September sailing - part 1

Last week in September I spent on Heron again, along with some friends. We drove to Mali Lošinj on Sunday and Captain was already waiting for us. But the weather was very windy, strong burja (NE wind) was blowing, so we decided to stay in marina that night. In late afternoon we drove to the town of Mali Lošinj and made a stop along the way to check the wind and the sea on the North side. In moments our car was salty from the spray that the wind was carrying from the sea.

Later we had a really delicious meal in a small restaurant at the Lošinj airport.

Next morning the wind was still strong, although it should already weaken down according to most forecasts. After coffee and a breakfast we maneuvered Heron from between the boats in marina and sailed SE along Lošinj. Ride was very fast and a bit bumpy and we made the first stop behind Ilovik. Although sun was shining nobody went swimming because of the strong wind. In the afternoon we sailed on towards Olib, but soon changed our mind. The wind kept on blowing, there were very uncomfortable waves rolling down from Kvarnerič, so we sailed to Uvala Bujsin on West side of Silba and anchored for the night. We were alone in the pretty bay and some of us even got into the water.

We had a calm night in protected anchorage, although wind was still strong. Next morning most of forecasts claimed that wind was already over, but in reality it was nothing but. Captain and crew still decided to sail dinghy to town of Silba and found there a big party in honour of new police station going on. 

In the middle of the day we sailed on to Olib, we sailed along Silba to the South and then back up North to our usual anchorage in NW part of the island. And we were alone again in the whole anchorage.

The early afternoon light was still quite good and I went snorkelling. It took me a couple of seconds to get my head and especially ears under the water, but after a while water wasn't cold any more. And I've seen quite a few pretty things. 

The pair of gobies on this photo could be Black gobies or črna glavača (gobius niger), but they are not of the usual colours. Usually they are darker with blue fins, but the body shape is right and  I've found photos of some in similar colours as here.

This was the first big excitement of the day, the Redbrown leathery doris or Ploščati perjaničar (Platydoris argo). It was very small, probably a baby. I've seen plenty of adults here in Olib over the years.

I'm also posting this photo of the same guy because his rhinophores (nosni izrastki ali rinofore) in front are so nicely visible. The greyish lace in the back are the gills (škrge) with which they are breathing. 

This is another goby, the Slender goby or Peščeni glavač (gobius geniporus).

I've seen two Red comb stars or Oranžaste morske zvezde (Astropecten aranciacus).

This might be a Daisy anemone or Sončna vetrnica (Cereus pendunculatus), I'm not really sure.

The Red-mouthed goby or Rdečeusti glavač (Gobius cruentatus) was posing with all of its fins spread.

The Murex shell or Čokati volek (Hexaplex trunculus) has very colourful rim around the opening of shell.

I'm not sure who this pretty thing is, but I love the colours.

In the evening we had a beautiful sun set over Silba...

...while an almost full moon was raising above Olib.

This was what we woke to the next morning and as my friend said, if there were some palm trees along the shore, this could well be photographed in the Caribbean.

In the middle of the day I was snorkelling again. I saw two Common stingrays or Navadna morska biča (Dasyatis pastinaca).

This is the Yellow tube sponge or Spužva žveplenjača (Aplysia aerophoba), aerophoba means "afraid of the air", probably because it changes its colour to blue when exposed to the air.

In early afternoon we sailed North towards Rab. At the beginning there was almost no wind and then somewhere near Novalja on Pag all of the sudden we got hit by 30 knots of Burja, NE wind. We were really thinking wind was gone. It only lasted for some hour, but it made the boat salty and produced waves. Again all the forecasts, that produce generalised prognosis, were wrong and we found that only Croatian Aladin included all the local weather patterns and relief of the land to accurately predict the wind, also for the next days.

In early evening we anchored in lovely bay Uvala sveti Kriftofor. And again we were all alone.

Next day around noon I went snorkelling again. There was lots of life and colours under water. I found a Red squirt or Rdeči kozolnjak (Halocynthia papillosa) under a rock.

There were several bright Orange ray sponges or Spužve žilavke (Spirastrella cunctatrix) there.

This is a Marbled rock crab or Marogasta rakovica (Pachygrapsus marmoratus).

The small things under the sponge are Hydroids, I don't know exactly of which kind.

And this is a Twin fan worm or Dvoperjaničar (Bispira volutacornis).

I have a soft spot for Sea lemons or Morske pomaranče (Tethya citrina) and I'm always very happy when I find one. Although it's only a sponge. I find the Slovene name more appropriate than English or Latin, because it really looks more like an orange than a lemon.

These delicate creatures are Ostrich-plume hydroids or Morska peresca (Aglaophenija spp.), the relatives of corals.

This is one of the prettiest algae, the Forkweed or Ploščata razcepljenka (Dictyota dichotoma).

This Rock goby or Skalni glavač (Gobius cobitis) was probably the biggest that I've ever seen, it almost frightened me looking so gloomy under the rock. It can grow up to 30cm, and this one looked to me to be right there with size.

