June 28, Rab: This Peripatetic Life

We are now in the town of Rab on the island of Rab. The coastline here is incredibly dramatic with the Velebit mountains as a backdrop to many islands. Like a number of the islands in the area, the eastern side is almost completely devoid of vegetation and the western side quite lush. The barren side is due to the winds that blast between the mainland coast and the islands - the dreaded Bora. Needless to say, we will be avoiding that bit of the coast.

Rab town is scenic and very old - I'll put up some pics next time.

Mali Losinj was a lovely port which we dropped into for a couple of nights last week and where we filled up with water and recharged the batteries. When water is available on tap it it is time for a bit of washing - incredibly, laundromats do not exist in Croatia. Here is a pic of our laundry boat in the picturesque old town. It is very weird to be hanging out your washing in the middle of town!

In the mean time Ross has been busy at the keyboard and with the camera...

Our first month on ‘Manali’ in Slovenia and Croatia.

The ‘dinging’ the boat stakes.
Well Carolyn set the ball rolling early with a spirited encounter between our boat and the bow of a very large boat in the berth opposite. Carolyn was bringing our boat back to its berth when a seemingly fatal attraction between the other boat’s bow and our bimini led to a gash in our bimini. So it was off to the canvas repair shop. No significant harm done.

Not to be upstaged, a few days later I tangled our rudder or keel in the underwater mooring line of an adjacent boat whilst backing out of our berth in a bit of a blow. What’s the point of having a 55hp motor if you don’t use it? – so I gave it a rev in forward to come off the fouled line, did so, and promptly nudged the concrete dock with the bow of our boat. Ouch. Small dent in boat and confidence. Two weeks later the dent is fixed and the confidence has returned. Numerous lessons learned. E.G., Always drop the bimini and the dodger if manoeuvring in close quarters and any wind is blowing. You just don’t want the extra windage on a boat that already has significant windage, plus, your visibility also increases substantially.

Thunder storms have been rolling through this area regularly with short lived but often strong associated winds. A few of the ‘incidents’ - apart from our own - we have witnessed in the short time we have been here include:-

• The (paid) crew of a super yacht berthed it near our boat and headed ashore. They left their tender (we are talking about maybe a $15,000 tender here) in the water next to their yacht whilst they were away. Who said there are no tides in the Mediterranean?? – we have been regularly experiencing tide ranges of .5 to 1 meter. So, the tender had drifted unnoticed on its mooring line to be under the wharf; the tide came in and the tender is slowly but surely crushed underneath the wharf. There wasn’t anything the marina staff or anyone else could immediately do about it. It wasn’t a pretty sight when the tide went out again and they could retrieve it. Still, if you can afford a super yacht I suppose you can shell out for some tender repairs ok.

• A while later we were anchored at the beautiful Croatian town of Rovinj. I came up on deck after a bit of a storm had passed through with some associated high winds to see the furling headsail of a yacht anchored near ours ripped completely in half. Their furling line must have come undone and the wind had unfurled the sail and flogged it to death (a bit of an old sail I’m guessing). We hadn’t heard anything because of the wind. Sacre Bleu! (as the French no longer say, but it was a French yacht and they may just have rolled that out on this occasion).

• Thirdly, and somewhat more soberingly, the couple who took delivery of their new yacht (a 46 foot Bavaria) a week or two before we took delivery of ours in Slovenia had run it aground within 10km of leaving. Cut it too fine around a headland and bang. It was recovered apparently – I don’t know how extensive the damage is.

So, it’s a thrill a minute but no room for any schadenfraude here. ‘There but for the grace of god’ and all that. You need to be on your toes – particularly at our experience level.

On a more positive note, we are now replete with safety gear. We have registered and installed our 406 MHz epirb and programmed our MMSI into our DSC VHF radio. The VHF radio is interfaced with the GPS, so we just need to press one button to automatically transmit a Mayday which broadcasts our current GPS coordinates and the identity/details of our vessel. Then we would fire off the EPIRB which (through the marvels of technology) alerts a monitoring agency in Australia. After some indecision (mainly because some old hands say you don’t need them in the Mediterranean) we have also bought ourselves a good quality offshore liferaft.

