Day 1 : Marina
Kaštela (Split) – Lučice (Brač)
Marina Kaštela is busy, noisy and hot. No trace of an economic crisis here.
Hundreds of charters are sailing again this Saturday. We check our ship and find
that everything is in fine working order. With our luggage and provisions aboard
we hurry to leave this busy harbour. Our plan is to sail along the northern coast
of Brač in an easterly direction.
Upon leaving the harbour around 15:00 hours, we find an easterly wind outside
the bay. Since we do not feel like motoring for 25 NM, we decide to head due
south towards Splitska Vrata, the channel between Brač and Šolta. After passing
this narrow strait we head due east towards Lučice bay, where we have
spent the night more often. We do find that prices have more than doubled since
2007, so I think this will be our last stay here.
Around 18:30 we pick up a buoy and take a refreshing swim. The air temperature
is well over 30 degrees Celsius, and the seawater temperature is 25 degrees
Celsius. Some dinner after that, and around 20:30 the lights go out (except, of
course, the mooring light). Because of the heat I spend this night in the
cockpit.
Day 2 : Lučice (Brač) – Tri Luke (Korčula)
During the night the wind turns northeasterly (Bura), with nasty gusts over our
cockpit. Around 04:00 I go inside, to wake up again around 07:00. That is a
great time of the day for another refreshing swim.
While having breakfast, we discuss a number of possible plans for the day. We do
not really have an objective, but plan to go where the wind will carry us. Will
it be Jelsa, Sumartin, Vis or Komiža? We listen to the 07:45 weather forecast on
Split Radio via VHF. Expectations are not very good for the morning, predicting
local rain- and thundershowers. By that time we see dark threatening clouds on
the northern horizon. Around 09:00 we drop our line and move south, our course
is 210 towards Rt Pelegrin, the western tip of the island of Hvar. Our boat
speed is 4.5 knots, in 12 knots of northerly wind. The rain shower follows us
when we round Rt Pelegrin at 10:15 and when we sail through the Pakleni Kanal
along Hvar-town towards the lighthouse on the island of Pokonji Dol.
Things look busy as usual in Hvar town, so we do not even try to moor there.
Keeping Pokonji Dol to port, we change our course to 140 towards the western
point of the island of Korčula. It is now 10:45 and we leave the rain showers
behind, sailing towards the blue skies. We make good speed in 10 - 12 knots
of wind, and around 15:00 we round Rt Velo Dance, the southwestern tip of
Korčula. Half an hour later we drop anchor in
Tri Luke bay. At that
moment we are the only ship there, but later that afternoon two more ships
arrive. The rest of the afternoon we take it easy, go swimming and read.
Day 3 : Tri Luke (Korčula) – Skrivena Luka (Lastovo)
I wake up at 04:00 hours. Everything is quiet, but I do get up and check our
anchor. Outside, there is no wind and the sky is clear. You can see the stars
and the moon is almost full. Our ship is anchored rock solid. The temperature is
nice, and I stay outside for a while to enjoy the peace and quiet.
After a few more hours of sleep I do get up around 07:30, Time for a swim, and
listening to the weather forecast via VHF. Breakfast after that, another swim,
and some time for reading. We lift our anchor around 10:30. Immediately outside
the cove we hoist our sails, the wind is northwesterly (Tramontana), 6 – 9
knots. The barometer rose 4 hPa to 1018 hPa since 08:00. Our course is 150 and
boat speed is 4 knots while we sail towards the western coast of the island of
Lastovo. Around 12:30 we pass the rock Plič Pod Mrčaru on the northern side of
Lastovo. One hour later, we sail around the island of Bratin. Soon after that we
see the lighthouse at Rt Skriževa and Rt Struga, and around 14:45 we drop our
anchor in Skrivena Luka.
According to the pilot guides, Skrivena Luka is the finest anchorage around
Lastovo. We are not 100% convinced, the protection against winds is not as good
as we hoped for. There are some holiday homes around the bay, and on its western
shore there is a restaurant with its own pier (which is rather busy). Together
with four other ships we anchored in the northern section of the bay, in 5
meters of water.
That evening the winds turns towards north, and increases to 15 – 20 knots.
