Author: Dan

TE Croatia Return 2024

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Crossing over from Italy our first stop was Pula in Croatia. Here we met Jane and Carla who would cruise with us down to Zadar. From Pula we took a short cruise over to the Briljuni National Park where Tito maintained his summer home. A beautiful island with a golf course, zoo and some guest accommodations.

With an early start we proceeded south to the cute little town of Osor. We needed to arrive for the 9am draw bridge opening. While we made the bridge opening as Osor, we were not so lucky at Mali. With the bridge closed till 5 pm, we decided to go around the bottom of Losing Island to visit Mali. Mali is one more of the many pleasant ports in the Croatian Islands.

Our next stop was Rab, with time to spare we decided to circumnavigate the island. The west side is boring, but the east side is well protected by the neighboring island of Dolin. ACI has a nice marina in the city, the hilly park being the main attraction here. Continuing south, we took a side trip up the Zavratinca gorge before stopping at Nin for lunch on route to Zadar. Nin is a small island only accessible by tender. Zadar is one of the major cities in Croatia and one of the charter boat capitals with over 500 boats available. Jane and Carla left us here and continued their travel adventure thru Europe. Although we could not watch the US Presidential debate, we did read the disastrous results in the am.

Kristi and Gabrielle joined us in Zadar and cruised with us to Split. First stop was Rogoznica, known primarily for its great marina and promenade around the well protected bay. Stari Grad on the island of Hvar was the next stop. Fell in love with this port and used it a base to explore the island. Hvar city is very well known as it can accommodate cruise ships, but not a place for recreational boaters.

From Stari Grad, we headed back up to Trogir. This is a walled city that we visited several time. Around the corner is Split, another principal city that we underestimated on our first visit. Sadly Kristi and Gabrielle left us in Split. However, a few days later Steve and Tiffany joined us for a cruise down to Dubrovnik.

Leaving Split we stopped at Supetar on the island of Brac, lots of swimming in the relatively warm waters. The lovely walled city of Korcula was our next stop. The city is a great walk around the wall and is ringed with restaurants and gift shops. Here we rented a car and took a nice tour of the island. We even stumbled across the monument to Main Caparin, the pioneer vintner of the Posip wines.

On our way to Dubrovnik we stopped again at Gastro Mare marina and restaurant. Once again a wonderful five course meal and good friendship. From here we were able to tender to Ston, the crazy walled city that’s missing the city.

Dubrovnik is so well known there is not much to say except ‘where did they get all the stones?’ Here we spent our last days with Steve and Tiffany, we are always sad to see our guest leave us but know they will continue their adventure.

It was now late September and the weather was changing to cooler and windier. Two stops in Montenegro at Kotor and Bar and then a long run past Albania to arrive back at Corfu. Here we met with the team and reviewed the works to be carried out over the winter.

By now we had decided to come back to the Adriatic for one more summer. As that would include the west coast of Italy, we decide to go explore this next area before the summer travels ended.

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TE Italy 2024

Arriving from Tanzania, we drove to Monfalcone to get continue on True East. On route we stayed at the wonderful Castello de Roncade, an estate owned by only two families over the last 400 years. Naturally we loaded up on a few cases of wine.

Returning to the boat, we found the yard had done a really excellent job of refinishing the bottom and tuning the props. After a night on the dock we headed for Trieste. While the dockage was less than ideal, we did love the city.

With some extra time on our hands before meeting guests in Venice, we decided to go back down the coast to Slovenia because we loved it so much the first time. We visited Koper for a lunch stop and then on to Portoroz, unremarkable. Next day a short hop to one of our favorite cities, Piran. Dan will never forget the carbonara served here.

Next we headed to Italy, stopping in Grado, very much a resort town with a carousel and lots of beach. On to Punta Faro on the edge of the Marono Lagoon, another resort town. At the Miami boat show we had met the owners of Marina del Cavallino, so stopping at their marina was a must. This great father and son team showed us the area and recommended taking the tender into Burano. This was about a 10 mile ride thru the Venetian lagoon to this colorfully little island town. Lunch at Riva Rosa was wonderfully classical Italian…Mamma Mia!

