This June we spent two weeks on our boat. Bur before I begin with that, here are a few photos from our last visit with my mom in Prekmurje in teh beginning of June. We ate in restaurant Oaza Grill that is located on a pond with Water lilies (lokvanji)...
Next morning we checked the weather forecast and it looked like the South wind will continue for a couple more days, so we decided to sail North. I was hoping we would manage to get as far as to Olib and I was also hoping that sea would get warmer by then so I could do some snorkelling there.
There were many cute small islands along the way...
...and in the afternoon we anchored on NE side of island Gargano. We had a beautiful sunset in the evening.
A gentle South wind was blowing all night and produced some waves that came into the anchorage, so the night wasn't totally calm, but it wasn't too bad. And a beautiful view in the morning made up for it.
After the breakfast we continued towards North. There wind was light so our speed was not very high, but it was very nice and gentle sailing. We made it to the bay just N of Ždrelac, the point where the islands Pašman and Ugljan are connected with a bridge. Sea here was just a tiny bit warmer than previous days, so we were able to swim for a bit longer.
In the evening a flock of white egrets flew by...
...the light became soft...
...and we had another great sunset.
Next morning wind was almost gone, and we continued our journey North under engine. While we were sailing by on many fish farms between Ugljan and Dugi otok we saw several groups of dolphins, but they were too far for a good photo.
But we got a good look at two of them that waited for us in the bay of Brgulje on island Molat. They swam between the anchored boats and then slowly swam out of the bay. I was sooooo happy!
The bay is very deep, some two miles, and very spacious, there were only several anchored boats there, and it didn't feel crowded at all.
In the evening we were observing the new moon and Venus, and also Mercury wasn't far away.
After a very calm night we had a lazy day. There was no wind, so we decided to stay here for another night. We went for a short swim a couple of time during the day, but it was still too cold for snorkelling. And unfortunately the dolphins didn't came back.
In the evening there were again only several boats anchored around us, all at a very good distance.
Next day we sailed off in the middle of the day towards Olib. Right on the West side of Molat we met couple of dolphins again. I was so happy, I haven't seen so many dolphins in just a couple of days for a long time.
We sailed through the strait between Molat and Ist...
... and partly sailed partly motored to Olib, where we anchored in early afternoon. We anchored in the bay on the West side, near the area where we usually anchor. We weren't completely alone, but the nearest boat was at least 300m away. The sun has managed to slightly warm up the sea in last few sunny days, and I immediately went snorkelling. It was a bit of a struggle to put my ears into the water, but it was all worth it.
I mostly met the usual suspects - under the rock I've found this prettu duo - the Red-spotted horseshoe (apnenčasti cevkar or Protula tubularia) on the left and Blood-red tubeworm (oranžni cevkar or Protula intestinum) on the right. And the red thing on the letf is a tunicate.
I've seen plenty of clusters of Murex snail eggs (jajca čokatega voleka or Hexaplex trunculus).
This is an European thorny oyster (morsko kopito or Spondylus gaederopus), a quite big and not too common mollusc. And it was alive.
I often photograph the Slime tube worm (peščeni cevkar or Myxicola infundibulum), but this one has its pouch also visible...
...and this is how it looks when the tube worm retracts into it.
In the evening we had a beautiful sunset...
...and after that a very calm night.
Next day I went snorkelling already before noon. Almost right under the boat I found this Black Sea-Squirt (črni kozolnjak or Phallusia fumigata).
This is its cousin, the White Sea-Squirts (bradavičasti kozolnjak or Phallusia mamillata) in company of Star ascidian (zvezdasti zdrizavec or Botryllus schlosseri). First I thought it might be some kind of sponge, but after a little bit of research I'm pretty sure it might be a tunicate as well.
