After we´ve visted the waterfalls, we sailed to Morinje bay to meet our new French friends Alain and Louisa. In the evening we went for a drink in the local pub, where we met another Frenchman, Maurice. Maurice lives in Croatia and has an olive yard. The next day, he drove us up there to show us around. Besides olive trees, he also has fig and plum trees. I hate dried figs, the ones you normally buy in a supermarket, but these fresh figs were irresistible. I ate about 10 of them. Packed with tomatoes, sweet peppers and a HUGE water melon (from his neighbor), plus a bunch of lavender we returned to the boat. Half the water melon went to Alain and Louisa, no way could we eat it by ourselves.
From Morinje, we went south and ended up in Trogir, where the windlass anchor winch decided to stop working. After a lot of cleaning, checking and furtile running around in Trogir – which is actually a very beautiful town – Alain came to our rescue and drove with his car to Trogir to pick up the motor. He had a problem with his windlass last year and knew a guy who could fix it. Of course, these kind of things always happen before the weekend, so we had to wait till Monday before it could be fixed. It was agreed that on Monday we would be in Rogoznica (up north again), a place more convenient for Alain to return the motor.
Friday night, we stayed in the bay in Vinisce. At about 6 pm, a small motor boat turned up and approached the yachts, collecting money for anchoring. On board was a genuine ‘Helga’, probably a former East block olympic iron ball thrower, demanding 10 kuna per meter. Ten kuna is about 1.50 euro, which makes throwing a hook in that bay as expensive as a night in a regular Dutch marina. Vic didn’t want to pay the money, asked under what authority she collected and then wanted to take a picture of Helga’s badge. She was gone within 10 seconds, so we assume it was a home-made design.
The following morning, we (meaning: Vic) had to pick up the anchor by manual power once again, which made the decision to go to Rogoznica straight away quite easy. Arriving in Rogoznica, it was blowing a hoolie, which made anchoring without the windlass a bit problematic. So, we decided to go on one of the mooring buoys till the wind dropped. When a big thunder storm arrived as well, somebody from the port authorities came to collect the night fees for the mooring buoy. We told him that we were leaving as soon as the storm had passed, but he still wanted 200 kuna. He didn’t speak any Engish, and didn’t want to hear the explanation in Italian either, but started pounding on the deck and cursing the English population and repeatedly shouting the one word of English he knew: the F word. To make a long story short: we finally paid him the 200 kuna (again, ridiculous money for just a mooring buoy), and the next day Vic started writing emails to the director of the port authority about introducing his employees to an aggression control course. Of course, we didn’t get our money back, but at least stayed another night on the buoy without paying.
On Monday afternoon, Alain and Louisa arrived with the motor and it worked! It’s a shame we won’t see them again this season, because we have to leave Croatia before the 14th of September and have to make our way down south.
In the meantime, another problem had introduced itself, Vic started suffering from a bad toothache. The best chance to find a dentist was in Split, so off we went to Split (with the wind on the nose of course). We found one that wasn’t on vacation and he diagnosed two teeth that needed root canal treatment. The last (4th!) appointment (we hope) is tomorrow morning.
To end on a positive note: there’s a Lidl at walking distance, so Eddie can enjoy his favorite daily snack again: the Coshida cat stick!
From Morinje, we went south and ended up in Trogir, where the windlass anchor winch decided to stop working. After a lot of cleaning, checking and furtile running around in Trogir – which is actually a very beautiful town – Alain came to our rescue and drove with his car to Trogir to pick up the motor. He had a problem with his windlass last year and knew a guy who could fix it. Of course, these kind of things always happen before the weekend, so we had to wait till Monday before it could be fixed. It was agreed that on Monday we would be in Rogoznica (up north again), a place more convenient for Alain to return the motor.
Friday night, we stayed in the bay in Vinisce. At about 6 pm, a small motor boat turned up and approached the yachts, collecting money for anchoring. On board was a genuine ‘Helga’, probably a former East block olympic iron ball thrower, demanding 10 kuna per meter. Ten kuna is about 1.50 euro, which makes throwing a hook in that bay as expensive as a night in a regular Dutch marina. Vic didn’t want to pay the money, asked under what authority she collected and then wanted to take a picture of Helga’s badge. She was gone within 10 seconds, so we assume it was a home-made design.
The following morning, we (meaning: Vic) had to pick up the anchor by manual power once again, which made the decision to go to Rogoznica straight away quite easy. Arriving in Rogoznica, it was blowing a hoolie, which made anchoring without the windlass a bit problematic. So, we decided to go on one of the mooring buoys till the wind dropped. When a big thunder storm arrived as well, somebody from the port authorities came to collect the night fees for the mooring buoy. We told him that we were leaving as soon as the storm had passed, but he still wanted 200 kuna. He didn’t speak any Engish, and didn’t want to hear the explanation in Italian either, but started pounding on the deck and cursing the English population and repeatedly shouting the one word of English he knew: the F word. To make a long story short: we finally paid him the 200 kuna (again, ridiculous money for just a mooring buoy), and the next day Vic started writing emails to the director of the port authority about introducing his employees to an aggression control course. Of course, we didn’t get our money back, but at least stayed another night on the buoy without paying.
On Monday afternoon, Alain and Louisa arrived with the motor and it worked! It’s a shame we won’t see them again this season, because we have to leave Croatia before the 14th of September and have to make our way down south.
In the meantime, another problem had introduced itself, Vic started suffering from a bad toothache. The best chance to find a dentist was in Split, so off we went to Split (with the wind on the nose of course). We found one that wasn’t on vacation and he diagnosed two teeth that needed root canal treatment. The last (4th!) appointment (we hope) is tomorrow morning.
To end on a positive note: there’s a Lidl at walking distance, so Eddie can enjoy his favorite daily snack again: the Coshida cat stick!