Knowing that we had an early start on Monday, we turned in early, but sleep was a little difficult to achieve. I lay awake for quite a long time, listening to the wind and waiting for it to die down. Eventually I did drop off, and when the alarm woke us in the morning, the wind had eased, exactly as forecast. We were good to go.
It was before dawn, but the first light was appearing in the sky. We had been reluctant to leave while it was still dark as there were a number of buoys marking pots in the vicinity of the harbour entrance. These were helpfully marked by small black flags which would have been impossible to see in the dark. We left the harbour and were treated to the sunrise in the first few minutes of the journey.
On the way along the beautiful coast of Puglia the wind varied greatly, from nothing to 20 knots as we passed the valleys that run inland. Several times we concluded that we now had consistent wind and put off the engine, only to find 5 minutes later that there was no wind and the boat speed had reduced. This was critical because there was a deadline for arriving in Croatia and performing all of the formalities. We had more than 80 miles to go, and at 6.5 knots that would take us 13 hours, when you add in a bit for docking manoeuvres at the start and end.
By the time we had reached the headland at Vieste, the wind had steadied and we had a nice sail setup. There were a few headland effects, but the sea was not as churned up as might have been expected, given the recent weather.
Soon we were going along very nicely indeed. The speed for the rest of the day was consistently 7+ knots, except when is was 8 or 9! Although never too far from our thoughts, we did not have to worry that we were behind schedule. And so it went on all day. The wind decreased a bit and we were able to deploy more sail and keep the speed up. We dodged a few merchant ships that were going through the TSS on the Italian side of the Adriatic. Roughly in the middle is the island of Palagruza, which is uninhabited. We have subsequently learned that there was a discussion between the authorities on both sides of the Adriatic. The island is about 300 metres closer to Croatia than it is to Italy, and so it became part of Croatia. The result is that the territorial waters are skewed in this area and you enter Croatia before you are halfway across.
It was an absolutely glorious day of sailing. Enough wind to be going fast but not too much. The most difficult thing was to go to the foredeck and replace our rather tired looking Italian curtesy flag, with the brand new Croatian version while we were still moving pretty fast.
We arrived in Ubli at 4:45 local time, which we thought was about perfect. On arrival, we had to first go to the Frontier Police to go through passport control. The receiving dock only has space for one boat and it was occupied. We asked if we could raft alongside, and although the owners initially agreed, the police apparently said that we could not, because the catamaran ferry was soon to arrive, and we would be blocking their passage. So we hung around, waiting for the previous boat to have completed its formalities. This took them an hour and a quarter, we don't know why. Eventually they left and we could go onto the quay. Our passports were processed in about 10 minutes and then I had to go round to Harbour Master, on the other side of the inlet. All was going well until it got to the time to pay. I knew that is was cash only, but all of the guide books said that there was a cash machine next door. I went to this, and found that it was out of order. A very kind gentleman at the café adjacent told me that there were only 3 cash dispensers on the island, and the nearest was 10 km away. He offered to take me. We told the Harbour Master what was happening and he said that he finished work at 7:00, it was now about 6:20. My new friend drove me to Lasovo village, along the winding roads as if it was a rally stage. Fortunately the first of the two other ATMs was operational, and after collecting the cash, we returned to Ubli in the same style as before. On the journey, I was reminded of just how beautiful it is here. We arrive back with about 15 minutes to spare and was able to thank my friend. As we have seen before, small island communities are very willing to offer whatever help is needed. With some relief I was able to pay and get all of the accreditation and permits necessary.
Two of the catamaran ferries had arrived in my absence, and the car ferry that had been there all of the time looked as if it was preparing to leave, so we made our departure as quickly as possible. We only had half a mile to go to the bay where we had agreed to meet our former neighbours from home in their boat. They had been updating us through the afternoon on the number of boats in the bay, but there was still plenty of space when we arrive and we anchored a short distance from them. They kindly invited us to go to dinner on board with them and their guests, which was a perfect way to end a long day and a fantastic welcome.
Miles 2022 - 879
Steve (and Tricia)
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