Croatia harbour and anchorages

[sailaboutvic]

We arrived 5 weeks ago in Croatia and can only copy your sentiment. Heard many negative stories but we really love it here. Bays galore.

Spent £75 on mooring & anchoring in 5 weeks covering dubrovnik to split, of which £20 was outside korcula on a mooring buoy but we were lazy and could've moved a mile away and anchored for free, the other £25 was on a town Quay (we could've anchored but were lazy again)

My one encounter with Aci marina indeed made me feel staff were statsi trained - the charge for water and a couple of hours in the marina while taking on water and running to the shop (trogir) came to £30... Avoiding Aci is easy enough though and otherwise people have been very friendly

Hi Eagle
If you are planning to visit Veal Luka , be where most of the port is a paying area anchor or not , will update my site later with option how to visit without paying for anchoring . Town worth a visit .

www.bluewatersailorcroatia.webs.com

 

[Mudisox]

I visited the area way back in late 80s when it was Yugoslavia and found it wonderful, reasonable with friendly natives.
The wars intervened, with appalling inter racial and almost tribal attrocities.
I last went to Zadar in 2012 and worked with local race officials and met many politicians. Almost like the mafia, but they really didn't like the russian/german influx of charterers/tourists - hence the desire to extract as much from them as possible. They still had an affection for British folk as they remembered the support in WW2.

I know of plenty places in UK that aim to extract cash / the michael. All places are different which is why we cruise surely.

 

[RichardS]

Hi Vic

I am really enjoying your blog. Can't wait to be back in two weeks.

I have just got my first tablet - android - and have the Navionics app. I like your screen shots but what is the blue button above the arrow in the lower left hand corner? I don't have that on mine.

Richard

 

[sailaboutvic]

Hi Vic

I am really enjoying your blog. Can't wait to be back in two weeks.

I have just got my first tablet - android - and have the Navionics app. I like your screen shots but what is the blue button above the arrow in the lower left hand corner? I don't have that on mine.

Richard

Hi Richard
The blue button is for sonar charts , I wouldn't worry about it , I have to say we found the navionics chart a lot better then our Garman , lot more details as well as you can zoom in a lot better .
.
I am glade you are enjoying the site , the whole idea is to show people that Croatia is or isn't as the case may be , as bad as people report , actually so far it great , I keep saying so far , I still waiting for it all to go tits up , we are well into the Central Adriatic and it July so if it going to happen, it will happen over the next two weeks or so . As I write this we are sailing in 15 kts or wind in almost flat seas at 7 kts , unbelievable next stop , Zut , I have some more anchorages to up date and will do that to night .
Enjoy our old cruising ground because we are for sure enjoying yours .

www.bluewatersailorcroatia.webs.com

 

[eagle160]

It's getting a bit harder to avoid charges north of sibenik I've found. When in disagreement with the local 'boss' on takan - as he did not want us to anchor anywhere in a 300m radius from any buoy - I decided to consult the - in my view often inaccurate - imray pilot book which had nothing on charges or anchoring not being allowed to anchor there. Downloaded the recent supplement to see updates and stumbled across this :

"
Page 14. Anchoring and Fees As from the beginning of May 2014, following a court ruling, concession holders can no longer stop people from anchoring in designated anchorages and are not allowed to collect a fee for anchoring. Fees can only be collected from yachts using the visitors' moorings provided. Any problems should be reported to the harbour authority for the area. It is however sensible when anchoring to keep a sensible distance from laid moorings.
"

Anyone heard anything about this? Google doesn't provide any suggestions whether this is true

 

[sailaboutvic]

I can only confirm what we was told by the harbour master when we checked in , you have to be away from mooring buoy at less a distances of 150 mts .we arrived in IST three hours ago the harbour has about 30 mooring buoys , we have anchored on the other side , we spoken to a few people and we been told there no anchoring fees . Mooring buoys and the Quay which do have lines are charge at 17 Kn mts .

Hope this helps , I will up date the site to night on Kablon , Brbinj and Zman

www.bluewatersailorcroatia.webs.com

 

[alexsailor]

It used to be 300m, now it is 150m.
But any closer- you'll pay. Calling Police or Lučka kapetanija (port police) is useless since they all know each other...

Anchoring in Ist by the cemetery is far enough not to be horassed.
Drink a beer in bar "lako ćemo" and climb to the church on top (fascinanting view).

Enjoy.

 

[sailaboutvic]

It used to be 300m, now it is 150m.
But any closer- you'll pay. Calling Police or Lučka kapetanija (port police) is useless since they all know each other...

Anchoring in Ist by the cemetery is far enough not to be horassed.
Drink a beer in bar "lako ćemo" and climb to the church on top (fascinanting view).

Enjoy.