Our abandon ship bag includes flares (in many varieties and colours), an EPIRB, a handheld VHF and a handheld GPS (to take with us in the liferaft).


How much safety gear do you need? – well how long is a piece of string? I trust we have sufficient for the type of sailing we are doing and that we will never actually need to use any of it – it feels ok to have it though.

The Social Scene
With Gin and Vodka at less than AUD$10 a bottle it’s just party, party, party.
Well actually, we are collapsed into bed and asleep by 10.30 most nights. We have been continually busy and physically active.

There have however been a number of memorable social nights so far:

• A barbecue on our boat for a friendly German couple from an adjoining yacht. We were just about to start on their schnapps but we never got around to that or to dessert – a strong storm came through and they scurried off home to batten down the hatches – we had to also. C’est le bateau vie! (apologies to my former French teacher.)


• Carolyn’s birthday dinner in the beautiful Rovinj. At the restaurant we got to know a couple seated next to us (they were both advertising industry people from Düsseldorf who had flown out for the weekend to inspect a second-hand yacht that was for sale - and which was not great apparently). So they were a bit disappointed, but the night progressed and they learned it was Carolyn’s birthday and next thing we were drinking Moet courtesy of our new friends. Susannah also gave Carolyn a nice wrap/scarf thingy to keep her warm in the dinghy on our trip back to the yacht. Rovinj is a pretty, practically vehicle free (banned) old town – but not if you have anchored your yacht nearby and have a dinghy. We could tie up right in the heart of town, just 50 or so metres from the best located restaurants.

• We had some business to conduct in the regional centre of Pula so had anchored in its bay. Nice town but not a very attractive harbour/bay – very industrial with shipbuilding industry. Only one other yacht anchored in the bay this night – Aussies from Noosa (previously from Melbourne). Let’s have a drink!





They had a beautiful, bespoke, 45 or so foot yacht (Grey Dawn) that they had built in Perth WA and they sailed to Europe about 12 years ago. They have kept it in the Mediterranean ever since, spending three to six months on the boat here each year and the rest of the time back in Oz. They are old hands at this and were generous with sharing of info with us newbies. They were heading north to Venice and we are heading south but our paths crossed again a week or so later and more meals and drinks were enjoyed. Thanks for the books Pam!

They keep the yacht in Dubrovnik and apparently the marina there is good (unlike some) with an infinity swimming pool and all that. Coincidentally, many years ago they owned an S&S 34 called ‘Crystal’ - the boat I had spent five days living on in Port Phillip Bay earlier this year as part of a day skipper course. They said the boat was tired when they owned it 15(??) or more years ago. I could confirm that not much had changed in that regard.





• We also met and spent a couple of evenings dining and socialising with Terry and Elaine from Byron Bay. They sailed their boat from Australia to Europe about 6 years ago. They leave their boat here now (usually in Turkey, last year in Italy) and do 6 months here and 6 months in Byron Bay each year. Thanks for all the info and advice guys – might just see you again in Marmaris at the end of the season.





The Sailing
Well she motors well! – no regrets in upgrading the engine from 40 to 55 hp. It punches its way through the wind and waves with gay abandon – handy if you want to get into a harbour when it’s blowing hard.

Hard to say how she sails as yet as the winds we have had have pretty much been bang on the nose. So, tacking has been the order of the day with winds up to 30 knots – not particularly comfortable. Or, we have motored direct to our destination after getting tired of beating into it. The one beam reach we have had that lasted for a while saw us doing around 7 knots in 12 knots of wind but then rounded the end of a peninsular and it was on the nose again. We have been doing short coastal/inter-island hops of about 20 nm or less at a time. Wind direction has not stuck to the script dictated by the forecasts so far!, but apparently the winds become more settled and predictable as you travel south towards the Ionian.

