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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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.