Summer sailing part 2

Night near Vela skala was really peaceful and there were just two more sailboat around, but not very near. Very stable weather like we were having for couple of days made it possible to anchor in such not very well protected anchorage. Next morning we sailed towards the Kornati islands...

...and through Proversa vela to outer side of Kornati.

On the way we saw a dolphin, but for just a few moments. There was just enough wind for nice sailing SE.

Then we sailed to Murter and anchored in the bay Vršak for the night.  The rest of the crew went to town Murter after dinner and I stayed on the boat, swam and admired the sunset.

Next morning we sailed N again and made first stop for swimming near island Murvenjak. It is a pretty place, but quite popular and there was plenty of motor boats already there. I went snorkelling, of course. It was not too exciting, but I found this empty shell of Helmet shell (grbasti čeladnik or Galeodea echinophora)...

... and a Longstriped blenny (črnoboka babica or Parablennius rouxi).

In early afternoon we sailed to bay Triluke on S side of island Pašman. We were almost alone there and had a nice afternoon swimming and lazying, and a nice BBQ in the evening. But just as we were finishing our dinner, hordes of sailboats started to sail into the bay. It was Saturday and they probably just got their boats from charter companies and they sailed to first suitable bay. After the second one anchored less than 30m from us, I had enough and suggested that we move. Crew was not too happy, but went along and we moved just a mile away to S side of small island of Žižanj. Luckily no one followed and we were alone there. We were lucky that the weather was still so calm that we could literally anchor anywhere where it wasn't too deep.

Next morning, as we were drinking coffee, we watched couple of dolphins performing a real show of synchronous jumping, it was magical. But it was unfortunately too far for taking photos. Alone for this it was worth it that we moved to this anchorage last evening.  

The stable weather and calm nights were slowly ending, wind was turning to SE and there were some storms forecast for next morning. We decided to sail to island Žut and anchor in bay Strunac. There are several buoys there that are owned by restaurant Bain and all were taken. There were two other boats anchored in the bay beside us. 

Afternoon was still sunny and hot, and I went snorkelling again. It was surprisingly nice and I found plenty of interesting and pretty things, like this bright red Encrusting bryozoan (rdeči skorjevec or Schizobrachiella sanguinea)...

... and the Tube anemone (peščena roža or Cerianthus membranaceus) that was almost hidden in its tube.

This was my big find, it is many years since I last saw this beauty - it is a Black-faced Blenny (rumeni sprehajalček or Tripterygion delaisi), close relative to Red-black tripplefin (rdeči sprehajalček or Tripterygion tripteronotus). Unfortunatelly it wasn't patient and quickly hid under the rock and I wasn't able to take better photo.

The deeper part of the bay was sandy and there I found the Golden anemone (zlata vetrnica or Condylactius aurantiaca).

In sand there were also the two Peacock worms  (pahljačasta cevkarja or Sabella pavonia).

Next photos were taken in shallower water where it was mainly rocky, there I found this sad-looking Zvonimir's blenny (jelenoroga babica or Parablennius zvonimiri) with big Parasitic Isopode (ribja uš or Anilocra physodes) at it's back.

I really like this photo, I don't often find the Common prawns (žagaste kozice or Palaemon serratus) posing so patiently.

When one looks down to the bottom from the surface, this often looks like a black sea urchin (morski ježek), but when one gets closer it is obvious that it is a delicate Sand fanworm (peščeni cevkar or Myxicola infundibulum). I am pretty happy when I manage a photo where the small "hair" on the tentacles are visible...

...also as with this Red spotted horseshoe (apnenčasti cevkar or Protula tubularia).

I'm in a bit of the dilemma about this one, it could be Red boring sponge (rdeča vrtalka or Cliona viridis).

This Slender goby (peščeni glavač or Gobius geniporus) greeted me with all his back fins raised.

This is not a two-headed Gilthead sea bream (orada or Sparus aurata), there is a Two-banded sea bream (fratrc or Diplodus vulgaris) just behind it.

In the evening the sky on the West got yellow instead of usual red and this was also the sign of the bad weather that was coming. 

The night was still rather calm, for what we were very grateful, but the wind has already turned and in the morning it was getting stronger and stronger, as forecast. On every boat crews were out on the deck, observing the situation, and several boats on buoys were running their engines. It is a smart move, there is little space between the buoys and if one notices, that the buoy doesn't hold, there is very little time to start the engine and try to get away from other boats and the shore. At around 10 it started to rain and then the really strong West wind came, between 40 and 50 knots. After two minutes we all saw that the buoys were ok, anchors were holding and we just waited for bad weather to move on. 

At one moment we heard a loud noise - even through the storm - of flapping sails, and saw a sailboat that was sailing with full sails, genoa and main, into the bay some 500m away, directly into the wind. I couldn't believe that they had full sails out and that the noise was stronger than storm and I was thinking: get the sails down, get the sails down. Couple of moments later the boat turned more sideways to the wind and wind pushed so that it heeled almost to the water, then it straightened up and turned into the wind again, but still nothing was happening with the sails. And some time later we saw a big tear in main first, and after a while also in genoa. Why would anyone want to sail into the storm with full sails, is beyond my logic. 

In an hour the storm moved on. We stayed for a while longer and had a big late breakfast, and in the middle of the day sailed on. There was similar weather forecast for the next night and morning, so we sailed to Murter again and anchored in bay behind Arta Vela, where we were protected from all sides where the strong wind and waves could come. It was really pretty and we enjoyed the sunny afternoon and evening.

Next morning we had some rain and a bit of wind but nothing like the day before.

We decided to sail to marina that day, there was lots of rain forecast for next night and then very strong NE wind, Burja. On the way we stopped on NE side of island Prvič for swimming and then sailed into Skradin.

Next morning the rain was already over, it was quite windy and colder, so it was a perfect weather for a stroll through the town and up to the fortress...

...with it's lovely view over marina.

After a delicious Skradin cake and a coffee we returned to the boat, packed up and I returned home with our friends and Captain stayed on the boat.