Anchoring
We are now in a marina for a couple of nights after spending 10 nights at anchor in various places and a couple of nights on a swing mooring in a harbour. The significant lump of metal on the bow (Rocna 25kg) instils me with confidence and I am glad I paid little heed to the (few) people who said it was oversized for the boat – and we also upgraded the chain size/weight by 25% to boot. 30 to 35 knots is about the strongest we have anchored in so far but it grabs and sets straight away and just stays there. It was costly to buy a 25kg anchor made in New Zealand and get it to Slovenia but I feel it was worth it. We have noticed that a lot of yachts are confined to marinas every night – maybe partly because they don’t have full confidence in their anchoring equipment for much more than a lunch stop. We see some pretty paltry anchors hanging off the front of boats.

Stay tuned for next instalment – Manali drags anchor and ends up on rocks, Ross eats words – hope not.




Most of the anchorages have been great. The last one was a large bay with 20 or more yachts anchored each night. A guy in a small boat came around each morning and evening selling bread, fruit, vegetables, yoghurt, etc. – and wine.

On the last night we were there it was particularly still, silent and pitch black. I went up on deck to soak up the ambience for a moment (o.k., to have a wee) before turning in; just in time to hear a trumpeter on another boat 500 metres away play ‘The Last Post’. Given the conditions on the night, the sound carried throughout this kilometre long bay. Nice one. In the spirit of the moment I put our stereo on and cranked up the volume on the cockpit speakers with the Sex Pistols playing ‘God Save The Queen, Fascist Regime’ at full throttle. I’m sure all there agreed it was a particularly poignant moment. (joke! – first bit isn’t)

Water Sports
The clarity of the sea water in Slovenia was not good. Pollution in the northern Adriatic from industry in Trieste and in Venice combined with a few silty rivers flowing into it conspire to make for murky waters. But that is changing as we travel south. Water clarity here is quite good but we understand that around 100 to 200 km further south it becomes remarkable. Looking forward to that. Sea temp is low 20 degrees so we have been swimming most days. Bottom is clearly visible in around 8 metres depth. Lots of fish – will have to get a rod.
Carolyn aka ‘the fish’ is the current ‘lap round the boat’ swimming champion.

I wouldn’t swim in or near the marinas - in fact I wonder if you would survive if you fell into it?! Holding tanks are not yet compulsory in Europe.

We opted for a large dinghy and don’t regret it. It fits comfortably on the foredeck and we use the spinnaker halyard to lift it onto and off the boat. The outboard motor is a heavy bugger (a 4-stroke - new 2-stroke outboards now unavailable in the EU for environmental reasons). After a couple of near hernia producing episodes lifting it on and off the yacht we have rigged up the topping lift (which we don’t need as a topping lift – gas boom strut fitted) as a mini crane. Carolyn works the winch and all else needed is to guide it onto or off the dinghy – no lifting! It’s fun to zoom or putter around in or just to row, which we do a lot.


Power and Water.
We are learning to be parsimonious! – have slashed the use of the jacuzzi on the foredeck to one hour per day. OK, I have woken up again. So, water supply doesn’t present problems. We have about 450 litres and use around 40 litres a day.

Electricity is another matter. Even with frugal electricity use and double the normal battery capacity, we are regularly recharging the batteries through running the diesel engine. Noisy and very inefficient fuel-wise. We haven’t been using our computers much at all as the inverter needed to run them really sucks the power out of the batteries. Ditto for charging mobile phones, cameras, etc.

So, am buying a small petrol generator. Will reduce our battery charging fuel consumption by 70% or so I suspect. Not to mention cutting out the noise; unlike diesel boat engines, newer model small generators are reasonably quiet. That’s the theory anyway! (update – have now bought a 1kw 240 volt Honda petrol generator. It’s quieter than running the diesel engine but not as quiet as I had hoped - even though it is their ‘super quiet’ model - so I only run it after about 10 in the morning and before 6 at night. It uses around half a litre of fuel per hour – compared to around 4 litres per hour for the diesel engine - and we need to run it for around 1 to one and a half hours per day if we have not been motoring the boat at all that day).

