Overnight there was an incredible thunderstorm. We lay awake, listening to the large hailstones beating down on the deck, listening to the thunder and the lightning all around. One particular lightning came with an enormous crack, like an explosion, and we surmised it was directly overhead. By the morning, there were again the usual clear blue skies, and we decided to make for Cres as we had planned. However, when we came to fire up the instruments and computer for navigation, the computer was not receiving a positional 'fix' from the GPS. The Navtex, SSB radio and VHF radio all pick up the position from the GPS, which is on the Raytheon Seatalk network, and only the VHF was showing a position. To investigate, we had to take out the instrumentation panels and the chart table console on which is mounted the plotter and instrumentation. Slowly it transpired that the Seatalk NMEA interface was working ok, but the Furuno Navtex had blown a fuse in the negative earth supply feed as well as the NMEA input to its display. The computer serial interface was also inoperative, but when these two were disconnected, the SSB and VHF picked up the position (for DSC) ok. The AIS engine feeds the computer via a separate USB serial interface, and has provision for NMEA input. We found this worked when connected up, but only the NMEA position sentence was passed on. Hooking up the desktop computer to the interface finally proved that the Seatalk interface was ok, but that the laptop computer interface was blown. At the end of the day, we considered ourselves lucky to sustain so little damage, but the investigations took up most of the day.
Overnight, I had realised that if we used the AIS serial interface to pick up the NMEA data, we might be able to have full navigational functionality albeit without the AIS facility. Re-routing the cable soon enabled this to be done, and after the usual fiddling about, the system worked. There was a light northerly wind, and we were making for Otok Premuda , but by lunchtime the wind was going into the west, making the shelter there questionnable. We anchored for lunch in U. Parzine, on Otok Ilovik, a small island south of O. Lubinj. Afterwards, we decided to make for the east side of Otok Silba, which would provide us with some shelter from a westerly wind. We anchored off the small harbour, rather than attempt to go in.
In the morning, we decided to launch the dinghy and run ashore. My ankle was still not very useful, but it seemed unfair that Mo should be confined to the boat because of it. There were also one or two items, particularly drinking water, that would come in handy. We went ashore, and I staggered to the nearby bar, while Mo went off exploring. There are no roads, and signposting to the 'shop' Mo found confusing. There were paths leading off in amongst the trees. She found a market stall selling vegetables and bought a melon and some fresh beans, then returned to find me in the bar and enjoy a glass of wine. I had not disclosed my thirst for some recharge cards for the mobile network (Vipme), so off she went again to find the shop, while I took the melon back to the boat and cut it up in portion sized chunks for the fridge.
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We swam, then set about recovering the kedge and then the main anchor. We had a leisurely sail, and planned to anchor close under the north western corner in Zaljev Pantera. We found that the entire bay had been populated by moorings, and all the other boats had picked one up. We just found some room to anchor inside them, and did so. We enjoyed lunch and a swim, bu as more and more boats were coming in, someone was bound to come out and 'harvest' mooring fees from the assembled fleet. (In fairness, this is noted in the pilot guide!) Accordingly, we picked up the anchor, and sailed back to the entrance of the bay, then around towards Soline. Tucked in at the west end of the bay was a sheltered corner, Uvula Lucica, with a handful of local boats anchored. According to the chart there was a wreck at the head of the bay, so room was a bit limited, but we found a spot with 8m in which we anchored.
We decided to stay put, as we were in a pleasant and sheltered corner. We decided to get on with some jobs preparatory to leaving the boat for a few days. The bikes were still in their bags on the foredeck from Peter and Debbie's visit, and we were not sure how they had fared. So we unpacked them one at a time in the cockpit, and were agreeably surprised. However, before putting them away, I decided to clean them and oil them, particularly the cables, to try to preserve the benefits of our significant investment in overhauling them in Cagliari. While I was at it, the rust got a treatment with Jenolite and the handlebars spruced up with some Hammerite. Meanwhile Mo cleared the aft cabin ready to receive the bikes once they had been processed.
Before we set off, I swam across to the wreck at the head of the bay in which we were anchored. A mast was the only thing visible from a distance, so it was spooky to encounter the end of a fallen spar sticking out not far under the surface, but well short of the visible mast. The wreck was perhaps 50m long, and a hazard to any boat that might approach it. There was a light westerly wind as we set off around the northern end of Dugi Otok, crossing between the islands to enter the Zadarski Kanal, when we could turn south east for Sukosan. Once more, we anchored south of the marina, but as close as we dared in order to take advantage of the wifi.
We spent the day tidying and packing. In the evening we took the dinghy ashore. We needed some water, but a change of scene was also indicated. I managed to stagger from the dinghy to a bar, where I sat enjoying a beer while Mo went off to the supermarket. It was pleasant sitting there, people-watching. Children were practicing net ball, and others were making their way from work. I managed a diversion down the narrow back lanes to the church, on the way back to the dinghy.
We left the anchorage and entered the marina after lunch. We finalised our packing and went around the boat trying to get it safe to leave. One of Mo's concerns had been the freezer: we had eaten as much as we could but there remained enough to have to leave it running. Dennis picked us up at 1830, and fifteen minutes later we were at Zadar airport for our flight. The compact airport was no problem to my leg, but the trek from the aircraft gate at Stansted to the pick up point outside, where we met Peter, was quite a different story.
The purpose of the trip back to the UK, originally planned for one week, was to attend a surprise 60th birthday party on the 20th. My (John's) leg had improved slightly after the family's departure, sufficiently to allow the 12 days exploration described above. However, the offending leg now became rather more painful, aggravated by the journey home. I had scheduled a routine appointment with the doctor, so was able to use this to discuss the problem, and was prescribed antibiotics. When these did not work, the possibility of a thrombosis was investigated, and when this was negative, a short hospital stay was muted. In the event, it was 6 days (on intravenous antibiotics) before the leg improved sufficiently for doctors to allow me out of hospital, albeit on vast doses of oral antibiotic. It was clearly not going to be an instant solution, and it was the 25th before I got back to Fuga. Mo remained in the UK as it was now close to the expected birth of a grandchild, and her presence to look after Ella, her granddaughter, was going to be helpful.
When it became apparent we would not return to Fuga as originally planned, I got in touch with the marina to investigate more economical berthing. The daily rate on shore was the same as in the water, so that there was no advantage. No monthly rate or discount was available. We were put in touch with Kreso Lovrinov of Nautika Zadar, who undertook to check Fuga for us. One one occasion he found the battery charger reset, so that the freezer had run the batteries down in spite of the solar panels, with the result that he had to arrange for the freezer to be emptied of its remaining food, and cleaned out.