After a morning walk to see a couple of adjoining bays, resorts & moorings just west of Hvar Town; we headed off mid-morning for the northern side of Hvar Island. This meant we had to go around the western end of the island. From the moment we set off, each new bit of coastline brought in to view yet another spectacular bay; some small and secluded, others large and open. We marvelled at how deep the water was so close to the shore and in some parts of the coast which had sheer cliff faces there were no shallows at all, and there were at times 60-70m of water under the keel within 50m of the land. We could have got closer but our West Australian conditioning made us a bit tentative to do so, even though our depth gauge re-assured us that there was plenty of water.
We sailed around the western end of Hvar Island into a light breeze and sailed on. After we had rounded up to the northern end of the island we came across some dolphins fishing in the distance. But because of the depth of the water here they only came up to breath every so often.
The bays along the northern coast of Hvar Island were even more stunning ( we didnt think that possible until now). We happened upon a sheltered tiny bay enclosed by sheer and heavily wooded slopes with a little narrow pebbled beach at the top end of the bay and a few houses. We nearly sailed on but decided it was to good not to explore further so we dropped the sails and motored in. As we got closer we realised all the windows were boarded up in the houses and there didnt seem to be anyone about, and we decided it would be a perfect place to drop anchor, to have a swim and explore further. We went in tentatively to see how deep it was and to see what sort of bottom it was and whether it would be any good to anchor. The bay could only have been 50m across and maybe 100-150m long. After waiting to make sure the anchor was secure, Vera jumped in and swam ashore to explore along the pebble beach and few buildings that were there. I stayed on board because we were in an NW'ly breeze and I didnt want to risk the anchor slipping. The water wasnt very cold and was beautiful and refreshing. After swimming up to the pebble beach Vera walked around and explored for about 20min's. There was definitely no one there - even though a couple of the houses looked as if there infrequently used. It truly was an idyllic setting with the crystal clear water, forest all around the little bay on a lovely sunny day.
We then got on our way to Vrobska, which was about another 1-2hrs away downwind. Initially we started just under motor as we wanted to make sure we got to the marina in time to get a pier mooring as we wanted to top up on power & water. On the way we caught up to 2 charter boats with people on board from Melbourne.
We arrived at Vrboska and decided to moor at the town moorings a little further up the bay, which were right in the middle of Vrboska town. Here the bay narrows quite considerably and finishes in a narrow river. We tied up stern-to at the town pier next to a smaller boat, who looked a bit nervous as we pulled up next to it. It was then our turn to look nervous as a huge catamaran of some 57ft decided it was going to moor up next to us. It only had two guys on board and a poor emaciated looking dog and we had to help fend it off and Vera felt like she was trying to push off a double-storey house!
We then had a drink and went for a walk along the water and saw the number of small stone bridges that have given this town the name of *little Venicer* - very cute indeed. We had a great dinner and watched the sunset. It was still warm and quite light out at 9pm as we headed back to Atreides and settled down for a nice quiet night on the water, all tucked up between a floating mansion and a modest bungalow. The water is calm with no wind - what a perfect place to pull into for the night.
Over dinner we spoke about our little sailing adventure. We are only four days into our week of cruising the Adriatic but already it seems like so much longer. We continually marvel at all that these islands have to offer and we are surprised, again and again, as each corner brings a new stunning landscape to delight us. We will never cease to be amazed at the intensity of the so many diffferent blues of the waters in these islands and how clear and deep they are. We really counted our blessing tonight and how lucky we are to be able to experience all this!