The new group to join Trilogy in Split was Garth (skipper), Ros, John ( Garth's brother) , Kat ( Garth and Ros' daughter) and Jack, Kat's friend. We departed the ACI marina in Split on Sunday 22 June, 24 hours after handover from Rick and Susan.

The skipper completed the port authority tasks while others managed a shopping expedition to a large supermarket, to fill the cupboards with some provisions in that time. Susan and Rick had advised that it was relatively easy to pick up food along the way and that they had chosen to eat dinner each night at restaurants they inevitably found at each anchorage. The younger members of the crew made sure we had plenty of tasty food and exotic drinks to set us up for sunset drinkies.

Jet lag was still an issue for some and the summer heat was knocking us around a bit. The onboard air conditioning provided welcome relief, but at the Split marina only one power lead to the yacht was permitted, which meant that ship power was not available for other necessities such as recharging our iPads, phones and camera batteries or running other appliances. We took the water taxi to travel across the harbour from the marina to the old town of Split the night before departure, where we enjoyed a delightful meal in a very pleasant courtyard at Trattoria Bajamont. The dock and go was reported by Rick to be out of action and Garth managed to arrange for a new system to be installed under warranty in Sibenik on Wednesday.

We set off in beautiful sunshine early afternoon and made it comfortably to our first anchorage at the island of Drvenik. We had seen tours offered in Split to 'the blue lagoon', so that tempted us to explore this location. It was a picturesque spot, where the sandy bottom between three islands all very close together, formed a turquoise blue lagoon. No sooner had we arrived than Kat, Jack and Ros dived in and swam down through the lagoon and went ashore to explore what was on offer. We discovered an idyllic little restaurant that we later ate dinner at, set in amongst olive trees. The family taverna was virtually self sufficient for their existence with the men catching the fish and making the wine while the women were growing the fruit and vegetables and creating delicious meals for the regular visitors. Although the menu listed meat dishes, we were strongly persuaded to have the specialty for the night of grilled scorpion fish with salad and a mix of silver beet and potato as a side. We were really pleased by the excellent flavours and impressed by the ingenuity of these island people.

Next morning saw us move to Primošten, a picturesque township, with a lovely harbour. We moored out with plenty of other yachts, and swam again in the blue Adriatic. We used the dinghy to motor across the bay to Konabe Toni, rated best restaurant in town, and we were not disappointed! A thunder storm hit while we were dining and we were given garbage bag raincoats to get ourselves back to Trilogy, which resulted in very little discomfort. Next morning, we woke to clear blue skies and the day was spent exploring this delightful township, with many swimming spots along the rocky outcrops. There is very little evidence of financial hardship in Croatia, with everyone seeming to enjoy a quality of life that is surprisingly good. We split up to wander at will and everyone enjoyed reporting back at the end of the day. Such was our delight of the previous night's meal, we returned to Konabe Toni, and all enjoyed different dishes.... the shrimp risotto, garlic encrusted sea bass, grilled calamari, seafood platter for 2, were all memorable, in addition to the grilled steak served with various sauces on the menu.

After another swim before breakfast, we departed Primošten and were underway headed for Sibenik. There was enough favourable wind to unfurl the headsail, which assisted us to make good speed as we had agreed to meet Igor at 2pm in Sibenik for the dock and go service. We arrived at the sea wall to see Igor waving at us, so that was pleasantly surprising. The work was done efficiently, with a new system installed. It appears the intermittent problem related to a missing gasket in the original installation. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering at leisure the streets of Sibenik, the main point of interest being the Cathedral of St James, which was undergoing internal restoration. It is reputed to be the world's largest completely stone church, with no brick or wood supports. The baptistery was exquisite, with soft light bathing the restored angel supported font. A stroll through the oldest part of the city was interesting, in that while still lived in and sounds of children playing behind closed doors were heard, there was a lot of restoration required, at least on the outside. Another delightful find was the medieval garden of St Lawrence. The newly arrived monks, who had fled from the invading Turks on their island, helped the people of Sibinek during the Black Plague and in gratitude were given new land in the city. The garden was brimming with medicinal herbs, roses, fig trees and other fruit trees. Sibenik a lively city, with a two week children's festival underway and the foreshore lined with all manner of children's play equipment and market stalls. A marching band strutted their stuff and a young girls gymnastic competition was lovely to take in. We enjoyed an evening meal at Pelegrini Restaurant, considered to be the best local restaurant and we were not disappointed. The setting was in an elevated large medieval courtyard and our waiter was charming, which added to our pleasure. We loved the local red and white wines that were recommended and the food was equally fabulous. Monkfish tripe was the most challenging choice, served with polenta, and other meal choices were slow cooked beef cheeks, fillet steak with local baked cheese, grilled white fish and pappardelle stuffed with truffle and prosciutto. Dessert of a trio of olive oil ice cream, lavender ice cream and hazelnut ice cream, completed the spectacular meal. Well satisfied, we headed the short distance back toTrilogy for another good sleep.

Next morning, after a local coffee and breakfast, we departed Sibinek and headed inland up the waterway to the Krka National Park. The Krka river was easy to navigate but needed constant awareness of the deepest channel, which at times had to be narrowly shared with other yachts headed down stream. Mussel farms were spread along the shoreline and a few townships were scattered along the 8 miles of scenic waterway. At one point a high arching road bridge above challenged our mast height with only a few metres to spare. Once in the marina at the pretty port of Scradin, we had a quick lunch and took the final stretch of water by ferry to the Skradinski Buk. Along with many others, we spent a wonderful afternoon exploring this natural karst phenomena. Travertine, which is limestone that has settled out of the water and accumulated mosses and algaes, has formed waterfalls that cascade from many levels and directions. An elevated walkway has been constructed close to the water surface, allowing visitors to truly experience the beauty of the landscape. While John explored the swimming holes at the bottom level, the rest of us enjoyed a 2 hour stroll before swimming and munching on local food treats of sugar coated almonds and dried wild figs. Jack tried the local schnapps and the rest of us opted for Karlovacko beer while we waited for the return ferry. A little weary, we opted for pizza on board for dinner, before retiring.