On to Venice where we stayed on the east end of the Island and enjoyed walking the city and visiting the Biennale Art festival. Our Barcelona friends Oriol and Eric joined us in Venice for a long weekend trip to Rimini, poor Tomas forgot to set his alarm clock. Along the way, we stopped for a night at Chioggia the southern flood barriers is located, a massive structure. We were surprised to find offshore oil rigs off the coast here, now abandoned and being dismantled. Lots of swims, good food and wine along this leg of the cruise. What a wonderful surprise to see not one but two flocks of flamingoes flying towards Venice!

After dropping off Oriol and Eric, Marcia managed to find another mini golf. Rimini turned out to be a fun walking city with the river running thru. From there, we had an amazingly calm crossing back to Croatia landing in Pula.

TE Croatia North, Slovenia and Italy 2024

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We finished up in Zagreb and were able to meet Robert and Jason there and we all drove back to the boat outside the industrial cit of Rijeka. Along the route we stopped at the Griffin winery, had lunch and stocked up. After a night on the boat, we headed off to Krk island, we are still trying to pronoun that.

Dan grilled chicken wings on the boat and after getting smoked out put on a snorkel, soon followed by a swim. On to the cute little down of Osor with it’s draw bridge that opens twice a day. Another 50 miles or so takes us to Pula, Croatia back on the mainland. Pula has one of the largest Roman amphitheaters, now used as a performance center. Robert and Jason left us here in Pulja after a great visit.

North Croatia is really out of the typical charter boat cruising grounds so once we passed Pula we saw very few boats other than locals. The marina operators up here were surprised to see a visiting boat, forget an American motorboat. A short hop away we stayed at the Brijuni National Park, Tito’s former summer residence. We rented a golf cart and toured the island with its hotel and huge guest houses, golf course and zoo. The following day we circumnavigated the island and continued on to Rovinj with its monumental clock tower. The old city sits on a promontory with limestone rocks carved with steps and paths for bathers. After spending well over an hour trying to locate the harbormasters office we gave up and ended up staying for free….gotta love that price!

Our last stop in Croatia was Porec, a popular resort city with the adjacent small island of Svelte Nikola its with many upscale resorts. Here we checked out of Croatia as our next stop would be in Slovenia.

On the way to Piran, we tucked into the fortress city of Novigrad and fueled up. Piran, Slovenia is beautiful with its fortress high on hilltop, quite a hike. We liked everything about the city and were sorry we only stayed a day and planned another visit on the way back south. We were now getting close to the end of the first half of the boating summer as we would arrive at Marina Lepanto in Monfalcone, about half way between Trieste and Venice.

Our plan was to leave the boat boat here from 15 July to 24 August during the height of the European vacation season and the hottest weather. While the boat was there we arranged to have the bottom sanded smooth and painted and to have the props removed and sent out to be tuned. True East had gotten a little sluggish.

It was now off to a road trip through Slovenia and northern Italy before we head off to Zanzibar and Tanzania.

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TE Croatia Middle 2024

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Our Barcelona friend Anna and Marcia’s sister in law Cheryl joined us in Trogir for the journey up to Zadar. Leaving Trojir we headed for Skradin where we would visit the magical Krka National Park with its multitude of waterfalls, lakes and wooden boardwalks. On the way up the river we passed oyster and mussel farms and stopped at a cute floating ‘farm stand’ for fresh oysters and mussels.

Next stop was a marina in the Kornati National Park on Murter with swim stops along the way….the water was warming and now in the mid 70’s. On to Otok Zut where we stayed in the ACI Marina. ACI has several dozen marinas in Croatia and this was not one of their best. We then headed around the north end of Kornat, about 15 miles long and run south on the east side. The southern end, including a number of small island on its eastern side form the Kornati National Park. Swim, snorkel, anchor up, drink wine, etc.

Traveling up the west side of Dugi we spent the night at Veil Rat before heading into Zadar with a lunch stop anchored up on the west side of Ugljan Island. After a day exploring the city with its magical water organ powered by waves, Anna and Cheryl departed. We had ordered a water pump in Trogir that had not arrive when we left, so we doubled back to get our backup pump installed, then headed back to Zadar.

Headed North again, it was a 54 nautical mile run to the walled city of Rab with its great fortress. It was then on to Rijeka or so we thought. This is the fourth largest city with a population of about 100,000 and the waterfront is totally industrial. We decided to go to the neighboring smaller city of Opatija with its ACI marina. Arriving about 5 pm, we were assigned a space with a shore power plug we had never seen before with 5 pins instead of 3. As we planned to leave the boat for another road trip, we needed an adapter. At 10 pm an electrician showed up and made us a custom adapter, things we love.

