Republika Hrvatska - Croatia
17 July 2009 | Lastovo, Croatia
Our "landfall" in Croatia is the little out-island of Lastovo - actually an archipelago of 49 little islands on the southern Dalmatian coast. The first order of business is to check-in with the authorities and we head for the little village of Ubli - population all of 300! At the small ferry harbor we checked in first with the Polizia, who stamped our Passports and gave us tourist cards, a crew list and several brochures for local restaurants - how's that for service with a smile.
Next was customs, where our last port of call was noted, it was verified we had no firearms on board and we got some more restaurant brochures. Finally, a short walk to the other side of the harbor, to the Harbormaster's office where we got our one year Croatia Cruising Permit as a cost of 1805kuna (about $300), a sticker to display on the boat and, you got it, some restaurant brochures.
Now, this is Dalmatia, but lest we lead you too far astray, the little guy greeting us in the picture above was actually from one of the brochures.
Then it was off to find a snug place to anchor for the night.
Cruisers Notes: Notwithstanding assertions to the contrary in the cruising guides, we were not asked for a Certificate of Competency - that may be just a European thing. Anchoring was quite deep - 50 feet and holding poor with our CQR - we switched to our Fortress with good success.