Rainy Sailing September in Croatia

Austrian weather forecast warned us about flash floods in Lower Austria. The Marine Meteorological Center Split published warnings about many thunderstorms and heavy rain. So my Austrian crew Biggy, Evi and Ilse put a lot of rain jackets and warm clothes in our car and started our road trip to Trogir on September 11th, 2024. On the way we visited the nice Slovenian city of Ptuj, took a rather wet hike round the beautiful Nacionalni Park Plitvička Jezera with a lot of spectacular waterfalls, and admired the old harbor city of Sibenik.

Saturday 14th in ACI Marina Trogir we met our German crew members Evelyn and Jutta, bought a lot of food and beverages, and boarded our nice catamaran "Sailing Point", a Lagoon 40 from Waypoint Charter in the afternoon. We spent a nice evening with a splendid dinner in Trogir at Restaurant Il Ponte.
Sunday morning after some rain we began our cruise rounding Rt Okrug west of Ciovo island, visiting Blue Lagoon and Maslinica harbor
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With westerly winds we sailed east along the south coast of Solta to Uvala Jorjy, where we took a buoy and enjoyed very good fish at Restaurant Lero. 

 

 

Early next morning we set sail again with nice westerly winds pushing us along the south coast of Brac. We passed golden Zlatni Rat, Bol, and finally anchored lonely at the eastern tip of Brac island in Uvala Jezero with a spectacular view of the Velebit mountains and the port of Makarska. My crew prepared nice Fussli con Verdura and we enjoyed the evening with nice Austrian wines.  

 

 

On Tuesday 17th morning we took a swim below a wonderful rainbow and sailed southeast to Rt Sucuraj, the eastern tip of Hvar island and then southwest to Uvala Cesminova / Elwac west of peninsula Peljesac, where we anchored alone in this beautiful bay, had Spaghetti con Tonno, and drank some more wine. Next morning after a rainy swim we crossed Korculanski Kanal to the west of Scedro island, where we anchored in Uvala Tufera, again alone in beautiful surroundings and sunny weather. We enjoyed the afternoon swimming and sunbathing. With the help of my ambitious crew I prepared a risotto with cucumbers, lemons, and dill weed. The night we spent rather restless at anchor with intense thunderstorms.

 

With heavy rain and no wind we motored west early in the morning, visited beautiful Hvar harbor, rounded Rt Pelegrin and continued through stormy seas north to Rt Razani, motored through the canal between Solta and Brac and finally reached a nice anchor place in sheltered Uvala Stiniva on the west coast of Brac. We spent a nice evening with a superb dinner with potato casserole and tomato mozzarella and good wines.
 

 

Friday morning we enjoyed the sun again and took a swim in the now crowded bay. After noon we motored northwest through Splitski Kanal, then turned northeast in Trogirski Zaljev and reached our mooring place in ACI Marina Trogir. We celebrated our rainy, but also cozy cruise with a splendid Croatian dinner at Konoba Štorija in ancient Trogir.
Saturday, 20th we left our nice catamaran, our two German ladies reached their flight back home and the rest of us drove back to Austria in some eight pleasant hours.

I enjoyed this cruise very much with this wonderful and self-organized women crew on a nice catamaran in beautiful Croatian waters.
We sailed 30 hours and logged 150 sm in 6 days.
You may download our track in gpx-format
or view it directly on GoogleMaps.

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

Italian Adriatic Coast and to Know When to Change Course

 My brother and I planned a cruise to the Tremiti Islands. But weather played some tricks on us. We left Marina Stella on September 15th, 2020 with high tide and motored southwest to Albarella, where we anchored in the quiet lagoon. Next day we rounded the Po delta and moored at Marina di Goro. We visited the village and had a rather uninspired dinner at La Cambusa. 

Early next morning we started south to Rimini, accompanied by a fleet of fishermen harvesting mussels in the shallow seas south of Goro. In the afternoon we moored in Marina Rimini, bunkered diesel, and explored the city. We had an exquisite dinner at Michelin starred restaurant Abocar Due Cucine. 

Early in the morning of September 18th we wanted to sail further south to Ancona. But unexpected high waves, bad weather reports on Cyclone Ianos in the Ionian sea and messages about a large fire blaze in Ancona forced us to revise our plan. We had to expect chaos in Ancona and that some boat owners will move their boats to other moorings north of Ancona. As weather got worse, we decided to sail northwest to Ravenna, were we moored in Marina Ravenna and had a nice raw fish dinner at Riesling Vino e Cucina. 

After analyzing grib data and different weather forecasts showed that another field of depression will soon move from Golf of Lyon into the Adriatic. As we were a small crew of only two we decided to take no risk and to return in time to Marina Stella. So we started early from Ravenna south, rounded Po delta in rather uncomfortable cross seas, entered Venice Lagoon through Porto Chioggia and anchored finally west of Isola Poveglia with Insalata Caprese and Prosecco for dinner.

With nice weather we motored to Piazza San Marco and left Venice lagoon through Porto Lido. With a nice easterly wind we sailed to Caorle, were we moored in Darsena Orologico and enjoyed pesce crudo and tasty pasta with fish at Ristorante da Buso. Next morning we continued to the town basin of Grado, explored the city and were very happy with a nice dinner at Hostaria in Contrada.

Next morning we motored west to Lignano into Laguna di Marano and continued through shallow Canale Cialisia and river Stella back to Marina Stella, where we finally moored at our quiet home place; just in time for the predicted rain and wind starting to rage. We celebrated our safe return at Ristorante Al Cjasal. For the next days we visited Bassano del Grappa, Valdobbiadene and Treviso to explore vineyards, restaurants and to buy some Prosecco. Then we prepared Sea of Joy for a long winter and returned back to Austria.

We sailed 360sm in 58h during 8 days.

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