Hi Alex
You lost me , where do you get Harassed ? We are 15 boats at anchor here and no one is being Harassed , I had a word with the guy collecting money early and asked him about where we was anchored , and he said there isn't a problem but he had plenty of buoys if we wanted one .
Eagle , where did you get the problem , we coming your way in a few days .

Bluewatersailorcroatia.webs.com

 

[alexsailor]

If you anchor close to the buoys (not just for Ist).
I suppose you are anchoring on the SW side of the bay.

Enjoy Ožujsko beer.

 

[eagle160]

Eagle , where did you get the problem , we coming your way in a few days .

Hi Vic, don't have the pilot book handy but in the Anchorages on otok kakan we were asked to move on twice, from 2 different bays - despite being at least 300m from a buoy (near the power cable to kaprije) . We weren't allow to stay on anchor at all (we asked if we could stay if we paid). We ended up on otok zirje 3nm away but couldn't get the anchor to set in the bay nw of island miras-something (rocks & pebbles) so ended up on quay in Luka muna @ 26 kuna per meter as it was dark at this point, nearest alternative 5nm away, and well overdue g&t time. One of those days...

We also had to pay in zlarin (140kn) and of course the konati Islands(300kn per night anchoring, Park officials come round in dinghy). With careful planning e.g late arrival etc I'm sure it can be avoided but we in the end want to enjoy the sail even it means occasional fees . Did you see this site Croatiananchores.com or similar which lists all the concessions? Quite a helpful.

Ps the Lakes & river East of sibenik are spectacular (and free)

 

[sailaboutvic]

Yes we know the site well , and we been I touch with Wolfgang in the past .
We just anchored out side Silba , needed to do some shopping , one of the problems here trying to find good size super markets . There buoy here at 20kn a mts but we anchored anyway we move on later .
No we not seen the inland lakes yet , our plain is to keep heading North or nears to north depending on the wind , then slow make our way back south ,
We keep I. Mind what you said about where their won't let you anchor ,

You are the third British boat we seen or had contact with .

www.bluewatersailorcroatia.webs.com

 

[alexsailor]

Silba has now (from 1.May this year; been there at the opening) quite a big supermarket. You can also get some fresh meat.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Silba has now (from 1.May this year; been there at the opening) quite a big supermarket. You can also get some fresh meat.

Thanks for that Alex , we just come from there , on the East side , do you mean the one with a fruit and veg stall almost out side , by the church ,? Unlucky for us it didn't have any meat , although she did say something about next week , so I guess they get it nice a week . but we managed to get almost every thing else .
We now anchored out side having a early day , after a nice sail. Over .
www.bluewatersailorcroatia.webs.com

 

[alexsailor]

Hm... Yes. That should be the one. Another one is by that famous Silba tower, almost oposite the Post.
Eat out at konoba Vila velebita (also by the church). They re-opened last year and they are still trying...
But please, skip konoba Silba at the port Mul (east side ,where you are now). Mr. Velimir will sell you lot's of stories about Italian president comming over to his place... But do not belive it. Food is below average.

Enjoy!

Visit also Olib (3Nm east) and stop in Milivoj's cafee (he likes rock and soul) on the seafront. Good coffee.
At the pier Mr.Ivica will assist (and charge) you. Friendly guy, likes vodka. He lived in the States for years (as many of Olib inhabitants did).
But remember:leave Olib if there is a bad weather comming! Three sailing yachts sunk in 2010, chrashing into the pieer after one "smart" sailor wanted to leave the port and hooked neighbour's moooring...

 

[sailaboutvic]

More good tips , thanks Alex .
Since my last posting . Here some thing of interested . We still on the east side do siba out side the harbour .
To day we had our first in counter , A demand to pay for anchoring .
The conversation when like this .
Him .... You must pay me for anchoring ( there was no good afternoon or hello no smile no nothing , just what I would call " a demand for cash "
ME ... Why
HIM ... you anchored near my buoys you must pay me .
ME .. I am 150 mts from your buoy I don't have to pay you .
HIM ... you anchored on my sand , you have to pay me .
ME . ( smile ) NO and if you have a problem you go and get the harbour master .
HIM... The harbour master is fat and lazy ...
ME .... By Croatian law as long I am 150 mts from your buoys you have no right to demand money or stop me from anchoring .
HIM ... Muted , muted , muted and off he went , mute ,muted .
After an hour and some ear bashing for my love one , we lifted the anchor and more about another 50 mts .
That would had been the end of it , but 20 mins later first a Germany yacht tried to anchor nearer to his buoy , after some shouting he anchored near us , no soon he settled down a belgian yacht turned and after some words he too anchored near us too .
We are now waiting for the next yacht to turn up .

