Between the 23rd to 30th September a number of us flew to Pula, Croatia, for a week’s yacht charter. Some of us flew out on the Wednesday before to explore the delights and history of Pula, which included many Roman monuments and buildings, the most significant being the Amphitheatre.
Of those who did arrive early, included our intrepid explorers and motor caravaners, Catherine and Jeremy who took time driving all the way down (and back again…) taking in some spectacular sights and places en route.
In all we had a total of 27 take part from the Club, including a contingent from Ashdown Sailing Club, with four monohulls and one catamaran, all chartered out of Pomer marina, a short distance from Pula.
The week could simply be put as lots of sun, sea, sandy beaches and bays… and, oh yes, lots of wind.
In fact from day one on the Sunday we were in the grips of a north-easterly Bora channelling down between the mainland and the islands out to the east. Our original plan was to go exploring these islands, but like so often we had to change this on the day. Interestingly, the Bora, which is a katabatic cold wind descending down from the mountains to north, often blows on about a five day cycle, which according to various wind prediction models was the case. Therefore, we were hoping for the wind to ease as the week passed, which it did. There was also reported 3m to 4m waves from the NE, which even if we did try to cross to the islands would make for some very unpleasant sailing conditions… after all we were in Croatia to enjoy ourselves and not make it a survival lesson.
As we came out of the Pomer Bay we turned right instead of left to travel up the western coast of Croatia, which offered better protection against the wind and calmer seas. Mind you we still saw F7 gusting F8 winds for most of the early part of the week, meaning the boats were generally deeply reefed. However, with the calmer sea we still had some enjoyable sailing.
The Sunday night saw the boats moored up on buoys in Uvala Soline, a lovely quiet bay just south of Pula. Amazingly most of us managed to crowd on Jane Fowler’s boat for drinks and nibbles in the evening.
The next day was a longer passage up to Futana where most of us managed to get into the marina. This passage included passing the Brijuni Island and Nation Park, the one-time holiday home of the former President Tito, but at some 200 Euros just to stop even for the day, this was certainly not on the agenda.
Unfortunately, when we got to Futana there was no room for the catamaran which moored off nearby in the bay. The marina was reasonably priced at 60 Euro for the 47ft yacht I chartered, with very good, clean facilities. After some supper ashore, the Commodore’s “flag ship” hosted the Black and White theme night for yet more drinking and music.
Given that the winds were predicted to ease on Tuesday meant that we could travel south back down the coast in the hope of getting across to one of the islands. We looked into Uvala Paltana for an overnight stop but this was quite a busy bay and a little industrial for us, so given that Uvala Soline was so nice and just up the coast we stayed for a quiet overnight on a buoy.
The following day we decided it was still not advisable to cross over to where we wanted to get to so elected for a passage back round the southern tip of the mainland and call in and stay the night in the bay off Medulin. Some of the boats managed to get a berth in the marina at somewhat a more costly stay than the Futana marina, but unfortunately with poorer facilities.
Thursday saw the wind easing as predicted which allowed us to make our way across to Unije island. This was an approximately 25Nm passage under very pleasant wind and sea conditions (at last). Our stop for the night was in Uvala Maracol, a really beautiful inlet on the east side of the island where we all took a buoy and figured out the double stern line system which kept our boats very stable for the night.
OxtedOffshore (and others) moored up in Maracol inlet on Unije
I’m afraid to say that we did ruin the quiet of the bay, at least between 6pm and 8pm when the crew of the catamaran hoisted the Mamma Mia night. Much dancing (to Abba tracks, of course…) and drinking ensued to make this a spectacular end to our week. I’m not sure what the other boats moored up thought of our antics but we enjoyed ourselves, and sensibly stopped just after nightfall to hand the bay back to some peace and calm.
Mamma Mia!
Friday meant we had to get back to Pomer to end the charter. The passage back was a complete contrast to the beginning of the week and at one point meant we had to get the donkey going to make some headway. Once safely back, we had a pleasant end-of-rally meal at the marina restaurant.