Koinonia Sailing and RVing

5.3.2012
Korcula, Croatia

I awoke to the smell of coffee, the sounds of water gently lapping against the boat and the nearby shore, and the sight of our cozy anchorage. We headed out of the protection of the islands into water that was more exposed to the sea state and some wind. The seas were choppy with high frequency rolling swells approaching the quarter stern. At times, it felt like we surfing down some of the swells. This is the part of sailing that stretches me out of my comfort zone, to say the least. Don reminded me that "this is nothing", referring to the sailing conditions. Surprisingly, I did not get seasick.

Less than an hour later we arrived at the point where we turned downwind, which made for a more comfortable ride. Our destination for the day was the island of Korcula. We traveled on a course which took us by the town Bol Brac. The town has a beautiful beautiful beach that has been featured in some of our cruising guides. During the remainder of the day, we were flanked by a long stretches of tall islands and eventually a mountain range. What a spectacular view!

The last hour of the trip required that we turn between another set of tall islands to our starboard and the tall mountain range (1,837 ft. at the peaks) to our port. The passage was about a mile wide and the wind funneled through there like a wind tunnel. The sea state and wind gave us more rocking and rolling. We were entertained by guys zooming by on their sailboards and the cruise ship leaving its anchorage, but our thoughts were on the relief of a nice anchorage for the night. Don identified a a small anchorage site on the chart, which offered a reprieve from the uncomfortable conditions. Our hope was to arrive at the site ahead of other boats seeking refuge. It was a welcomed site to arrive in the quiet bay and be able to anchor for the night.

We took the dinghy ashore for dinner and a brief tour of the town, which was surrounded by 13th century walls. The next day we were met with more favorable weather conditions, but not able to sail due to lack of wind. We pulled up the anchor and headed for Dubrovnik.

The route to Dubrovnik took us past the island of Mljet. The island was mountainous and contained two salt water lakes which were linked by a channel leading to the sea. One of our travel guides indicated that Mljet was holiday resort in Roman times. We motored through the interior channel of the island of Mljet National Park to get a view of more beautiful scenery and continued our trip to Dubrovnik, the "Pearl of the Adriatic".