Another easy spinnaker run in flat waters took us to Sukosan, a harbor on the mainland just 6 miles south of the historic town of Zadar. Sukosan harbor hosts the biggest marina in Croatia and also a couple of mooring fields. We picked up a mooring and packed to leave the boat early the next morning. We rented a car at the nearby airport of Zadar and drove inland to the famous Nacionalni Park Plitvička Jezera (Plitvice Lakes National Park), where we were meeting Sarah, Dak, Andrew and Will who had just flown in from Boston to visit.

Plitvice Park is in a densely forested area, but quite empty and poor. Smack in the middle of the park there are 16 or so lakes linked with cascades and waterfalls of all sizes and strengths. Whoever manages the park has done a fantastic job at setting up a number of crisscrossing trails all with wooden paths and footbridges that go around the lakes and near the cascades and waterfalls. Sometimes the wooden paths go over a smaller cascade. It is truly spectacular. A must-see while in Croatia! We had never seen cascades and waterfalls with so much vegetation in and around them. The lakes had that sky-blue colour and so clear water that we were all dying for a swim, but swimming is not allowed so we had to resign ourselves to having long baths and showers at the hotel.

The eight of us drove back to Sukosan. We spent the next day visiting Zadar's historic center (some Roman ruins and medieval churches with foundations made using the remains of the Roman ruins). We enjoyed the cacophonic concert of the Sea Organ, a series of big steps leading up to sea, with holes and pipes in the rise of the steps; with every wave the air gets pushed through the holes and pipes and makes “music”. The Sea Organ and space around it had won a European prize for best public space few years ago.

Sarah and Dak left on July 1 to continue their two-week Croatian and Austrian vacation before returning to Boston. We took advantage of having rented a car to refill our propane and CO2 tanks. In the afternoon we sailed to a nearby bay, and the start of Camp Por Dos with Will, Roan, Andrew and Alec as participants.