Pics from our Croatia / Montenegro / S-Italy summer cruise 2014

[Hardmy]

Marko Polo grounding

that's a good observation C
iirc Marco Polo was the best looking / newest vessel of all 3

She even survived quite a hard grounding in Nov 2009 vs Sit island:

They had to use airbags, cut a part of the bow away to free her with the help of 3 tugs...

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

What restaurants would you recommend if I may ask? Following places I liked come to my mind:

In no particular order, a few which I can remember and which we liked very much

Fabro - Murter
Festa - Zut
Roki's - Vis
Zori - Pakleni Islands
Antonio's - Pakleni Islands
Gariful - Hvar
Niko - Kobas
Triton - Lastovo

Wonderful photos btw. Did you get up to Skradin and the Krka National Park? Agree with you regarding the Kornatis; we weren't sure either why this area is so renowned and resented paying the National Park fees

 

[Hardmy]

Duboka (Telascica)

Thanks for the restaurant adresses!

Did you get up to Skradin and the Krka National Park?

We visited the Krka waterfalls in the past. It is indeed worth a visit, swimming nearly under the waterfall (before being pulled out by some warden) is also a pleasant experience. This year, we didn't go further than Zaton.


In respect to the mooring place in Duboka Bay (Telascica park) mentioned before. Here are two pics, in the backround the Kornatis are clearly visible:

It is actually perfect for boat 15m. onwards and very deep as well.

 

[AndieMac]

This is developing into a very interesting thread H, I'm glad you are adding more pics and info, particularly the "Yad" ferry grounding

Looking forward to more instalments

 

[Hardmy]

Croatia cont'd / Kornati III

The last Kornati instalment with Kornat main island. There is a little pier which I did snorkel-check before going alongside. Around 1.80m. depth if I remember well. Protection is not optimal, and passing boats (a big Princess in semi-displacement mode nearly throwed our boat on the pier) do provoke some swell. But it’s OK for a night.

There is a small chapel,

as well as remains of a castle. The evening ambience and the view over the Kornatis is a must:

Once a year in June, a huge procession of boats of all kind gathers there in order to celebrate Our Lady of Tarac the protector of the sailors.


I selected a couple of pics for the next instalment (Zlarin and Sibenik), I'd like to post it during the noon break.

 

[Hardmy]

Croatia - Sibenik

Zlarin is situated right at the entrance of the Sibenik canal

Nevertheless, it feels like a more remote island. Life still runs at a slower pace, cars are forbidden. Delivery vans are replaced by this:

Sibenik, the entrance channel

There is a lot to see, an UNESCO cathedral:

This quay is used by visiting boats, also such beautiful one:

We moored alongside, in front of the main bus station, next to the fuel station (about where the sailyacht is to be seen on the right of the pic). No water/electricity. And nobody came to collect a fee. Maybe because we were all the time visiting the town and didn’t spent the night there.

Needless to say that Sibenik offers plenty of provisioning possibilities, especially a market with lots of fresh produce just behind the main bus station.


Then , we navigated upstream and bought some fresh mussels and oysters on our way,

and spent the night in Zaton, moored alongside behind this Princess.

Really nothing spectacular there, the only animation came from a wedding in Croatian style with flag-waving and a bus driver who has a talent for sign languages.

Next story is my first (and hope last) Malheur including a lift out for a day...

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Those are familiar photos, Hardmy. Just for your info, on the opposite side of the water to the fuel station in Sibenik there is a commercial fuel dock run by LukOil where I found the fuel to be cheaper and no waiting at all because they have 6 pumps or even more, I can't remember

 

[longjohnsilver]

What a terrific set of photos, and a great report. The area looks fabulous, another cruising area to add to the list of must dos. Thanks for posting.

 

[Hardmy]

A little Malheur

We wanted to visit the Sv. Nikola fortress which stands guard at the entrance of the Sibenik channel.

I thought we may be able to moor at the little quay shown below. But at around 30m. before, I noticed that there was not enough space for us, and a little wind was blowing in the wrong direction. So I turned the boat with the bow pointing to the NW in order to leave the bay. Approximatively at the purple pin, my Stb engine stalled. Wind was pushing us back to the quay so I decided to cross the channel and find an appropriate place in the bay opposite (up left of the chart). The boat was behaving in a strange way and I did struggle at the beginning to control our heading. I thought wind+motoring on one engine would be the culprits.

