Having waved goodbye to calm water sailing guests it was time to find an adventure to fill in 10 days before our next fair weather visitors arrived.
I had never been to Venice and as John and I started to look at the weather and distances involved it all looked possible.
When we mentioned it to Brent and Emma – their faces lit up and the mission was set.
The prevailing winds from the north blow strongest during the day, so the hike north meant night sailing but with Brent and Emma participating in watch keeping it was a real pleasure. Despite the forecasts we managed to sail for 70% of the time, stopping for swims and relaxation during the day while the wind howled through.
We entered Pula ( north Croatia ) at 3 am – an easy entry as it is well lit up. We woke to the backdrop of an old colosseum, a bit bizarre as the town was also littered with old shipyards – both indications of its importance in a bygone era. The most important thing was it did good ice cream and made checking out of Croatia at the port easy.
Due to the winds, more night sailing was required to facilitate the sail across to Italy. Far more relaxing than the Croatian coastal sailing where navigating the channels, the random rocks and constantly changing winds keeps you busy, this crossing we got a starry clear night, fair winds, and smooth waters – a very pleasurable passage indeed.
By 10 am we were entering the Venice channel and by late morning there we were on Joline in the middle of Venice. There was water traffic everywhere, from big ferries to tiny “put-put” vessels on the point of being sunk by wash! They came from behind you, across you, head on – five at a time – crazy.- but what a delight.
Our next challenge was where to park a 17m Catamaran.
The Marina quoted us 260 euros a night! – It is Venice and that’s cheaper than New York, but before we committed to that kind of parking fee we thought we would go for a wander. Thanks toNavyy (yachty app), we went to check out an anchorage just north of Murano island. It was very narrow but after a second attempt and some lead line testing with the dinghy, we settled into the most delightful place to base ourselves for three days in Venice.
A short dinghy ride to Murano island and then the 30 min ferry ride to the center of Venice – easy.
I am sure many of you have visited Venice, for us first timers we loved it. We downloaded a walking tour and did many km of navigating the small snickets, bridges, and plazas. Great Pasta, Pizza, and Italian wine. We did the tourist hot spots, the off-the-beaten track local spots – and soaked up Venice at its best- it wasn’t even busy.
Emma discovered that the Prosecco Valley is only an hour away from Venice, a no-brainer for us wine lovers, – off we toodled on a lovely day out visiting three beautiful vineyards.
It was a fabulous tour of three top Processo-producing families and a real honor to be taken by the wife of Rivergrande Winery to the beautiful hillside location in the middle of a Unesco world heritage site to not only taste some beautiful Processeco it was accompanied by their homemade salami, cheese, and focaccia bread.
The hilltop restaurant for lunch was a challenge for John as he weighed up the least difficult delicacy - snails, rabbit, goat, or tripe accompanied by chard, which John refers to as grass cuttings. However, the mushroom truffle ice cream main course, I found to be a pure delight.
Back to our peaceful city pad behind Murano island we recovered from our day out before our final stroll around Venice and checking out. The sail back to Croatia was splendid, with the wind on the beam and Joline in stunning form racing along at 8-9 kts with Emma and Brent thriving in command. We were back in Pula to pick up our next guests with 12 hours to spare and plenty of time to restock.
We welcomed on board Jordon and George and off we went to have a fabulous week of smooth sailing, crystal clear waters, small beautiful anchorages, good food and wine, great games on board, and small family-run restaurants.
After enjoying many anchorages like the one below, and sharing many memorable moments Emmas and Brent's month on board was sadly coming to an end.
Since they left Australia four years ago, they spent six months on Saorsa becoming accomplished sailors, three years working hard in Amsterdam, experiencing the lows and highs of covid, and managing to do a fair bit of travel around Europe. During the month with us, we trusted them totally with Joline and we had the pleasure of seeing a beautiful relationship thriving. As they left us in Zadar to travel to Australia we wish to thank them for the fabulous month they spent with us and wish them every happiness in their next adventure.
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