Sailing from Olib to Cres

Next day, on Sunday, we woke to a beautifull summer day. We were enjoying the warm turquoise water and serene environment. There was lots of swimming, riding the kayak, a ride to town with dingy - once the engine was willing to start after an hour of cleaning and maintenance. And for me it was lots of snorkelling.

I saw several of small Scallops (Mala pokrovača or Proteopecten glaber), that I didn't notice here on previous visits. Look how pretty those small blue eyes are!

Whenever I'm taking photos of a Common cuttlefish (Navadna sipa or Sepia officinalis), it's trying to hypnotise me with making those weird moves with its tentacles.

I have no idea what this was. It was floating in the water, at moments I had the feeling it had some control over its movement, but I could be wrong. It could be some kind of cluster of eggs.

This was a first for me - a member of Elbow crabs (Bradavičasto morsko šestilo or Parthenope angulifrons or Delinambrus angulifrons). Even after all this snorkelling I still find new things.

And this was a biggest surprise here - a Grey triggerfish (Sredozemska balestra or Balistes capriscus).  In past I met a lot of triggerfish, mostly in Indian ocean, Red sea, and also in Caribbean sea. I still remember a Giant triggerfish on Maldives giving us a fright when he attacked Captains fins, when Captain came too close to triggerfish' nest. Or feeding of Giant triggerfish with clams in Mauritius. I had a feeling  this one was also protecting a nest in the burrow that you can see on first photo. Sorry for bad photos, but the fish just wouldn't stand still.

I was under the impression that Grey triggerfish were mostly found in South Adriatic, but after I returned home and read a bit more about them, I learnt that it wasn't so rare in North Adriatic any more, lots of fishermen saw or caught them, some even in Gulf of Triest.

This was the only Octopus (hobotnica) that I saw in whole week. I just hope they were just very well hidden and not that they were all caught and eaten. When this one saw me she tried to pile some more shells in front of her to hide.

This one is probably a Rock goby (Mrki glavač  or Gobius paganellus), although it is quite pale, and it's sitting next to a Brown cowry (Progasta porcelanka or Luria lurida).

There were also plenty of Sand roses (Peščene rože).

This was one of few Parasitic anemone (Progasta stražna vetrnica ali Calliactis parasitica) that had all it's tentacles on display.

In the late afternoon we sailed off towards Cres. It was hard to leave, Olib had put a spell onto all of us. We ate dinner already on the way, sailed by camp near Punta Križa and afterwards dropped the anchor in Uvala Baldarin. It was already getting dark, so there was only time for a short swim and a nightcap.

Next day started windy and not very warm, and later in the day there was even more strong NE wind forecast. We left Uvala Baldarin after late breakfast and sailed towards island of Plavnik, we thought we might be able to hide from NE wind on West side of it. When we almost reached Plavnik, we decided for the bay on East side of Cres opposite of Plavnik instead.

Soon after we anchored wind was getting stronger and dark clouds started to appear. I still went snorkelling, jut the light was rather poor. One of the best finds was this Grey wrasse (Gnezdivka ali Symphodus cinereus), sitting on it's nest. 

I love this brown algae named Forkweed (Ploščata razcepljenka ali Dictyota dichotoma), it has such a delicate pattern.

My snorkelling was rather short and when I came out of water, it was getting colder and waves were rolling into the bay. The weather forecast was strong NE wind, so we thought we just need to wait a bit longer for wind to turn to NE and the waves will stop. Unfortunately it didn't happen, wind stayed E to SE and the rest of the day and also the night was rather rolly.

But next morning was calm and sunny, very suitable for snorkelling. This time the light was much better and I explored the rocky edges of the bay.

The Red-spotted Blenny (Rdečepikast babica or Lipophrys canevae) was a first for me. Looks like this year blennies decided they need to get more coverage in my blog.

I saw several Fan mussel (leščur), and there were also very small ones like this one. When they grow, the spikes around the rim are not as long and pretty. Looks like eye-lashes, doesn't it?

I've seen plenty of Rock gobies (Mrki glavač), but this one put all his feathers on display, so he deserves a photo here.

This is a Red-black triplefin (Rdeči sprehajalček or Tripterygion tripteronotum), Croatian name is especially imaginative - it is Pjevač oštronosič or in translation Sharp-small-nose singer.

This one is a little bit tricky, because the photo was not very good, and unfortunately none of the four or five I made were. But with the details I could figure out on them it might be Zvonimir's blenny (Jelenoroga babica or Parablennius zvonimiri).

There were plenty of Red seasquirts (Rdeči kozolnjak ali morska breskev) around.

This is a Red starfish (Ognjenordeča zvezda or Echinaster sepositus).

Purple sea urchin (Vijoličasti morski ježek ali Paracentrotus lividus).

The Hydriods (Morski grmički ali Eudendrium) were particularly pretty, hanging from the rock like some kind of shiny garland.

On my way back to the boat I also saw a Green sponge ball (Kroglasti kodij ali Codium bursa).

