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Croatia By Marianne Wheeler

Word about the David Kory - Tradewinds Charter trips must have spread. We had not

only our California group, but crew from Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Florida,

and even Argentina participating in the “Croatian Invasion September – October 2008”.

We had enough ready and able sailors to fill three catamarans and four mono-hulls, 40 to

51 ft in length, chartered from our favorite charter company, the Moorings in Kremik

Marina on the Dalmatian coast, north of the ancient city of Split.

All in all, it turned out to be a friendly invasion with laid-back and curious sailors.

We met in London, connect-

ing with old friends, quickly

making new ones, settling

into the Hyde Park Towers

hotel for a lay-over day of

sight-seeing and catching an

evening show at Piccadilly

Square. The next day, after a

hearty English breakfast and

a short flight, we arrived in

the ancient city of Dubrovnik and were met by Ivo, the engaging and English

-speaking driver of a shiny, modern Mercedes bus. For the next five hours we

leaned back in air-conditioned comfort, the soundtrack of “Mama Mia” on

the intercom, taking in the beautiful countryside and Ivo‟s entertaining Croa-

tian anecdotes and facts, as he drove us over the narrow, winding road to

Split.

In Split, we had our first real appreciation of the ancient world we were about to

enter. The region of present-day Croatia was settled by the Illyrians as early as the

Bronze Age and the settlement Speleti became today‟s Split. During the 4th century

B.C., the Greeks founded colonies along the Dalmatian coast and in the 1st century

A.D., the Romans conquered them all and Romanized the coastal area. They built

roads, cultivated vines, and brought olives and citrus fruit. In the 3rd century A.D.,

Emperor Diocletian built a huge palace overlooking the Bay of Split and in the 21st

century A.D., it still stands and we got to see it with our own eyes! Today, the pal-

ace with its fortifications is not only a historical site of towers and temples, halls,

porticos, columns, sculptures, and Diocletian‟s large Mausoleum, but it is alive

with open-air markets, shops, and cafes, bustling with Croatians and lots of visitors.

We had a long, sunny day to wander and sight-see and easily could have spent

more time. But, we all were eager to get on the water and sail.

In Kremik, we found our boats waiting, med moored stern to, a beautiful sight, all

lined up on the dock

of the Moorings

base. There also

was a small, but

well stocked super

market in walking

distance, offering

plenty of good pro-

visions. Before

long, we cast off

and sailed into the

blue Adriatic Sea. The Croatian Adriatic includes 1,185 islands strewn

along 1,100 miles of dramatically shaped shores. We were determined to

make the most of our 12 days of sailing and exploring. David Kory had

put together an itinerary and most of our boats followed it, meeting up

occasionally, heading south from Split to Dubrovnik, about 160 nm.

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Every day, we sailed to picture postcard towns and villages, like Maslinica on

Solta Island, and Bol on Brac, where we couldn‟t resist and sailed right up to

the most famous beach, the Dugi Rat, anchored in 10 ft of clear, turquoise

water and swam ashore.

We sailed on to Hvar and the Pakleni Islands, and to Vela Luka, which means

Big Harbor, finding idyllic settings and great restaurants everywhere.

It was really easy to just sail into the center of a sleepy, medieval-looking

town with houses

of gray stone and

red-tiled roofs,

anchor or tie up to

the wharf and set

out to explore.

Through the old

and varied archi-

tecture of

churches, castles, villas, and ruins, we could begin to see the complicated his-

tory of the Croats, a people believed to have originated in Persia. For centuries,

they were marked by many different cultures, most recently by Serbia, France

and Germany. Earlier, and over time, their kingdom had united with the king-

dom of Hungary, was invaded by the powerful Venetians, battled by the Otto-

man Turks, and controlled by the Empire of Austria. This explains somewhat

why, today, Hungarian Gulash, Italian Gelati ice cream, Turkish spices and

Austrian

apple strudel are considered local fare in the many restaurants, ca-

fes, bakeries, and markets of Croatia.