To reduce battery power consumption a bit, we have bought a solar powered anchor light which switches itself on at dusk and off at dawn. Not as bright as the main anchor light (in fact pretty hopeless and certainly not worth the $50 it cost) but may be ok to use in a safe, quiet, anchorage. One advantage is that you don’t have to get up at 5am to turn it off. We have hoisted it up into the rigging.

Communications
Mobile phones are fine. We had Slovenian and now have Croatian SIM cards. Reception along the coast is good. Internet access is yet to be sorted out. In Izola, Slovenia, where we spent the first month (a significant size town with a big tourist trade in summer) there were no internet cafés. The marina was wired for WIFI, but there was some ongoing problem with it. So, we resorted to the computers in the public library which was good but I began to feel (that as non-residents of the town) we were overusing that a bit, particularly when Carolyn pushed the school kid out of the way so she could use the computer - they didn’t kick us out though.

Unexpected connections with Australia
We have now been in Pula, Croatia, for about a week. There is an agent here of the company we bought the boat through. So, we have been dealing with this agent who has been helping us to sort out the inevitable teething issues that arose on the shake-down cruise down to here.
We have experienced a variety of attitudes to customer service in Slovenia and Croatia. From ‘too hard can’t do’ attitudes through to enthusiastic ‘can-do’ attitudes. The agent here in Pula fits into the latter category. Even though busy, he has arranged tradesmen and helped us with many things on the boat, some of which really fall outside the ambit of his or the dealer’s responsibility. No payment has been expected for this extra work.

I was having lunch with him on the boat today and he told me that although he had never visited, he had some connections with Australia. Firstly, his cousin farms sheep on a station outside of Alice Springs – how stereotypically Aussie can a Croation get?
Secondly, his son was born deaf five years ago. When the boy was two he had a ‘bionic ear’ implanted in Zagreb and could then hear. It was a Cochlear, the Australian invention. His son now hears and speaks normally.

It’s no disadvantage to be Australian in Croatia – a new nation where importance is placed upon nationality. Many Croatians have relatives in Australia (post WW2 migration mainly) and people here generally feel positively disposed towards the place, and to us.

It is different to see a country from a boat
Firstly, your perspective is overwhelmingly aquatic. Unless we hire a car or catch a bus (which we have done and will do some more) we really don’t see the inland much. It’s all the coast and the islands – I’m not complaining here. It’s a bit like a tourist coming to Australia and just doing a 2000 km cruise along the Barrier Reef. A memorable trip no doubt but something of a skewed view of the country.




But the major difference I have noticed when you visit a country in your own boat is that you deal with the local people - a lot. Normally as tourists we would mainly deal with people in shops, hotels, restaurants and taxis, most of who are accustomed to dealing with tourists. However, travelling with a boat you meet all kinds of local people; from customs, immigration and harbour officials through to local tradespeople (a lot of whom are older, speak German but not English, know we can’t speak Croatian so speak to us in German. We do seem to get the gist of what they are saying better if they say it in German rather than in Croatian – has watching all those episodes of Hogan’s Heroes assisted in this regard?)

It is interesting discussing, for example, the technical details of the chemical reactions involved in fibreglass repairs when you don’t really share a language.

It pays to hang around and observe the works in progress to ensure that there has not been a total communication breakdown. Most of the time I end up assisting/watching, mainly to learn a bit more about how the boat is put together – and to finesse my German of course.

The Islands
We have now left the mainland coast and sailed out to the islands. The island (or Otok as they call them here) of Unije (population 200) for a few nights and now Mali Losinj, a bigger more developed island.