Then, we went alongside a big RIB attached on a buoy in the NW bay. Put the goggles on, to find that a rope was tangled around the Stb prop. On one end was hanging a weight enough deep in the water that I couldn’t see it (hence the maneuver struggle, we were actually dragging this heavy weight on the seabed all the time!!!). After cutting this end of the rope, the boat noticeably lifted a bit out of the water. I was now extremely worried because I could see very small cracks in the fiberglass/gelcoat covering the P-bracket basement. I rushed inside to check our bilges which were dry. Nonetheless I immediately called SeaHelp which I am a member, because I needed help to remove the remaining rope and I wanted a quick lift.

At this moment, I was in a very bad mood not only because of my dented pride, but most of all because my parents were supposed to come onboard the same evening and I wanted them to enjoy a boating vacation and not a sitting-around-a-marina-vacation until the Greek Kalends.

So SeaHelp came in very quickly and immediately arranged a lift (it was Sunday 15:00 pm). We would spend the night in the slings to be lifted next day 08:00 am. They gave us a tow (we could have done without) to Marina Tribunj where a welcoming committee helped us to safely moor in the travel-lift pool.

Next day, we were woken up at 07:30. I couldn’t believe that they were serious with lift-out on 08:00! So, here is the culprit:

Removing gelcoat/fiberglass? (I don’t know) and drying

And a pic of the finished job on the same evening:

Besides the works on the p-bracket, they also measured and checked the shaft (e.g. no bending was found) as well as a thorough check for any other potential mechanical damages (gearbox) etc.

I do not pretend being a super naval expert, but I found them (Merk&Merk) competent, well organized and fast. Whether they were competitive pricewise, I cannot say. Anyway, this was all secondary in my eyes, the vacation could go on!

And at the end there was no waste of time in Tribunj, the place was actually quite cute:

So 1000€ later, we left on the same evening and steered a heading in the direction of Primosten. BTW-I do not wish him to catch a rope at his speed so near the coast:

Primosten, a very popular spot among the slavs, i.e. lots of music till late at night. We moored right in front of restaurants at the main promenade, but we were not used to be watched at while drinking wine. It feels like we were in zoo.

The Dominator at the left used two laid moorings + his anchor. Is this common? I thought that the risk of getting the anchor in a ground chain is quite high.

Next comes Lastovo.

 

[Hurricane]

Only just seen this thread
Fantastic photos
I didn't think it would look like that
Thanks for posting

 

[BartW]

We wanted to visit the Sv. Nikola The Dominator at the left used two laid moorings + his anchor. Is this common? I thought that the risk of getting the anchor in a ground chain is quite high.

Re. Bowlines AND anker
I've seen it / done it in a few occasions; Vis, Kobas, Budva fe.
when the boat is a bit oversized for the size of the bowlines, and the lines are positions not far enough from the quay, its more safe to also put the anker,
In these cases, the anker was far ahead of the position where the bowlines reach the sea bottom.

in the case of this dominator above, you can see that the bowlines go straight down, in an angle of > 45° with the water surface
we had the same happening to us in Vis.

but I'm with you on this, there is alway's a risc of tangling the anker in the rope / chains on the seabed, and prefer to use Bowlines OR anker.

 

[MapisM]

Using bow lines + anchor(s) is actually pretty common also in my marina, because the dock is normally used for boats up to 30m or so, and the ground chain is placed accordingly. But in front of the dock there's plenty of space, so occasionally we had 60+m boats moored. And obviously, they can only use the ground lines for lateral stability, but they must deploy at least one anchor.
I've never seen any mess happening so far, though of course each marina can be different, possibly with many chains on the bottom, etc.
I surely wouldn't want to drop the hook in the middle of a marina unless instructed to do so from the marina guys, in fact.
Btw, one alternative when the boat is a bit too long for the bow lines (but not like 60 vs. 30m, of course) is to attach them to midship rather than bow cleats.

 

[BartW]

Btw, one alternative when the boat is a bit too long for the bow lines is to attach them to midship rather than bow cleats.

thats what we have done in quite a few occasions,
Vis, and Kobas, ao.
but also in Sof,
Monaco and Menton, maybe you remember that last one ;-)

 

[BartW]

I worked with up to date Navionics and C-Map electronic charts as well as paper charts from the Italian hydrography institute. My recommendation is to buy for a couple of €€€ the "888 Häfen und Buchten" pilot of Mr. Beständig. An actualized edition comes out in April every year, and its accuracy is of unrivalled precision. The infos are in German, but the chartlets speak for themselves.

I've never found official paper charts of the region,
and the electronic charts are not alway's accurate near some some distant islands.
the 888 Hafen, or now 999 harbours iirc is very good ! and also available in English, in the bigger bookshop, (or bookshop in more touristic places)
and much better then the more expensive pilot books !

in the shallow waters, between the small islands near Lumbarda Korcula is a dangerous Bug in my C-map cards !

