We are sailing

We Are Sailing

We flew from Paris to Split in Croatia with Peter after a night in a hotel near the airport. (What a pleasure to be able to wash in a proper shower.) We took a taxi to the boat harbor Spimut and there waiting was our friend Ann who had flown in a few days before from Melbourne – a very happy reunion.

Then onto the yacht which Peter has hired from the same person, about this time for 8 years. The owner Pasca gave us a very detailed briefing on the yacht, how it sails, safety etc. – alright I understood about a third! Up until now sailing has not been my thing – partly through lack of desire and also lack of opportunity.

We walked to a supermarket to buy food for 2 weeks knowing we could supplement on route but not with any certainty. Now shopping in a foreign country is challenging. It involves looking to see if there’s any English on labels and if not intelligent guesses. France was manageable with many labels we recognized and some knowledge of French. However just you try shopping in Croatian where the letters are only vaguely similar – an example. Yoghurt was on the list. I went to the frozen section and did a scan. Found the yoghurt definitively – chose the type and proceeded a few metres to find a selection with yoghurt marked clearly on the labels. Don’t know what I had first but put it back!

The next day we set sail – well not really – we motored to a small village Milna on Brac for coffee and a delicious ice cream before motoring to another island - Hvar where we moored for the night.

Then the next day onto Vis with the sails up. Neither Ann or I are known for our sea legs and felt a little off as the boat swayed around a bit but it was manageable. We arrived in Vis on the island of Vis late afternoon. It has a permanent population of 3000, more in summer. I had no idea how scenic and beautiful these Adriatic villages could be. Beautiful old buildings set mainly near the water – only accessible by sea – with very friendly locals and lots of fellow sailors.

It was fine and sunny with a few clouds and in the low 20s – perfect for us. However it only just warmed up as we arrived (no connection!) and the locals say it should be 35 with everyone swimming. For these locals who depend a lot on tourism it’s a month to 6 weeks of the season that they cannot recover from. For us it means everything is quieter which is to our advantage.

What better place for Bob to spend his birthday than in Vis. We awoke to a beautiful day and had breakfast on the boat watching the locals and tourists walk past. We even opened a bottle of champagne for breakfast.

Now this is a secret – Peter is known for his love of a good drop of alcohol and it has not been in short supply! It’s cheap here and in France. Peter also hates anything that is low fat or “good for you.” His 85 years and amazing fitness attest that he is doing something right so take heed all of you. When we shopped in Split Peter was dispatched to buy the alcohol which he did willingly. After we had drunk the champagne for breakfast to celebrate Bob’s birthday we read the label on the bottle – non alcoholic and low sugar. Don’t tell anyone because he’ll be mighty embarrassed.

After a morning walk we took a tour around the island with a 4 wheel drive and driver. We drove past lots of vineyards – there is some good but not fabulous wine produced on Vis, up to some lookouts and over to a smaller and equally cute fishing village – Komiza that has less tourists than Vis.

That night we went to an amazing restaurant called Lola’s for dinner. It is set in a lovely garden above the village and the tables are on terraces so you have no awareness of many other guests. It only seats about 40 people I estimate. The sea is in the background. All the food is local and locally grown. It was delightful. Bob had steak, Ann had 2 types of white seafood grilled and baked and Peter and I had a pie made with cockles and vegetables which is a specialty of the island. We had a trumped up version but the lady in the bakery the next morning had some and said that it is so special to the area that in Vis they add tomato but don’t in Komiza.

So the birthday was celebrated in style.

Great parking eh?