Lighthouses

As I mentioned before, upon entering Croatia I had to pay lighthouse tax. So the last few weeks I have been looking into what they are spending the money on. All foreign yachts have to pay this fee, and the marina's are full of foreign boats. So I collected the following pictures, some of the lighthouses are just lovely!. But to start of, some more evidence that there are really dolphins in the Adriatic.

This is proof right?

Some lighthouses are on the edge of the mainland, or on the edge of an island. It sounds simple, but considering the rocky slopes, I still think it is challenging to build and maintain them.

Do you see an acces road?




Cliffs



Will not be easy to reach.

There are also lighthouses that are on little islands. These are actually very dangerous rocks sticking up out of the sea. There are not rocks you should sail onto. There little islands are a lot more accessable and some really beautiful lighthouses have been build there. Some actually have a small boat present.


With a small crane to hoist the boat.




Beautiful




Different model.



Tiny island near the island of Losinj.
The trees are not on the same island as the lighthouse.

As a last category there is: "sneaky dangers". Those are a sort of pancakes in the water, with a small lighthouse build on them. You only notice them at the very last moment. But it would be awful to run aground there! As far as I am concerned they can build some really gigantic lighthouses on these pancakes. Nice and visible.

Bloodpressure

Rab on Rab island.

Last week I have not been feeling well. My bowels were very upsad, so I decided to stay in Rab for 3 days. Around eight o'clock in the evening, I was resting, I suddenly heard a very loud sirene. It really startled me! I went on deck to see what was happening. I could not really see something special. But the sirene kept sounding. Hmm...what's going on? Like I wrote a couple of posts ago, the bora (a malicious wind from the north, normaly force 7-8 bft.) But on Rab they make the bora extra scarry. If bora winds are expected, they sound the sirene as a bora alarm. It was already dark, me not being 100%, it all becomes a little scarry. The wind was not to bad, but with al the excitement I did not sleep to well.
 The next day I decided to go sailing again. To Mali Losinj on Losinj Island. The port is very well protected in a large bay. But the entrance to that bay was on the other side of the island. To make life easier for people that arrive from the Rab side, they have dug a channel to enter the bay.

The channel is located near the arrow.

The channels is 7 meters wide, Madame Curie is only 3 meters 10, so that should fit easily. They open the bridge, that crosses the channel only twice a day, at 09:00 and 18:00.So you have toe make sure you are on time. Around 4 o'clock I arrived, assuming there would be a quay I could wait. But no, there was no quay so I sailed around a bit for an other two hours. When the wind and waves are coming from behind, al of a sudden, 7 meters does not seem so much!

7 meters wide.

Around 6 o' clock people started to gather around the bridge, but I could not recognize a person who would operate the bridge. At around 10 minutes after six I could see a man in a very loud shirt starting to close the barriers manually, and manually start to turn the bridge. With very wild arm movements he signaled me that I could pass through the bridge.With my heart racing, sweaty palms I started steering through the channel.
Seven meters, wind and waves, it is really very tight!!! By now at least 20 people were standing near the bridge to see if things would go wrong. Everything went fine, I did not hit the quay, but this has been the most stressfull thing I have done together with Madame Curie!

Relieve on the other side of the channel!!!

I was completely hyperactive when berthing in the marina in Mali Losinj. I had planned on leaving the next morning through the same channel, but this was a once in a lifetime experience. The next moring I walked to Veli Losinj, a cute town just a few kilometers away, and left the bay sailing through the normal entrance. Much better for my bloodpressure.

Bay on the route to Veli Losinj.

Veli Losinj

Nature

For a while I have been trying to take some pictures of Croatian nature. Flora is doable, but fauna is a challenge. During my first week of sailing I spotted many small dolphins. That was not the difficult part. I could see them from far away. In a completely empty sea, their splashing about, and there ercorts, seagulls, gave them away. But getting them in the picture proved very difficult. Everytime one jumped I was a little late. This is the best I have done so far.

A dolphin, really!

I did manage to find some seacreatures that were willing to pose. These two birds were performing a dance for me. They were mimicing each other perfectly.

Dancing on the water.

During my stroll through Kamenjak, a nature park situated on the southern most point of Istrie I was very busy taking loads of pictures. All of a sudden I heard something move through the shrubs right next to my foot. It was a black snake, approximatly 1 meter. Fortunately I scared it more than it scared me. It rushed away into the bushes. I immediately relised I was being a stupid tourist; I never even considerd the option that there would be snakes! Back in the village they told me it was probably a ghat (?).

