After a frantic couple of days, I was ready to receive Mo back home on board Fuga. It had taken some extensive cleaning, tidying, washing and shopping to get to the right degree of preparedness. I had even cycled to Lidl for another (bottle of whisky) and other essential stores. A last minute panic, when Harry's infection recurred, fortunately did not cause any further change of plan, and it was a relief to hear that Mo had checked in and was going to be on the flight. I met Mo from the taxi, and we were soon in the excellent restaurant in Sukosan for a celebration meal, this time Grouper as recommended by our waitress.
We had had a settling in day the previous day, Sunday 23rd. We had a holding tank overflow situation, so went out into deep water to try to resolve it, and returned via the fuelling berth where we refuelled and filled up our water tanks (free, incidentally). It was late in the day on Monday when we finally left Sukosan. I had been trying to finish off essential internet activity before parting company with our freely available if tenuous facility. The wind was light, south easterly, so we had to tack. This eventually became too tedious, so we gave up and motor-sailed the remainder of the way. We anchored in the same spot off Pirovac that I had used two weeks before, and enjoyed a spectacular sunset, toasting Harry with the champagne Steve and Nicole had given us.
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We went ashore in the morning to pick up some fresh fruit and bread, before setting off. We enjoyed the sail up the Pirovacki Zaljev and were just able to fetch out of the channel between Arta M and Radelj. After that we continued to tack up towards the SE, until we decided to give it a bit of a bash with the engine on to get up wind. The water became a little rough, but as we made the shelter under the offlying islands the seas flattened, and we were able to turn the donk off. We could now just about fetch our course to the waypoint off Tijat, after which the going would be easy. After this we were easily able to make the entrance off Sibenik, where we took our sails down to motor up river. However, once off Sibenik, we were able to set the jib again, and so sail slowly up river until the final turn before entering the Prokljansko Jezero, the big lake just below Skradin. We anchored opposite Skradin just before dark.
The weather overnight was wet and possibly windy, although we were well sheltered. We decided against a visit to the falls in the wet, and we spent the morning looking at photos on the computer. In the afternoon, we launched the dinghy, and went ashore for a walk. We found our way inland up the hill to the church, and then to the fort (14/15th century) overlooking Skradin itself. Back at sea level, we made our way to the bar within the marina area, and enjoyed a drink overlooking the basin. The following night it rained again, but appeared to be brighter in the morning.
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We caught the (free) 1100 ferry to the National Park (admission 80 Kuna). We thoroughly enjoyed our day seeing the falls, and exploring the areas above the falls where there are extensive boardwalks enabling you to get to vantage points and observe the flora and fauna. Perhaps the most interesting aspects were the industrial archaeology. We saw remnants of the first operational hydroelectric turbine, commissioned in 1885, and a working mill wheel grinding corn. We decided that the excursions on the lake (to see the Franciscan monastry at Visovac) and up river were a step too far. We found the lake and boat moorings, but you would need to go early and concentrate on these (price 70 Kuna and 100 Kuna for 2/4 hour excursions) first.
The following night, it blew hard and rained again. The forecast was not brilliant, and we decided to stay put for the day. JP worked on getting the web site up to date, inserting the backlog of pictures. As there was wifi from the marina, we paid our money (on credit card), and uploaded everything, caught up on e-mail, and did a bit of on-line banking to ensure funds were in the appropriate places when the credit card came to call. Mo read and relaxed in the cockpit for the most part.
We got up reasonably smartly, for us. We went ashore, consigned our rubbish to the bin, and went in search of a loaf of bread, which we found along with some other items. We set off down river under engine by 0945, and were at the river mouth an hour and a half later. Once again, we had enjoyed the scenery in passing. There was very little wind, and we continued motoring until shamed by a Dutch yacht that hoisted sails and started sailing with the zephyr that had come up from the West. We then made the best of the next 5 hours or so. Having someone to race against kept us on our toes, and having nearly lost it all, we finished ahead when it was time to take our sails down to enter the harbour. This was down to Mo, who had the best of the breeze when I went below to try to have a snooze. Vinisce is a long bay open to the south east, but has a considerable settlement around it with some large fishing boats moored.
We anchored at the head of the bay, alongside a British HR. Alan and Maureen Baker came on board for a coffee when they came back from a meal ashore, and we enjoyed the rare opportunity to swap notes. They keep Wabo, as their boat is called, at a marina close to Split airport, and have been cruising in the Mediterranean for 15 years, the last few in Croatia.