Heat and September Wind

My next crew Evi, Ilse, and Martina boarded Sea of Joy an Saturday August 27th. In the evening we had a nice fish dinner at Sonja. After buying supplies on Sunday in Trieste we set sail to Croatia. We rounded Savudrija, declared entry in Umag and bunkered some diesel at 1.90 Eur/L. We continued into Uvala Sv.Martin, anchored and antagonised the summer heat with a long relaxing swim. 

Next day with some north westerly winds we sailed along Funtana, Rovinj and the Brijuni islands and anchored finally in Uvala Stoja and wondered at the Stabilimento balneare di Stoia, build by Enrico Trolis in the 1930s, a perfect example of Italian Functionalist Architecture. 

On Tuesday we sailed north, passing Pula harbor, along the east of Brioni through Fazanzky Kanal and anchored in Uvala Polari. As we looked at many fried egg jellyfish we relocated to Uvala Grota, where we enjoyed a relaxing swim in clear waters and savoured Spaghetti with Caponata.

Next morning with high waves and some wind we rounded Rovinj, crossed Limsky Kanal, and moored in Marina Vrsar. We explored the city and beaches and had a fine fish dinner at Srdela.

With nearly no wind we motored next day north through the many island along Vrsar, Funtana and Parentium, passed Porec harbor and anchored again in our favorite bay in Uvala Sv.Martin.

On Friday 2nd September after a good breakfast and a final swim we motored north passing Novigrad into Umag, where we declared exit. At long last we catched a nice nothwesterly wind and sailed our last leg perfectly happy to Marina Izola. We celebrated our cruise with a nice dinner in Hisa Torkla.

We sailed 29h and logged 120sm in 7 days. 

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

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Hot and dry summer cruise with young crew

After a good fish dinner at Gostilna Sonja my wife Ilse and I started our next cruise on Sunday 17th July from Marina Izola. With nice north easterly winds we rounded  Savudrija with its prominent lighthouse, passed Umag, Novigrad, Porec, Vrsar, Rovinj, and slipped thru the passage between Crveni Otok and Sveti Andrija. For the night we dropped anchor at our favorite place in Uvala Polari. 

Monday morning we declared entry at the then open harbormasters office in Rovinj. With nice northerly winds we sailed south of Brioni island, passed Pula and then the southern tip of Istria with the famous lighthouse Porer. The wind took us over the Kvarner Gulf into the southwest of Losinj, where we anchored in Uvala Tomozina in clear waters but extreme hot and gusty winds. After a nice onboard pasta we spent the night with very high temperatures. 

Next morning we sailed south round Rt Kurila with strong northbound currents and continued to Rt Kornu, the south eastern tip of Mali Losinj. Then we turned north again through Sidriste Orjule and headed northeast to our first destination, the island of Rab, where would take a young crew on board. Passing the tiny islands of Oruda and Dolfin we reached Rab at Uvala Litovica, where we anchored in clear turquoise waters in the middle bay and spent a quiet but very hot night. 

Next afternoon we examined the different bays to the east and finally moored at ACI Marina Rab. We had a nice dinner at Restaurant Velum with fuzi with truffles, gnocchi with shrimps, and special velum salad.

On Thursday 21st, July our young crew - our grandchildren Louisa (1y), Valentin (4y) and Laurenz (7y) came on board with their parents Sophie and Christian. After bunkering diesel at the Rab fuelstation at the special price of 1.84 Eur (Croatia's government just set a price limit to fuel) we sailed back to our anchor place in Uvala Litovica, where we spent 3 nights swimming and playing with our grandchildren. We had to fight the heat and an incredible number of aggressive wasps.

To fill up our water tank and having a dinner at Restaurant Ana we spent one more night at ACI Marina Rab.

As the weather forecast and Windfinder promised a calm night we took the risk and sailed eastwards through Barbatsky channel into Velebitsky Kanal and spent the next night at anchor in Uvala Mag in beautiful bizarre moon-like surroundings.

Tuesday 26th forcast called us back with a storm warning. So after a proper MOB training we sailed back westwards through Barbatsky channel into Uvala Sv.Fumija south of the wonderful gardens of Rab and anchored carefully for a stormy afternoon and night. Next morning we swam to the near shore and explored the wonderful botanical gardens and cemetery of Rab. In the afternoon we moored again in some thunderstorms at ACI Marina Rab. In the evening the whole crew had dinner again at Restaurant Velum and in the evening until midnight we enjoyed the annual medieval festival "Rabska Fjera" in the crowded city with processions, tournaments and fireworks.

On the 28th of July Christian and Valentin left for Carinthia by car. With the rest of the crew we sailed southwest to Male Orulje, where we spent the night at anchor. Next morning we sailed futher west and moored alongside in the tiny harbor of our favorite island Susak for two leisurly days on the sandy beach and had a good dinner at Konoba Barabara. We walked to the lighthouse and bunkered wonderful bread at Bakery Sv.Catarina. Because of the hot weather it was not possible to get any water from the town quai.