I was happy to see the Red-black triplefin or Rdeči sprehajalček (Tripterygion tripteronotus), even without bright red colours, this year I haven't seen them often.

I don't think I've ever seen a Date shell or Morski datelj (Lithophaga lithopaga) surrounded by algae.

And finally there were also my beloved tunicates, the Sea squirt Sea strawberries or Rožnati plaščarji (Sindyum elegans or Aplidium elegans).

Beside the pretty colours and Hydroids there are also the Sea tubes or Bleščeči mehurčki (Valonia utricularis) in the upper part of the photo, the shiny bubbles are actually one cell each.

When I was already out of the water, we saw a school of Sea needles or Igle (Belone belone) swimming around the boat, along with a big school of Sea breams or Šparov. Sea needles were probably attracted by large schools of Mediterranean sand smelts or Gavunov, that were abundant in the bay and are the favourite food of Sea needles. But there are bigger fish that eat Sea needles and they also came, so we saw a lot of hunting around the boat and fish jumping out of the water. What a sight!

Dragonflies and butterflies and a frogg

This summer I didn't spend much time on our sailboat, partly due to the weather, partly to my health issues. So in absence of snorkelling photos I'm posting some photos of pretty creatures from my garden.

We never use any chemical fertilisers or weed or bug killers in our garden, and it is paying off, our garden is very popular with creatures of all kinds.

We've seen Broad-bodied Chasers or Modre ploščce (Libellula depressa) often in last years. This one is a female, males have blue tail and black upper part.

But both have very delicate wings with amber pattern that looks like stained glass (vitraž).

This beauty feeding on Chives or Drobnjak (Allium schoenoprasum) is a Small Tortoiseshell or Mali koprivar (Algais utricae).

Couldn't resist a photo of bees in blossom of Welsh onion or Stoletnem luku (Alium fistulosum).

These guys are also frequent guests in our garden, the Azure Damselflies or Travniški škratci (Coenagrion puella). Here is a mating couple...

...and this a male in bright colours.

This could be the same dragonfly as above, this time I caught it in Juneberry or Šmarni hrušici (Amelanchier), what caught my eye was sparkling of her wings in afternoon sun.

There are several kinds of bees and wasps and even hornets in our garden. This one sitting in a blossom of Californian poppy or Kalifornijskega zlatega maka (Eschscholzia californica) is a Marmalade Hoverfly or Navadna zimska trepetavka (Episyrphus balteatus).

It is really pretty up close.

And once more the Small Tortoiseshell or Mali koprivar (Algais utricae) with bright blue rim on its wings.

This fellow is a bit less colourful, it is Meadow brown or navadni lešnikar (Maniola jurtina).

And this was my best sighting - the Ruddy Darter or Krvavordeči kamenjak (Sympetrum sanguineum). It doesn't come to my garden very often.

Look at those beautiful shimmering wings!

I was seeing these guys often, but they are always flying and never sit down and wait for me to take a good photo, so I was lucky that this one got caught under our porch roof and couldn't find its way out. It is Blue hawker or Zelenomodra deva (Aeshna cyanea). After I took couple of photos I gently picked it up in my hand and let it go among bushes.

There are also non-flying creatures here - this is an European Tree frog or Zelena rega (Hyla arborea), my favourite frog. Beside being so cute she is also eating lots of mosquitoes every day, which is great community service in mosquitoes plagued years like this one.

I'm planning another week of sailing at the end of September. I keep my fingers crossed the weather holds and the water is still warm enough for some great snorkelling.

July sailing

Last week in July we were sailing again with couple of friends. We got to Mali Lošinj rather late in the afternoon on Sunday, stops and heavy traffic prolonged the traveling time. It was really hot and we were hungry, so we sailed just around the corner to bay Uvala Engleza, first jumped into the water to cool off and then started the grill. After plenty of good food and some more swimming we were all in good mood and decided to stay there for the night. 

In the morning weather was cloudy and there were waves rolling into the bay. The South wind has started earlier than forecast. We decided that the best place to be in such weather was the wide bay in front of town Olib that is well protected from South. We anchored there in early afternoon in strong SE wind but we were lucky and even had some sunshine and swimming. The night was still very windy but we slept well.

Next morning was cloudy but not so windy any more. After breakfast we saw a small boat visiting anchored boats and Captain assumed they were fishermen selling fresh fish. As we had plenty of food of all kinds I said I was only interested in an ice cream. And what do you know - they only had ice and ice cream, so we had to buy some. Yum! We were very much surprised that the prices for the ice cream were the same as in supermarkets.

