Vis Fizz
09 August 2013 | Cavtat
John Rowling
The summer light wind pattern has now settled in. Trilogy sailed gently under her Code Zero away from Trogir towards Brac in bright sunshine and flat seas. After Trogir we were looking for a quiet isolated anchorage on Brac for a swim. U. Stipanska looked good on paper but there were a lot of small boats already there rafted-up in large pods so we anchored out, had a cooling swim and dinghied ashore. We came, we saw but couldn't explore - there was no where to land. But that night the pods of rafted small boats kept us entertained with bursts of chorale singing. First the men and then the women (who sounded considerably more in tune, musical and less drunk) which more than made up for not getting ashore onto Brac - and a pleasant change from blaring rock music we have been hearing in many anchorages.
Our main aim was, however, to get to Vis - the island of strategic importance throughout Adriatic history. It was said that whoever controlled Vis controlled the Adriatic. Based on its history the control of the Adriatic has changed hands many times over the centuries.
Vis was a pleasant town clinging to the edge of a large bay - with the "new town" largely Venetian and the "old town" - Kut around the other end of the bay, Medieval.
We also got lucky in Vis as our arrival coincided with a national public holiday to celebrate Victory Day. That night Vis put on a show. Lots of bell ringing and marching followed by a rock performance (largely Croatian but they did channel Elvis for a while). Like Australia no summer celebration would be complete without a BBQ, but instead of a sausage sizzle it was a sardine sizzle! Janice and Peter joined the queue for their free sardines accompanied by free local wine served out of an open barrel and declared the sardines delicious but crunchy. They were puzzled about the wine when they were asked,as it was served to them, with "water or mineral water". It tasted ok with the water addition but some aging may have helped.
Next morning we moved around to U. Parja and dinghied into the underground submarine pen for an inspection, swam in crystal clear waters and then decamped for Gradina Bay at the northern end of Korcula. We were now watching our timing so we could be in Cavtat to clear out on a Friday. There was now no wind so Trilogy turned into a stink-boat for a few days as we motored back to Cavtat with a quick tourism stopover at Korcula and another dinner out at Trstenik.
Trilogy's last night in Croatia was celebrated by a sunset viewing from the Cavtat waterfront (no green flash) and a good dinner ashore. Clearing out was slick and quick although the Customs/Border Police were a little grumpy. Trilogy left Croatia for Montenegro sailing in a lovely light/moderate breeze. Who said there would be no wind in the Adriatic in August?