On the road again with our first stop at the Pitvice Lakes National Park…many of these parks were created by Tito and are spread throughout the country, many with campground or inexpensive lodging. This was another park with magnificent waterfalls and a great boardwalk around the park. Continuing on to Zagreb we crossed the fertile plains of Croatia that are mostly agriculture.

What fascinated us most about Zagreb was its Museums, of Broken Relationship, of Illusion, of Hangovers, etc. Palaces, old world charm, great food and the wines! Time to get back to the boat.

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TE Croatia South 2024

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At Port Montenegro we cleared customs and headed up the 45 nautical miles to Dubrovnik, Croatia where we would clear into the EU and Schengen. We passed by the city and headed around the point to the Frapa Marine on the back side of the city. We were directed to first go to the customs dock, a pretty rough jetty. On entering the office Dan was immediately charged with crime of passing between the island and the city, despite there being no signs or indications on the charts. $200 later he starting the process..go to the harbormaster a few blocks away, get papers then go to port police on the other side of the building up the stairs and give up papers, then go to customs on the other side of the building and get new papers and then you can go to the marina that is on the other side of the same building.

The old city of Dubrovnik is a short bus ride, or for Marcia an long walk. This is a wonderfully restored or maintained, hard to tell, walled city straight out of Game of Thrones. It has now become one of the most crowded cities in Europe; however, it is still delightful.

Our friend Lisa joined us here for the cruise north to Split. Our first stop was at Sipanska on the island of Otok where we anchored up for lunch and a swim. On to Gastro Mare in Broce where we had a wonderful meal prepared by a renowned chef Ante Bjelancic who is also great fun. The service was interrupted by Lisa getting locked in the shower…longer story.

The next day was 25 mile run along the island of Mijet that is mostly a National Park with crystal clear waters and hiking trails. On to the charming walled city of Korcula on the island of same name. This is little Dubrovnik without the wall to wall crowds. Once again very nice docking facilities Med moor styled. Throughout these island there are thousands of miles of stone wall most of which must have been built in ancient times.

From there it was a 70 mile run to the Lav Marine in Podstrana a cab ride away from Split. Lisa departed to continue her adventures and we rented a car for another of our road trips. We headed back south down the coast to have some famous Moli Stan oysters and visit the walled city of Ston. Unlike most walled cities that all full to the brim, this is mostly walls with a single fortress on the mountain top. On the lovely city of Mostar in Bosnia with its famous bridge. While the city was heavily destroyed in the civil war, it has been beautifully restored.

Continuing up thru the mountains of Bosnia, we reach the capital of Sarajevo. After spending a few hours wandering around, we decided it was time to move on, not much of interest here. Next stop was Travnik, a charming smaller city up in the mountains with its great fortress. It was then back to Split where we spent some time exploring the city before returning to the boat.

We had a few days before our next guest would arrive so we headed over to the island of Solta on the north end at the village of Maslinica and spend a night. It was a double back but we decided to visit the island of Hvar and docked a Vrboska. We had heard about Stari Grad on the same island but the guides discouraged us from docking there, so we took a cab over. We really like Stari and planned to return there on our way back.

We next headed to Trojir where we hoped to get a couple of boat issues resolved and were very fortunate to find a good shop at the marina. We also found a delightful city that is closer to the Split airport than Split.

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TE Albania and Montenegro 2024

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We spent about five days in Corfu getting the boat ready and provisioned for the summer season. Clearing customs out of Greece turned into a major operation, but our agent handled it well. Our first stop leaving Greece was the port of Orikum in Albania, the countries only port with a marina. It’s a small marina and out of town. The agent there was a little more difficult, but we got it done.

Our first guest were Jess and Sam Osborne who we first met in the Northwest. They joined us in Orikum and helped with staightening out a number of boat issues, thank you again. Moving on we stopped at the dreaded Durres….we knew this from having visited on our road trip. Albania is filled with hopes and promises…and promises. The coast is really not hospitable to boaters as there are no island or coves, mostly an exposed rocking cliff coast.

On to Montenegro where we cleared in a Bar, again a confusing process the first time around. The city has a wonderful promenade the length of the beach with bars and cafes, much more relaxed than most Med beaches. The Orthodox church is magnificent…look at the pictures.

