As we awoke around 07.30 the next morning there was clearly activity amongst the other boats as many got ready to leave. A couple of guys in a small boat visited the anchorage selling fruit and vegetables so we bought some nectarines, plums and apricots, but no bread as they had run out. We had planned on a late morning departure but by 09.30 almost everyone had gone and we started to wonder if you needed to get to places early to claim a spot.
We left as well and motored the 4 miles to the next planned bay - Skrivena Luka, known as 'Hidden Harbour' as its not visible until you are right at the entrance. Once inside you are sheltered on all sides and it's a lovely anchorage. Most of the other yachts carried on past the bay and we concluded they either had long trips or were due back at the end to their charter. The bay has a couple of pontoons built by restaurants and plenty of space to anchor. We dropped the hook in the shallower north end as the wind was predicted northerly that night and as a cat we have a shallower draft than most. There were about 20 other boats in the bay, mostly yachts from many nations and a few powerboats. About half were on one of the pontoons, a couple on buoys and the others at anchor. Even though it is towards peak season there was lots of space.
We spent the day relaxing, reading and swimming and in the afternoon pumped up Fizz (the kayak) for her first outing of the season. The wasp population here were just as active unfortunately (though nothing to compare to the meal we shared with friends on our charter cruise in Turkey a few years ago when wasps managed to get us to abandon our fish dinner on the table whilst tens of them crawled over it)
We had a paddle around the bay stopping at the better known restaurant to book a table for dinner. Boats came and went during the day and by evening there were a few more than when we arrived, even one other 'red ensign' at the southern end, but still no issue with space.
The anchorage at 'Hidden Bay' with the restaurant at the extreme left of shot. If you look closely at the stern of our neighbour you may work out why Carolyn took the photo!!
(this seems normal behavior around here)
During the afternoon another official boat - the Park Rangers came round the bay. As this is a national Park apparently we have to pay another K200 (£25) for a few nights here. This only covers this island, when we move on we will have to pay again for the next park!
The 'Porto Rosso' restaurant has been there for many years and appears regularly in cruisers blogs as a 'must visit' so we were looking forward to the evening meal. The place is attractive and we had a table on the veranda overlooking Splice and the other boats. The waiter was prompt if somewhat 'po-faced'. We would have liked the local 'peka' dish of slow cooked lamb or goat but had forgotten this has to be ordered in advance. We ordered a starter of wild asparagus and local cheese followed by lamb with rosemary for Carolyn and rib-eye steak for Chris. We also had a bottle of the islands wine which was excellent.
Unfortunately that was the best part of the meal. The starter was very vinegary pickled asparagus and was clearly wild as it had lots of added grass! The bread was poor. The local cheese was edible but somewhat tasteless. Carolyn's lamb was nice but the steak presented to Chris was so tough that he couldn't eat even a few bites. That had to go back which always spoils a meal as you end up eating separately. It was replaced by another dish of lamb which was pleasant enough as were the grilled veg and roasted potatoes. The bill for this came to a UK equivalent of £90 which is significantly more expensive than we have been paying in Italy for meals.
When we chartered in Croatia about 9 years ago we came away feeling that, whilst the country was beautiful, the people spent most of their energy trying to take as much money off you as possible and that, in general, they were somewhat miserable. We are starting to get the same impression again and we have only been here a couple of days.
We have another week or so to drift down the 50 miles or so to Dubrovnik to pick up Tina and Steve who will travel with us to Montenegro. We will revisit some of the places we enjoyed on our last trip and see what's changed.
Main Photo: The view from Splice's stern when the wind is from the west in Skrivena Luka (our view changes as the wind moves us about)