Here a lesson for us all just because some one demand money if does mean we have to pay them , well that unless he pulls out a shot gun and then maybe a few Kn would be a good idea .
Ps
after all that I forgot to ask him how much he wanted .

www.bluewatersailorcroatia.webs.com

 

[sailaboutvic]

Eagle , I have some answer to your question .
I think the info you read in Imray's , come from a guy called Branimir Mader , he is from the Croatian chamber of Economy , this statement he made at a (ADAC) skipper meeting in Munich this Spring , Basically Branimir just summarizes the current status: No fee colletion allowed outside the licensed areas.
.
I would try and not get into it if I was you , keep out side the 150 zone and firmly but with a smile argue the point that because you are out of the zone they have no right to charge you , or just move on .
We have to remember Croatia have just entered the EU .

www.bluewatersailorcroatia.webs.com

 

[eagle160]

Hi Vic, sorry missed this! Actually I spent one evening 1.5 hrs debating with the fee collector re the 300 v 150 meter rule. Even got him to read the Croatian law which confirmed 150m. Even still he wanted me to move. After staring at each other for 5 minutes I decided to lift anchor and drop 150 Meter further, in the end he was only doing his job so not worth arguing too much about. We're in Greece now after 3 months Croatia, just checked in. Total town Quay and mooring bill in Croatia approx 380 Eur. At 4.5 Eur a day average I think that's quite reasonable. Could've gone cheaper but occasionally we need to moor to town Quay to boost battery charge and it can be nice.
Ps FYI like you're planning I tried to check out from cavtat while lying at anchor, but it did not work. The police's first question was where I was berthed, and I didn't want to risk lying in case he wanted to board. He got quite upset and, gave me a hard time (after I returned having moored at Q Quay & 40 kunas lighter ).

Overall we absolute LOVED Croatia. Amazing all round (despite overload of t-storms at adobe stage... ).

 

[sailaboutvic]

Good morning Eagle
We not sure where will be checking out as yet , I guess if it is Cavtat we may have no option after what you and a few other have said but to pay them to use the custom quay for a few minutes , we might just check out else where yet and sail over the Italy for a week or so .
4.5 Euros a day for mooring on town wall and have water and power , it doesn't seen bad at all , our mooring fees so far to date is still zero ( sorry ) Although all the Quays that we have use have been in the day times and other then once when we was asked to pay for a few hours so we decided to anchor off we haven't been bothered , mooring buoy again we used only in the day time and never been asked to pay , it seen to us regarding mooring buoy , you can stay all day without paying but over night you have to pay , we did used a mooring buoy for two night , went we arrived back from Venice big blow was forecaster and just after a night sail we decided to give the anchor a rest , but lucky we got away without paying , the first day it blow and rain so hard we guess that the guy wasn't going to risk his life to get his money and the second day we was ashore when he must had been collecting .
Like yourself we have very much enjoyed Croatia even thought at time we had to deal with thunder storm and the winds that they bring . Over yacht men base here have told us it not normal to have this type of weather , so we just picked the wrong year .
Enjoy Greece , if your still about the middle of sept / oct let me know and maybe we have a beer .

www.bluewatersailorcroatia.webs.com

 

[alexsailor]

Again I have to write some words about Croatia.
Average of 4.5eur/day does not mean anything. And such a "statistic" can only be deceptive.
The real deal is that for a town quay or a mooring buoy you pay in average 25hrk/meter (that is: 3,2 eur). That is average!!
But town quays can go as far as 550hrk for a 12.8m SY (do the maths to calculate the average).
And that is the real deal on island Vis where you must pay also for anchoring anywhere in the bay (google it).

Last week I was sailing from Greece to my "home" marina Punat on Island Krk. So I sailed trough all the Croatia and I managed to anchor five nights without paying.
So you can do it but saying 4.5eur/day in Croatia is......

Croatia is beautiful that is true. But arriving back after two months in Greeece it feels sometimes like prison with all those ex-military policemen annoying you.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Again I have to write some words about Croatia.
Average of 4.5eur/day does not mean anything. And such a "statistic" can only be deceptive.
The real deal is that for a town quay or a mooring buoy you pay in average 25hrk/meter (that is: 3,2 eur). That is average!!
But town quays can go as far as 550hrk for a 12.8m SY (do the maths to calculate the average).
And that is the real deal on island Vis where you must pay also for anchoring anywhere in the bay (google it).

Last week I was sailing from Greece to my "home" marina Punat on Island Krk. So I sailed trough all the Croatia and I managed to anchor five nights without paying.
So you can do it but saying 4.5eur/day in Croatia is......

Croatia is beautiful that is true. But arriving back after two months in Greeece it feels sometimes like prison with all those ex-military policemen annoying you.

Alex you surprised me , you must know Croatia a lot better then me , after all it your cruising ground I only been here a few months , surely you know places you can anchor free , we have found them with out any real problems .
As far as ex-military policemen goes , I know what you mean but we only had one contact with one when we cleared In

Have a good day my friend shame we never got to meet up maybe another time .

www.bluewatersailorcroatia.webs.com