Leaving the Split area meant we were about halfway up the coast of Dalmatia. There are so many islands in Croatia that you could spend years exploring everything, but Mike was concerned about some heavy wind being forecast over the next couple of weeks, so we made some tracks to help ensure we made our deadline to deliver Coral to the cargo ship in Italy. We motored north along the mainland for about 5 1/2 hours, settling in the bay on the north side of Primošten for two nights.
The town is lovely, built out on a peninsula, as so many Croatian towns are. Actually the old town used to be an island with a drawbridge to the mainland, but the channel was filled in and now there is a nice wide causeway with a beach.
Our exploring day was grey and rainy, but we endured the drizzle to walk around the old town. The town covers a hill, and there is a church and graveyard up at the very top. Mass was being said as we strolled by, so we didn’t pop our heads in. The old town has the usual narrow streets, dense with houses, but lots of the buildings have stone roofs, something I don’t think we saw anywhere else.
We enjoyed pizza for dinner, as usual when I have a say in the matter.
The morning we left was a gorgeous, sunny day, but with heavy wind forecast we headed out in search of a protected anchorage to ride it out.
After only an hour or so on the water, we checked out Luka Grebaštica and couldn’t resist staying there as it is a 3 mile long inlet, so lots of protection from the crazy wind, or rather from what the crazy wind does to the sea. We hunkered down for three nights while Mother Nature poured and howled around us, not even venturing onto shore. It got cold enough that we tried out Coral’s heater for the first time–definitely took the edge off before bed. Nights were starting to feel more and more like winter camping.
When the rain let up we continued our journey north, motoring with the jib through Kornati National Park. The karst-limstone islands have a different look to them than the rest of Croatia. Apparently there are lots of sea fossils to be found, but we didn’t go ashore there either. Schedule!
We stopped for the night in Uvala Lučina/Zaglav and left very early the next morning. There was a dolphin sighting just after 10am, and by 13:30 we were approaching Mali Lošinj. There are a number of marinas as you approach the town, but we decided to head right to the heart of things. Once we got close it was apparent that the marina was virtually empty and maybe not even open. As we were debating what to do, a man cycling along the water waved for our attention, indicating that we should go side-on along the pedestrian walkway–he turned out to be the guy in charge of the port. We were welcome to stay right where we were, and there was water available a few feet away. He pulled out his little electronic thingy, charged us 40 Euro, and bing bang boom, we were settled.
After an overdue shower and refilling the water tanks, we ventured out for a short walk and a late lunch/early dinner. Pizza, bien sur. It was very good!
Bellies full, we continued on to the local Lidl to get some groceries. I have to say, I know it’s got a discount vibe, but we got some canned tuna in brine that was hands down the tastiest tuna I have had in my life. Salt is a magical thing, I guess.
In other news, Mike was quite taken with this photographer who does some amazing underwater photography.
We returned to the boat and Mike ventured out again for a nighttime walk while I enjoyed some very (very!) rare alone time.
In the morning we got a 7:30am start and motored off under grey skies and the threat of thunder and lightning. Well, we got more than that–at 10am we spied a waterspout in the distance! Thankfully it was several miles away and dissipated while we watched it. That is a sight I’m happy to view from afar. Here is some shaky video!
Drama over, we continued on to Pula. Pula is on the mainland, so this marked the end of our Croatian island hopping, in fact the end of all of our Mediterranean island hopping. Sigh. On the bright side, Pula is a lovely spot with the best preserved Roman ruins outside of Italy.
The entrance to the bay on which the city sits is pretty industrial, but once we got past the giant cranes we settled into a nice spot on the far side of the bay, removed from the shipyards and ferry traffic.
The Roman amphitheatre dominates the waterfront, but Mike had a couple of chandleries to visit before we started our tour.
Business done, we headed over to Pula Arena. I took a kajillion photos, but of course they look exactly like all the other photos you will find online. Here are a couple.
There was an interesting exhibit under the arena on the production of wine and olive oil in the region, and they had hundreds of amphorae (two-handled jugs) on display in remarkably good shape.
After spending at least an hour wandering around the arena, we continued on through the city where we saw the Arch of the Sergii, a Roman triumphal arch and city gate that was constructed in 29-27 BC. Crazy.
There was a huge open air market, another smaller amphitheatre, a fort on a hill overlooking the harbour, and finally the Temple of Augustus. Lots to see in Pula!
With more windy, rainy weather forecast, we bid Pula adieu after two nights and continued north to Rovinj, another peninsula town, where we picked up a mooring ball for the next three nights to ride out the storm. We managed to find a couple of non-rainy hours to hit the town and have some pizza.
We departed Rovinj and made a pitstop at the fuel dock in Poreč. We debated staying there, but the marina was pretty full and it looked like a promising sailing afternoon, so we continued on to Novigrad, where we splurged on a berth at the Marina Nautica. Ah, sweet sweet AC power with which to run the heater at night, luxury. The marina was pretty quiet, with a blues bar, of all things. Dozens of guitars decorated the walls, and the two times we went in to watch some sports and have a drink we were the only patrons. I trust they make their money in the summer months, it’s listed on TripAdvisor as #6 of 16 things to do in Novigrad, rofl.
Being at the dock gave us a little flexibility, so Mike entertained himself two mornings in a row by stealing an unlocked bike and going for a long ride. For real! What a badass. In his travels he met this hardworking fisherkitty.
Novigrad has a series of pools built on the edge of the sea right downtown. Oddly, I couldn’t find any description of this feature online, but Mike took this neat photo of one.
We left Novigrad after three decadent nights at the marina and two visits to the giant grocery store. The next stop was our final Croatian destination: Umag, where we would check out of the country the next morning.
We picked up a mooring ball and had a quiet last night in Croatia. In the morning we headed for the customs dock, and that experience was less than quiet. It was very windy and we had some problems going side-on to the dock. We got close, I hopped off to tie lines, but the wind pushed the bow away from the dock and we had to abort. This left me on the dock and Mike out puttering around to try another pass. We eventually managed to get Coral tied up along the end of the pier, Mike hit the customs house, and with that, our time in Croatia was over.
Next stop, the birthplace of Melania Trump–Slovenia!