Past Commodores Cruise 2007
May 20 – 27, 2007
Croatia
Chapter One
To tell the truth I had not originally planned the trip to Croatia to be the “Past Commodores Cruise”. The cruise was just an extension of the plan that the Admiral and I had come up with as an alternate to long term cruising, since my physical health sucked in 2004. For those who do not know our alternate plan to long term cruising, it is to cruise for a couple weeks at a time in different places in the world every year, while staying employed (I love my job, it comes with health insurance). So far the plan is working out well with a trip to BVI (British Virgin Islands) in 2005, a Texas down coast trip in 2006, and Croatia in 2007. The difference between the 2005 / 2007 trips and the 2006 trip was that we invited other people to join us and they were dubbed as Past Commodore’s Cruise.
Numerous people have asked me “How did you pick Croatia as a sailing destination?” OK, to be honest, I did not even know exactly where Croatia was when I decided to schedule the trip. Several people and magazine articles influenced the final decision. The original trip destination was planned to be Greece. I passed the thought of this cruise to Greece on to several of the TMCA’s experienced traveling members just to see their reaction (kind of asking for other peoples opinions, but going about it in what Admiral Hun might consider “John’s way”). I received good reviews for Greece from everyone who had ever been to Greece, with the exception of one. Sure enough Hank and Sue Knippa thought that the trip to Greece would be a great one, BUT…..if they were planning a trip to that part of the world, they would revisit Croatia. They told me that the water and the countryside were beautiful, the buildings were of Roman and Venetian origin, and the people were welcoming and friendly. This was just the combination I was looking for.
The way that one of my Past Commodore’s Cruises works is that I charter a four (4) cabin boat and then I sell the three (3) other cabins to other people that would like to join in on the fun. When I charter the boat I take the risk that I might not be able to sell the other spaces on the boat. So far I have been able to fill all the cabins. During the charter each cabin shares one forth of the total boat expenses including fuel, onboard meals, onboard drinks, and mooring. If you are wondering the cost of 10 days in the British Virgins, it was $3,188.19 per couple and the cost of 7 days in Croatia was $3,353.80 per couple including airfare. Several people managed to use their frequent flyer miles for some or all of the airfare for their transportation to Croatia cutting their cost by more than half.
In August of 2006 I purchased round trip plane tickets to Split, Croatia. In September I called up Sunsail to make boat reservations for a planned 10 day sailing trip. That is when I found out they only chartered in one week intervals in Croatia. The choice was made to go with just one week of sailing and the Admiral and I would spend the rest of our vacation time on land in Croatia.
Early in the planning stages, David and Lorna Glascock had signed on for the trip. They had attended the last past Commodore’s Cruise in 2005 to the BVI in a 47’ catamaran they had chartered. For some unknown reason I assumed that they would once again charter their own boat and recruit their own passengers. That was a wrong assumption. David and Lorna had planned to join us on our boat, but by the time I realized it, my boat was booked full. David and Lorna, being good sports, did go ahead and charter their own boat. I chartered a Sun Odyssey 425 with 4 cabins and 2 heads, and David chartered s/v Royal Blue II, a Beneteau 473 four cabin 3 head boat. Before David knew it he had all of his cabins full. As a matter of fact we got close to having three (3) boats, but no one was willing to step up and take on the charter end of the deal. My original concern was that a mono hull with 8 people would be overcrowded to say the least, but I was wrong. All occupants of s/v Samba (Sun Odyssey 425) agreed that the accommodations we more than sufficient for a week of cruising. The only problem that I personally had, was that upon returning from the trip, Admiral Hun announced, “we need to buy a bigger boat”. After living aboard for 5 years with the last 1 ½ years aboard s/v New Life (a very roomy 34’ sailboat), she decided we needed a bigger boat. My response was predictable, “Yeah, right”. The Past Commodores Cruise 2007 worked out very well with two (2) boats and 16 people.
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Lorna gets kidnapped by German Pirates??
