A pause at Lokrum

The weather has been great for the past four days with the possible exception that the wind, when there has been any during the day, has been consistently from the north west. As a result I have rather "declined the challenge" and stayed put. The nights have been, up until last night, calm and balmy. Last night was the exception, north east wind blowing straight into the anchorage and resulting in the first sleepless night since Cavtat but at least I had the anchorage to myself. The island of Lokrum is truly a paradise. It has no permanent population, no roads, a Monastery, a Castle and virtually nothing else. The only noise at night comes from the amorous exploits of the extensive peacock population! The Monastery ceased to function as such over 200 years ago. It is currently being restored, in some areas, by the civic authorities. In the cloister gardens a rather smart Cafe/Bar has been established, one might ask what would the Benedictine Monks have to say about that? The "Royal Castle" is a single circular tower, not extensive but well preserved and worthy of a visit even if only to view the tree lined avenues leading to it. Yesterday I reached a crisis point, I ran out of bread! The choice was a beat upwind to Kolocep, the nearest island to the NW with a shop, or to get the flour and yeast out and make some. I chose to do the latter and although not the lightest concoction ever produced the two loaves met the needs of the crew, i.e. me! Tomorrow, weater permitting, it is a late afternoon departure to Kolocep followed by an early (0400) departure the following day to make headway northwards by catching the morning offshore which routinely blows from the NE up until 0900'ish each morning.