Sailing from Krk to Kornat and back - part 3

I had to check my previous post to find out where I left off, that's how long it's been since then. When looking at photos, I noticed they are of a really bad quality. While I do upload them with lower resolution than original for easier loading and viewing, as I always did, I don't remember them ever to be so bad. I did some research and obviously there's been some changes in blogger, that by itself changes the quality of a photo regardless of how it was uploaded. The workaround I found was to edit html of a post and to change some parameters for every photo! While I'm absolutely not happy with this solution, I did edit last three posts, so you might want to check them again, photos do look a bit better.

Last update: just before publishing and after spending a whole day on this photos issue, I realised that the change in blogger affected last 5 posts - from June post "Suffering like an animal" on. I managed to restore the photo quality to what it normally is in my blog and I even may have a less painful (than html code editing) solution for future posts. Yay me! So please check out the last few posts, photos are really much better than before.

The night at Iž was calm and we slept well. We weren't alone though, one more sailboat spent the night in the anchorage, but far enough so they weren't disturbing us, nor we them. In the morning I went snorkelling again, and was again amazed of the amount of Fan mussels (Leščurjev) found in the bay.

In the middle of the day we set sails. Without a firm plan, with a nice wind from behind, we sailed on calm sea in the channel between Iž and Dugi otok towards South.

We weren't in a hurry and many times we sailed closer to one or the other shore to take a closer look of a bay or a beach. We found many pretty places, one of my favourite was this little island with a house on it. House is hidden behind the trees, there is a small jetty and it look really idyllic.

There was stronger North-East wind forecast for the night and we anchored in the bay on South-West of Lavdara. There were plenty of boats in the bay, it was quite crowded. There were surprisingly many fish in the water, like these Salemas (Salpe).

And I couldn't resist a portrait of smiling Tompot Blenny (Velike babice).

By the evening there were only three boats left - a bigger motor boat deeper in the bay, a small sailboat near us and us of course. I wasn't too happy with the way we were anchored, there was only a layer of sand on top of the rocky bottom and anchor could't dig in properly. And with fresh memories of a storm less than a week ago, we were a bit nervous. Luckily the bay was open to the South-West, so even if we would drag, we would be moving towards deeper water and away from the island. We even had a discussion about the weather with the guy on the small sailboat, and after seeing his anchor, I understood why he was even more worried then us. But luckily the night wasn't too bad, our anchor didn't move a bit, and the two other boats were ok too.

Morning was windy and rather fresh, not the weather one would wish for bathing and snorkelling. We sailed off straight  after breakfast. We meandered through the small islands near the end of Dugi otok, all very pretty with beautiful green blue water. We anchored at the West side of island of Kurba Mala.

There was nobody else there when we arrived. Well, except three very loud donkeys on the island.

But soon three motor boats anchored in the bay. There must be some magnetism that attracts people to anchor where somebody already is, there were plenty of empty nice spots around at other islands. But maybe it is too much to expect to have a pretty bay like this to oneself in high season.

Snorkelling was nice, and this one was captain's discovery - Mottled sea hare (Veliki morski zajček), one of the biggest - and fattest - sea slugs.

We also saw some Pilow corals (Jadranskih kamenih koral) and Red Tubeworms (Pisane pokrovčarje).

Almost every day we did some boat chores. This was one of the biggest projects - we had to repair the hatch that was leaking. The problem was, that it wasn't leaking at the seal, but it was not properly built in. So we had to remove it completely...

... clean all the adhesive from the surrounding area ...

... and the hatch,...

... and buid it in again. And now it not only looks pretty, it is also water tight.

In the evening the wind got a bit stronger and we decided to move to Ugljan for the night. There was a big moon in the sky and it was a while since we did any night sailing, so we were excited about it. Sailing was very nice, wind was Northerly and we were sailing as high into it as we could. There is so many lights shining from every island and many buoys, one has a hard time to recognise the lighthouses. It would be very tough without a GPS and the newest maps, and even so we almost sailed into the buoy at the edge of the fish farm.

Shortly before midnight we anchored in a bay North of Mali Ždrelac pass. Radar came very handy, as always when we anchor at night or in tight spaces. Only in the morning we saw how pretty our anchorage was.

We enjoyed pretty scenery and the nice weather and it was well after noon when we sailed on. We were tacking (zig-zagging) against the wind all the time and made it to Južna luka at the upper part of island Ugljan. The bay is nice, but nothing special, so we sailed off again right after breakfast the next morning. We wanted to stop at Tri sestrice (Three sisters) near island of Sestrunj, one of my favourite snorkelling spots from last year. Wind was exactly on the nose, and we were tacking the whole way through the narrow channel between Rivanj and Sestrunj. It was a lot of work.

But it was worth it, the bay at middle one of Tri sestrice islands looked beautiful...

... and there were all the pretty things under the water. Like this Tompot Blenny (Velika babica). It is difficult not to make photos of them, as they pose so patiently.

This is my first decent photo of a Spider Crab (Veliki morski pajek). They are so overgrown with algae, that it is difficult to spot them, and even when I do and shoot the photo, it can happen that I delete it, because later I can not recognise what's on it.