Treating storms drive TMCA cruisers from Hvar to the Hellish Islands (and were they ever Hellish)
Croatian beaches and swimming in the icy waters of the Adriatic
Chapter Two
I have realized that in the first article I did not list the characters in the story being told, a large blunder on my part. You need to have a program if you want to know who the players are. I will now attempt to make amends. The s/v Samba (Sun Odyssey 425) was crewed by the following people: John & Peggy Allison (s/v New Life), Lee & Patrice Mixon (s/v Blue Horizon), Richard & Joanne Collins (s/v Eagles Wings), Jeri Sullivan (crew), and Laura Polich (crew) The s/v Royal Blue II (Oceanis 473) was crewed by the following people: David & Lorna Glascock (s/v Windswept), Ron & Lynne Eddleman (s/v Stellar of Course), Rob & Carolyn Peterson (s/v Piovere), and Steve & Sue Bertram (crew).
Preface
In preparation for the Past Commodore’s cruise the crew held three (3) organizational meetings from January 2007 – April 2007. We discussed general itinerary, food likes and dislikes and trip expectations. Most couples purchased either travel guides or road maps while Ron Eddleman (skipper elect of s/v Royal Blue II) and I purchased cruising guides and electronic charts. We were organized and informed. Who could ask for more? The gathering of this fine group of Texas sailors, at a pre-designated spot in Split, Croatia, went off without a hitch.
Sunday, May 20th Day 1
Kremik - Primosten
We arrived earlier than required at the Sunsail base in Kremik. Check-in went flawlessly due to the great efforts of both crews. It was my understanding through all of my correspondence with SunSail that we would check in, spend the night on the boat at the Kremik charter base and head out the following morning. During check-in the SunSail employee assigned to our boat asked if we were departing that night, and I immediately and without hesitation, bluffed, “Hell yes we are departing tonight!” I asked him, what was the hold up, and he said we were free to shove off as soon as we had completed the chart briefing. All the crewmembers that had any interest in our destinations attended the chart briefing. The chart briefing really wasn’t much more than the guy recommending a few islands and locations. The most important thing to know (and was not covered in the briefing) while navigating in Croatia is “GREEN ON RIGHT RETURNING” (it is like driving on the wrong side of the road) The water in Croatia is deep and well marked.
It was early evening by the time that we pulled out of the slips at the Kremik SunSail charter base. I was glad that I had pre-programmed a couple of destinations into my hand held chart plotter. One of those locations was Primosten, the next harbor to the north. The trip from Kremik to Primosten was not much more than going from one end of Clear Lake to the other, but it beat staying tied up in the charter base. When we arrived at Primosten we found the quay full. This did not present a problem since there was plenty of space to anchor in the harbor. While trying to locate that just right spot to anchor I noticed s/v Royal Blue II looked like they were heading back out of the harbor. In reality they were moving up slowly on what I would call the largest amount of dolphin activity that I have ever witnessed. A large group of dolphin were swimming in a circle herding smaller (and tasty) fish. All of a sudden, all the dolphins would begin to jump into the middle of the circle and begin to chow down. We were able to move up close enough on this ritual to see the smaller fish jump out of the water ahead of the dolphins in a desperate attempt to escape certain death.
We all went ashore for dinner and split up in smaller groups so as not to overwhelm any one restaurant or café. We walked up a small hill and ended up in a café with a great view of the surrounding Adriatic. Later that evening we met up with some of the crew of s/v Royal Blue II where we found out that Sue Bertram had special fish for dinner.
Monday, May 21st Day 2
Primosten – Komiza on the isle of Vis
This was to be our longest run and it was mostly motoring. It was our experience that the wind would be calm in the morning and build during the day. By early afternoon it was not uncommon for the wind to be blowing 15 – 20 knots. Since this was our longest run, we arrived mid-afternoon during some pretty windy conditions. As we approached the harbor I had another boat to the starboard and I got the distinct feeling this guy was going to storm the entrance and cut me off at the pass. Sure enough, that was exactly what he did. He forced me to turn to port to allow him to enter the harbor before I could. Being from out of town, I let it slide. We rounded the wall of the quay to the starboard and turned down wind. There, we found a long wall with several boats already secured in place. I would like to take this spot to tell you that, up until this point in my life, I have never med moored In fact, I had never been at the helm of a boat this big, but what the hey, I have been known to bluff my way through some pretty hairy situations in my life. I will admit that as I was coming down wind preparing to med moor in what would be a 20-knot wind, full abeam in a pretty big boat that I am unfamiliar with. I will say I did have my doubts about the success of this bluff. I turned the boat to port into the cross wind a little early and she did not settle down wind like I had anticipated. I ended up having to move ahead and then astern while trying to work my way down wind and hold the bow up all at the same time. The only way that I know how to describe this first med moor, is “complete chaos.” The boat, already secured to the quay, manned their port rail while the crew of s/v Samba manned our starboard rail and both groups braced for the collision. I would like to take this spot to tell you that at no time during this med moor was the boat or any person PERMANETLY INJURED OR MAIMED (permanently being the key word). I learned in my airplane pilot training, any landing you walk away from is a good landing. I decided to apply this point of view to the arrival of s/v Samba to the port of Komiza. The bad thing about the experience was I was not particularly proud of the seamanship displayed on the quay that day. The good thing about the experience was I had plenty of company. We had no sooner secured our boat to the quay and the boat to our starboard when it was time to scramble to the port rail to fend off the next boat arriving. After several boats had arrived up wind, we no longer felt the distinct crush of the arriving vessels. With s/v Samba “safely” secured, I immediately declared “liberty” and instructed the crew that in the morning we would be sailing with the tide and to be sure to be back aboard before 0800 hrs. the next morning with a strict warning that we would set sail without them. In true TMCA tradition, everyone was back aboard by 9:00 PM.
