Kurukulla

Kurukulla
Kurukulla, anchored at James Bond Island, Thailand

Friday 6 August 2010

To Italy and back!


The departure from Sahara coincided with a steady rise in the wind and a change to a northerly direction. We had agreed to go north about on the small island of Otoc Grgur for a change of scenery and to go past the prison island of Otok Goli where opponents of the communist regime were interned. By the time we had made our way the mile to windward needed to pass north of the island the wind was up to 35 kts and what should have been a pleasant beam reach turned into a two reefs in the mainsail and a well rolled jib session. Our aim was to head for the town of Krk and refuel and re-provision there. Kurukulla and I arrived in Krk an hour before Camilla having made a tactical decision to motor-sail to windward before the wind became too strong. Anchored outside Krk harbour I was able to set to and strip the echo sounder to discover why it was not working; the answer was soon evident, a copious quantity of fresh water ingested into the instrument during the heavy rains of the day before. Even when dried out it still refused to give any sensible reading; time to replace it but where?
Krk is a beautiful town and proved suitable for a refuel and victualling but could offer no berths for the night so after doing all that was necessary we set off along the coast the six miles to Uvala Mala Jana, a small but perfect inlet found during last years travels. On arrival there was only one small power boat tucked in the corner and we were able to anchor both boats close together with lines ashore. A perfect setting for a swim and a late supper for all aboard Kurukulla.
Next day dawned bright but slightly overcast. A sail off the anchor and ghosting out into the channel provided a slow start to the passage but from there on the wind developed a mind of its own resulting in a frustrating morning of sailing interspersed with motoring whenever the wind dropped and all in an uncomfortable lumpy sea. Once we rounded the northern tip of Cres however life took on a completely different hue. A splendid downwind sail in brilliant sunshine with 10 knots over the deck and the Genoa poled out, fantastic! Our aim was to get as near to Pula as possible; in the event, by motoring the last hour or so as the wind dropped we were able to make the anchorage at Uvala Soline, just south of Pula.
Uvala Soline was absolutely crowded with Italian yachts signalling the start of the Italian summer holidays! Next day, whilst we had a beat northwards and to windward in 20 – 25 kts, there were vast numbers of yachts piling downwind under spinnaker all heading south. It was just like Cowes Week!
By Rovinj, 20 miles, to windward, we had had enough and decided to take our leave of Croatia from the authorities there. After a late lunch in a bay to the south of the town we motored into the harbour and berthed on the quarantine pier. Here started an hour long process, firstly persuading the Capitanija (Coast Guard) that they were not going to close half an hour before the published time on their door, thereby making us wait until the next day; followed by the police office where the very unhelpful individual on duty was determined to make everyone wait at least half an hour in order to prove his importance! (Some Croatian Police have yet to realise that things have changed since the communist days, they are now supposed to be servants of the people!) The formalities completed we returned to the bay where we had taken lunch and anchored for the night.
Next morning we set sail at 0500 for Santa Margherita, just east of Venice, arriving at about 1400. As Kurukulla was still without a working echo sounder Camilla led the way in, negotiating the shallow and tortuous entrance of Marina 4, where a very cheerful and helpful marinaio directed us to available berths. Purely by chance, adjacent to our berth was a Raymarine agent who was enlisted to resolve the echo sounder problem. Eventually, as they were unable to get any spares in a reasonable time-scale, I decided to cannibalize the internal unit and reduce to one working depth display on deck as opposed to having two non functional ones as was. To some degree I breathed a sigh of relief as the spares they were initially offering were priced at €500 and my plan is to renew the whole system next year, hence this would have been nugatory expense.
On day two David Ashby's daughter and family came for a days outing in Camilla, I stayed in the marina to complete various tasks onboard Kurukulla and ashore.
Day three dawned hot, breathless and with a deteriorating weather forecast so we decided to forego our intended brief sojourn into the lagoon at Venice and head straight for Slovenia. Camilla having executed another crew change, Jerry and Rob leaving, Filip joining, we finally departed Sta Margherita at 1600 and sailed / motored over to Piran (Slovenia) arriving at 2300, anchoring just outside the port. Unfortunately, whilst on passage David received some very bad news from UK, as a consequence he has been forced to curtail his visit to Slovenia / Croatia and head back to Brindisi, Italy as fast as possible to leave Camilla there and return home for an unspecified period. I decided that Kurukulla and I would accompany him as far as Pula.
We re-entered Croatia formally at Umag, where a moderately more helpful group of officials processed our papers, then continued southwards to find a suitable overnight anchorage. Our choice was to enter the Limski Canal; however, to get there we had to weather a bloodstained, four hour, sail southwards in a westerly force 8 gale, heavy rain, very unpleasant seas, cold temperatures and some severe thunderstorms. All in a mid-summer day's sailing in the Med!
Fortunately, after a relatively quiet night at anchor, things are starting to revert to normal and the weather is improving. Onwards tomorrow after a 24 hour pause at anchor to dry out and warm up!

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