Around 19:30 I notice that the other boats are coming closer. My reference
points on the coast have moved as well. In other words: our anchor started
dragging… At first we try to re-anchor close to our original anchoring spot,
increase our scope from 1 in 4 (20 meters of chain) to 1 in 6 (30 meters of
chain). But it does not work, within 30 minutes we are dragging again.
By now it is dark, and it is time for drastic measures. We switch on the
navigation lights and lift our anchor again. We move towards the center of the
bay, far from the other yachts. In 7 meters of water we drop 50 meters of chain,
increasing our scope to 1 in 7. Using the engine in reverse, we help the anchor
dig in. It seems to work.
Soon after that we are visited by a dinghy with some crew members from a German
yacht, moored at the pier. They saw us drag and re-anchor, and wanted to ensure
that we are alright. By then we have the situation under control, but I do
appreciate their offer. It shows the true spirit of yachting! During the next
hour, I check our position a number of times. We are anchored rock solid.
That night, I sleep in the cockpit again. Every two hours I get up and check the
anchor. Around 02:00 the wind dies. From that moment on I sleep a bit more
comfortable. However, I do feel rather exhausted when I get up at 07:00. This is
vacation, remember…
I share my story about the dragging anchor in Skrivena Luka with a friend of
mine, who is a local skipper, later that week. He explains the mystery to me.
The northern section of Skrivena Luka has a rocky bottom with a thin layer of
sand and mud. Your anchor will not dig in here. The central and southern sections
of the bay do have a proper layer of sand and mud, which will hold your anchor
well. Something to remember.
Day 4 : Skrivena Luka (Lastovo) – Šipanska Luka (Šipanska)
A swim, breakfast, and at 08:20 the weather forecast via Dubrovnik Radio VHF (we
are too far away for Split Radio by now). The great daily morning routine on our
ship. The weather prognosis is the same as yesterday, and around this time the
air temperature is 25 degrees Celsius. We decide to sail eastward along the
southern coast of the island of Mljet. Our objective for the day is Uvala
Saplunara, a bay on the southeastern tip of Mljet. We lift anchor around 09:00
and leave Skrivena Luka. Once outside, we change course to 090, eastwards. A
number of other ships take a more northeasterly course, probably towards Korčula
or the northern side of Mljet. We want to keep the Vrhovnjaci, the chain of
rocks and small islets east of Lastovo, to our port side and pass south of them.
The southwesterly wind, which was promised by the forecast, is nowhere to be
seen. Instead, we have an easterly wind, straight on our bow. Around 10:30 the
wind turns to north-east, 7 knots. Time to hoist our sails. At 11:30 we have the
lighthouse of Glavat, the most easterly of the Vrhovnjaci, due north at 000
degrees. Not much later, the wind dies down again and we have to switch to the
engine. We pass Goli Rat, the western cape of Mljet, around 13:00 hours. The
wind returns not much later, and now it is the promised westerly (6 knots).
We hoist the sails again and continue along the southern shore of Mljet. There
is just one other ship sailing on a westerly course, for the rest it is just us.
At 15:20 in the afternoon we listen to the afternoon weather forecast on
Dubrovnik Radio. By that time we are 5 nautical miles west of Uvala Saplunara.
For the evening and night a southwesterly wind is predicted. And Uvala Saplunara
is completely open to the south-west. After last night’s experience in Skrivena
Luka, we are looking for a quiet place to sleep. But if plan A fails, there is
always the rest of the alphabet…
While passing Uvala Saplunara one hour later, we see a number of ships anchoring
there. We continue eastwards and round Rt Gruj, the southeasterly tip of Mljet.
Then it is course 055 towards the northeast, aiming for Prolaz Harpoti, the
narrow channel between the islands of Šipan and Jakljan. These are part of the
Elaphite Islands, a string of islands between Dubrovnik and the Pelješac
peninsula. Prolaz Harpoti is a beautiful narrow channel, covered on both sides
with strong-smelling pine trees.
After the passage through the channel, we go starboard out, sailing into the
harbour of Šipanska Luka. By now it is 18:00 hours, and it turned into a long
sailing day. We find a safe anchoring spot in the harbor and call it a day.