Komiza, not unlike many of the towns we would visit, had a “Riva”, a walkway along the harbor, a promenade if you will. Many of the town’s cafés, markets and pubs line the Riva. At the very end of this Riva, nearest the quay, was a doorway covered in burlap. This was a local distribution point for some Domestic Wine. I would say that we did make an effort in supporting the local economy by purchasing everything “domestic” that we could.
Glossary
Med Moor: The reader must realize that at no time did we actually “Mediterranean Moor” in the full sense of the term. Sure we would tie up with our stern to the quay, but we never really set anchor and backed into the wall. Laid lines or lazy lines were provided and the harbormaster would usually hand a small line tied to the quay to the crewmember on the stern. The crewmember would then walk the line forward and find a much larger sometimes crusty line to tie to the bow cleat. This crusty line was usually tied to a 57 Chevy engine block sitting on the bottom of the harbor
Special Fish: This is a fish that increases in value from the time you pick it out on the menu until the time that you go to pay for it. When you question the increase in cost you find out that this particular fish was extremely hard to catch, hence the additional cost, hence the name.
Domestic Wine: Locally made wine that can be purchased in a used plastic water bottle from a person standing in a narrow doorway. This wine may or may not have a label on it. This wine can be any color (red, white, brown, etc.) and usually pretty damn good, especially starting into the second 1 ½ liter bottle.
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I promise to get to Lorna gets kidnapped by German Pirates, three (3) TMCA members barely escape heart attacks due to windlass trouble, and threatening storms drive TMCA cruisers from Hvar to the Hellish Islands.
Chapter Three
Tuesday, May 22nd Day 3
Komiza - Hvar on the isle of Hvar – Palmizana on the isle of Sveti Klement
The plan of the day was to drop by the “Blue Cave” on the isle of Bisevo before heading to Hvar. Although our travel guides (Frommers / Lonely Planet) varied on the optimum time to view the cave we arrived at 0930hrs and found the cave to be beautiful and worth the time and the 30 Kuna ($6.00) / person entry fee. After the morning excursion we sailed toward the town of Hvar on the island of Hvar. When we arrived at Hvar harbor we found the quay full. We selected a spot opposite the quay near the local fishing fleet in which to set an anchor. It took two (2) tries but finally got the hook to set. As I watched s/v Royal Blue II find a spot, I noticed the building, dark clouds to the southeast. You are not going to believe this, but the only email that I received prior to going to Croatia on the subject of Croatia was one from Jack Oden warning me about storms from the southeast while at Hvar causing severe boat damage. s/v Royal Blue II had just settled in when the wind changed and gusted from the southeast. I was discussing our selected anchorage with a local fisherman standing in his boat, (something about you can’t anchor there) when s/v Samba immediately swung the opposite direction from the original placement. I was no longer NEAR the local fishing fleet, I was IN the local fishing fleet. s/v Samba and every other boat in Hvar harbor that had crew aboard was weighing anchor. The storms were coming and building fast. We were just about free of the bottom when the Hvar harbormaster roars up in an inflatable and notifies us that we cannot stay in the harbor during the oncoming storm. The email from Jack had already flashed through my mind and I knew just by looking at the fisherman whose boat I just blew into, the harbormaster was very right. The boats came out of Hvar harbor like they were at the start of a Grand Prix race. Boats were scrambling for any safe harbor they could find. Luck being with me (once again), I already had an alternate marina in the chart plotter. This marina was disregarded earlier in the day due to the high cost. All of a sudden, a marina that had shelter from a southeast wind, was no longer considered expensive. The marina was about a 2 mile dash back up the Hvar channel. With s/v Samba in the lead, I had the engine cranked as high on the tachometer was allowed by SunSail, and I am sure s/v Royal Blue II was the same. We were making good time toward the marina when I sighted a smaller (and faster) boat approaching from behind s/v Royal Blue II. This guy was maneuvering to cut me off! He passed s/v Royal