Boat Diary

Old Fort in Trogir

Part 1

Today is the eighth day of our boat trip in the Adriatic Sea in Croatia. Last night we strayed on a big island called Zut, which has a big marina with a shop, restaurants, toilets and showers but no town. Zut Island is a part of the Karnati Islands National Park, which is famous for its moon landscapes (very little or no vegetation). Our crew consists of six people: Peter’s sister Ruth, her husband John, his sister Sandy, Alan – Sandy’s husband, Peter and me.

But I will start from the beginning.

Our journey started in the town Zadar located on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. We flew there from Edinburgh. Zadar is a relatively big town with a very impressive old town, included in the UNESCO world heritage list. The town is also famous for its Sea Organ – a construction consisting of a complicated system of pipes under the rocky shore and holes, through which wind is blowing, which produces music-like sounds.

Peter and I had 2 days to wait for Ruth and the others so we decided to explore another UNESCO listed sight – Plitvice National Park. It is located inland, on the way from Zadar to Zagreb (Croatia’s capital).

After a long and tiring 3-hour bus trip we finally reached a small ski resort near the park, where our accommodation had been booked. Next day we went to the park. We did a 5-hour walk around incredibly beautiful lakes, waterfalls and streams with extremely clean and clear water of most amazing blue color with hundreds of different fish.

The next day we had to go back to Zadar and from there catch another bus to Trogir, where we were meeting with Ruth and John and starting our boat trip.

Our yacht is called “Sugar Daddy”. It a sailing yacht, which also has a motor. So when there is no wind we start the motor. Below the deck there are three sleeping compartments, a kitchen, sitting room and two toilets with showers.

There are approximately 300 different-size islands in the archipelago. Some are big and have one or several towns on them and some are small and uninhabited. John and Alan have decided to go north of Trogir as they had not explored that area yet. Peter and I didn’t mind, as we have never been anywhere. We start sailing about 10 or 11am each day, sail for about 4 or 5 hours and then park in a port to spend a night there. Although two nights we parked in the little bays near the shore. For situations like that there is a small motorboat, which you can paddle or drive to the shore.