Living here on the water as we are at the moment reminds me of a Paul Cox film (called Island??) I saw years ago about expatriates living (and some grappling with heroin addiction) on a Greek island. It was beautifully photographed and captured well the visual essence of the physical environment – the colour of the sea, the play of the light on the water at particular times of the day, etc. It also portrayed the rhythms of the everyday island life; the arrival of the decrepit inter-island ferry with a few passengers disembarking and goods unloaded. Unije was like that. The food and supplies for the store were collected from the dilapidated ferry by guys with a tractor and trailer and with wheelbarrows. Older women sat on the beach in the afternoon gutting and cleaning scores of fish. No cars or roads on Unije and too inaccessible for there to be many tourists.

Low to Mid 30’s in the shade in the cockpit in the afternoons, where I am sitting writing this with a nice breeze blowing through. Carolyn is still ploughing through and enjoying ‘A history of Venice’. When we get hot we dive off the back of the boat and then are ok for another hour. What with all the rowing and winching, up and down stairs and lifting etc., we are both getting fitter. It took a while to adjust to living in a perpetually moving environment. Now it seems normal and it seems less normal when we step ashore – things still rock. We mainly buy fresh food at the local markets which Carolyn applies her significant culinary skills to. We are eating well and it’s fortunate that we are also getting lots of exercise. We eat out quite regularly. Café and restaurant food here is pretty cheap, basic and fine. The best meals we have had have been on the boat.

June 13, Pula

Friends, this is predominantly for you who have been so neglected. Family, you have read most of this before.

As I have been so bad at getting this blog underway I thought I would put together a quick and dirty slightly edited version of emails which have been sent over the last month, principally to my family in Adelaide. Apologies for the repetition.

One of the reasons for delay, is that we have been analysing and sorting out power generation and consumption. As we have spent most of our time since leaving Izola at anchor we have been watching consumption quite closely – refrigeration and lights are the priority; laptops have not seen much use. While work is being done (or waiting for work to be done) on the boat here at the Veruda Marina where we are connected to mains power, it is a good time to do this blog thing.

If you start from the bottom you can see how we have progressed since we arrived in Slovenia on the first of May, or you can step backwards in time from the top. Apologies for any repetition, photos are next on the agenda. The next post will not be as long as this…

June 12 Pula – Marina Veruda
After a couple of nights in the main Pula harbour we refuelled with water and diesel and spent 4 nights at anchor in the lovely and mostly peaceful bay, Soline, to the south east of Marina Veruda. Yesterday we moved to the Marina Veruda to get some work done on the boat: a few little repairs, servicing of the diesel and outboard motors, change the thermostat on the fridge which is running too hard and using much battery, repair the lazy bag, find a generator, get some installation items finished that did not get done in Izola etc. We waited until Monday to have this stuff done and it will take at least until Wednesday.

The nights at anchor were great. There was a man in a boat who would come around in the morning and evening selling top fruit, veg, eggs, bread and wine. Fresh bread and fruit in the morning was just fantastic. Swimming every evening. The bay is quite large and very protected, surrounded 360 degrees by the mainland peninsula or island mass. At sunset on the last night we counted about 40 yacht masts – so we are not alone here by any means. The boats predominantly fly German flags although there is a fair smattering of Austrians. After that comes Italy, Croatia, France… We use the dingy to come ashore, find places to provision, arrange for the work to be done. There is a bus that goes close to the Marina so on Saturday I caught the bus into Pula to do a market shop. The produce is truly wonderful, chicken for kebabs on the barby and found some excellent stuffed peppers at one of the butchers. Yumm, lots of fine eating! Sunday we had a day of being tourists in Pula, visiting the citadel and the Roman Amphitheatre.

There is so much history here. I have been reading John Julius Norwich’s, ‘A History of Venice’. The Istrian Peninsula, where Pula is located, has spent much of the last thousand years under Venetian rule. There are some gorgeous examples of Venetian architecture and you can see why this is geographically such a natural maritime stronghold, occupied by the Romans before the Venetians. The Venetians were after the timber and stone of the area and trade routes. For anyone coming to this part of the world I highly recommend taking the time to read this dense and fascinating book. Later, Pula became the Austro Hungarian Empire’s principal port and centre for ship building which still goes on today.

