Rocking and rolling in Rijeka..

The thunder storm and ensuing rain lasted most of the day so we satisfied ourselves with a short hop to Uvala Mala Jana where the shelter was good and the anchorage secure in the prevailing NW wind. Two other boats, who were already there, departed at the first sign of sunshine but this was short lived. As a result we had the anchorage to ourselves for the rest of the day. By 1800 when the rain finally seemed to have abated it was too late to contemplate going anywhere else. Net result, a very lazy day.

Next day dawned bright and clear so we chose to start early and make our way towards Rijeka, with a stop on the way at a suitable beach. After the first hour and a half motoring, in no wind, we decided that we had had enough and headed for the shoreline, anchoring in a small bay north of Njivice. The shoreline here is steep to but there is just enough room in the bays to drop anchor in 10m with 30m of chain out and swing clear of the rocks. We passed a very pleasant four hours there until the clouds started to build and the rain started again. The only problem, there was still no wind!

Two, very damp, hours of motoring later we were alongside in the port of Rijeka. A city of contrasts. If only they had stopped building in the 1880's it would be a beautiful, Venetian influenced, city but the coming of the railway and the resulting massive extension of the wharves and docks has given it the worst waterfront of any city I have ever seen. This has been followed by massive expansion of low cost, high rise, housing in the 1960's which has just made a bad situation much worse. There are still numerous architectural gems but very many are hidden in amongst the horrors.
We had chosen a berth right in the very far end of the port thinking that it would be a secure, quiet spot; we were after all the only private pleasure craft in the whole harbour! Later that night we found out why yachtsmen don't go there. The retired ferry, now converted to a floating restaurant; berthed nearby; also doubled as a late night, open air, discotheque! From 2300 until 0430 the noise was amazing; with all doors, hatches, windows and openings closed we were still having to shout inside Kurukulla to make ourselves heard! If that was not enough at 0430 the gods took over; they closed down the discotheque by providing a two hour thunder and lightening show, with torrential rain and a variety of gale force gusts from all directions, in the middle of which we had to leave the boat to get GianLuca to his 0600 departure bus for Trieste! Even the street lights fused twice! I returned to the boat very tired, thoroughly soaked, stripped off and went back to bed. The next I knew I woke to sunshine at 1100. A brief shopping run and then it was off down the east coast of Krk; a beautiful passage through under the bridge that connects Krk to the mainland and then onwards 15 miles to a tranquil, deserted bay at Petrina; absolutely no discotheques tonight!
There followed a very tranquil night and a slow start to the following day. A couple of minor repairs to the boarding ladder and a lazy lunch were followed by a very pleasant sail down the east coast of Krk to Uvala Mala Luka; a deserted inlet on the SE corner. A truly beautiful anchorage rather reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands; perhaps rather more sun scorched! Definitely one to return to later.
In fact so taken was I with the inlet that I spent the next day there as well and got on with some running maintenance whilst I whiled away a windless, grey day. The net result is that the stitching on the leech of the genoa, holding the UV strip has now been restitched over a two foot length (the original stitches having given way) and the elastic in the spinnaker pole has now been renewed (having parted a month ago!), a job requiring removing the end of the pole and then re-riveting it back on.
Today it was an early departure from Uvala Mala Luka and a very gentle passage (again under engine for lack of any wind), round to the south of Krk for lunch in a bay and then on to Krk town for fuel and water, late in the day. Overnight may well be in Krk if these flat calm conditions continue.