Next stop was Port Montenegro with its large, modern and efficient marina. Jess and I were able to get a couple of boat issues addressed and still had plenty of the time to enjoy the city of Trivet and its sister city of Kotor. After Jess and Sam left us, we rented a car and took a road trip thru Montenegro and Kosavo, both parts of the former Yugoslavia.

First stop was the charming ancient city of Budva with its fortress and fine waterfront promonade. From there we headed up into the mountains and stopped at Podgorica and then crossing the boarder into Kosavo we spent the night in Pec…not a place we would recommend. On to the capital, Pristina where we were welcomed with open arms as Americas. The US was the first country to recognize the newly independent Kosavo and Bill Clinton is regarded as their savior. The city has one of most interesting library building we have ever seen, we got only a limited view of the interior. Interesting conversations about Kosavo’s vs Albanian’s…Kosavo’s would say we do it and the Albanian’ dream about it.

We decided to go further up in the mountains and stubbled across the Grand Hotel Belushi..a brand new reproduction of a turn of the last center Grand Hotel. Turns out some brothers made money and decided to do this because they could. First hotel we have seen with a ‘salt cave’, and one of the most remote hotels of its size. Our last stop was the Ostrog Monetary that was dug into the side of a mountain. Marcia made the several mile hike up, Dan used the old man routine and managed a pass to drive up. The drive was then back through the mountains with a stop at the delightful city of Kotor.

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From Epidauros we headed for the Corinthian canal arriving about 10 am to process our paperwork and pay the fee. Within the hour we were underway for a passage thru this amazing cut traveling with a couple of other boats.

The Gulf of Corinth is not very interesting so we decided to take advantage of the calm seas and push the 120 miles out to Missolonghi so we would be positioned to make the run to the island of Zakinthos were we planned to meet Luke and Veronica. Missolonghi turned out to look more like the intercoastal than Greece with its long docks and fishing shacks.

With Luke and Veronica on board had a chance to catch up on their activities since we last saw them in Oslo. Next stop was Ithaca with some great swimming along the way. From there we headed to Lefkada where Luke and Veronica left us and headed to Paris. With about a week before we were scheduled to meet the Nobles in Lefkada, we decided to head back down to the Island of Kefalonia.

Our first stop was Agia Effimia with its crystal clear waters. We then moved the boat down to Sami then rented a car to tour the island. Lots of mountain roads, goats, terraced hillsides, beaches and quaint seaside villages. Moving up north again, we stopped in Syvota on the south end of Lefkada where once again we were in a majority sailboat harbor. Back to the marina at Lefkada where we joined up with Charles and Melorie Noble.

After an overnight at Preveza on the mainland, we head up to Paxos, about a forty mile run. Paxos turned out to be one of our favorite islands where we spend three days in three different harbors. The north side of the island is very steep rock cliffs with many caves at water level. Dan managed to back the boat all the way into one of the caves. Leaving Paxos we head for Corfu with a last swim stop along the way for the Nobles.

At Corfu we stayed in the marina at the Fortress. From the marina one is required to pass thru this enormous fortress to get to the charming town of Corfu. With our last guest departing and having arrived at True East’s winter home, we still had ten days before our departure from Greece. We moved the boat over to Gouvia Marina, then rented a car to tour the island of Corfu for a couple of days.

Returning to Gouvia, we met with our Greek friend Costis and Ilias who will oversee the works on the boat over the winter. Having gone over the list, we decided to give Ilias time to get some of his team together to ponder our requests. So it was off again, this time to visit the northern and western most Greek Islands. Both we small and primarily owned by Americans of Greek decent. A great many Greeks migrated to America after WWII . Back at the marina, we met again with Ilias and team and put the boat to bed for the winter.

We returned to Athens and headed over to Glyfada where True East has be on the hard for five weeks. Back on the water we were joined by our friends from Coconut Grove, Wes and Alexis.

After a forty mile run, we arrived at Poros that would be our base for the next week or so. We explored the island by land and by water and found it to be one of our favorite islands. Nearby is the island of Hyda where no motorized vehicles are allowed and the harbor is a zoo. Taking the ferry over turned out to be the right way to go. With Wes and Alexis we had a memorable cliffside lunch.

From Poros we went around to Porto Cheli that has a ferry connection to Athens. Wes and Alexis left us here, a few days later Carla and Jane joined us. From Port Help we headed to Ermioni with a stop at Spetses Island. It was then back to Poros where Carla and Jane departed back to Athens. From Poros, the four of us took a road trip around the Pelopennese with an overnight in Nafpilion with its fantastic fortress. From there we visited the ruins at Mycenae and then to the Corinthian Canal for a view of our future passage thru this wonder.