June 7 Pula
We are now in Pula - a successful day of sailing to get here - no scrapes (yay!). Anchored in the main Pula harbour we have a bird’s eye view of the Roman Amphitheatre (apparently the most intact one in the world) which is beautifully lit at night. This morning in light rain we (Ross) rowed over to the dock and we stepped into town. It is so much easier to find a park with a dingy. We have been to the main market and have bought fresh fish and veges for dinner. This is the best market we have been to so far - cheap and plenty of variety. Peaches,
cherries, melons and nectarines are all in season so it is quite wonderful; fresh fish for on the barby for dinner. Had coffee at a cafe overlooking the market and are doing internet before going back to the boat for some chores. We will come back in to do touristy things this afternoon.

Last night we were invited to drinks on a fellow Australian boat, "Grey Dawn". Pam and Brent were wonderfully welcoming to us sailing newcomers and generous with information and advice – like good wine at a good price, favourite anchorages and marinas, anchoring techniques etc. They now spend more time with their business back in Aus but have a few months a year here. On this trip they are making their way to Venice so when they come back down the coast in a few weeks I hope we can return the drinks invitation. They have been cruising in the Med for 12 years. We have much to learn!

The weather is warm (24 during the day) although a little unreliable with the odd thunder storm and it usually rains overnight.

June 4 Rovinj
The birthday was much fun. We went out for dinner to a recommended restaurant, Veli Jose, and we also would not hesitate to recommend it; eclectic interior, a good Istrian menu and very good waiting staff.

We were seated at a table with a German couple, Susanne and Thomas, who were in the town for the weekend to look at a boat but did not find what they had hoped. They were both in the world of advertising (www.grey.de) and Thomas was interested in living on board so we had plenty to talk about. When Ross explained that it was my birthday they insisted on buying a bottle of Moet to help us celebrate. This was followed by trying some local schnapps and this was all on top of wine over dinner. Needless to say I felt pretty good and we had a fun night. Email addresses were exchanged. Thanks so much for the scarf Susanne it has already come in handy again, I hope you were home in time to enjoy the sun on your balcony.

Can't say I felt brilliant the next day, but there you go - you only live once.

June 2 Rovinj
After arriving by sea yesterday we are at Rovinj on the Istrian Peninsula in Croatia. I woke to the world bobbing around me, fresh coffee and lovely gifts from Ross - what a way to start a birthday! Right now I am in an internet cafe in the town after a bacon and eggs (with TOAST - my first toast in weeks!!!) brekkie at a cafe near where we parked the dingy. We have just purchased Croatian SIM cards for our phones so if anyone is inclined to you can call or text. Remember we are about 7.5 hours behind you (yes, Frank, I got it wrong the other day). Have not yet managed to get online with my computer to make a skype call.

Well, I do have some news to report. Wednesday we made our first border crossing - from Slovenia into Croatia. We left Isola, which has been our safe home port for the last month, where we have set the boat up and had some sailing and anchoring practice and the like, and made our way to Piran, our port of exit to go through customs and immigration formalities. We then had to make our way to the Croatian port of entry at the scenic little town of Novigrad. We spent a day in Novigrad - mostly to recover from the experience of the day before (every day - that's EVERY day - is a learning experience!). We motored all the way as it was a relatively short distance and the winds were not favourable.

Also, we had a little incident on leaving Isola getting the boat out of the marina berth. The winds were quite strong and gusting and we had a little trouble with the mooring lines of the boat next to us being unexpectedly under us in a not very nice way, so the short version is Manali has a little dent in the bow where we connected (hmmm... rammed) the berth. Thankfully, Ross was at the helm so his confidence and pride are now crushed as mine were the other day. I sympathised. We laughed later, analysed the incident thoroughly and have noted learning to put into practice. Thankfully all else went smoothly for the day.

We hooked up to a swing mooring in Novigrad so we had our first night away from a marina (where you can step off the boat onto a platform and walk into facilities and town). Instead we launched Mani, the dinghy, and zoomed into town!