Blue II and positioned himself to my starboard and was headed for the jetty surrounding the marina. I gunned the engine in response to his actions. There was no way in hell I was going to be cut off a second time! s/v Royal Blue II slowed to enjoy the show. My course was for the very end of the jetty with no room for a second boat. The challenging boat slowed and crossed between s/v Royal Blue II and me, then accelerated and tried to come around me on the port. By this time I had rounded the jetty into the marina. The harbormaster blew a whistle and waved him off to another location. When I rounded the jetty I must have been making about 10 knots. Just like the day before, the wind was gusting 30 knots from behind. This 30 knot following wind was about to turn into a 30 knot cross wind when I rounded up in position for a Med Moor. I turned the boat hard to port and gave it all the throttle the Yanmar would take in reverse and waited for the results. The only way that I could describe the apparent pending disaster is to refer to a popular boating movie when Captain Ron arrives at the yacht club and just steps off for a drink at the bar. To both crews of TMCA boats it appeared planned and precise. Needless to say, it was nothing more than dumb luck that we did not lose the damage deposit on the boat that day.
Once both TMCA boats were secure, the crews headed out to explore the port. The Admiral and I stayed in the marina taking care of the slip fees and other ships business. We were just trying to decide what to do about dinner when some of the roaming crews returned to the boats informing us that they had found a deluxe spot on the other side of the island and that almost everyone had agreed to join up for dinner. We decided to join in and participate. It was one of the most memorable evenings ashore (from what I can remember). The meal included Special Fish, assorted grilled meats (unknown, but tasty animals), grilled vegetables, red wine, white wine, Grappa, Rakia, before dinner drinks, and after dinner drinks, there might have even been some desert (from what I can remember). To sum up the adventure at TOTO’s in Palmizana, I would say, “It was an evening of indulgence” (and we took home the leftovers)
Wednesday, May 23rd Day 4
Palmizana on the Hellish Islands - Hvar on the isle of Hvar
It was a short jump from the ACI marina on Palmizana back to the harbor in Hvar. Once again, the quay was full so we quickly anchored and took the dinghy ashore. Once on shore we met up with some of our group at a harbor side café having morning refreshments. Lorna was feeling poorly that morning (see above for explanation of ill feelings (hung over, Nah)) so David took her back to the boat to rest. The rest of the group split up to explore the bustling town of Hvar. In the early afternoon as Ron, Lynn, Dave, Steve and Sue were having pizza along the Riva, Sue casually said to Dave, "Our boat is moving". Dave said "it is not". Sue said "it sure is"! s/v Royal Blue II was underway with only a sleeping Lorna aboard. Everyone else was ashore and no one was at the helm. Come to find out, a departing boat had weighed anchor and snagged Royal Blue II’s anchor on the way out. Lorna woke up to find the boat underway with no engine on and under tow by Albanian sailors. Unable to communicate she tried to get the engine started but was unable to find the starter button. Unable to start the engine she tried to call for help on the radio. It was unknown to her that the circuit breakers for the radios were off. Knowing Lorna, can you just imagine her yelling and screaming at the puzzled Albanian sailors with her South African accent? The harbormaster already aware of the problem was yelling at Lorna, not to panic. David and Ron sprang into action! They rushed to the other side of the harbor, jumped into their dinghy and sped to her rescue, shouting to the departing Albanians with Lorna in tow. David and Ron’s rescue had all the signs of success right up until the outboard motor on the dinghy quit. Ron frantically tried to re-start the motor while David grabbed a paddle and did his best with what he had to catch the departing Lorna. Despite the sailboat engine not starting, the radio not working, the Albanian sailors not understanding South African ranting, and the outboard motor stalling (by the way Steve had turned off the gas valve), all ended well. The boat did not sustain any damage and Lorna had forgotten that she even had a hangover. Lorna tells me that adrenaline is an excellent cure for that morning after feeling.
