22 maj 2017.

Rammerne om fantastiske sejladser er fantastiske her i Kroatien, og ikke uden grund tiltrækker området rigtig mange sejlere, især i chartrede både.

Vi sejler for sejl langt mere end vi gjorde på vores ture i det græske, hvor mottoet ”enten er der for meget vind eller for lidt” prægede sejladsaktiviteterne. Her er der generelt flere både for sejl, hver dag her i forsæsonen er mindst som de rigtig gode dage på Aarhusbugten eller Øresund med mange sejl.

Rækker af øer skærmer for de værste dønninger, og her er ofte få sømil fra den ene stille ø til den anden, fra den ene ankerbugt til den næste. Vindstille har ikke været udpræget, og mange dage har vindforholdene været god, jævn vind, 6 – 10^m/_s. Det har givet berusende sejloplevelser, skønne naturscenerier og gode besøg på øerne.

Men som en havnemester sagde da vi snakkede med ham og han iagttog og påskønnede “Bare Lykke”, så er langt de fleste sejlbåde i det kroatiske i virkeligheden slet ikke sejlbåde, og det er i virkeligheden ikke sejlere, der er i ret mange af sejlbådene, og endelig er det langt fra sejladserne, der tiltrækker de mange.

“Bare Lykke” er med sine Omega 42-dimensioner næsten altid den mindste båd i havnen, og både på 50 fod ser ud til at være normen, og de indeholder rigtig mange kubikmeter! Muligvis kan de sejle, men vi sejler fra dem!

Besætningerne er for 90%’s vedkommende kraftigt til ekstremt kraftigt overvægtige, blege midt- og nordeuropæere med ret begrænsede sejlererfaringer, ser det ud til.

De kommer ikke for sent i land, for så kan de ikke nå at konsumere overdrevne mængder alkohol, som skal holde dem oppe så de kan feste og larme til langt ud på natten, både i havne og på ankerpladser. Følgelig sejler de ret sent ud næste dag, ofte først efter at have ”tanket op”. Om de oplever andet er tvivlsomt.

Nå hver har sin smag, men det er næppe den smukkeste side af vor vestlige kultur, der udstilles her.

Det kunne næsten minde om vore egne mande-charterferier i det græske for mange år siden.

Således er der slanger i alle paradiser. En anden ’slange’ er prisniveauet. Vi skreg af væmmelse og forfærdelse, da vi første gang blev opkrævet over 300 kr. i havnepenge; nu har vi betalt langt over 500 kr. for en enkelt overnatning flere gange og synes at 430 kr. for en nat er et fund. Og er vi ikke ude kl. 14 præcist, så koster det en nat mere, det har vi også prøvet!

P.S.: Billedet med slangen er fra Skradin, hvor Anders og jeg gik langs pontonen og så to af den slags i ferskvandet, sikkert snoge….

Om sejlads i Kroatien i en bred katamaran har et par gode sejlervenner hernede skrevet følgende, der er fint at have i tankerne, når sejlads i området planlægges:

Impressions on Croatia for sailors:

The marinas are very expensive, even out of season, especially for Catamarans, in the chain ACI charge x 1.50 the length of the catamaran, surprise, surprise in some other marine cobras x2 the length of the catamarans, luckily, we were in a Marina of a Club in Pula, marina Bunarina and there the price of berths was not so expensive and we got to pay something like 75e a day. While at ACI Dubrovnik we paid 110 for one night (which is cheap for Croatia!) We only stayed 2 nights at Marinas, but both times it was a matter of necessity. The rest of the time we have been anchored in bays and the last 2 days in the city of Umag anchored to a buoy with city service, of course, reasonably priced, we paid about 35e for 2 days. We tried to put the anchor, but it was impossible, it did not look at the bottom, it always dragged a lot of trash, so we opted to get hooked to the buoys offered by the port and it was a good success.

The coast of Croatia, small villages and towns bays. Croatia in general has not left me impressed, it is certainly not a season for beaches and I have not been able to bathe because the water is still very cold for me. The coast has not impressed me at all. I always hear that it has thousands of islands, yes, but it has some big islands, what they call thousands of islands are small islets and cliffs without vegetation. Honestly the navigation in Croatia has seemed a bit boring. I will not compare it with other sites, but I have sailed elsewhere among thousands of islands much more beautiful and interesting than in Croatia. Would you sail in Croatia again? No, but if I would go back to do a trip by car, the interior of the country itself is beautiful, and maybe just the northern area, the people I liked the most.

Then there is the paperwork, Croatia is in the EU, but they are not in the Schengen treaty, so there is control of passports, paperwork of the ship, navigation permit that must be paid by the day you are. We paid the first one for 8 days about 80 € but I think that there was also a rate per passenger, because then we extended the stay and paid for another 8 days, which is the minimum and on that second occasion we paid only about 24 € more. Look at how to pay these fees, because as you go from those days you can get fines of hundreds of euros. It is necessary to make passport control and declaration also to the exit of obligatory form and to leave the country immediately, if you remain anchored you will come another extraordinary fine (These stories told by navigators in the page Noonsite.com) The currency is not the Euro but Kuna. To all this, I do not understand your membership in the EU. Montenegro does not belong to EU and I understand the visa, the declaration of the ship and passage on arrival and departure, but these at least had the Euro as official currency and above that they were very sympatric people. We have been in the following cities as well as islands: Cavtat, Dubrovnik, Kelocep, Korkula, Vis, Split, Rogoznica, Uglian, Rab, RT Kamenjak, Pula (Veruda) and finally Umag, where we have done all the paperwork again and sail to Slovenia where we are now in the beautiful city of Piran moored in the very center of the city, but that’s another story … So; Croatia (check)

Its people; There is everything like in pharmacy, but while I say of the Greeks that I would go to live in Greece, I found them to be honest, hospitable and kind people. However, I do not get the same impression from the Croatians. Most of the time somewhat arrogant, they are there to help you if they see the money through or do not have much to do to help you. They do it as if they have no choice. I do not look for servants, but he smiled at people when I ask for help from some kind and I ask him please. But I must say that there are also exceptions and we found very friendly people without expecting anything in return, a few. It gave me the impression that the further north we went, the friendlier the people were.