Boat Times in Croatia

Before our trip, whenever we spoke with people about visiting Croatia, we almost always heard the same thing: “You’ll love it! Are you going sailing?” Clearly, visiting the islands off the Croatian coast is one of the major attractions of this tourism-focused country, and one we didn’t want to miss out on. However, given our goal of not planning too much of our world travel adventure in advance, we only started researching possible options about a week before arriving in Croatia. And we can honestly say that we were incredibly lucky to find Get Away Sailing (highly recommend), and incredibly lucky that they had one final cabin available in their flotilla of five boats. Most of the other folks on the trip had booked at least a couple months in advance. We should also note for any consistent readers of our blog that our unfortunate bout of “travelers tummy” in Budapest and Zagreb had fully left us when we came to the beautiful waters of the Adriatic.

We made our way down to the marina in the city of Dubrovnik, which sits at the southern end of the Croatian coast. We met our team, one other couple from Great Britain and one from Scotland, and chatted lightly while awaiting instructions. Our first “team-building” task was buying food for breakfasts and lunches. We passed this test with flying colors as everyone agreed on similar, healthy food options. Again it felt like we had lucked out, this time with the awesome group of people on our boat. It seems this sailing company has a knack for attracting friendly people, and we seemed to hit it off well with virtually everyone on the flotilla. Besides our “couples” boat, there were three other boats of friendly Aussies and Brits, and one boat of hysterical, party-animal Norwegians. The Norwegians drank everyone else under the table, partied til the wee hours of the morning, and still seemed to be raring to go when we sailed off each morning. Oh, and they were all at least 10-30 years older then us.

In my mind, the top highlight from this trip was our daily routine. We’d wake up on the earlier side, follow the amazing Captain Jack in a casual yoga routine, then maybe go for a morning dip in the Adriatic. We’d follow this with a delicious breakfast of coffee/tea, yogurt, fruit, granola and honey, sail or motor to a quiet island cove, and take our first or second swim of the day, swimming to the shore to relax there or relaxing on the boat. Lunch was sandwiches and salads along with an afternoon beer, and we’d play cards or read books while continuing to sail toward a late afternoon swimming spot or into the next Harbor. After a beautiful sunset, evening brought an exceptional dinner at a local restaurant with the rest of our flotilla, drinks into the night, and then passing out in our bed on the boat. Rinse and repeat.

Beyond this “normal” routine, there were a number of stand-out moments that even surpassed this base-level of awesome. We started the week off with a full moon, and this led to some amazing moon rises including one that rose bright red while we sipped cocktails on the beautiful island of Korcula. The experience was only enhanced by our location at Bar Massimo which sits at the top of a centuries-old rampart tower and is only accessible by climbing a ladder.

One of our exceptional dinners, this one on the island of Mljet, included fresh red snapper that had been spear-fished by the free-diving chef the day before. Adding a surprisingly graphic special touch was a large flat screen TV displaying video of the spearing in the background of our meal.

While each swim in the perfectly clear, 80 degree Adriatic was refreshing and wonderful, our swim into “Odysseus’ blue cave” was extra special. When looking back out from inside the cave, the water seemed to glow blue from underneath. It felt like a place ancient people might have come to be healed of illnesses due to its magical qualities, and we felt lucky to experience it and its peaceful solitude.

Two other events require special note: (1) the regatta that wasn’t, and (2) the stealing of skipper Marco’s USA speedos. First, we were told at the beginning our trip that we’d have a race of the five boats toward the end of the week. In theory, we should have been practicing setting our sails and tacking all week. However, the wind didn’t cooperate much during the week, and besides, everyone was too busy relaxing to take the upcoming race very seriously. But, when the race did come around, our boat was jazzed up… only to have our spirits deflated when all the boats crawled away from the starting line at less then one knot. We literally took off like a herd of turtles. Then, during the race there were some hilarious arguments over the VHF radio (hilarious to us at least) about where the finish line really was. At the end, each boat claimed to have won, and I can honestly say, I have no idea who was right… Though I can say that our meal that night did not taste especially victorious.

The second event of special note involved a 22 year old, vivacious, Croatian skipper named Marco. Marco skippered the boat with all single women, and he seemed to enjoy prancing about his boat (and often dancing in the bow) in his skimpy speedo bathing suit, much to the joy of his passengers. The speedos were emblazoned with the stars and stripes and a big “USA,” and sometime in our first few days, our boat made it our mission to steal the sacred, patriotic suit and string it up on our mast as a fun prank. The suit proved elusive despite a late-night, Watergate-style search on Marco’s boat by Meghan and other guests with requisite flashlights. But thanks to the help from a high ranking official in the company, we were finally successful on the last day of the cruise and proudly sailed from the marina with the undies flapping in the breeze. We all had a good laugh when Marco and others saw the suit strung up on our boat. However, the female passengers on Marco’s boat quickly asked for them back, so they could enjoy their skipper “in style” for their last day.

We pulled back into the Dubrovnik marina after seven days of relaxation, exploration, and fun. It was a truly great “vacation from our vacation.” And we’d built great friendships in the tight quarters of our small boat with the other two couples who we hope to see again either in England, Scotland, or California. Now, we’ll explore more of what Croatia offers on dry land with time in Dubrovnik, Split, Plitvice Lakes, and Istria. Off we go again!