Glossary
Med Moor:
By the third day, I had anchored once and Med Moored twice (both in gusting cross winds). At this point I would have to define Med Mooring as a slightly controlled crash that is more dependent on luck than skill.
Special Fish: This special fish was enormous. I was actually able to negotiate the fish to a lower price, but this fish was still extremely hard to catch, hence the name.
Unleaded Gasoline: See Grappa / See Rakia
Grappa: By definition - a fragrant grape-based pomace brandy of between 30% and 80% alcohol by volume (60 to 160 proof), of Italian origin, by actuality – see Unleaded Gasoline
Rakia : By definition - considered to be the national drink among some of the South Slavic peoples, by actuality – see Unleaded Gasoline
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The day of adventure continues in Hvar
Lorna fends off a fleet of boats trying to take a “Reserved” spot on the quay for s/v Samba
More Domestic Wine in Milna
Chapter Four
Wednesday, May 23rd Day 4 continued
Hvar on the isle of Hvar
Last month if you recall Albanian sailors had commandeered s/v Royal Blue II with Lorna aboard. David and Ron rescued Lorna while Lynne, Steve, and Sue ate pizza on the Riva. A little later in the day the Admiral and I were up at the local supermarket (a really big one) searching for cheap Babic (a type of Croatian wine) when Ron called on the hand held VHF radio. Ron told us that they had gotten a spot on the quay and Lorna (now recovered from her hangover) was holding a spot just to the port of them for s/v Samba. I was only a couple of blocks from the harbor and rushed to the dinghy to take advantage of this windfall. David and Ron met Peggy and me at the dinghy and we sped to s/v Samba now resting at anchor in the harbor. The Admiral manned the helm and Ron and David manned the electric windlass in an effort to weigh anchor in a most expeditious manor. Ron was complaining about the windlass not working so I went below to reset the circuit breaker. We continued to have problems with the winch. We were able to get the anchor up off the bottom to set us free but were unable to raise it back onboard. The Admiral motored into open water as we struggled with the problem at hand. Meanwhile Lorna has positioned herself on the bow pulpit of s/v Royal Blue II waving off approaching boats vying for the primo location on the busy quay. Regardless of our efforts the windlass would only power down the anchor dependably. The power up mode was intermittent at best and finally with more than 30 meters of chain with a big ass anchor all hanging straight down there was but one thing left to do, pull it all up by hand. Ron stationed himself nearest the bow, David took the middle position and I was at the end of the line. We all worked in unison with are best efforts knowing that by now Lorna had most likely gone mute from growling at approaching vessels in an ominous voice like an irate bulldog with a South African accent. At one point during the weighing of the anchor, we stopped to rest and catch a breath, after a short pause, Ron looks over his right shoulder and asks “You Ready?” (like, in are you ready to continue pulling up the anchor?), my response was a gasping “Hell No!”, he quickly responded in a winded breath “Thank God”. We only rested long enough to ensure that we would all not die of heart attacks before the anchor was placed back on the bow. Finally, after about an hour of struggling with anchor problems, we approached our reserved spot on the quay. I tried not to look at the multiple boats circling the harbor as we took the “reserved” spot on the quay. I felt like we had earned our spot on the quay, regardless of what the other boats thought. Needless to say we did not recruit any new TMCA members while in Hvar.