 

[MapisM]

Monaco and Menton, maybe you remember that last one ;-)

Oh yes, indeed.
Though I must say it's not convenient to handle that on BA, due to the need to go through the midship fairleads and secure the lines to the bow cleats...
It's weird that Canados didn't fit a mid cleat on an otherwise extremely well equipped boat.

 

[BartW]

What restaurants would you recommend if I may ask? Following places I liked come to my mind:
- Bugenvila Restaurant in Cavtat
- Konoba Toni in Primosten
- Restaurant Vanjaka in Trogir
- Eremitaz in Stari Grad on Hvar
- Konoba in the Manastir bay on Scedro (quite rudimentary but nice setting)
- Konoba Duga on Ciovo

I can add to your list:

-Island Brac: Pipo !!!
-Island Lastovo: Triton
-Island Mljet, Polace: Burbon
-On Peljesac canal towards Ston, place called Kobas: Nico !!!
-Sipan: Marko !!!
-Kolocep: Villa Rose
-Dubrovnic: Proto and Nautica
my family likes Lokanda in the old town/old port,
- In Cavtat: Bugenvila is the best at the moment
- Porte Montenegro all restaurants are nice and OK.
We like “One” and “Mitsu” when you like Japanese food (fresh!)
In Tivat, are a few local konoba’s, never had a bad meal don’t remember their names,
There are two popular: Porat and Volat, we prefer the latter.
More south, Budva has some good places aswell but much more cheapy, be carefull !

 

[BartW]

Though I must say it's not convenient to handle that on BA, due to the need to go through the midship fairleads and secure the lines to the bow cleats...

have been considering a "flip out" cleat on the deck floor, near that mid fairlead, the beam is at it's maximum in this area, easy noticeable from the teak decking slats,
so this is doable, but I'm sill a bit in doubt, risk of hitting a toe remains.

other solution is replacing these mid fairleads with a bigger model with integrated cleat,

 

[BartW]

In no particular order, a few which I can remember and which we liked very much

Fabro - Murter
Festa - Zut
Roki's - Vis
Zori - Pakleni Islands
Antonio's - Pakleni Islands
Gariful - Hvar
Niko - Kobas
Triton - Lastovo

Wonderful photos btw. Did you get up to Skradin and the Krka National Park? Agree with you regarding the Kornatis; we weren't sure either why this area is so renowned and resented paying the National Park fees

Mike, I forgot about your post,
here is the complete list (very important list for the future;-) )



- Murter: Fabro
- Zut: Festa
- Pakleni islands: Antonio's and Zori
- Primosten Konoba Toni
- Trogir Restaurant Vanjaka
- Scedro: Konoba in the Manastir bay (quite rudimentary but nice setting)
- Ciovo Konoba Duga
- Hvar: Eremitaz
- Vis: Roki's
- Brac: Pipo !!!
-Lastovo: Triton
-Mljet, Polace: Burbon
-On Peljesac canal towards Ston, place called Kobas: Nico !!!
-Sipan: Marko !!!
-Kolocep: Villa Rose
-Dubrovnic: Proto and Nautica
Lokanda in the old town/old port,
- In Cavtat: Bugenvila is the best at the moment
- Porte Montenegro “One” and “Mitsu” when you like Japanese food (fresh!)
- In Tivat, are a few local konoba’s, names tbc
There are two popular: Porat and Volat, we prefer the latter.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I've never found official paper charts of the region,
and the electronic charts are not alway's accurate near some some distant islands.
the 888 Hafen, or now 999 harbours iirc is very good ! and also available in English, in the bigger bookshop, (or bookshop in more touristic places)
and much better then the more expensive pilot books !

in the shallow waters, between the small islands near Lumbarda Korcula is a dangerous Bug in my C-map cards !

The Croatian Hydrographic Institute (HHI) publish 2 sets of small craft folio sized charts http://www.hhi.hr/en/catalogmaps/viewmap/28 for the whole coastline which I found very useful but strangely they're not easy to find in chandleries. Yes I agree that you cannot trust electronic charts for the area. We found several anomalies including rocks where none were shown on the chart. The Croatian coastline is certainly a cruising ground where you need to concentrate on your navigation

 

[MapisM]

other solution is replacing these mid fairleads with a bigger model with integrated cleat

Hi B, just in case you are interested: you might remember this pic of a C70 which I posted some time ago, to show the pocket anchors arrangement.

Now, the very same boat also has the following midship combined cleats/fairleads, and btw I'd say they were probably factory built, by the look of them.
TBH, I'm not sure I'd trust them 100% in a storm, but for temporary moorings and attaching the rib they are definitely convenient.
With apologies to the OP for the o/t.