Since Terri and Drew left us a few
weeks ago a lot has happened. We plan to spend some of the winter
with my relatives inland in Croatia and some of the winter travelling
in Europe. In order to leave the boat unattended for that long, I
would feel better leaving it on the hard, so we had to make
arrangements to do so at the ACI Dubrovnik Marina. The cost is about
the same as we paid in Almerimar last year, but the facilities and
scenery are much, much nicer. For starters, there is a pool and
showers with hot water. The grounds are clean and the equipment is
all new and well maintained.
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| The pool, and Maggie |
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| View from our boat-on land |
The marina is located at the start of
the Dubrovacka River, which runs in a valley between two small
mountains. The location is a few kilometres from Dubrovnik with
buses running frequently between them. Just beyond the start of the
river around the bend in the mountain is a huge valley that extends
some kilometres to the south and contains a few small villages and
countryside; it is all quite beautiful and pastoral.
While waiting to haul out on October
1st, we anchored in the river in front of the marina (at
no charge) for a week, and we rode out a couple of boras and
otherwise took it easy. During one of the boras, a gust of wind
flipped the dinghy over and the outboard spent some undetermined
amount of time submerged. We don't have an anemometer, so I don't
know how strong the gust was, but we have ridden at anchor in winds
close to forty knots and never had any trouble with the dinghy. We
suspect that perhaps we had the dinghy on too much rode whereas
normally it is in closer to the mothership.
The outboard wouldn't start when we
tried it, and we were literally up the river without a paddle, since
we don't have paddles nor oars for the dinghy. Fortunately, our new
friends Helmut and Monica loaned us their dinghy, so we could bring
our motor to the mechanic who was conveniently located in the ACI
yard. The next day after dropping it off we were up and running with
it again – better than new.
H2OBO was expertly hauled out by a crew
of about a dozen and placed onto the sturdiest and best cradle I have
ever seen. There are eight pads, two at each corner of the stand, so
that when it comes time to apply the anti-fouling (which we can do
ourselves) there won't be any problems coating under the pads. The
yard is well lit and guarded by cameras and a security guard.
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| H2obo anchored in river |
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| Yard, ACI Marina |
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| View from marina |
We spent a few days winterizing the
boat and packing for our extended stay away from our now landed home.
We had rented a car (for approximately 20 euros a day for three
days) from the Dubrovnik airport to drop it off at the Zagreb
airport. My folks live in a little town called Palesnik, which is
about seventy kilometres from Zagreb. The trip from Dubrovnik to
Palesnik is about 700 kms., and there are two routes: one stays
within Croatia and the other crosses through the country of Bosnia
and Hercegovina (B&H). The former is longer since you basically
have to drive around B&H. We chose the latter since we were
promised that it was very scenic but were warned repeatedly about the
rabid and abundant police.
While passing through the town of
Jablanica, stopped at a red light, I turned right; this is a no-no in
B&H, as well as in Croatia. I was immediately pulled over by a
friendly cop who began shaking me down by telling me of the cost and
hassle of a ticket I could avoid by paying him something directly. I
gave him 5 euros and we were on our way again. On the way back to
Dubronvik (I will get to that part of the story) through this same
town, we were pulled over by cops while proceeding down an inclined
part of the hill. Apparently, the speed limit was 40 km. and we were
doing 67; however, both Maggie and I doubt that strongly. The police
had radar and it showed that number but for all we know it ONLY shows
that number. Anyway, after the same shake-down speech, I ended up
giving them 40 kunas (about eight CAD) and we were on our way again –
fuming. Our strategy from now on when getting stopped by the police
in B&H will be to strictly speak English with the police while
pretending not to understand anything they are saying; have only 10
kunas in my wallet; and insist that the police come back to the
police station with us where we can pay the fine and, thereby,
deprive them of their bribe. Maybe if they have to work for the
money, they won't bother with us. I will let you know how that works
because we will be returning to Palesnik again (wait for it....), and
we will likely get a ticket again no matter how hard we try not to.
When foreigners enter Croatia they can
travel on a tourist visa for three months within a six month period;
like the Schengen Treaty rules in the EU. One can request an
extension for up to 6 months, but there are some hoops to jump
through first. One must get a tax number in order to open a bank
account in which there is enough money to support oneself (2000
kunas/ month). After that, you must provide evidence of health
insurance, an invoice to prove that accommodations have been paid
for, passport photos, etc. Most of this happens at the local police
station; both my cousins in Palesnik are policemen and we all thought
that it would be far easier to fill out all this paperwork in their
town. We were wrong. I suppose because no tourists have ever come
to Palesnik and asked to stay for an extra six months, the local
administrators had not a clue how to process us and refused to do so.
We had to come back to Dubrovnik. It was October 9th
when we borrowed my cousin Daniela's car and drove back to Dubrovnik.
Our three month visa expires on Oct 28th, and it is not
certain that the paperwork will be processed in time. In that case,
we would drive back to Palesnik to return the car and then leave
Croatia from Zagreb for three months before we could return again.
What galls me is that we could have done all this while we were
sitting on our hands in Dubrovnik for two months, and the fact that
there seem to be different rules in different parts of the country
that apply to foreigners. Fortunately, B&H is absolutely
beautiful to drive through – despite the police.
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| Mostar brudge |
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| Mostar |
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| Old town, Mostar |
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| Maggie, on the Mostar bridge |
B&H is mountainous and the highway
that we have to travel runs beside a river in a deep gorge between
steep mountains. The people are poor, but the villages are
idyllically set throughout the mountains. It is best to stay away
from the big cities as they have a distinct soviet-era ambiance about
them. This includes Mostar, except for the old historical centre
that contains the famous bridge. The last Balkan war pretty much
levelled the old town, but it is mostly rebuilt and looks
fantastically medieval. Three religions collide in B&H: Islam, Catholicism, and the orthodox church. The drive through the country
takes us through distinct regions in which one of the three
dominates. So as you cross the border into B&H from the coast,
you see catholic churches with some minarets interspersed among them.
As you continue into the heartland, the churches disappear and
mosques predominate. Then as you continue north back toward Croatia
(Croatia is shaped like a comma that is wrapped around B&H), you
enter a region that is pro-Serbia and the churches and mosques have
largely disappeared. There are still tensions among these three
groups and seems that they will not be resolved any time soon.
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| Sophie, in the back seat |
During our brief stay in Palesnik, we
attended the dismemberment of a pig; early morning hikes through the
nearby forest to pick mushrooms and acorns with my cousins Daniela
and Ankica; a party in honour of Croatian Independence day; a trip to
visit nearby thousand year old ruins; another dismemberment – this
time of a lamb that used to live in the back yard; a feast consisting
of the spit-roasted aforementioned lamb; Maggie made a trip to Bosnia
with Daniela and some of her friends to attend the chestnut festival
that was taking place there; and lots of playing with Dora, Domagoj
and Borna, my cousins' kids. It was an action-packed and fun few
days.
That's the plan, at least. We will see
how far we stray from it over the next few months.
Branko