Sailing from Krk to Olib

Although this is going to be a sailing, or rather snorkelling post, I'm posting this pretty dragon that I found in my garden, first. It is continuation of the last post, for which I was told that it belongs more into the gardening or "salad" blog, and that the blog should be named Heron Salad instead of Heron Sailing. But I promise this is the last non-underwater photo for next several posts. So the blog should maybe be named Heron Snorkelling? By the way, this little beast is called Scarce chaser (Črni ploščec or Libellula fulva).

This year summer took quite a while to finally start, and the spring was rainy and cold. So our sailing season started late, too. Last Monday Captain and me drove to Krk, we planned on doing some boat projects for two days and then sail with our friends for a week. We had to pack a lot of tools, food and stuff for the boat, so we didn't leave Žabnica until 1 in the afternoon. Just when we got to Klimno it started to rain again. We managed to get all the stuff on the boat without getting too wet, but it wasn't the start of the holiday we wished for. On the boat we hurried to pack all the food into the fridge, but the fridge didn't want to start. Instantly our boat projects priority changed and the fridge became the top one. It took us three hours to figure out that the cooling pump was not working (our fridge is water cooled), then to take it apart, clean it thoroughly and spray it with lubricant and then put it together again and install it. To our relief fridge started working and none of the food was wasted. While our mood improved, it was getting too late to start another project.

The night was rather cold, luckily we have enough blankets on boat, because I needed three blankets just for myself. Next day we exchanged the broken cable that connects the radar with chart plotter, we changed and cleaned all the water and water maker filters, and cleaned the boat thoroughly. The weather was nicer than the day before, we even took time for a swim in the sea, but night was cold again. Well, one blanket less cold than the previous one.

On Wednesday morning our friends arrived. We loaded the boat with some more food and luggage and filled all the water tanks and sailed off towards Luka Srščica where we made a stop for swimming and a lunch. I even put a mask and fins on, but water was still a bit too cold for a longer swim. In the afternoon we sailed to Vela luka. A strong NE wind called burja was blowing and sea was choppy and uncomfortable. But sailing through Senj strait is almost never calm and easy. Couple of dolphins came by and made a voyage a bit nicer. By the time we dropped the anchor in Vela luka we were thoroughly shaken and fed up with wind and waves, but it didn't calm down much. Wind stayed strong, more to the East, and the waves managed to roll all the way into the long bay. In the evening it got really warm, but the night was rolly and uncomfortable.

After a short swim next morning we were eager to leave the rolly anchorage. We made a stop on West side of Grgur. On my previous visits the bay has proved to be a good snorkelling ground, so I couldn't wait to snorkel there again. But this sea urchin in a glass jar was the only interesting thing I saw. I hope it was just my eyes not yet seeing things, and all the interesting things didn't just disappear. You know like when you go mushroom picking for the first time in season and in the beginning you don't find anything until your eyes adjust to shapes and colours.

The sea urchin is using a cluster of eggs for camouflage, but I haven't figure out yet who the eggs belong to.

In the afternoon we sailed to Rab and anchored in Hawaii at the beginning of the Supetarska Draga bay. After a long sunny day it was great to swim in warm sea. Next morning I went snorkelling. The bottom was sandy with patches of sea grass in water deeper than 4m. I found this Sand rose (Peščena roža or Cerianthus membranaceus)...

... and this Spiny starfish (Bradavičasta morska zvezda or Mathraterias glacialis).

You won't believe how much running around these guys gave me. They are one of few kinds of Blennies (Babic) that didn't want to be photographed, even after I explained they are going to become famous after I post their photos on Internet. It is called Rusty blenny (Babica papagajka or Prablennius sanguinolentus). I saw plenty of them also in other places, at one spot they were literally sitting on every rock, but quickly disappeared as soon I pointed my camera at them, so this remains the best photo I've got.

This well fed creature is a Giant goby (Skalni glavač or Gobius cobitis). I saw several more and they were all nice and plump.

This one was a bit more difficult to identify, I think it might be a dark specimen of Brown comber (Volkec or Serranus hepatus), but I'm not sure.

And this was the "catch of the day", if not of entire trip. It is a Sea mouse (Morska miš or Aphrodita aculeata), it is a nocturnal animal, and here it was wandering across the sandy bottom in the middle of the day. I couldn't believe my luck, if it wasn't so covered with sand, I would be even happier.

I dove down several times to make sure I had a good photo and as I got too annoying, the mouse pointed its bristles upwards to warn me not to come too close.

Sand roses come in different colours.

I was happy to find a Sea lemon (Morska pomaranča or Thetya citrina), although it's "only" a sponge.

I've seen the Murex snail (Čokati volek ali Murex trunculus) eggs clusters plenty of times, but here it looks like it was just being made.

It was a surprisingly good snorkelling, despite mostly sandy bottom and plenty of motor boats anchored there. Shortly after noon we moved to next pretty bay, to Uvala Valsika. There were again lots of small motor boats in the bay, so we anchored behind them in a bit deeper water. I didn't miss the opportunity to go snorkelling again. I checked out the rocky North side of the bay and it was great. There was abundance of Tunicates (Rožnati plaščar or Sidnyum elegans) there, so how could it not be great.  They are really pretty, and if you look at the smaller colony on first photo you can see how individual specimens look like.