Although we could shop for fresh food and cook on board, most of

the crews enjoyed eating out. The restaurants were very good and

reasonably priced, the waiters and tavern owners spoiled us with

attention and service, and every meal was considered the best until

we had another. On the island of Hvar, Mr. Manego of Konoba

Manego greeted us warmly, pointing out in excellent American

English that, regrettably, we had arrived on the last evening before

the tavern closed for a family holiday. But, we were welcome to

anything left in the kitchen, if we trusted him. Of course, we did,

and soon a wealth of food appeared, almost bending the table. Plat-

ters of prosciutto ham that melted in your mouth, cheese aged to

perfection in sheep‟s skin, plump olives, pickled vegetables, tender

grilled octopus, spicy stuffed peppers, fried small fish, black ri-

sotto, and juicy chicken a la Buzaro. Wine kept flowing from ca-

rafes of house red and white, and we feasted long into the night. In

Croatia, house wine really does mean house wine, as almost every house has a grape arbor or small vineyard for making wine, and we

found it to be very good, easy to drink, fruity and light. When Mr.

Manego brought in the “Drunken Figs”, a sweet desert of almond

stuffed, ripe figs soaked in wine, we asked where he was going on vaca-

tion. He flashed us a big smile and said: “New Jersey”!

We meandered our way down the Dalmatian coast, stopping at Korcula,

a classic medieval town that claims to be the true birth place of Marco

Polo.

On Mljet Island, one of the greenest places in the Adriatic, we had our

choice of small, secluded bays to drop the anchor and swim and hike in

Mljet National Park.

We navigated the Stonski canal to reach Ston and Mali Ston, two vil-

lages joined by the remnants of a three mile long 14th century fortifica-

tion wall, reminiscent of a smaller Great Wall of China. In Mali Ston we

slurped local oysters at Nina‟s road side stand and sampled her father‟s

house wine.

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The further south we sailed the more Mediterranean the land-

scape turned. In Luka Sipon, the shores were thick with palms

and tall, dark cypress trees. Big stone villas, old churches, and

tall spires stood on sloping hills. Small fishing boats with short,

white crosses on the bow lay in the harbors and big ferries

moved tourists in and out.

At Sunj, we anchored in a quiet cove and landed the dinghy on a

small beach resort, with a thatch-roofed bar offering hamburgers

and hotdogs, and long rows of white beach chairs for rent lining

the sandy shore.

All our stops held fascinating, unforgettable sights, but the most

impressive of all had to be the ancient city of Dubrovnik. We

approached Old Town Dubrovnik from the north and were spell-

bound by its medieval presence jutting out into the sea. We were

amazed by the sight of red-tiled roofs and solid-stone houses

tightly packed inside a massive circular city wall rising out of a

rocky peninsula. And, we were awed by the prospect of entering

a city established as a world port since the 6th century. We sailed

up close and alongside the city wall ramparts, lookouts, and

huge defense towers, walls more than eighty feet high and

twenty feet thick, the Adriatic surf pounding against the

rocks just like it has for ages. We anchored in Old Town

Dubrovnik in the lee and the shield of ancient walls standing

ready to resist enemy attacks, keeping its citizens and us

safe.

In Dubrovnik, we found an exiting mix of Old World and

New: Renaissance convents, Gothic cathedrals, Baroque

mansions, and Roman fountains interwoven matter-of-factly

with modern bistros, Italian boutiques, and souvenir shops.

Narrow, cobbled streets buzzed with visitors speaking in

foreign tongues and busy tour guides holding up umbrellas

for them to follow. Children played soccer in church plazas

and around statues of saints. Bed sheets blew dry on lofty

lines between stone façades and shuttered windows. Markets

filled town squares and farmers sold fresh fruit and vegeta-

bles, weighing them out on old fashioned scales with lead-

iron weights. Croatian business men on cell phones and lap-

tops soaked up the sun in crowded cafes. Old Town Dubrov-

nik is an exhilarating place and we had so much more to see and not enough hours in the day.

Sailing the Dalmatian coast along Croatia let us dip into European

modernity or steep in age-old history and traditions, offering a rich

blend of today and of days gone by. Add to that fine wine, good

food, great boats, pleasant winds and like-minded sailing friends,

and you can‟t ask for anything more of a Tradewinds charter vaca-

tion.

Most of the crews spent our last night in Croatia together, sitting

under the grapevine covered arbor of the Hotel Adriatic, telling sea

stories and toasting our good time. We stayed long into the night,

talking and laughing, the moon waxing high above, Jupiter blazing

near it, and Aldebaran twinkling orange in the West. Before we

turned in, David Kory asked: “So, where would you like to go

next?” Open for suggestions of new charter destinations, he is al-

ready thinking of future good times, ready to go.

We fly back home with many sailing dreams come true and new

friends made, and with the exciting prospect of many more places

in the world to sail.