The town of Prvic a welcome refuge!

After a pleasant overnight stop in the Rogoznica area, where we are able to anchor in town, off load some rubbish and stock up on fresh supplies, we decide to take advantage of the forecast SE winds and head north to the island of Zlarin. The winds are not as strong as predicted, but we enjoy the best broad reaching sail that we have had so far this season.

We enter the harbour at Luka Zlarin and our anchor sets well in the sandy bottom which is good, as the southerly breeze is expected to strengthen later in the day, before dropping off overnight. Being a Sunday there are many charter boats tying up at the dock and all the buoys in the bay are taken as well, all taking shelter in anticipation of the stronger winds overnight. However, the expected easing of the winds after midnight did not occur, instead it increased, gusting to over 20 knots. Around 5am we noticed a very dark, thundery looking sky to the NW. As the bay we are in is open to the NW we go to 'full alert'. All of a sudden we notice the boats opposite us in the bay are turning their bows towards the NW, the wind has done a 180 degree shift. Bern immediately starts the engine and prepares for the wind change. We are hit side on with 40 knots and lean over dramatically, we are blasted with rain and thunder crashes around us. Our anchor is dislodged, but amazingly resets and holds us into the squall. But not far behind us is the shore and waves are already breaking around us. With the engine ticking over we are holding position. We look with alarm at the boats on laid-lines at the dock. They are now side on to the wind and rapidly building waves and being pushed onto each other with little hope of escaping due to the force of the wind. There are people up on deck, but are helpless to do much as their boats crash into each other. We have enough on our plate and decide to 'bail out' as our depth is only 5 metres there is not much distance between us and the shore. Fortunately, we are able to get the anchor up, even though the boat is pitching up and down with the increasing waves. By this stage the wind has dropped below 20 knots and we head for an anchorage a few miles to the west which will give us some protection. By the time we are halfway across the bay the wind is under 10 knots but the lightening, thunder and rain still persist. We enter the harbour of Prvic which looks a beautiful village even at 7am on a dull morning. According to our Pilot Guide there is room to anchor beyond the breakwater. To our surprise the harbour is full of laid buoys. This appears to be the way many harbours are going in Croatia. The ability to anchor is becoming less and less with the only option being to pick up a laid buoy or tie up to the town quay, all at great cost-$40 per night for a buoy or $60+ to tie up to the town quay. We pick up a buoy for the time being, take a hot shower, have some breakfast and debrief about our early wake up call!