With a nice weather forecast and friendly westerly winds we crossed the Kvarner Gulf, rounded lighthouse Porer, tacked west of Pula and the Brioni islands and reached after 60 sm and 10 hours of nice sailing our favorite anchor place Uv Polari south of Rovinj, where we spent three quiet nights swimming and playing.

Wednesday, August 3rd we moored at ACI Marina Rovinj. Drinking water was in short supply. Christian arrived with Valentin by car to take Sophie, Louisa and Laurenz with him to back Carinthia. 

We all had an excellent farewell dinner at Snack Bar Rio and a long stroll round the crowded city. 

Next morning my wife and I alone started the last leg of our cruise and sailed with nice westerly winds to Uvala Sv.Martin and spent 2 relaxing days at anchor swimming, reading, and cooking chanterelle mushrooms with pasta, which Valentin had collected for us in Carinthia.

Early on Saturday, August 6th we got a storm warning for the northern Adria for the late afternoon. So we set sail for Umag to declare exit, rounded Savudria, passed Piran and luckily reached our mooring place in Marina Izola just in time for a heavy thunderstorm to start. In the evening we enjoyed a nice turbot from the oven at Gostilna Sonja. On Sunday we visited Trieste by car and celebrated our cruise with an incredible fine 5 course dinner in Michelin-starred Hisa Torkla in the beautiful hills north of Izola.

Due to the extreme hot and dry weather the water supply in Marina Izola was very limited. Next Monday we returned home by car to Austria.

We sailed 65h and logged 280sm in 20 days. 

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

 

Stormy Start in Slovenia - Smooth Sailing in Croatia

In June in Marina Izola Felix Yachting mounted our new Propeller, a brand new Maxprop Easy 4-blade E90 18" and accurately applied two layers of Antifouling of Seajet 034 Emperor white. Peter from Supreme Sails refurbished our Sprayhood and inserted new plastic windows. I scrubbed the deck and all teak parts while my wife Ilse thoroughly cleaned the interior of our boat.

So we were ready to sail when our son Matthias arrived with our grandson Jonas on Thursday, July 7th, 2022. We first motored to Koper to refuel at a price of 1.80 Eur per liter diesel. Then we sailed to the pleasant bay of Strunjanski Zaliv and anchored carefully. Weather forecasts announced a maximum wind of 20 kn. But at 18:00 suddenly strong gusts arrived and a thunderstorm began. Our boat rocked in brutal high and irregular waves. We recorded max wind of 48 kn. Woefully we had to witness a boat moored at a buoy with nobody on board suddenly cutting loose and finally smashing on the rocky shore. Our heavy plough anchor fortunately held tight. After two hours everything was over and we had a simple meal with cooked potatoes and tea.

Next morning we crossed the border from Slovenia to Croatia and declarrd entry in Novigrad. To the harbormaster we payed the yearly "boat arrival notification fee" of 662.- Kuna in cash and the tourist tax we paid online per person on the new web page. With smooth westerly winds we sailed further south and anchored in Uvala Sv. Martin for two placid days of swimming and snorkeling.

On Sunday 10th we moved 6 sm to the crowded bay west of Funtana, got our dinghy ready and bought some bread in the nearby village. As we noticed a small leak in our dinghy we looked also for a proper glue, but could find none. Also in Marina Vrsar, where we motored next day, no glue was available. Monday evening we had a typical Croatian dinner at Konoba Kod Luce. After buying some food next morning we found a place to anchor in the crowded bay east of the small isle Cavtat north of Vrsar.

Wednesday we sailed northwest with nice southeasterly winds into Uvala Tarska in Luka Milna, where we spent a quiet night at anchor. Early morning when the quarry north of Luka Milna began to work loudly with a lot of dust we motored into Novigrad, declared exit and sailed back to Slovenia. Near the Bay of Piran we saw some dolphins, took a final swim and moored our boat back in Marina Izola. We celebrated our small cruise with a fine dinner at Gostilna Doro 

We sailed 25h and logged 78sm in 8 days. 

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

Moving from Marina Stella to Izola

A boat has to sail on. So we decided to move our boat to a new location.

In May 2022 my son Matthias and I aroused our boat out of its winter sleep in the quiet Marina Stella, removed a lot of biological filth, and mounted a new starter battery. Early morning on Friday 13th May 2022 at high tide we we motored south on river Stella to the Laguna di Marano, passed Lignano and set sail to Izola, to our new mooring place for the next year.

With slow southeasterly wind we passed Grado and crossed the large bay of Trieste into Slovenia. Assisted by the friendly crew of Marina Izola we moored our boat and had a nice dinner at Oh My Grill with a nice shrimp soup and the typical pleskavicha sa sirom.

We sailed 6h and logged 31sm in 1 day. 

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