Yesterday was our maiden sailing voyage. We sailed from Novigrad to Rovinj – not far but far enough to experience the changeability of weather in the Med. The forecast was okay but unfortunately the weather deteriorated so it was a bit of a rough ride beating into the wind - which is the most uncomfortable point of sail. I had a little seasickness and begged Ross to get us to Rovinj the quickest way possible. We motored the last few nautical miles. After looking at the marina here we decided to anchor in a much protected bay to the south of town, a short dingy motor into town. Unfortunately the weather is not great but it is expected to clear. We will spend at least a day here and maybe more, depending on the weather.

Rovinj is a picturesque old town with a distinctive cathedral on the hill overlooking the surrounds and visible for miles. The houses are brightly painted and the waterline is strikingly colourful. Lots to explore today. Tonight we will have birthday dinner in a restaurant which will be great. After a big day yesterday it is good to have a recreational day.

Interestingly the first 3 weeks here the weather was flawless. Warm and sunny with the occasional afternoon thundery shower. For the last week we have seen amazing rain and some major storms. If we keep heading south the weather can only get better. And I need to do some washing. On a boat there is not much room to hang wet clothes so on washing day Malali turns into a Chinese junk.

May 29 Izola
The weather here has deteriorated. After 2 weeks of great sunny weather with the odd afternoon thunderstorm it is now cool and intermittently rainy. From time to time a storm blows through. Good for this to be happening now while we are in a marina. We have found everything on the boat that has the potential to leak so we are now completely sealable (there are a couple of very hard to close windows, once they are sealed it is fine but it can take a bit of grunt to close them – due to newness no doubt.).

What I forgot to mention is that last Friday I took a ferry to Venice and spent the day exploring. It was so wonderful! I did think of you there in winter and how it would have been just magical. My day was warm and sunny. Gondoliers galore. Not too crowded. The ferry arrived about a 20 minute walk from St Marks Square. After being bedazzled by St Marks I caught a local ferry up the Grande Canal and then walked back via the produce markets, the odd ancient church, over the Rialto Bridge and then to the Academia.

I had a most wonderful moment at the Academia when I entered an out-of-the-way gallery with a huge and gorgeous painting (I think a Bellini??) of St Marks Square 500 years ago. It was painted from exactly the position that I had entered the square and had taken a photo. I was transported back in time. I do hope I will get back there again with Ross and Manali. Unfortunately I did not get to see any other art although I particularly wanted to go to see the Peggy Guggenheim collection... next time.

Till now we have had fantastic weather. Warm to hot and sunny - a heat wave for this time of year. A couple of days ago this all changed with a big storm from the south. So we will stay put in Isola until this passes in a couple of days. We will then start our journey south to Croatia.

Slovenia is a lovely country; verdant and green. You can enjoy the warmth of the coastal climate and then drive a couple of hours to ski in the Slovenian Alps. We spent a Sunday in Ljubljana when we had the car. Another picturesque old city with the old city built around a canal and a castle at the top of a hill. The people are friendly, multilingual (especially the young people) and helpful.

From Isola, on a clear day we can look across the bay of Trieste and see the Italian Alps in the distance. The food here is not much chop (another great thing about Venice was some real food, albeit expensive) but now that I have a fully functioning kitchen we are mostly eating on board. The boat is very comfortable although I am still knocking myself against things that I do not expect to be quite where they are but that will change over time.

May 25 Izola
Following delays due to the boat not being ready and things not being done correctly, we have now been living on the boat for 5 days but the hand over is not complete. Living on board is such a huge change. It is only just sinking in. We have been so focussed on setting up, sourcing, buying (after looking around locally, we ended up driving 3 hours to an Ikea store in Padua, Italy to purchase most of the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom stuff. I think we spent about 5 hours in the store, but at least much got done in one hit), fitting, getting to know the boat and its quirks and nooks and crannies for storage. There have been ups and there have been downs but looking forward the view is pretty darned good. The list of critical things to do is now shrinking but the secondary list grows.