And another Red Tubeworm (Pisani pokrovčar).

There were plenty of Mediterranean Feather Stars (Morskih lilij) around.

In the afternoon we sailed off again, tacking towards North-East, from where the wind was blowing, of course. But it was a nice sail, with gin&tonic and all.

Late in the afternoon we anchored on the South side of Olib. There were several boats there already, mainly in front of the sandy beach, and we kept to the right side of the bay, to have some distance from the others. And then the fleet of charter sailboats, some 15 of them, started arriving, and for some unknown reason most of them anchored around Heron. They were loud, shouting to each other, dragging the anchors, constantly sailing the dinghies. I was not very happy, but it has already gotten too late to move elsewhere. Luckily by the night they all managed to anchor properly, and soon children went to sleep and the noise stopped. The night wasn't that bad after all.

Sailing from Krk to Kornat and back - part 2

There is so much happening this summer, I only just found some time to write another post.

The night when we were anchored near Olib was much quieter and calmer than the one before, with no nasty surprises in the early morning. Weather was nice and sunny on Monday. Of course we had to do some boat chores, but there was time enough for me to go snorkelling. These are some of my finds.

Pig-tooth coral (Kamnito nakovalce)

Hermit crab (Obročkasti samotarec)

This was one of the weirdest things I saw - this Gobie (Peščeni glavač) was trying to eat some kind of worm, but was having troubles to get the big thing down. I watched for a while, how he shook his head and tried to swallow some more, he obviously could bite it off. And as you see his belly is already looking quite full, don't know where he would put the rest of the worm. Since it was taking some time, I didn't stick around long enough to see how it ended and who won - the Gobie or the worm.

I was quite shocked how very few octopuses were around. Until now I was always good at finding them, but on this entire trip, not just here in Olib, there were hardly any around. But I saw a lot of divers in full neoprene gear and long spear guns swimming in every bay we've been to and I guess they took many of the octopuses. This one was one of the just two I saw in Olib that day.

Another funny animal is Sepia (sipa), who also can change colours in a flash. Here she is in lighter and below in darker outfit.

In the afternoon we sailed off, and we landed on Molat, only some 12 miles away. It was again getting very hot, even in the evening. The bay where we anchored was well protected, but full of boats - maybe exactly for the reason. It wasn't exactly my kind of place, way to many people and boats on a small space.

So the next morning we sailed off right after Captain got some fresh bread from the village, and we had breakfast on the way. Next we stopped on the South side of Molat for snorkelling. Place wasn't really protected and holding wasn't the best, but it was pretty and the water crystal clear.

Snorkelling was nice, many of the usual suspects were there, and also this little beauty - I actually photographed the Tube worm (Cevkarja), and only later when I was looking at the photos on my computer, discovered delicate lace to it's right - the Bryozoa called Neptune's Lace in Slovene (Neptunove čipke). I always get so excited when I discover something new.

Banded dye-murex  (Čokati volek)

Then we sailed  between Veli Tun and Mali Tun (Big and Small Tuna)...

...and were sailing on the East side of Dugi otok in direction South. There was just enough wind for nice sailing, the sun was shining, and we really enjoyed it.

We didn't have exact plan where we were going and while on the way, I was studying the maps to find a place less crowded for the night. As the wind was dying late in the afternoon, we made it to North side of island Iž. And we couldn't believe it - we were the only boat in "our" bay. We saw several more boats in the next bay, where the restaurant is, but they were far enough from us. We anchored in 6m of water, and I put mask and fins on and went to check on the anchor and to see, what is laying down below.

Anchor was nicely dug into the sand, and there were unbelievable amount of Fan mussels (Leščurjev) around. It might have something to do with the fish farm, that is fairly near the anchorage, maybe Fan mussels like all the nutrients in the water.

Another thing that I've noticed was that almost all of them were decorated with other organisms - this one had a beautiful Mediterranean Feather Star (Morsko lilijo) attached to it's side...

... and this one had the Mediterranean Fan Worm (Spalancanijevim cevkarjem) draped over it.

And then there were some that were really showing off with their decoration.

And I also discovered something new - this is Vermetus, I couldn't find English name, translated from Slovene it would be Attached Snail (Priraščeni polž). It has a soft lid, and when disturbed it pulls its tentacles and body inside the tube and closes it. They were always too fast for me to manage to photograph more than the lid.

Sailing from Krk to Kornat and back - part 1

Oh boy, what a summer! In first weeks of July we had a major project going on in our house - we were installing a heat pump for warming the water and the house, instead of liquid gas that we had until now, and it was a huge undertaking, with many contractors running in and out, making noise and a lot of mess. Shortly before that Captain burned his arm and was pretty much incapacitated to assist with what was going on. Luckily, it was all finished by last week in July and Captain's arm healed so far that we were able to finally start our holiday.