Thursday, May 24th Day 5
Hvar – Milna on the isle of Brac
The trip from Hvar to Milna is a fairly short one. We were the first boat on to the quay in this well sheltered harbor. The cruising guide warned that the smell from the local sardine canning plant may on occasion waft into town. It must have not been sardine season, because there was no activity (or smell) at the plant when we motored past on the way into town. We arrived early in the day just in time for lunch. Our resident galley slaves Laura and Jeri had cooked up a really great Italian style meal with leftover Special Fish from Palmizana. s/v Royal Blue II had mixed up a large salad made with veggies from the local market. Steve had purchased some cherries from a local lady sitting on the steps of the church directly behind the boats. It was really our first opportunity to have a TMCA style potluck meal together. After lunch it was time to explore the town. This particular day was fairly warm being in a sheltered harbor. We went over to the marina office and asked about the local beaches. In broken English the woman told us of two (2) swimming areas a small one on the right of the harbor adjacent to a local hotel, and another out by the other marina on the left of the harbor entrance. Two boatloads of Texas sailors headed out in search of the swimming areas, bathing suits on, suntan lotion and beach towels in hand. The first beach we arrived at was the one next to a hotel. It was a small area about 30 feet long with small crushed rock as the beach. We dismissed this area due to its size and being in the shade. We ventured over to the location of the second beach. We motored to an area at the end of the cove past the boats in the marina. The rocks in the cove were substantially large and difficult to walk on. Most of the participants headed to the water quickly but immediately slowed once actually in the water. The waters of the Adriatic never really get “warm” to our standards and certainly not by the end of May. Regardless of the temperature, by God we came to swim, and swim we did. All of this excitement was observed by several of the local marina residents with puzzled looks. The residents gathered as a group to watch the spectacle of a bunch of foreigners with strange accents flailing around in the icy waters. During the swim party a local resident came by and asked what we were doing. I thought it was fairly obvious, but what she was getting at was “Why are you swimming in the marina rather than at the beach?” My response was a puzzled “Huh?” I looked around to realize the expression on the residents faces were exactly that of what mine might look like if someone motored into Watergate Marina and jumped into the water. If this scene had appeared in a comic book the phrase “they must be out of their minds” would have been drawn in a balloon over the crowds heads. We politely packed up our stuff and motored past the gawking crowd to the “designated” beach. Real beaches do not occur naturally in Central Dalmatia. Croatia has no sand that I was able to find. If the area is used for swimming they put out crushed rock on the shore, (that is one way to tell if you are supposed to be swimming there). The Riva in Milna must have been a mile long. The Riva stretched from the quay at the church front, past several harbor side cafes
I have reviewed my logbook I see that more Domestic Wine and even some Mirta were involved at this port of call. This particular winery was located behind a black painted arched wooded door with a piece of cardboard attached with the word “vino” scratched in pencil. Now that we had been in the country for 5 whole days we were suave to the way to locate really fine wine, the kind in the used 1 ½ liter water bottles. We pushed the door open to find out that it opened up to a courtyard that contained domestic housing and a small antique winery. When I say antique, I mean the huge wooden casks had 1885 carved into them. The Croatian lady who led us into the damp and musky stone walled winery was about the same vintage. She handed us samples of the red, the white, and the Mirta. While I was checking the nose of this fine wine by swirling it around on my plastic sample cup I noticed multiple whole animal skins hanging from the ceiling. These skins must have been a way to transport the wine from place to place at one time since where the head, feet, and other parts that had extended from the body was stitched up securely. The heavy coat of dust on everything did not deter us from purchasing a 1 ½ liters of both the red and the white wines. The old woman that was selling the wines spoke no English at all and the English that we spoke was purely Texan. The person that thought that the lack of language skills would interfere with commerce was wrong. She got the proper amount of Kuna (plus some for her time) and we got our domestic wine.
Glossary
Special Fish: This was the special fish that was left over from Palmizana.
Domestic Wine: Locally made wine that can be purchased from a person standing in a narrow doorway. This wine may or may not have a label on it. Some domestic wine actually had a cork, but the really good stuff came in a recycled 1 ½ liter plastic water bottles. This wine can be any color (red, white, brown, etc..) and usually pretty damn good, especially starting into the second 1 ½ liter bottle.
Mirta (Myrtle) is the grappa brandy mixed with the myrtle fruits (Myrtus communis) and endemic ... Alcohol content 39 vol.%. This stuff is worse than unleaded gasoline.
