South … well generally speaking
04 September 2022
Phil Heaton
Our next target adventure after Ugljan was the Kornati National Park – 89 islands of very different landscape, since the karstic terrain features cracks, caves, grottoes and rugged cliffs. The islands have been deforested through burning the natural vegetation and now comprise startling white rock formations contrasting with the azure sea.
To get there we left Prtljug, Ugljan on 12th August, stopping overnight on a mooring at Saline Bay North, on Pasman island so we could get an early start and maximise the value of the park fee of £70 per day (£140 for three days). We decided to stop at Kravljacica, a fairly sheltered bay with Park moorings included in the daily fee. This was a good decision as no sooner had we tied up did the thunderstorms arrive. Fortunately, after 3-4 hours they cleared away and we went ashore for the hike to the church of St Mary and the Fortress of Tureta on the commanding hill. Both date from the 6th century Byzantine period and presumably from when the Kornati islands still had trees and agriculture. One little curiosity about the church is that the key to the door is kept in a crevice on the left of the door so visitors can enter.
The following day we motored slowly through the rest of the islands, past the abandoned dwellings on Mana island and its vertical cliffs. Kornati was not to have been missed.
We headed for Murter, first stopping nearby for the night in an anchorage at Vela Luka, which was quite busy and a bit noisy. Our first attempt found us on grass which we could not see because the water was a bit murky, and the anchor did not set. Our second attempt a few hundred metres away had us on mud and sand with good holding. On 15th August we went round to the very large anchorage at Murter as we needed some cooking gas refills, diesel, chandlery and provisioning.
The town around the waterfront is dominated by a marina (with a large charter fleet) and moorings for hire day boats and a whole variety of small vessels, and has been called non-descript – we found no real reason to disagree, except that there was a good fruit and vegetable market and some local lateen rigged sailboats which are now used for racing. However, a stroll away from the waterfront area to the Old Village and the church of St Rocco (Sv. Roko – 70 metres high) is rewarded by quiet and quaint 18th century alleys and buildings and a great view from the church itself.
Another OCC boat, INNAMORATA II, with Steve and Carol Kerswill arrived on the Thursday and they came over for drinks – it was a lovely evening as we had not had anyone onboard since we were in Venice.
By now we had settled in to a pattern of moving on Fridays and Saturdays, mostly as these coincide with charter boat changeover days so many anchorages are quieter, so we left Murter on Friday 19th August, heading for the Krka National Park. It was an interesting passage as we had wind to sail and had full main and genoa … until a large and lengthy squall, with much lightning and thunder, hit us with sustained winds of over 35kts. Rapid reefing ensued and fortunately we had, for the islands, plenty of sea room so we sort of hove to waiting for it to pass. All was well.
Gallery photos when we have better wifi.