It probably will not come as surprise - we went sailing again. On Friday, 24th of July we drove to Krk and set sails immediately. We made it to Vela Luka that evening. It was incredibly hot, at 9 in the evening it was still over 30 deg C. Even the sea was very warm, it cooled us down a bit, but not the boat.

Next morning we set sails, general direction South. But wind was weak and in the afternoon we ended up in small bay Uvala Zaklopka on East side of island Cres. Bay was pretty small and narrow, but quite deep. But we liked it, and also the fact that we were the only boat there. 

I went snorkelling, partly because I haven't been snorkelling for a while and partly to see how deep the water was near the shore and if there were any rocks we should be aware of. Stronger NE wind was forecast for next morning, the bay was open to the North, so we wanted to know, it Heron is safe if wind pushes her around the bay.

There was not much to see under water, the only discovery was this Blackheaded sea dragon - the name is directly translated from Slovene name Črnoglavi morski zmaj, that I've seen for the first time. As it sometimes happens, the memory card in my camera got full just before this guy started to pose. Hope to find him again next time to make some better photos.

I was pretty happy with water depth, it looked quite deep almost right to the shore, so we decided to stay. We had BBQ in the evening, and a couple of beers, and slowly all the stress from past weeks seemed to disappear.

Until next morning. I woke up early and realised it was still almost dark. I heard Captain running to the cockpit. All of a sudden I felt how Heron was violently pushed to the side. Luckily anchor chain stopped the movement. In next moment boat was pushed to the other side, again with huge force. I never felt such acceleration on the boat. I jumped out of the bed and met Captain on the stairs. He was coming to tell me he needs my help as we had to get out of there quick. When I came outside, the first thing I noticed was how close to the shore Heron was. It looked scary. Strong wind was blowing from the North and in a matter of minutes waves with white caps started rolling into the bay. Captain ran to the anchor winch, I started the engine. With lots of RPMs we were able to steer the boat into the wind, lift the anchor and leave the bay. Captain ran into the cabin to put on wet gear, in the meantime I steered the boat away from the coast. It also started to rain. We turned the boat towards South, got out a really small piece of genoa and life became a bit more comfortable. Wind was blowing with over 40 knots, wind gusts were even stronger, and running with the wind is the best thing to do in such a weather. We decided to sail to South side of Cres to Luka Jadriščica, only 6 miles away, to get into the calm water. I went back into the cabin, there was no need for both of us to get totally wet. When I was laying in my bed (with frequent jumping into the air, caused by waves), I was thinking how many things could have gone wrong. If the water wasn't deep enough and there were rocks near the shore, or our anchor chain have been longer, we could damage our rudder or engine prop, in that bay that would have meant that we would not been able to get out by ourselves. Or if our anchor didn't hold, Heron would end up on the rocky shore. I was also thinking how well we both know what to do in such cases, how well we know our boat, how reliable our anchor is and how well we are able to estimate the right length of the anchor chain. And how we luckily always stove away things inside the boat, so nothing falls down or is thrown around in situation like this. This is probably the most difficult thing for non-sailors or occasional sailors to understand and accept. And it even doesn't need to be a storm like this one - it can just be a big Italian motor boat making huge waves in a quiet anchorage, and if glasses, cups, or even computers and phones are not in secure places all the time, they can fall down and break.

We didn't stay in Luka Jadriščica long, only to get some sleep. Storm moved South, wind turned to NE, but it was still strong and waves pretty uncomfortable. But the sun was out again and we (well, it was actually me) figured out, we could do with a nice sunny afternoon near island of Olib. With sails reefed to second reef we had a fast and bumpy sail there.

We arrived already in early afternoon. After a breakfast Captain took a nap, and I donned the mask and snorkel and went into the water. The small waves managed to get into the anchorage, but water was clear enough for snorkelling. And Olib didn't disappoint.

I thought it was funny how this Sea squirt (kozolnjak) ...

... and Murex snail eggs (mrest polžev Volekov) were "growing" from empty shells.

Here is something I haven't seen before - it is a small orange worm, that lives in white tubes, the Keelworm (Trirobi cevkar), growing on a yellow sponge.

When I was a kid, i remember finding lots of these - Comon tusk shell  (Navadni slonov zobček). Finally I got one on camera.

I know I made tonnes of photo of these guys, but this Red Tubeworm (Pisani pokrovčar) was particularly pretty with its blue "lid".

There were plenty of  Gobies (Peščenih glavačev) around, some of them were patient enough for photo shoot.

Another Tube worm, a Red-spotted horseshoe (Apnenčasti cevkar), already seen, but still beautiful.

Ear shell (Petrovo uho) is one of the prettiest, I wish to find alive one one day.

After taking photos of this bright Red Seasquirt (Rdeči kozolnaka, tudi Morska breskev) I realised, it was probably the same one as in photos here from the last time we were here.

I haven't seen many Stingrays (Navadni morski bič) here in Adriatic, and this one was rather small. Hope it has a chance to grow much bigger.

Timer module for water pump

This was my first attempt and it did worked well in my test environment, but when installed on a boat it cut water supply after a while - not after designed time, but more often.
I wonder what is wrong.

This is how it should work: