Island update
05 July 2009 | Rogoznica
Brad
We left Vis, and headed north with the intention of getting to the place we are right now, Rogoznica, but the wind picked up from the west and before we knew it we had over 8knots of constant boat speed on a close hauled course for some islands 25 miles north of Rogoznica, so we just kept going! We found a nice little bay tucked in behind a couple of islands which was only 5 odd miles from the entrance to the river that leads up to the Krka national park which we planned to visit the next day.
So early next morning we weighed anchor and motored to the river entrance and then up its many twists and turns, underneath bridges and electrical cables, most of which were only marginally higher than the top of our mast. Finally about 5-6 miles inland we arrived at Skradin, where you have to leave your boat and take a water taxi to the national park. The Krka national park was formed to protect the waterfalls and natural wet lands in the area. These waterfalls are unique as they aren't simply a series of rock ledges over which a river runs but they "grew" naturally as the river deposited limestone creating a serious of cascading terraces, waterfalls and pools of water. They really are quite fantastic. The Croatians have done a pretty good job of the park too, plenty of trails, facilities and opportunities to swim under some of the falls and in the resultant pools. No health and safety do-gooders here! So we walked around the area including a little town (now just a tourist attraction) where they had diverted some of the water to run a water mill, leather tannery and various other mechanical functions including the world's second oldest hydro electric scheme.
After a swim in the falls, a beer and a burger we headed back down to the boat and retraced our steps back out the river to a little island, Prvic for a night. We nearly got stung with another extortionate fee for anchoring, but by moving the boat literally 25m we avoided the charge. It turned out to be quite funny as we started a procession as several other yachts did the same!!!
We made contact with our mates Mark and Jo last night who just chartered a boat out of Split for their honeymoon so we are heading down to meet up with them on Tuesday which we are very excited about.
So we finally made it to Rogoznica, we've anchored a couple of bays around from the town and will spend this afternoon exploring and picking up a few provisions.
More photos at: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bradmcmaster1/Croatia2009MljetToRogoznica#