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The perfect “Med Moor”, the worst “Med Moor” of all, 14 crew members go ashore on the mainland, country comes to town, and the end of the line (I promise)
Chapter 5 Finale
Friday, May 25th Day 6
Milna - Trogir (on the mainland) – Marina (on the mainland)
After an invigorating swim in the Adriatic Sea, some domestic wine, and a good night’s sleep we were well prepared to take on the next challenge. The typical operation was to gather the crews together and decide the next day’s destination before the evening liberty ashore. This strategy had worked well the whole trip. Setting the destination the evening before gave Ron and myself the necessary time to plot a course to the next location and gather the local knowledge from the cruising guides. I would like to point out, at this time, that we never really had a set itinerary. None of the attending crews had been to Croatia before so it was all new to us. It really did not make a difference to any single one person where we went, it was all good. The cruising guide said that there would be no slips available in Trogir on Friday or Saturday so we decided to depart extra early to insure that we would prove the cruising guides wrong. We arrived at the large sheltered harbor just outside of Trogir with no problems. This was the first time we were near the mainland since leaving Promisten almost a week earlier. We approached the city quay on the port side and were waved off by the harbormaster. The city quay was reserved for inbound ferries and not generally used by charter boats. We circled around to review the situation when I spotted a couple of really nice spots in a marina to the starboard. s/v Royal Blue II continued to circle as I prepared an approach. The open slips were a good distance down a narrow fairway. After a brief consultation with the now, well seasoned crew, they manned their stations along the stern and starboard rail. I backed the boat down the fairway and turned into the waiting slip with all the style and finesse that would have made any of my fellow Texas sailors proud. I was just putting the gearshift into forward to ease my reverse motion when the harbormaster showed up. The crew readied themselves to receive the lazy line from him when he announced, “You can’t tie up there”. Once again I was forced to use my patented response, a puzzled “Huh?” With continuing style, I held the boat still while the harbormaster informed me that although the slips were open, they were reserved for boats coming in off of week long charters. I thanked him for his kindness and powered up, out of the slip, never touching another boat. What a shame to waste such a stylish med moor. We communicated the results of the attempted landing with s/v Royal Blue II and we decided to anchor in Trogirski Zaljev (the harbor adjacent to the castle). All towns that we visited had castles of some sort. s/v Royal Blue II caught an anchorage without much problem. s/v Samba on the other hand could not catch a good spot despite several tries. Since this was going to be just a short day excursion we opted to raft to s/v Royal Blue II and swing on just one anchor. Trogir was on the Admiral’s and my schedule to visit during our land portion after the sailing adventure, so we volunteered to ferry the crews of both boats ashore with a pre-arranged pick up time of early afternoon. The plan worked without a hitch. After retrieving both crews from the Trogir riva, we decided to stay in the harbor we were in and just sail west to the other end for protection from the predominant south wind. The far west end of the harbor was a town called Marina. In Marina there was a marina. s/v Royal Blue II decided that more land adventure was required to complete the day (most likely powered by the urge for more domestic wine), where as s/v Samba (Captain John being a “CBS” (cheap bastard sailor)) chose an anchorage just behind a point of land that was a fairytale location. I could not tell you exactly what made the spot magic, but it was. The water was calm, the sun was setting, and the camaraderie was heartwarming. We shared a relaxing evening full of photo opportunities, good food, and friendship knowing that we only had a few short days remaining in this adventure. At one solitary point in the evening as I watched the land to the east turn golden in the setting sun I recited in my mind an old Boy Scout prayer that really summed up the way I was feeling at the time, the “Philmont Grace”
For food, for raiment,
For life, for opportunity,
For friendship and fellowship,
We thank thee, O Lord. Amen
Saturday, May 26th Day 7
s/v Royal Blue II, Marina s/v Samba from Anchor – Rogoznica (on the Mainland)
Departure came and after the morning coffee ritual (that is John fighting with the coffee press) everyone was up and ready to set sail. We were just setting the mainsail as s/v Royal Blue II approached from the west. I once heard that if there were two sailboats in the water it was a race. It started out innocently enough. The mainsail was set, the headsail was rolled out, and sheeted in to form a perfect foil. s/v Samba responded, the seasoned crews every touch at the command of the salty skipper. Okay, okay I was getting a little carried away. The real point here is that s/v Samba kicked s/v Royal Blue II’s ass coming out of the harbor. The best part of our version of America’s Cup qualifying round was when s/v Samba pasted the finish mark (a point of land) entering open sea, I got to call s/v Royal Blue II on the radio to see how they liked the look of our transom. Ron, I would like to say that I really wanted to take much more time to rub it in, but I am running long in the article.