Šipanska Luka looks nice and rather authentic when seen from our cockpit, but we
do not have the energy anymore to launch the dinghy and go for some sightseeing.
That night I sleep like a log, although I am afraid that the whole town heard my
snoring…
Day 5 : Šipanska Luka (Šipan) – Dubrovnik
Today will be an easy day. The forecast predicts southwesterly wind, turning to
southeasterly (Jugo) later. We lift anchor around 10:30 and motor through Prolaz
Harpoti towards open sea. We hoist our sails in 8 knots of wind. First we make a
long run on course 210 towards open sea. We take continuous bearings on the
island of Lopud (Rt Kuk), and as soon as we clear that cape, we tack and change
course to 120. This takes us past Lopud and Koločep. Sailing between Rt Bezdanj
and the islet of Grebeni we enter Velika Vrata, and past the island of Daksa we
enter the Rijeka Dubrovačka, motoring under the Franjo Tudjman bridge. A few
miles upstream we reach ACI Marina Dubrovnik, but we stop for fuel at the gas
station first. Around 15:00 we moor our ship in the marina. The rest of the day
is spent cleaning up both the ship and ourselves, and that evening we visit
Dubrovnik. It seems to get busier every time we come here. With three large
cruise ships in front of the Old City and in the harbour, the town is full of
tourists.
Day 6 : Dubrovnik – Šipanska Luka (Šipan)
The morning is spent finding provisions, drinking coffee in the harbour
restaurant and preparing the boat for departure. The prognosis for today
promises 6 – 12 knots of Jugo, wind from the south-east. This is perfect for us,
given that we are on the most south-eastern point of our trip.
Around 10:30 we drop our mooring lines and leave ACI Marina Dubrovnik. We follow
the Rijeka Dubrovačka downstream. Upon entering the bay of Gruž, we hoist our
sails. There is 8 knots of wind from south to southeasterly directions. We sail
out of the bay towards the open sea, and change our course to the west. The
following hours we sail along the islands Koločep and Lopud. After passing Rt
Kuk we sail a more northwesterly course along the island of Šipan. Around 14:00
we sail through Prolaz Harpoti and, after taking our sails down, moor in the
harbour of Šipanska Luka. It is very quiet here, especially when the wind dies
down later that afternoon. That evening we stay out in the cockpit until late,
with some nice food and drinks.
Day 7 : Šipanska Luka (Šipan) – Luka Polače (Mljet)
Early in the morning a south-easterly wind starts blowing, about 10 knots. After
breakfast we listen to the weather forecast via Dubrovnik Radio. The general
weather picture is not so good, as we already saw when checking the long-term
weather forecasts in an internet café in Dubrovnik. Today we will have a
southeasterly wind of up to 20 knots, and tomorrow will be cloudy with an
increasing risk for rain- and thundershowers.
We lift anchor around 08:30 and leave the harbour. Both mainsail and genua go up
immediately. By now the wind is 12 – 14 knots, with gusts of 18 knots. Our
course is 305 along the islands of Jakljan, Kosmeč, Goleč and Crkvina, then
sailing between Tajan and Jakljan via the channel Veli Vratnik along Olipa
towards the open sea. Already in the Veli Vratnik channel we have to deal with
worsening sea conditions, and waves up to 2 meters. We keep our course of 230
towards the coast of Mljet island, where the sea is more quiet. Then we change
our course to 280 and follow the coast of Mljet in a northwesterly direction. The
wind varies between 12 and 18 knots from a southeasterly direction, our boat
speed is well over 5 knots.
During our trip, dark and threatening clouds drop down on us from the hills and
mountains of Mljet. Fortunately we do not get any rain, but it looks impressive.
We pass Prožura and Sobra during the next few hours, and around 11:30 we see Hr
Kula, the rock with a light on top in front of the southern entrance to
Luka Polače. We sail between the mainland of Mljet and the islet of Kobrava,
and inside we take our sails down. The last mile is done on engine, and around
13:00 we drop our anchor in the northeastern corner of Uvala Rogač, the cove
across from the small village of Polače.
That afternoon the clouds disappear, and we can still enjoy some sunshine. That
evening the Parc rangers of Mljet National Parc come by to collect the
entrance fee of 90 kuna per person. The evening is hot and humid.
To be continued...