This little beauty was also a new discovery. It is a Black-headed blenny (Črnoglava babica or Lipophrys nigriceps).

How do I know it wasn't one of the Threefinn blennies (Pritlikavi sprehajalček or Tripterygion melanurus) that I already saw last year? Because this little fellow was sitting right on the next rock so I could check the differences right there. I couldn't find an English name, Italian name is Peperoncino minore.

While I like chasing fish with my camera, it is far easier to photograph the things that are not moving - like this Green algae (Pecljata pahljačka or Flabellia petiolata)...

... or this Red algae (Lepa halimenija or Halymenia floresia).

And I couldn't resist this Tompot blenny (Velika babica or Parablennius gattorugine), I love the pattern on it and especially the elaborate lappets (tentacles above the eyes).

In the evening we sailed on and anchored in front of town of Rab. In the evening the rest of the crew went for a walk in the town, I stayed on board and relaxed and swam. Next morning we topped the fuel and water and bought some fresh bread, fruit and vegetables for next couple of days. Then we sailed South towards Olib. On the way we stopped in nice bay on Pag for a swim.

We arrived at Olib late afternoon and dropped the anchor in bay to the West of the island, like we always do. I couldn't wait to put my mask and fins on and go snorkelling. And Olib didn't disappoint. 

I saw this several times now - it looks like a stock exchange of shells and anemones for hermit crabs (rake samotarce).They have to "move" to a bigger house when they grow too big for the old one.

And among them was this naked hermit crab, probably getting himself a new house.

And here is a Tunicates section - a Black Sea Squirt (Črni kozolnjak or Phallusia fumigata)...

... the White Sea Squirt (Bradavičasti kozolnjak or Phallusia mamillata)...

... and here there are even two Tunicates on the same photo.

Here it looks like the sea urchins are feasting on Murex snail egg cluster.

And for the end of this post - a pretty sea landscape with Tunicate, of course.

The beasts from my garden

Guess what - I'm going to complain about the weather again. This year we didn't have icy rain or flooding or any other big catastrophes, but it's been very strange. Even now in June we still have April weather. But it sure beats April, when we still had winter and 20 cm of snow. But it is getting warmer and lots of flowers are blooming around our house and veggies are growing in my garden, we are already eating lots of our own grown lettuce and asparagus, and also strawberries. Other things like beans, tomatoes, paprika and cucumbers still need some time and warmth and are not even blooming yet.

Because of cold and rainy weather my garden is a bit more overgrown than usual, weed was quite happy with the weather. And obviously are many small creatures very happy with all the weed. Almost every evening a hedgehog comes to our terrace to check if there's any leftover cat food. In the stinging nettles I saw a decent size Grass snake (Belouška or Natrix natrix) the other day and I also saw a Slow worm (Slepec or Anguis fragilis) several times, but they always disappear before I manage to get my camera. 

But there are some small animals that I managed to get on my camera. This one is a crab spider named Flower spider (Cvetni pajek or Misumena vatia). This one is a she, I guess it is the same one on all the photos, and it has the ability to adjust it's colour to the colour of the flower where she lives and hunts, it just takes a couple of days. It doesn't make a web, but it actively hunts insects.

This one is a Rose chafer (Zlata minica or Cetonia aurata), photographed in elderflower. 

I think this is also the same kind of guy as the one above, although it looks so different. But if you look closely, it has the same legs and the shape of the back is also the same, especially the small triangle. Maybe he will get the pretty golden-green colour with time. Update: this is Apple blossom chafer (Kosmata minica or Tropinota hirta).

And this is one of the prettiest beasts of them all - a Damselfly named Blue ringtail (kačji pastir po imenu Travniški škratec (in ne škrlatec) ali Coenagrion puella).

Zabnica news and Heron update

We had a couple of warmer weeks here lately and the best thing is, everything is getting green and blooming. One of the native flowers of the area is the Chess flower (Fritillaria meleagris), or Močvirski tulipan in Slovene. It grows on wet meadows and hates fertilisers and being mown too often. And that's also why it is getting more and more rare, so finding a spot where it is in abundance is so nice.

These three are from my garden, I bought them a couple of years ago and they are still alive.

We've driven to Krk to check on Heron every once in a while. One time I found these pretty guys attached to the side of the pier. They are nudibranchs named Antiopella (Janolus cristatus), or Mehurčasta škrgarja in Slovene. They should normally live in deeper water, but these two were just below the surface. I took the photos from the outside, water was way too cold to go in.

We were in Klimno again yesterday, it was time to do spring cleaning of Heron - Tomaž took her to Crikvenica, where she was today lifted out of the water, will get a new antifouling and even be polished, and her Yanmar engine needs a bit more serious maintenance. There is also some work to be done in front head (ie toilette), and afterwards Tomaž wants to install Wallas heating unit. Lots of work...

This is Tomaž sailing Heron to mainland.

I drove back home yesterday in the afternoon, and just had to stop in the wood near Klimno to take a few photos of these lovely Spring sowbreads (Cyclamen repandum), or Primorske ciklame on Slovene.