We sailed most of the way to our next destination, the town of Rogoznica. The plan was to catch a slip at “Marina Frappa”. The approach to the marina was pretty straight forward with the exception of a small island just barely above the water. We passed the island to port and turned crosswind into what appeared to be a welcoming fairway. Croatian weather was up to it normal trick of light winds in the morning and gusting in the afternoon. My decision to take a slip to the starboard was my first of many mistakes. The slip that I selected was shaping up to be a downwind med moor. Wow, what a mistake that was. Even in light winds, handling this 42-foot monster with a ton of windage would have been a challenge. I was about to try it in 20 knot gusting winds in a semi protected fairway. The approach down the fairway had some style. The dedicated crew was ever ready to go with the captain’s decision to give it a try. They were at their stations along the stern and starboard rail as instructed. I could tell by the scramble of the harbormaster to reach us, I had made a mistake in judgment. It was not until I let off some the reverse power to slow the approach speed that I found out just how ugly it could get. I pulled the throttle back to dead slow and reached for the gearshift to put it in neutral. I did not even get a chance to get my hand off the gearshift when the bow swung hard to port. The landing crew poised on the starboard rail was now instantly on the wrong side. The innocent bystanders that were simply trying to stay out of the way on the port side were flung into action for the sole reason of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I desperately grabbed the gearshift in an effort to gain some forward motion and possibly escape any boat damage to our boat or the boats already moored. Just before I engaged the engine I looked through the clear water to see the bow lines of other boats already moored. For fear of snagging the keel or spade rudder and possibly fouling the propeller I took no evasive actions. The boat eased downwind onto the waiting bow pulpits and ground tackle of the boats already secure. The entire crew scrambled successfully to save our boat and two other boats from damage. As the boat came to rest I had realized that I had committed one of the cardinal sins of sailing, I was pinned to the windward shore. This was a lesson taught to me as a 12 year old novice sailor. I could hear in my mind my sailing mentor Old Don Boring shouting, “Anybody hurt”? I am glad to say that no one or any boat was hurt. The thing that suffered the most was my pride. It has always been my practice in a situation like this to just let things settle down before making any other bad decisions and that is exactly what I did. Somehow, with the help of the capable crew and the harbormaster, we were able to maneuver out of the downwind slip into the fairway and back into the small harbor that surrounded the marina. s/v Royal Blue II had observed the catastrophe and chosen an upwind slip to the port. We circled while s/v Royal Blue II settled in and I shook off the experience of a really bad approach. The upwind med moor beat the hell out of the downwind one. Liberty was called in Rogoznitca and we headed up to the office to pay our fees. On the way to the marina office I just so happened to notice that at 42 feet long, we were the smallest boat in the marina. When I walked into the office I was sure of two (2) things, 1) we would not be allowed to stay in the marina (we were dressed in the Croatian version of the “Kemah Dress Code” (tee shirt, shorts, deck shoes, light coat) this marina was more like the white deck shoes, white pants, white shirt, blue double breasted blazer with gold buttons) and 2) I did not think that we could afford to stay in this marina. I was wrong on both counts. No one ever denied us access anywhere and the cost was no more expensive than any other marina that we had stayed in. Although we did not use very many of the amenities, they certainly were available. The marina was not located in the town. It was just a short walk around the harbor to get to the local businesses. The Admiral and I found a nice restaurant with outside dining where the ceiling was a trellis covered in grape vines. The grapes were small and not ripe yet. The experience reminded me of a restaurant on Proctor Street in Port Arthur when I was young, the ceiling of Colicha’s Italian Village was absolutely covered in artificial grapevines and grapes. I flashed back to realize that this must have been what they were trying to simulate back in Texas. It was a shame it only took me 40 years to understand what the Colicha family was simulating.
This Saturday was the last full day of cruising the Adriatic waters for us Texas cruisers. The only way I know how to describe the emotions of that of day is to compare it to the last day of summer camp. Although we had no closing campfire, no special ceremony, or singing of Kum Ba Yah, you could tell the crew of s/v Samba were experiencing the same emotions of young scouts enriched by the experiences of the previous week.
Sunday, May 27th Day 8
Rogoznica - Kremik
The final day of boating in Croatia was no more than a departure, a short trip north to the next harbor inlet, and one more bad med moor. The crews arrived with bags packed for their next adventure. Some of the cruise participants immediately returned to Texas, some lingered in Europe for an additional week, and others even traveled Europe for an additional 3 weeks.
I would like to express a heartfelt “Thank You” to all of the participants of the Past Commodore’s Cruise 2007 for making it a magical time of my life.
Regards,
John Allison
TMCA Past Commodore 2007