Back to Poros where Kristi and Gigi joined us for what turned out to be an adventure. Given the winds we were experiencing, Dan decided it would be better to go around the Pelopenneses rather than going back up north thru the canal. The plan was to head across the Argolic Gulf with a following sea and run 100 miles down to the south eastern tip at Neapolis. Well it was a following sea; however, it built to 6-8 footers that we were running at 25 knots…an unpleasant couple of hours. Rounding the tip, Dan anticipated we were be in the lee and out of the wind; instead the wind can roaring down the side of the mountain with 40-50 mile and hour gusts blowing out our sun shade.

We did find shelter in Egina and took the ferry over to the delightful island of Kythira and the special stop of Aviemonas. It turns out there were no airports on the Pelopennese; however, there was one on Kythira so Gigi and Kristi left us there. Having decided that going around the Pelopennese was a bad idea, Dan plotted a course back up north to Epidavros, 150 miles away. Off we went on a calm day making a fuel stop at Poros and arriving mid afternoon. This would be our jumping off point for passage thru the Corinthian Canal.

The process of clearing out of Turkey was easy, entering Greece was another matter. A cruising permit is required for foreign boats in Greece, Dan had registered on line and paid the 1,500 euros by bank transfer; however, he got locked out of the website when trying to get the completed document. He explained this to his ‘agent’ and provided copies of the application and the bank transfer. Greek customs refused the documents because there was no date on the copy of the bank transfer despite the fact that the application was dated and the numbers all matched. Finally it was resolved.

We rented a car on Lesvos and enjoyed an island tour for a couple of day. Lesvos is known for it’s olives and has a very nice Olive museum. We visited a family run olive oil processing plant, their specialty is an oil where they mix whole lemons into the olive paste. On returning to the boat, we discovered an engine problem. Amazingly, within hours we had a mechanic on board and at 6:30pm he removed a turbo and had it on a boat to Athens the next morning. Instead of hanging around, we took a ferry to Chios and again rented a car. We managed to track down Judge Jasons ancestral home and the house they are renovation. Chios is known as the ‘tears of Mastic’ as Mastic is the main crop on the island as we learned in the wonderful Mastic Museum. There are several wonderful cities on the island, one medical and another covered with amazing patterns. In the ten days we waited for the boat repair, we visited several more islands and came to rate them by the gear we used most on each island.

Back underway again, we headed south with a stops in Chios and Ikaria. Then on to Samos where we again toured the island before we were joined by the Jennifer and Mark Evans. Typical of this summer, they were originally scheduled to join us in Kos but we never got that far south in Greece; however, we did get to have dinner with the Boltons who were passing thru on the sailing ship Sea Cloud II. With the Evans, we returned to Ikaria and again drove over the mountain to our first port of call there.

Taking advantage of break in the Meltemi winds, we did a hundred mile run to Antiparos. Here we would greeted by Costis Hadjioannou, a Greek national who happen to own the only other Sabre yacht in Europe. He became our ‘Greek God’ who had boundless resources to aid us, including the only space of the dock in Antiparos. Next stop was Naxos, where we spent four days. The remote control for raising and lower the tender was not working, so we were forced to use of the boats next to us to get on and off the dock. We dropped off the Evans, who were visiting friends on the island, then we got the boat ready for our next guests. As there are no facilities for recreation boats on Santorini, the ferry was the best option for visiting this beautiful but crowded tourist island. On Santorini we met up with Cheryl, Mike and Ed Kisielnicki and spent the night.

We all took the ferry back to Naxos only to discover that the passarelle on the boat we were using to get on and off our boat was broken. A few hours later we had a welder show up to fix the break….it was that kind of summer. From Naxos we headed up to Kythnos, one of the lesser-known and least explored of the Cyclades isles. In many ways it reminded us of Chefchaouen, the blue city, in Morocco. From there is was into Athens, with a last swim along the way, where we left the boat from mid July to late August. We did this to avoid the extreme heat and crowds in ports as every charter boat in Europe is out cruising. We were also ready to be out of the winds in this part of the Aegean.

We booked a hotel in Athens near the Acropolis and did all of the normal site seeing things. The new Acropolis Museum is terrific and should be visited prior to going to the actual ruins.

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