Freedom and Photos

For the past three weeks, we’ve been leisurely enjoying southern Croatia. It’s been a rare time in which we actually feel like typical cruisers, with nowhere we have to be at any particular time (other than to return Laura to the Dubrovnik airport). Normally, we have a very purposefully planned route as we are collecting then dropping off friends and family who come to visit. Don’t get me wrong, we love that, but it’s been a nice, slow treat to just go where the wind and whims take us. 

Where we stopped: at various anchorages along the mainland and on the islands of Šipan (one of the Elaphiti Islands), Mljet (great restaurants with mooring balls), Korčula (our favorite), and Lokrum (a national park off of Dubrovnik). 

Here’s a zoomed out view for context:

Days were largely spent sailing, swimming, exploring, working (some of us need to), doing chores, napping, and stargazing. For this post, I figured I’d let the photos do the talking…

Some general photos:

Mljet – a beautiful island with a handful of nice mooring stops. You can use a mooring ball for free if you eat at that restaurant. “Peka” is a Croatian speciality that means “under the bell.” Meats, seafood and veggies can all be slow cooked for a delicious meal. Part of Mljet is also a national park great for hiking and exploring. If the weather cools down, we hope to try it with our next guests!

Korčula – arguably our favorite island as it has so much to offer. A beautiful Old Town, lots of restaurants, lots of agriculture and wineries, lots of options for recreation, including many tiny islets around it for paddling by. Grk is a (delicious) white wine grape literally grown only on the island of Korčula. So, of course we had to take Laura tasting.

Badija – the largest island in the Korčula Archipelago with a beautiful Franciscan monastery that was built in the 14th century. The island has beautiful swim spots, a lovely walking trail around it, and is known for its only inhabitants – red deer.

Lokrum – a pretty island that tons of tourist boats from Dubrovnik head to. The entire island is a nature reserve, and its roaming peacocks are quite an attraction amidst all the flora. There is also a good bit of history here with an 11th century Benedictine abbey and monastery, and with Richard the Lion-Heart’s visit here in the 12th century. Laura and I went ashore for about an hour, so the ticket price was not justified. It could be if you spent the whole day. At anchor, it was arguably the best swim spot we ever found, though, with crystal clear waters showing the most interesting underwater scape.

++You might wonder why Conor is rowing UberDing. Well, that’s a story. In my first time as skipper (of UberDing), I failed. Laura and I went ashore to the island of Lokrum on our own. I was too busy trying to figure out where we could tie off in the unusual small space, that I forgot to consider the depth (or lack thereof) of the water we were in. Suffice it to say, our prop hit some rocks and the blades knocked clear off. After our visit of the island, Laura and I had to paddle UberDing back to Sabática to the looks of a very perplexed skipper. Fortunately, Conor was able to quickly order a replacement prop (I suggested he order two so we’d then have a back up), and we spent one night in our only Croatian marina this summer so we could have the package delivered. Crisis averted!

Cavtat – Laura hopped out here to return to the airport. We then anchored in Cavtat for most of the past week, riding out crummy weather* and waiting to collect our next guests. It’s only about 10 minutes from the Dubrovnik airport, so much closer than the city of Dubrovnik itself. Cavtat is the southern most resort town in Croatia, and we’ve decided we like it a lot. There are lots of English / Irish tourists, so everyone (locals included) speaks English. Even if there were a lot of tourists, I don’t think the place would feel crowded. There is so much space to spread out. With multiple peninsula fingers, there must be at least a hundred available swim spots. There are nice wooded, shady walks along the peninsulas, an Old Town to explore, and plenty of restaurants and amenities. It is also much less expensive than Dubrovnik. Highly recommend as a lovely spot to holiday!

*Conor says “crummy weather” doesn’t really cut it. Our first night in Cavtat, our anchor slipped for the very first time – during a katabatic wind. Lots of sea grass here. So, as the sun was setting, we moved to another area of the bay against 30+ knots of wind. We ended up in front of a little river that we didn’t realize until the morning light, but whose current helped keep us steady against the wind throughout the night. In yet another and better spot for the rest of week, we’ve been holding steady against more high winds and night after night of wild lightning storms. With every clash, you just pray it doesn’t notice our tall mast wobbling in the sky. Thankfully, it’s all past and we’re just fine. 🙂

++Ok, so another story… We’ve seen some strong winds and crazy lightning storms this week in Cavtat. One blustery day, a young couple on rented stand up paddle boards were blown near Sabática. Conor tried giving them some paddling tips to help them get back to shore. Unfortunately, they were not able to beat the wind. So, Conor set our dinghy out and went to rescue them. They held on to UberDing and he was able to pull them back to shore. Super Skippy!

*Thanks to Laura for sharing her photos. AND, for your viewing pleasure, check out these videos Laura had fun making…