Amazing Island hopping

We had one week to get from Trogir down to Dubrovnik to collect our next guests. This time, we visited nothing but islands and loved the change of pace. Of course, the weather dictated it’s fair share…

We left Trogir without delay to catch a weather window, and said goodbye to the promenade and castle on our way out…

We caught some great wind that day and it was finally behind us… (typically, no matter which direction we are traveling, the wind is at our nose) 😦

…and returned to the island of Brač and the town of Milna again. This time, though, we stayed at the ACI marina which was located directly in the town. Our docking location had never been more convenient. 

Now Brač is supposed to be a great island to visit as not far from Milna is the town of Bol, where one of the most beautiful beaches in all of Europe sits – Zlatni Rat beach (or Golden Horn beach). As well, hiking up Vidova Gora mountain is supposed to offer amazing panoramic views of the coast. We contemplated visiting Bol to take in such sites, however, we ended up spending our couple of days in Milna doing lots of chores and playing catch up. If you ever find yourself there, though, check them out for us!

Milna was busy. We were reminded that once you head south of Trogir, you are back in charter boat territory. Lots of charter groups having a great time. Milna’s special feature, though, was its old church and clock tower. Those bells rang at 6am and nearly every 15 minutes thereafter. Will not forget those!

Next, we visited the tiny uninhabited village of Palmižana (staying at their ACI marina) on the Pakleni islands. The plan was to dock there and be in spitting distance of Hvar (the island and city). We learned, however, that in order to get the water taxi to Hvar, you just had to wait at the stop for an indefinite amount of time until a minimum of five passengers were ready to go. So, we decided to just explore Palmižana. What a great find! I think it’s the most beautiful marina we’ve ever stayed in, mainly because it was very lush and green as opposed to being surrounded by concrete. You can actually very easily explore the island with well made trails. We hiked over the hill to the other side where the beaches were – among a huge anchorage area – and enjoyed a tiny beach without the crowds. Just hiking trails was great too.

Next up was Korčula island. Last time, we stayed at the ACI marina right next to the Old Town (which we loved), but this time, we decided to try another spot on the island. After not finding available anchorages, we ended up at the Marina Lumbarda in the fishing village of Lumbarda.  Also a neat find. This ended up being one of Conor’s favorite places. Again, we were surrounded by charter groups – and pretty much all men. What’s with that? But, we enjoyed the location as a beautiful beach was right next door and you could rent kayaks there, which we did. In what felt like our actual first full “vacation day” without chores or much work, we rented a 2-person kayak and spent a whole afternoon exploring near a dozen little islands in the area. I’m lucky that Conor is a “professional” paddler and can paddle forever! We hopped out for a picnic, a swim, and some sunbathing. Sorry I don’t have many pictures – it was a wet endeavor! Highly recommend, though!

Lumbarda is also a neat area as it is quite rural and agricultural. We discovered some wineries in the area and got to visit one briefly. A special white grape – the Grk – grows only in Lumbarda, and we were interested to taste some. Of course, it was tasty and we had to get a bottle. The winery Popić had a gorgeous setting – Conor felt it was a combination of Napa, Monterey, and Yosemite. We could definitely have spent more time on this island, but had to keep moving.

(Sidenote: We felt that Croatia doesn’t seem to export much in the way of consumer goods, at least from small producers. Seems too bureaucratic and expensive for businesses to do so. Such a bummer, because it would be great to find outside of the country things such as their wines, Teranino liquor, olive oils, truffle products, etc. So, enjoy them all while you are here!)

We were then on our way back to the island of Mljet. We had promised ourselves we would return to the anchorage at Polače so we could hike in the national park there. However, the anchorage was extremely well protected from every wind direction possible except for the one direction it was actually going to howl from. So, we kept motoring south and returned to the village of Prožura. Here we had a beautiful mooring ball site and were well protected from the wind. Great swim and SUP spot. UberDing rode again, and we tried the other restaurant in town this time and again loved our Peka dish. Highly recommend trying this if you’re ever in Croatia. It’s essentially a method of cooking – many types of food (this time we had lamb) can be cooked “under the bell” which is a large clay or iron dish set atop open flames. The food (the meat or seafood along with potatoes, vegetables, and herbs) are slow cooked for at least a couple of hours and are delicious. Probably my favorite dish in Croatia. You just have to order ahead!

Our weather window was shortening, so we had to adjust our plans and leave Prožura the following morning and head straight for Dubrovnik without any further stops. We left early in the morning to try and not get caught in the building winds. We simply had to cross a channel from Mljet to inside the Elaphiti Islands near the mainland to get out of the worst of it.

The best way I can think of to describe the crossing was to imagine riding a slow mechanical bull. With a very occasional splash. Hanging out at the helm with Conor, I held on to a winch which felt not too unlike a Western saddle horn. This gal was feeling her Texan roots. All I can say is that it was a great 60-minute core workout. We had sustained strong winds with gusts up to 24 knots. With additional crew onboard, Conor would have likely raised the sails. But, he’s more about safety when it’s just the two of us. Mercifully, neither I nor Conor have dealt with any seasickness to date, and it wasn’t raining yet. We had a dramatic gray sky, but the sun was peaking out just in front of us. I find that the sun on the water has quite a calming effect. Again, sorry I don’t have any pictures here – I was just holding on!

We made it to our Marina Frapa in Dubrovnik and will sit here through the coming storm and get ready for our next guests!