Raving about Rab

This walled city got a huge buster shot when Augustus decided to make it a Roman city. Fortification came as well as civilization. It all arises from a peninsula that has just the right steepness to make it an easy city to fortify. From a distance you see 4 bell towers that stand as exclamation marks pushing skyward from the stone buildings below. The city itself has a great vibe to it with lots of energy and live music singing out standards that the whole world knows how to sing. Rab also has a huge harbor for it’s size that gives you visions of old clipper ships throwing their lines to the big brass mooring posts that are big enough to have dinner on. Rab also has a long history of nude beaches. Historical records on nudism go as far back as 1907. But it was dethroned King Edward and Wallace Simpson in August of 1956 that put this place on the map. Sailing down the coast, they stopped here for a little scandalous naked swimming. People have been peeling off their clothes here every since. Just a 2-minute dingy ride and a walk through the pine forest to the other side of the peninsula reveals an elaborate and well-developed nudist beach. There is a significant gay section at the end with the accompanying bushes for playful activities. Rab became a favorite of mine. We were planning to stay one night. We stayed three.

Heading North

After spending the last couple of weeks sailing the archipelago islands right off the coast to Zadar, we head further north to the Kvarner Region of Croatia. This is a big bell shaped area that is scattered with more small islands at the very north part of Croatia. It is here at the northern most area that Croatia kisses Italy and Slovenia. For the most part, these islands are long and skinny with ragged edges. Those ragged edges make for excellent places to spend the night. There are so many places to choose from. Like a kid in the candy shop, we choose the ones that look the most tempting. There aren’t many bad choices in this area of Croatia. We dropped off our last guests back at Zadar where their trip began and choose our first anchorage just north of Zadar because of its wind-protecting peninsula. As we are looking for a good spot to drop the anchor, Steve sees naked guys on the beach in front of us. We decide that this is in fact, the perfect way to drop the anchor. As it turns out, we accidentally stumbled onto a classic gay nude beach in the late afternoon when the guys that have been lying in the sun are ready for some sunset fun. Fortunately that fun ended up including the two Americans on the catamaran just off shore.

Sailing to Sali and Around

The winds continue to be perfect for sailing. We raise the white sheets and head to Sali. This small village is named after the salt works that operated during medieval times. Sali also became a favorite vacation resort town during those more prosperous times. Large houses in the gothic style were built during the Renaissance period. We ended up mooring to the town quay for the night. The next day we head to another delightful anchorage. We find a quiet cove right outside of Bozava. The weather continues to be calm and allows us some anchorages that we would not be able to take advantage of if the winds and waves were stronger. Spending the afternoon jumping off the boat and cooling off in the azure blue water, a little reading and napping and you have the perfect afternoon. In the evening, we walk the well laid out trail into town for some local cosine. What is not to like about an afternoon like that. We then went around the peninsula to Sakarum. This is a spectacular inlet with a beach that skirts the entire bay with sand almost as white as snow. This is clearly a favorite hang out for Croatians and one of the few sandy beaches around. There are laid moorings scattered throughout the bay that you can tie up to for about 22 euro a night. I think most tourists stay in hotels at Bozava and take a shuttle to this special place. One of the advantages to traveling by boat is you can drop anchor almost anywhere and spend the night. Often that gives us some of the best real estate Croatia has to offer. Our rooms come guaranteed with a view that changes nightly.

Kornati Islands

Right off the shore of Zadar is a series of islands that string out parallel to the mainland. They are on the bleak side and mostly uninhabited. Small pockets of civilization manage to cling to the best inlets. For the most part these outposts consist of a handful of red tiled homes, maybe one or two seasonal restaurants and a stone church. Often you will see remains of forgotten terraced farmlands crawling up a mountainside and leveled with stone walls. These islands are so rocky they had to do something with all the rocks, so terracing the farmland seemed like as good of use for all the rocks as any. The farms have long been abandoned. It is simply not practical to far such miserly soil. Instead the villages cater to yachters and day-trippers coming to view a lifestyle that has long been abandoned. The reminders are still there in the stone homes and village squares making for photo opportunities that remind people of nothing like the lives they now live. Komati National Park At the southeast tip of the island of Dugi Otok is the Komati National Park. The Arial photos of the park make it look magical with crystal blue water tapering to turquoise as it reaches the shore. The island has a very deep bay that has countless little coves. It looks like you could spend a week exploring this natural wonder. The passage to this bay is through a very narrow channel between two islands. We have to take turns with the boats coming the other direction to slide our way through the narrow passage. We planned on anchoring out for a couple of days there. But I have to say; this is a case where the promotional photos look way better than reality. The coast does have a lot of little coves and the water is an amazing blue fading to deep turquoise, but the land is mostly rock with scrub. It seems hotter than it should with little breeze. There are no facilities or restaurants. We end up having lunch and a swim there and then moving on to the village of Sali.