Now I'm switching to flora. My quest for a decent picture of dolphins will continue, and as soon as I succeed I will post them. The flora in Croatia is dependent if you are on the lee or windward side of the evil bora. On the windward side, vegitation has a lot of difficulty growing, so only some shrubs and bushes succeed. Bald rock dominate. 



On the leeside, there is vegetation everywhere. Pine trees, and broadleaved trees, make for a very green apperance.

Woods on the leeside of the island.
In the background snow covered peaks of the mainland.

 

Kamenjak nature park.



Most southern cape of Istria.





Heights and depths

Last week I was in Rabac, an old fishing village, with 1000 inhabitants, and hotel/ appartment beds for 10.000 tourists!!!! Rabac is actually the first village that I have berthed with Madame Curie, were it was not very quiet. Untill now I have frequently been the only visiting yacht, and have had trouble finding a coffee bar that had allready opend. Most tourist don't arrive untill May, so why open your shop/bar? But Rabac is different, as soon as I sailed into the bay I could see tourist boats sailing, tourist sitting at the gelateria's on the quay, and all souvenir shops were open. Finally, some other tourists!!!. But the reason I sailed to Rabac was to visit the nearby city of Labin. The tourist guide I have on board rates it with two stars, so it should be well worth while to visit. You can reach Labin via an ancient mule track. Labin is situated about 600 meters above sealevel, so it is somewhat of a climb.

Labin on top of a hill

Where the mule track started exactly was not stated in the tourist guide. I asked around and was sent towards the camping on the other side of the bay. Upon arrival I could not find the track. I asked the first croatian looking person where I could find the track. It turned out to be a German busdriver. He was heading for Labin to drop of some German tourists within 1 hour, and actually had an empty seat in the bus. Plan B, I am taking the bus. It would also give me the oppertunity to join in the guided city tour.

Rabac and the bay

The view from Labin was super. The skies were not completely clear, so unfortunately some of the color does not show in the picture. The tour guide was extremely enthousiastic. She was born in Labin, and was eager to share about this lovely little city. Like in every old Venetian style city we entered through the city wall.

Labin city wall

And again, culture in unexpected locations. Some flower pots near a house turned out to be ancient olive oil containers. In the early days, these were build into the houses, to store the olive oil in the kitchen. They are worth a fortune, but they are also much to heavy to steal. So they are save in the old city. Rather nice, to learn about the city via a guided tour.

The tourist industry is very well regulated in Labin. I think they have to considering the number that actually stay in the area. The tour bus drops of the tourist on the central square. The bus than parks elsewhere, and picks up the tourists after an hour and a half. That gives them 45 minutes for the guided tour, and an other 45 minutes to sit in the local cafe. During my 1 cappuccino I saw 3 busses drop off tourists!!. I can imagine that the locals get depressed at the idea of an other busload.

Local enjoying his afternoon in an alley

Depths.
When I returned to the Madame Curie, I saw that she was rocking about in the harbor. There was hardly any wind, but there was a terrible swell in the harbour. Right in front of my boat there was a gelateria, so I spent the rest of my afternoon on the quay. But you have to go on board at some point. Getting on board was the usual struggle, too much swell, and the boat was just a little too far away... But when on board, my mood dropped even further. Seasickness immediately hit me. I took my pills, but somehow the effect was not enough. There was nothing else I could do, but lay in bed en be miserable. Being seasick in port is a definate low.

Being miserable

In hind sight I am thinking, why did I not video this rocking? Than I could have confinced everybody that it was indeed terrible. But unfortunately my brains were on standby, all I could think was: " please let it stop".

A view

Because I am not sure when I will have an internet connection again, just a few pictures to make you all jealous!!!

Rovinj

I thought I brought a lot on my boat!!!!

Amphitheatre in Pula

A beach in a nature park

Just hanging around in my hammock

Culture in everyday life

What I really like abour Croatia, you almost stumble upon culture, everywhere you look. But I can also see the dillema for people living in between all this cultural heritage. What to do with this herritage if it is exactly there were you want to build a road, a shop, a marina or an appartment complex? Well, you sort of just build around it.

Roman triomph arch in the middel of a shopping street in Pula.

Large amphitheatre in downtown Pula

Today I am berthed in Cres, on the Island Cres, just of the coast of mainland Croatia. Here there are also ancient Roman buildings wherever I look. It started right in the Marina. While building this new Marina they discoverd Roman ruins. So these ruins were incorparated into the marina complex. In the city of  Cres I saw this ancient looking building right next to a super modern appartment complex. Being the curious type I walked over to see what was inside.

Ancient building next to modern appartments.