In the meanwhile the wind turned to North and soon the waves started to roll into bay and it became uncomfortable. After studying the forecasts (we always check several different ones) we figured out it was time to escape to one of the bays between island Pag and Vir, nowhere else in the area we would be protected from all sides. The forecast was predicting SE wind turning to W then to N in the night and then to strong NE the next day. So after some sailing, in early afternoon we anchored in bay Uvala Jasenovo just S of island Pag, where we already anchored in the beginning of July and it then proved to be well protected and not busy and even quite pretty. After some swimming and a few drinks, two friends on a motor yacht joined us and in the evening we had a great evening meal with plenty of different dishes from grill and also plenty of drinks.

The night was pretty wild, wind from the West was pretty strong and in the morning the NE wind was also blowing with over 30 knots for couple of hours. But it didn't bother us too much, we had a great coffee break on our friends motor yacht, with coffee made by proper coffee machine, with good cookies and even better company. 

In late afternoon we sailed off and anchored  in front of town Vir for the night. The NE wind was still strong but it was mostly the loud music and shouting from the shore that was very annoying. So next morning right after breakfast we sailed to Ist where we hoped to have some more peace again.

The wind was forecast to turn to SE again in the night, so we anchored in North bay. It was empty and very peaceful, just as we hoped it would be. We had a lazy afternoon of swimming, reading and I even went snorkelling.

In the evening Captain and the rest of the crew climbed up the hill to the church to watch sun set.

In the meantime I was taking photos of sun set from the boat.

Before going to bed we had to chase an Italian sailboat away, they had the idea that best place for them to anchor was right next to us, although there were no other boats in the whole bay. But they didn't argue and re-anchored a bit further away. Which was absolutely right, the wind turned in the night and had they stayed where they were originally it would not end well.

Next morning we sailed towards Olib, on the way we stopped just N of town Olib for a swim. Not far from us this beauty was anchored, it is Black Pearl and is the second longest sail boat in the world. At the time - these things are changing often.

After a nice meal and some swimming we sailed on to N side of Olib that is more protected from S wind and more suitable for the night. There were already several boats there, obviously others were paying attention to weather forecast as well. But we still found a good anchoring spot a bit away from the crowd in W side of the bay. Again we had a nice afternoon of lazying, reading, swimming and snorkelling.

Here are some photos from both my snorkelling expeditions, the one in Ist and in Olib. None of the places are great snorkelling spots, but in the absence of other choices I was glad to even had these two opportunities.

What I saw under water were all the usual suspects, no big surprises. This is the Red sea squirt (Rdeči kozolnjak or Halocynthia papillosa).

I saw several Red tube worms (Pisani pokrovčkar or Serpula vermicularis)

This is another Sea squirt, in Slovene named nagubani kozolnjak ali mali svet (Microcosmus spp.). It is named mali svet or Microcosmus because it is usually overgrown with all kind of organisms, as a true "small world".

Here the Red spotted horseshoe (apnenčasti cevkar or Protula tubularia) on the left is in company of Red tube worm (Pisani pokrovčkar or Serpula vermicularis).

This is the Brown Kidney sponge (ledvičasta spužva or Chondrosia reniformis)

Three Twin fan worms (dvoperjaničarji or Bispira volutacornis)

This is a Slender goby (peščeni glavač or Gobius geniporus)

Here the Red tube worm is in the company of Stinker sponge (snopasta hrapavka or Ircinia fasciculata)

This pretty sponge is a Crater sponge (Rjava skorjevka or Hemimycale columella)

As is often seen, there are small Mysid shrimps (mizidni rakci or Leptomysis spp.) in protection of the Snakelocks anemone (voščene morske vetrnice or Anemonia viridis) 

These are the Mediterranean sand smelts (veliki gavuni or Atherina hepsetus).

I didn't see many Mediterranean fan worms (Spalancanijev cevkar or Sabella spallanzanii) this time.

I don't know which clam this is...

My first octopus this year.

This is the Rocky shore hermit crab (Zelenkasti rak samotarec or Clibanarius erythropus) with chequered eyes.

Young Salemas (salpe or Sarpa salpa) were grazing on algae.

In absence of other fish I took photo of this Two-banded sea bream (fratrc or Diplodus vulgaris).

The Violet sea urchin (belobodičasti morski ježek or Sphaerechinus granularis) was adorned with fashionable accessories.

This is the ink of Sepia (sipa or Sepia officinalis), I didn't see it bust must have frightened it because the amount of ink was quite huge.

Here the red algae (obrobljena luskavka or  Peyssonnelia polymorpha) in the middle is growing on Brown Kidney sponge (ledvičasta spužva or Chondrosia reniformis). The lighter brown sponge is Chicken liver sponge (krompirjasta spužva or Chondrilla nucula).

Here is another sponge - the Red encrusting sponge (rdeča skorjevka or Phorbas fictitius) 

Next morning we already had to sail back. We made the first stop for breakfast and swimming near Ilovik. Then we sailed along Lošinj and made a second stop for lunch and some more swimming N of little island Murtar.  At 2pm we were moored in our marina. Captain stayed on board of Heron and I drove back home with our friends. Although the weather was not ideal, we had a very nice week.