Henry and Alan lift the lid on our Pop-Up Flotilla
Henry and Alan from our London office have just returned from the second week of our Croatia Pop-Up flotilla. They have settled back into office life and they're now ready to share with us the diary of their escapades.
Day 1 |
Day 2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Split Kaštela | Split Kaštela - Stomorska - Stari Grad | ||
| The holiday begins! We flew from London Luton to Split airport, then we hopped in a taxi to Kaštela Marina to start our adventure. We introduced ourselves to the local team and were shown to our boat. The very knowledgeable skipper gave us a briefing on everything we needed to know about the boat for our week afloat. We met our friendly Lead Crew; Phoebe, Junior and Gingerbread. Some of you may recognise their names from our flotillas in Greece. On their recommendation we set off on foot to the large Konzum supermarket to stock up on the essentials for the first couple of days. | After a relaxing first evening we had our morning briefing from the lead crew over coffee beside the marina. We were also able to met the rest of our flotilla group. The flotilla were happy to hear that we’d be getting force 4-5 winds for our first day on the water to Stomorska, on the North East coast of Solta. The conditions were perfect. We sailed all afternoon before rafting up for the night. The flotilla had drinks and nibbles on the quay organised by the lead crew. We ate a delicious dinner at Konoba Nevera, a restaurant run by a local fisherman who specialises in amazing fresh fish dishes. Highly recommended! |
Day 3 |
Day 4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Stomorska - Stari Grad | Stari Grad - Vrboska | ||
| After a morning briefing by Gingerbread in the middle of our flotilla raft we set off to Stari Grad on Hvar Island. We sailed to the mouth of the harbour where we picked up a mooring buoy for our lunch stop. Mooring buoys make free swinging in a bay stress free so stopping for lunch couldn’t be easier. Keeping with tradition, lunch was a huge homemade Greek salad (sailing isn’t the same without one), Dalmatian salami and freshly baked bread. We were moored on the town quay; one of the main novelties of harbours in Croatia is shore power. Essential for keeping those beers cold! Top tip - head to the bar that overlooks the mouth of the bay in time to watch the sun set. Our G&T’s went down a treat! | After a very hot morning briefing we set off to Vrboska, another port on Hvar. We spent the afternoon moored at Otok Zecevo, a little island just off the entrance to Vrboska. The crystal clear waters were too inviting not to stop; we anchored up for a much needed swim and some lunch. In the swirling wind we ended up swinging round a different way than we’d expected. We found ourselves right beside a Croatian day boat whose skipper was a fan of nude sunbathing! Not something you expect to return to after a leisurely bob around the bay. We decided to eat dinner on board, enjoying a meze of breads, cheese and olives from the local shops. We also managed to make an interesting vodka/watermelon creation which was nicely washed down with some local wine…goodnight! |
Day 5 |
Day 6 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Vrboska - Pribinja Bay | Prabinja Bay - Trogir | ||
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Today’s destination was Pribinja bay. This was a small bay really close to Hvar town, mooring here was ideal as just a short taxi ride gets you into the centre of Hvar town. The mooring buoys were very easy to pick up; we had a lovely lunch at a restaurant in the bay. After eating just a little too much we had a relaxing afternoon before taking the taxi, which the lead crew had arranged, to Hvar. Hvar is a busy, beautiful and bustling town whose fame is well deserved! Upon return to Pribinja we had a charming group meal at Arsenol, Pribinja’s charcoal grill restaurant. Wonderful fresh fish, lamb and other meats were enjoyed by all. |
Trogir Old Town was our next stop; the lead crew had called ahead to pre-booked quay space for all the flotilla yachts. We headed for the famous Blue Lagoon – a very busy but beautiful swimming and lunch stop. After lunch we all rafted up amidst grand superyachts right in the hustle and bustle of Trogir. The town has so much to explore, alleyways, restaurants, cafes, bars and a fortress to name just a few. The town is steeped in history and it’s easy to get lost within the depths of the alleys – as Alan discovered the hard way. We were lucky enough to find a restaurant complete with a live piano player and the local brass band practicing next door. |
Day 7 |
Day 8 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Trogir - Split Kaštela | Split Kastela & Split Town | ||
| Last day at sea! We are heading back to Split Kaštela. The wind failed to show its face so stopped in at Otocic Sveta Fumija – an island on the way back to Kaštela. We successfully anchored (without any nudists close at hand!) and spent the rest of the day swimming, sunbathing and eating our remaining food stocks! In Kaštela our lead crew and the Sail Croatia staff helped us moor up. As always, we ended the flotilla with a great final group meal. | Everyone on the flotilla had different departure times (some crews staying on and Bareboating for another week!) but everyone was up and ready for check out, which was a quick and easy process. We had an evening flight, so we dropped off our bags, checking out with Sail Croatia, and caught a taxi into Split old town. Another fantastic old city to explore and we spent the day wandering the alleyways, and spending the last of our Kuna. |
Cruising in Croatia?
Croatia was a refreshing change from what we are used to. A lot of the ports are run by professional harbour masters, who are very helpful and make mooring up easy. A lot of lazy lines too – so stress free. The bareboat charter set up was great, the Sail Croatia team was professional, polite, and their boats were in good order. If you have a Day Skipper Practical and a VHF license, I would highly recommend Croatia as somewhere different to explore or a great place to try Bareboating for the first time!
2017 Pop-Up...
News and information about our Pop-Up flotilla for next year will be announced soon so keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime if you want anymore information then please just get in touch, you can email us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call us 020 8459 8787.