Through the hole in the door I made the picture below. They were using it as a shed. But it was a shed full of amphoras(old Roman containers for transporing liquids, like olive oil. These amphoras look a lot like the amphora's that were on display in the Amphitheatre in Pula!

Cultural heritage underneath boxes and a chair.

 And finally, a picture of the Amphoras on display in the amphitheatre in Pula.

Displayed amphoras in Pula.

More berthing Mediterranean style

Last week I have learned a few new lessons on berthing in the Med. Last Sunday I was berthed in Pula, and arrived very nicely perpendicular to the quay. Okay, to be fair, ik was an absolutely windless situation, but non the less I drove my boat perpendicular to the quay. Then one of the Marina Staff members arrives on the quay and says: " You have been very lucky." Because the season has not started yet, they were cleaning all the mooring lines. So instead of laying on the bottom, they had now tightend them to the quay, and one could easily have gone into my propellor!!!. But luck was sitting on my shoulder.
Because the weather forecast was not very favourable (predictions of gusts up to 30-40 knots), I decided to stay in Pula. The bad weather, accompanied by thunderstorms was supposed to arrive late in the afternoon. Pula is very shelterd, so why risk leaving? The wind gusts were running a bit late, and finally arrived aroud midnight. Just before going to sleep I had pulled my boat a little further from the quay, so I would have some peace of mind while sleeping. In the middle of the night I was brutaly awakend by a "bang". I instantly knew it was Madame Curie smashing into the quay. On getting on deck I realised the problem. The windward mooringline was not holding. Upon tightening it, I just pulled up some anchorchain. Somehow the mooring line was no longer connected to the concrete block on the seabed. Madame Curie was no longer perpendicular to the quay. The only way I knew to solve this situation was to ty a line to the boat right next to me. Lesson number two: never trust mooring lines. Frustrated as I was, I immediately went to the marina office to complain. That is the nicest thing in Croatia, it doesn't matter that it is 3 a.m., two members of the marina staff are present. They immediatly apologized, and one walked me back to my boat to see if there was anything else we could do (still 40 knots of wind). Not being able to do anything to improve the boats situation, and releaved of al my frustration, I went back to sleep.

I also learned, that in my previous post I was exaggerating. Because if mooring lines are not cleaned, they look like this!!!

Hopefully the next situation is the last "strange" berthing manner that I will encounter this trip. I am affraid thoug, that I will run into more strange situations. In Medulin, a small town, with a gigantic tourist industry I had to berht alongside, but without touching the quay. Two mooring lines pulled Madame Curie away from the quay. But I did enjoy a long uninteruped night's sleep, with no touching the quay.

Hello Everybody,
My AIS is working fantastic, but the site that posts it on my site apparantly has bad reception in this area. So every time In have internet acces, I will update my position on sailed route.

Bye Margriet

Berthing Mediterranean style

Berthing is one of the aspect that require some additional training. In most countries surrounding the Mediterranean is is normal to berth stern/bow to. In Holland we usually berth alongside. So I am not to familiar with berthing stern to. Ideally you drive the boat backwards, perpendicular to the quay. This is immediately my first challenge. Because Madame Curie has a long keel, driving the boat backwards is very challenging. As soon as I put the engine in reverse, the stern goes to port (left). A little gas forward, to turn the boat so it is perpendicular again.  As soon as you reach the quay I have to try en get lines ashore, preferably two. To prevent the boat from smashing into the quay mooring lines have been put in the harbour. These mooring lines are lines that are attached to giant concrete blocks that are laying on the bottom of the harbour. This mooring line you need to catch. The mooring lines are attached to the quay, and the rest lies on the bottom of the harbour. With a boat hook I can pick it up, and than tie the mooring line to the bow. This is challenge number two. The mooring line has probably been on the seabottom, so it is filthy and full of barnacles and seewead. Yuck!

Besides being yucky I had to learn the hard way that barnacles are very sharp. Tomorrow I'll wear gloves (steep learning curve). Yesterday I was not completely at ease with my berthing situation. To be able to go ashore easily you want to be as close as possible to the quay. But on the other hand, I don't want to be smashing into the quay when there are waves or wind. As an extra challenge the quay had a ridge that just surfaced at low water. And you guessed it, exactly on the same height as my windvane. Hmmmmmmmmm

Submerged ridge

Am I the only one experiencing some difficulties with this Mediterranean berthing? No, of course not. One thing that goes bad rather frequently is that the conviently placed mooring lines get into the propellor. Two things kan happen; either your engine blocks, or your propellor cuts through the mooring line. The later happens quite often. How do you solve this situation.................. Just tie the whole thing together again!