Follow Us Two: In Europe and the UK: June 2013

Our Navigator Sailing Route

This is pretty much what our boat "Navigator" looked like

Sail Croatia Journey:

We woke to the sound of heavy rain that had welcomed us to Split the night before. It seemed not even the most pessimistic of people could have predicted this type of weather for seven days of sailing in the Adriatic. After 15 hours on the bus the day before, we put on brave faces and headed out into the rain. Sail Croatia was one of the first excursions/tours we booked on our entire journey and we were not going to let pouring rain dampen our trip.

We had to be on the boat by 11am, but we had been encouraged by travelers who had sailed before us to get some drinks and snacks for the boat. Although this is not allowed, it turned out to be a great call because purchasing daily drinks and snacks on the boat can be rather expensive as we were about to find out. Hence, they had no price list but ran a tab on your room number - so ordering drinks was very easy... Until the big fat bill would be revealed at the end. We had to be very careful!

Once we had stocked up on supplies we waddled through the rain to our boat "the Navigator." The boats are docked alongside each other - so depending on when your boat came in to the Harbour, it could be the first or fourth boat in the line. Ours was the fourth! In the heavy rain it required some clever navigating to jump from ship to ship with our bags - until we reached the Navigator.

Once aboard, we met our fellow ship mates who would turn out to be a awesome group of 27 - made up of Kiwi's, Americans, Brits and Australians. We must just note that four of our group members were doctors from New York, so diagnosing any illness came cheaply for the next seven days. I along with my new doctor have decided I have low blood sugar, which explains why I get so miserable when hungry. Ash believes that this is more of an excuse than a diagnosis?

Our first stop was Hvar Island, the longest of all the Croatian Islands. Our trip had already taken a positive turn as the weather had cleared up and we had not got sea sick yet. Hvar was a special place with a fortress overlooking the small town that was built on a steep hill. We felt like we were in a pirate retreat. The port is surrounded by seafood restaurants and night spots. We were offered guided tours, but all declined them and decided to explore the city ourselves. We ended the night off with a seafood pasta, and a night out at Nautica Nightclub.

The rule was, to be back on your boat at 5am - as the boat will leave then with or without you. Once on the boat, it was then normal to sleep through till about midday when the lunch bell would ring. There is also breakfast between 8-9am, which not many people made.

During the day our captain would find a small bay to drop the anchor so we could all have a swim. The ocean was a crystal clear blue and our entire crew jumped in to cool off. It had taken one night and a few beers for us to all get to know each other. During lunch and for the remainder of the afternoon the captain steered us towards our next stop - Trstenik. During the afternoons, Ash and her new friends tanned, and us guys played cards with a few beers in hand. The Australians (our islanders as Ash and I call them because of there unique language) taught us numerous card games.

We docked in Trstenik and were informed that this region was famous for some of Croatia's best wines. The price of the wines varied depending on the steepness of the slope the grapes were grown on, as well as the the amount of sun they received. However, even in Rand terms they were extremely cheap. Before we bought any wines there was a wine tasting hosted by a Croatian version of Basil Fawlty from Fawlty towers. He spent most of his time complaining in a humorous manner about how his wife forced him to clean the pool and bake bread when the boats were coming. After a few jokes with Mr Fawlty, we tasted the wine and decided to buy a bottle which we all chipped in for. Trstenik was a small fishing village so there was not much in terms of a place to eat. The boat, however, offered us a BBQ (or braai) on board.

Every morning Ash and I were woken early to the noise of the anchor, which we were certain was stored under our bed. We were headed to the third stop on our trip and everyone on board was extremely excited as our third stop was the famous old town of Dubrovnik. Game of Thrones and The Bachelor, two popular series, are filmed in Dubrovnik. When we arrived in the old town we could see exactly why. Dubrovnik is protected by a 2km long city wall, and the streets are all made of marble. We walked the city walls in complete amazement of the town and stopped off at a drinks spot in the city walls. It must have been the excitement of Dubrovnik that caused our crew to all meet for a festive dinner at Sky Bar, and head out to a night club within the walls! This resulted in all of us being a bit under the weather the following morning.

Lucky for those feeling under the weather, our next stop was Mljet - an island only known for its national park and two large lakes. We arrived in the early afternoon and spent the rest of the day swimming and relaxing in the national park. The clear blue water and overpowering forests were the perfect setting to take a day off to relax. We swam through a channel which became a bit addictive!

After Mljet and an evening of recovery, we had all become close friends and were looking forward to an afternoon activity. Sail Croatia had organized with one of their partners that we will be collected at sea and taken to the island of Korcula - where small off road Buggies waited for us. The small Buggies were like off road go-carts. In our Buggies we were guided through the wine lands and over a hill to a secluded beach where we all played beach soccer and volley ball. The plan was for the driver and passenger to swap at this point, but Ash had decided that off road racing was not her thing. Lucky for me, I got to drive the off road buggies for longer and avoid any accidents. It turned out some other couples had minor accidents when the drivers swapped over to the girls. After the Buggie trip we were ferried back to port with wine and snacks, where our boat had docked.

Our final stop was Makarska which was famous for its night club in a Cave. Unfortunately when we arrived we were told it was still under renovation. This may have been a blessing in disguise as we spent the evening having a relaxing dinner with all our new friends and a casual night in a nightclub in the walls. On our final day we stopped at a pirates fort on route to split which in many ways made us believe that Pirates of the Caribbean was a true story. In the shadow of the fort was a long beach where we enjoyed a swim before lunch and our final return leg to Split.

Everyone on the boat was extremely sad that our trip had come to an end. Ash and I were sad to be saying goodbye to some awesome new friends, but in some ways grateful that we would be back on land. We headed onto land to explore Split with our shipmates. We were not to be blessed with peaceful sunshine for too long as the clouds once again covered Split and a massive hail storm erupted. Street vendors scrambled to protect themselves and their goods as we spectated from a nearby pizza shop. After this experience we were certain that Split is similar to Cape Town and could experience four seasons in one day. We had grown found of our shipmates and were happy to spend the rest of the evening listening to live music and having a few drinks inside the walls of the Dolcetians Palace.

We ended off with a few farewell drinks at Paradiso, and then had to say our goodbyes as most of our group had flights to catch early the next the morning. Ash and I packed up a our stuff and headed straight onto land to the closest Laundry in the morning, where we handed in all our clothes! Sail Croatia was a awesome week and definitely a main highlight of our trip!

Thanks to the Sail Croatia Crew & our amazing group!

... & thanks Ash for allowing me to write another blog post, ha ha.