Hvar to Trogir

Last Branko left off, we were storming some fort in Hvar town,  this is after having walked from our anchorage on the north side of the island, through hot sun, paved roads, traffic and not a cafe in sight...no wonder we decided to forgo the 'event.'    And, as we walked into town,  we noticed a nice trail that wound its way to the 'fort' from the town side, with flowers, benches and drink sellers - now if we would have gone that way for sure the fort would be ours now.  

Hailstorm

Alas no pictures of scenic Hvar town, nor said fort. Hvar is a pretty town,  with beautiful views to the little islands we had just come from (see previous post.)  

We shopped for food and took the campground bus back to our boat.   The bonus of where we stayed is that the campground across the bay had showers (for free and hot and clean), washing machines (Yea!), little cafe, beach and boat launch area, oh and a bus that (for a fee) went back and forth to Hvar.

The following day we ended up having to stay put on the boat,  due to weather - hail in particular,  and lots of it.   But being Branko,  he made snowcones out of hail 8-)

Hailcone or hailball anyone?

Refreshing!

We left Hvar the next day,  and sailed 10 or so nautical miles across to the island of Brac.  The sail was brisk and lovely - we had only the head sail out and were moving at 6 knots, but it was cold.








  Because of the wind direction, we decided to stay overnight in a little bay off the town of Bobovisce.   We took the dinghy into town and had a walkabout - we needed bread so the owner of the market came over and opened her store so we could make some purchases.   We are still in the 'off season' so things are not too busy and stores are not always open on the little islands.

Look Sun, and me!  Bobovisce, Brac

Bobovisce harbour

The day before yesterday we set sail for Trogir on the mainland.   Again the sail was excellent,  full main and genoa we averaged 7 knots, and before we knew it we were anchored just outside the town.    Trogir stands on the Greek foundations of Tragurion, but civilization has inhabited this area since the stone age.   The Venetians took over Trogir in 1420 and the city stayed under their rule until 1797.   Trogir is a UNESCO site, so ya all know the 'old city' has been refurbished and looks wonderful - it has a different feel from the other coastal towns we have visited, feels more,  well, Venetian perhaps?

Trogir harbour

Clock tower,  Trogir

Trogir

Martello tower, Trogir

UNESCO entrance, Trogir

Little pup with bone - Trogir

Branko is working on the boat today,  figuring out the watermaker problem.  Its been raining,  again,  so its a good day for boat chores - plus we want to visit Split (just a bus ride away from Trojir) for pleasure and possibly for boat repair parts on the next sunny day, or at least semi-cloudy/rainy day.

Mag

How to Defend a Fortress

After another semi-restful night here in Luka Vira on the island of Hvar, our resolve to storm the Napoleonic fortress in Hvar was firm.  The anchorage here isn't great because it is deep and not a lot of swinging room, so we tied our stern to shore and put our anchor out ahead of us - with some difficulty.  We had set up for southeast winds during the day but were expecting north winds - on the nose and pushing onto shore - overnight.

Stern tied to shore, Hvar

Anchored stern to shore, Hvar

The boat lies only about 50 or 60 feet from a rocky shore, so if the anchor let loose there wouldn't be much time to react.  It was another night of anchor watch.  It all turned out to be fine at around 1 a.m., and we got some sleep.

Morning came and our objective was the fortress. Armed with comfy shoes, hats, suntan lotion, some money, sunglasses, our Android tablet and other sundry gear, we marched the 5 km. across the island to the fortress that overlooks the town of Hvar.  The walls encircling the town and which are part of the fortress have stood in one form or another for over 7 centuries, but as it turned out they were completely unnecessary.

When Maggie and I arrived at the foot of the walls, we realized we had forgotten our camera: now there would be no photographic evidence of a successful siege.  When we approached the gates and read that there is a $5 fee to enter, well, we refused to enter.  What was the point if we didn't have a camera to take scenic pictures?  There was also a pictogram forbidding anyone from climbing on the wall.  So we trudged off toward town, defeated.  Nobody had cameras back in the day when wars were fought over this patch of island, so all they had to do was charge a fee to enter, and the problem of sieges is solved.

Fortunately, the town is gorgeous which took the sting out of defeat.  Sorry, no pictures.

Branko

A Rough Night

For those of you who think our water hobo life is all sunshine and fun adventures, let me set you straight.  There is a price to pay: things break, plans go awry, and nature doesn't always co-operate.  Take last night for example.

It was our second night there, the first had been without incident.  But yesterday afternoon, a current appeared in the channel where we were anchored, probably due to the east winds blowing water towards Hvar Island through the channel.  The north winds were blowing against the current, so at anchor the forces on the boat are working against each other.  The wind blows the boat against the current, and the current pushes the boat upwind.  The hydraulic force of water will act differently on each different hull design, which means that each boat in the anchorage will lie somewhat differently in the same conditions; whereas normally, without current, they would all lie downwind at the end of the anchor chain all facing upwind.  H2OBO chose to lie beam to the wind and the other beam to the current and sail in circles around the anchor.  As a result, we re-anchored half a dozen times yesterday to get our spacing right and to get good holding on the gravel bottom (sand of course being the best).

Satisfied with our efforts, we watched a movie and went to sleep.  Around midnight, with my hobo senses tingling, I awoke to find that we had dragged our anchor when the wind swung around and intensified.  The overcast sky blocked the moonlight, so the anchorage was very dark as we weighed anchor and dropped it again.  Fortunately, there were fewer boats there after an exodus cleared the anchorage - likely due to the forecast for poor weather; otherwise, maneuvering in the dark would have been tricky.  Luckily, the anchor bit into a patch of gravel and weeds and held tight for the rest of the night, but, of course, you only know that after you have been up all night watching your position relative to shore and other boats drag and re-anchor.

With daylight, we picked up our anchor and moved to another spot that offers a sandy bottom and shelter from the winds that is just around the point from where we were.  We ask ourselves why we didn't think of that yesterday and save ourselves that rough night, but we don't come up with a good answer.

Branko