If anyone is reading this blog, I apologize if we're confusing you about our whereabouts. Rest assured, Aisling is safely tucked into her berth at Marina di Ragusa, and we are preparing her for her long winter alone. The postings about Croatia are just a bit of catch-up. Croatia is an amazing cruising ground, and while we were there we focused on sailing and sightseeing more than blogging. I know that old news makes for dull reading (it's also a lot less fun to write about) but we want to capture a few memories and cruising notes for the various stops along the way. The visit to Krka national park that is described in this posting actually took place in July. Hopefully, postings about Sibenik and Mljet national park will follow.
To reach Krka national park, we first had to transit the Kanal S. Ante, which leads to the historic city of Sibenik. The instructions for transiting the Kanal took up five full paragraphs in the Imray pilot, with unnerving references to a strong current and the funneling effect that the gorge has on the bora (katabatic north wind). Fortunately, it was flat calm when we motored through the Kanal. Passing Sibenik, we continued northwest up the Krka river, under a large bridge and past several mussel farms, then turned to the northeast and followed the river to the large basin of Prukljansko Jezero. Rather than go to the marina at the town of Skradin, we chose to anchor in Uvala Ostrica, just a short dinghy ride away.
With the thermometer showing a water temperature of 30.6 degrees, we jumped in for a swim. When we got back onboard, our skin felt strangely slippery. We were worried that there was something nasty in the water but eventually concluded that this was likely due to the limestone content. (This limestone, or travertine, makes the deposits that formed the dramatic waterfalls in the park.)
A while later, while Rick was on deck relaxing with his book, I heard him say "Well, aren't you beautiful!" He wasn't talking to me.....
The next morning we took our dinghy to the picturesque town of Skradin and bought park entrance tickets that included a ferry ride up the river to the falls.
Visiting Krka park is not a wilderness experience. Carefully constructed paths and walkways took us past the various viewpoints, and we were keeping company with dozens of strangers as we made the short circuit around the trail. But the design allows large numbers of tourists to view the falls while protecting the ecosystem of the park. The scenery was so beautiful that it is easy to see why, according to a posted sign, the Emperor Franz Joseph 1 was "struck dumb" by the beauty when he visited in 1875 and viewed the falls from this Imperial Belvedere that was constructed for his visit.
Spectacular waterfalls, streams brimming with fish, blue damselflies shimmering against the water grasses...I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
We'd planned ahead by wearing bathing suits under our clothes, and finished the day with a dip in the pool under the falls. That's Rick waving in the distance.
As we approached Skradin on the way back, a French woman behind us pointed out a "Dame" in the clouds- a lovely backdrop to the picturesque town.
That evening, we discovered that our swan had a mate. In fact, there are many swans in the river. The ambience on the afterdeck as we watched the sunset was nothing short of superb!
You can find more photos of Krka park
in our gallery (Croatia June-July, subalbum Krka)
Cruising notes
Although the Imray pilot's instructions for approaching Sibenik sound complicated, the Kanal S Ante is very well marked and in calm weather it is very straightforward. We found it difficult to see the signals at the entrance, but since they do not apply to small boats we just proceeded carefully and kept a sharp eye for traffic.
To visit the falls at Krka national park, you must either go to the marina at Skradin or anchor nearby. Although anchoring off Skradin is supposedly not permitted, we did see boats at anchor so it may be possible to anchor there for a short time. We chose to anchor at Uvala Ostrica in a depth of 34 feet- the holding was good. It was just a short dinghy ride from there to Skradin.
Provisions and restaurants are available in Skradin.
We were rushing to catch the ferry when we bought our tickets, and later wished we had purchased tickets for additional trips to see another series of falls and to visit a Franciscan monastery on the island of Visovac.