HSSC Med flotilla from Dubrovnik September 2009

CROATIA 2009 Twelve sailors, trusty and true from the High Seas Sailing Club set out from the Marina in Dubrovnik to     experience the Adriatic and the friendly natives.  For the first 48 hours the winds blew virtually unceasingly and when they did in fact stop for a couple of hours, we thought that was that. Not so! They picked up again so much that mooring or anchoring in a safe place was really quite difficult.  There are not that many sheltered bays several miles out from Dubrovnik. Because of all the islands, the gusting afternoon blow, called a bora bora, blows up and  funnels down creating a very heavy wind onto the sea. This happens very   often and in our case, all of Sunday and Monday night. We headed off on Monday morning to the Bay of Sunz.  The wind had dropped and it was very pleasant.  We dropped anchor in the bay and had lunch on board.  We then set off again for Sland and there we encountered our first problems. The wind blew and blew and we could not find a quay on which to moor up against.  Consequently we anchored in a large bay which was only semi-sheltered, but there were many other yachts and we thought everything would be fine. However, during the night, the wind got worse and we decided to keep a two-hourly anchor watch from midnight. At 07.00 ther next morning, the cry went out that our boast was going sideways. The anchor had slipped but the boat was not   facing into the wind.  We somehow managed to miss the other boats that were moored nearby, but after consultation with crew and skipper and trying to catch the  Sunsail owners who were particularly unhelpful as to where to go, we decided to move further in towards the edge of the bay. By lunchtime the wind abated somewhat and we weighed anchor, intentionally this time, and set off. Tuesday was another windy day, but this time we managed to find a secure bay in Okukye on the  Island of Mlijet.  We had earlier tried a bay to have lunch, but it was just too windy to stop and therefore we had sailed purely on the foresail to Okukye.  There we spent a relatively peaceful night on a secure mooring and were treated to a wonderful meal in the restaurant just on the shore. Wednesday, after a good nights sleep, and an even better breakfast on board with the crew at last calm and refreshed we slipped anchor and set out at about 11.30am (not the earliest start of the week, but we had up until then been fairly tired). By now the wind had completely gone so we motored, heading for Polace.  We played with the sail and goose-winged a bit, but there really was not much we could do  to speed up the boat; however we found dolphins en-route which seemed to make up for the lack of wind. We reached Polace without further event, (and without lunch as we couldn’t find a bay with a good anchorage).  We took up a lazy line by a restaurant where we ate very well indeed. Thursday morning, after another peaceful night’s sleep and it being a calm unspoilt day, we took our time. However this enclave also had a nature walk so for those interested, which was everyone except Stanley, so they set off on the walk whilst Stanley cleaned the boat rewarding himself at the local café with scrambled eggs on toast. The area is a National Park and had lots of delightful walks, and old Franciscan Monastery, coral reefs and all manner of flora and fauna. We then set off, at 11.45, making for Sipan Island.  There we moored and had some lunch in the bay of Prozura, after which we went on to Sipanska Luka.  Where we ultimately, and after much to-ing and fro-ing, found a tiny space squashed up against a huge Cat. The small town was very busy with lots of boats in the bay and a ferry coming in at the crack of dawn! We managed to moor up and had a very pleasant supper and lots of alcohol. Friday morning, we slipped       anchor at 11.35am, sailed on to    Janska Bay.  We dropped anchor for lunch, although we were not happy about the bay and the wind we could feel, was coming up again. Lunch had to be cut short and we headed for the Stonski Channel. This took some expert boat handling by Skipper, Avi, and we went right along the Channel with shallows as little as just a metre under the keel.  Eventually the Channel came to a dead end, with a very tiny mooring, where there were already two boats.  One was a massive gin-palace which was about to leave so we waited her departure patiently.  The Harbour Master helped us moor up and then charged a phenomenal 200 kuna which equates to about £25.  Shabbas was celebrated on the boat and being joined by the crew of our other boat for a Kiddush drink.  The  village itself was not particularly interesting, although it is a big walled city, which was apparently a defence for the highly valuable  salt pans. Next morning, Saturday     September 12th it was time to make the homeward trip.  By now it was extremely cloudy and raining heavily and consequently we decided we would shelter and did not sail until nearly midday. We motored up the Canal and headed for the home base. Nevertheless, despite the weather, we ate on the go, eventually coming into the home mooring in Dubrovnik at about 5.30pm.  In actual fact, after the rain stopped, we got in some very good sailing. Dubrovnik was a very crowded marina and we had trouble getting in but eventually we bombarded our way in and all twelve of us celebrated the week’s sail over Pizza and wine in the Marina Café. As a general comment I would say that, when we weren’t drunk we were enjoying ourselves very much indeed. Thanks to Vice Commodore Seaman Stan for writing this piece and for organising a wonderful trip. Ed. To view the full photo Gallery click here