Envoy is now cruising in the vicinity of our home base, Lefkas Island, Greece.
After Frank and Marie departed we had a week left to cruise south and clear-out of Croatia, and first headed back to Polace at the Mljet National Park. This is a stunning anchorage with great shelter, plenty of room and good facilities ashore, and costs a very reasonable Kn 100 (about NZ$22) per person to anchor for up to a week, including entrance to the park and use of their shuttle bus and ferry.
Ruins of the Roman fortified palace after which “Polace” is named
.JPG)
During the night we had a severe thunderstorm with heavy rain – the first for weeks, and although the wind only came up to 15 knots a nearby charter yacht moored stern-to-shore dragged her anchor, grounded on rocks and had to be assisted off by another yacht.
The system widely used in the Med of anchoring and then securing stern lines to shore is fine for light winds or even for stronger winds on the bow or stern, but when there are strong winds on the beam the windage places considerable force on the anchor compared with a vessel freely swinging bow-to-wind. If anchoring stern-to-shore it’s wise to ensure your anchor is well dug-in, and deploy a long and strong spring line from amidships on the weather side at as wide an angle as possible to the shore.
Cruising next day to Spanska Luka the weather was still unstable and a front overtook us from astern with rain, wind up to 20 knots and a 1.5 metre chop. One of the portholes in our bedroom was closed but not screwed home tight, so we took in some sea water making our bedding quite wet.
At Spanska Luka we had a great dinner ashore with Australians Alan and Gloria, from Adelaide, who own a pilothouse sloop called Nick of Time. Alan is interesting to talk to as a long-time yachtsman having done some Sydney to Hobart races as well as international yacht delivery voyages.
The food in Croatia has been reasonably priced and this excellent dinner with starters, seafood mains and wine came to Kn 250 (about NZ$56) per person.
We had taken Alan and Gloria ashore in our RHIB, leaving it moored outside a taverna. When we jumped into it to return to our boats a man came up to us and said he had a group needing a lift back to their boat, and asked if we were a water taxi. I explained we weren’t but would be happy to come back and ferry them to their boat after dropping off Alan and Gloria. Diane and I duly came back and he invited us into the taverna for a drink, and introduced us to his party of Danish friends. When I asked him where the boat was that he wanted a lift to, he laughed and pointed to a 43 metre charter boat moored alongside the jetty, explaining that he only wanted us to join them for a drink. The Danes sure know how to enjoy themselves and that ended up being a very late night.
The friendly and hospitable Danes were aboard this charter boat, Futura
.JPG)
TECHNICAL – I changed the Lugger engine oil, which is very easy using Envoy’s oil change manifold and inbuilt 12 volt reversing pump to remove the old oil and then pump in the new.
Nothing else to report.
ENVOY LOG as at 28 August 134 days spend aboard and 1,105 miles cruised for 222 engine hours.
After Frank and Marie departed we had a week left to cruise south and clear-out of Croatia, and first headed back to Polace at the Mljet National Park. This is a stunning anchorage with great shelter, plenty of room and good facilities ashore, and costs a very reasonable Kn 100 (about NZ$22) per person to anchor for up to a week, including entrance to the park and use of their shuttle bus and ferry.
Ruins of the Roman fortified palace after which “Polace” is named
.JPG)
During the night we had a severe thunderstorm with heavy rain – the first for weeks, and although the wind only came up to 15 knots a nearby charter yacht moored stern-to-shore dragged her anchor, grounded on rocks and had to be assisted off by another yacht.
The system widely used in the Med of anchoring and then securing stern lines to shore is fine for light winds or even for stronger winds on the bow or stern, but when there are strong winds on the beam the windage places considerable force on the anchor compared with a vessel freely swinging bow-to-wind. If anchoring stern-to-shore it’s wise to ensure your anchor is well dug-in, and deploy a long and strong spring line from amidships on the weather side at as wide an angle as possible to the shore.
Cruising next day to Spanska Luka the weather was still unstable and a front overtook us from astern with rain, wind up to 20 knots and a 1.5 metre chop. One of the portholes in our bedroom was closed but not screwed home tight, so we took in some sea water making our bedding quite wet.
At Spanska Luka we had a great dinner ashore with Australians Alan and Gloria, from Adelaide, who own a pilothouse sloop called Nick of Time. Alan is interesting to talk to as a long-time yachtsman having done some Sydney to Hobart races as well as international yacht delivery voyages.
The food in Croatia has been reasonably priced and this excellent dinner with starters, seafood mains and wine came to Kn 250 (about NZ$56) per person.
We had taken Alan and Gloria ashore in our RHIB, leaving it moored outside a taverna. When we jumped into it to return to our boats a man came up to us and said he had a group needing a lift back to their boat, and asked if we were a water taxi. I explained we weren’t but would be happy to come back and ferry them to their boat after dropping off Alan and Gloria. Diane and I duly came back and he invited us into the taverna for a drink, and introduced us to his party of Danish friends. When I asked him where the boat was that he wanted a lift to, he laughed and pointed to a 43 metre charter boat moored alongside the jetty, explaining that he only wanted us to join them for a drink. The Danes sure know how to enjoy themselves and that ended up being a very late night.
The friendly and hospitable Danes were aboard this charter boat, Futura
.JPG)
TECHNICAL – I changed the Lugger engine oil, which is very easy using Envoy’s oil change manifold and inbuilt 12 volt reversing pump to remove the old oil and then pump in the new.
Nothing else to report.
ENVOY LOG as at 28 August 134 days spend aboard and 1,105 miles cruised for 222 engine hours.
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