Zingy Zadar

We made our way up the coast, stopping at small coves as always. We really liked Zaklopica, a small bay whose only business is a family owned restaurant at the head of the bay. They have laid some buoys for about 5 boats to tie up to as lures to eat at their restaurant. The family lives on the mainland, but during the summer, they all hang out at their summer restaurant. It is all quite quaint and looks like a delightful way for a family to spend its summers. A couple of days later, we enter the old harbor of Zadar. It is right next to the walled city that has been there for hundreds of years. The old city of Zadar is, in reality. a mix of old and new probably as a result of bombings and wars. We stumbled across a very interesting exhibit that was on the second floor of an old church. The claim was made that the Romans actually had the beginning of what is our modern cinema in the first century. Evidently an archeologist came upon a brass casting that was pie shaped at a flea market. The vendor told him he picked it up at a nearby seaside. So the archeologist bought the piece along with directions on how to get to the beach. After a few days rummaging around in the sand, he came across an exact copy of the piece. The two pieces fit together exactly like they were part of something bigger. He also discovered some glass slides with slightly different pictures on them. They looked like animation slides. After duplicating the found metal pieces enough to complete the circle, he ended up recreating something similar to a zototrope machine, the precursor to our modern cinema that was invented around 1830. It is all quite amazing and if true, certainly gives completely new insight to what we know about Roman technology. If you want to read more about this whole discovery, here is a webpage link.www.ancient-cinema.org. We pick up a new group of guests: Gabe from Tennesee, Devan from Los Angeles and Niko who is from Croatia but now living in San Francisco. Really great guys. We enjoyed our time with them on the boat as we traveled around the islands near Zadar.

Swans and Sailboats Rarely Come Together

We have seen dolphins, flying fish, octopus, turtles, jelly fish and occasionally lost birds while on the boat. But anchoring out to two beautiful white swans is a first. Right up the coast there is a very narrow passage that snakes through a channel deep into the mainland. We stopped for a couple of days in Sibenik and then continued on deeper down the inlet. Eventually the sea meets a freshwater river that pushes the salt water back and forms a freshwater lake. It is there that we drop anchor within eyesight of the storybook town of Skradin. Two rolling hills guard each side of this hamlet of stone churches, an old marina that is still packed with boats, gelato stores and kiosks with home made jams and dried figs.

The Town of Trogir

We hoist our sails once again and head to the town of Trogir. It is a town that covers an island right off the mainland. The mainland and island are connected by a couple of small bridges. Mostly what is going on in this stone town are the semifinal soccer games broadcasted at every bar on plasma screens. Tonight Greece is stacked against Germany. Greece so badly wants to show they have something over Germany. But alas, not only does Germany dominate Greece financially, they also dominate them in the world game of soccer. We stroll down the wide promenade that is packed with souvenir shops and restaurants looking for hungry tourists. It is not hard to figure out what makes this once forgotten town thrive economically once again. Guidebooks point the way to the new economic revival. There are just enough stone watchtowers, grand historical churches and Venetian clock towers to lure a new crop of tourists in each day.

Plitvice

Every so often, God seems to spend a little extra time on an area of the world just to wow us humans. Certainly Yosemite comes to mind as one of those special places. The Grand Canyon is another. Well what ever God did in Yosemite was just the warm-up act for Plitvice. This where all the stops have been pulled out to create an unrivaled natural national treasure. The national park of Plitvice is built around a stunning water feature of cascading lakes that have been damned up by natural accumulation of travertine through the deposit of calcium over centuries of time. We rented a car and drove for about 3 hours from Split to reach this special place. Once we arrived, we boarded a shuttle train up to the top of the first main lake. It took us the rest of the day hiking down well laid out paths and across boardwalks from one lake to the next. Each lake emptying into the other by stunning waterfalls cascading over the steep travertine. The water is so clear, you can always see the bottom of the lakes no matter how deep they are. Trout look like they are suspended in air swimming around fallen trees that lay on the lakebeds. This is a land for digital photography, were you are allowed to take as many photos as your memory card can hold. You begin to wonder how may photos of these incredible falls you need until you see the next one and your finger migrates once again to the button on the top of the Nikon. If you think I have oversold this place, I haven’t. Yeah it is that beautiful.

Spectacular Split

We wove our way through a couple more anchorages on a few more islands. The winds have been perfect for raising the sails and riding the prevailing breeze as we tag each place with our anchor. Off in the horizon rises the ancient city of Split. This is the second largest city in Croatia. There are plenty of apartment blocks rising from the streets, but in the center of it all is the charming old town of Split. Originally Split was built as a grand palace for the Roman Emperor Diocletian. I guess as a retiring emperor, you are allowed to just about anything with public funds. After he died, his palace became his mausoleum. That worked out pretty good until the Byzantine rulers decided to take it over, dump his body and replace it with that of a saint. They then turned his palace into a cathedral. To add more insult to an emperor who could not defend himself, they turned his temple to Jupiter into a baptistery. The walled grounds of the old palace were so large that people moved in, built stone homes, and vola, Split was reborn as a Byzantine city. The palace walls are still there as well as the cathedral and baptistery. The Venetians added an imposing bell tower that still rises high on the skyline. We climbed to the very top and got a birds-eye view of not only the old palace grounds but the surrounding area as well.

Just Perfect Jerolim

Jerolim is a small island with two deep inlet bays giving the island the look of an hourglass. We take the south side that is well protected from the prevailing winds and waves. This spot is very kick back. We drop anchor in the middle of the bay surrounded by a beautiful beach. This whole island is clothing optional. The bay we anchored in seemed like the most private. Taking the dingy to shore, we are able to walk around the whole island in about an hour. Right where this island is pinched together, there is a small café serving ice cream and cold drinks. This is a popular day trip to those visiting Hvar, but most people stay at the other side of the island where the water taxi drops them off. The clear water, beautiful rocky shore, wide beach and the only boat in the cove made it just too perfect. We stayed for a couple of nights. Croatia in general has a lot of clothing optional beaches. Just about every beach fades to a nude beach at one end or the other. And when we are anchored out in a cove with other boats, chances are they will be swimming naked as well. It seems like this very orthodox Catholic country has no problems with nudity. Wonder how they missed the message from the pope that they should be ashamed of their bodies?? It is really a beautiful thing.