I have most of the insides set up and liveable now. Poor Ross has the bulk of the boat and sailing related things to do (it was a bit intense to start but I think he is calming down now and is really quite in his element).

The other day it was time to test the inflatable dingy and outboard motor (which we are in the process of naming - either Mani or Mali - for those of you familiar with the TV show ‘Blackbooks’ I think Mani - a good worker who can deal with alot of abuse). We took the boat out (for the second time ever) and anchored at a quiet spot. I practiced driving Manali for a bit and we practiced anchoring. As it was a lovely fine evening and the test was taking longer than expected we had dinner out of the marina at anchor. It was a little taste of what is to come, except that Ross was greased up and focussed on outboard motor.

The motor had been poorly handled on its way here and was full of oil, so that took some sorting (by Ross, of course). Once it was working, there was Ross out poodling around the bay looking like a kid with a lolly pop. However, the dingy was taking on water, so yesterday Ross spent half the next day locating and fixing the leak, and then there was working out where to put the dingy when we are underway, and where does the motor live when not in use (now dingy secured to the foredeck and the outboard mounted on the aft railings)? Everything is like this. Every thing takes time and consideration.

When we came back into berth at the marina there was some confusion as another boat was in our spot – and, yes, it was me still driving. I had to reverse unexpectedly and went a bit too quickly. I saw the pointy metal bit on the nose (yes, Dad, that's the bow) of a very, very big boat behind us sticking way out and coming our way. A minor collision was unavoidable! The result: a small hole in the bimini – that is the awning over the cockpit - so yes, very humiliating, my first accident. The tear has already been fixed but my pride and confidence have some way to go. The marina grapevine works quickly. Already any one who we have had dealings with knows about it!!!!

Yesterday we assembled the folding bike and that is a great help. I rode to the library (where we can get free internet access) in no time at all. Next stop the supermarket - to date I have been walking and lugging heavy shopping bags - so this is a huge relief – and so much more efficient.

Every thing is new. Every day there are things which I'd never envisaged ever needing to know in my whole life. By yesterday I suggested that we have a do nothing new day. A day to rest, reinforce learning, take stock and give my poor little brain and body a break. Maybe we will do that tomorrow. Well, maybe I will do that tomorrow. I think it is impossible for Ross not to be tinkering.

We have met some good people - had our first guest for dinner last night – a German woman, Tanja, who has bought a very similar boat to ours – 'Lasty' with her parents and is here on her own for a few days before their arrival for the commissioning. She has been sailing in the Adriatic and elsewhere since she was 2 years old and is a mine of information, enthusiasm and good company. Her boyfriend joins her tonight. We hope to hook up again in the south, early July.


May 21 Izola
Yes, we have been setting up our new home. It is really quite amazing as we have to assemble or set up and test pretty much everything as it all comes in pieces. Ross is doing a stellar job at assembly of the boat specific stuff, but something’s we will have to evolve over time.

We are now living on the boat - yay! - first night on board Saturday 19th. We celebrated with a bottle of French champagne (which was divine, have yet to find a local wine which is very drinkable; Oh, for a good Australian sauv blanc) and a light dinner. It was great. A warm sunny day and a cool evening after the sun went down. Candles. Most things packed away. Slept like a baby on the firm but comfortable bed. It is great. Quite a bit to get used to but it is going really well. That’s not to say that I was without reservations. I had a couple of days there freaking out when I was thinking what have I done? You know... will Ross turn into a dictatorial monster? (not yet); Will it be crammed and horrible? (am coping very well here on day 3 and it is not at all cramped); will I be seasick? (not yet) etc etc. It really is pretty darned good. Lovely being so close to the water. To date we really have been too busy to step back and take stock as we are trying to have every thing set up and tested to leave Izola - hopefully, by the end of the week.

Yesterday we went out sailing for the first time and that was terrific. She sails beautifully. We picked up a few not quite right things but nothing that can't be fixed. I have soooo much to learn.

Better get going. I am on my way to the supermarket to get something to barbeque for dinner -tonight will be the christening of the barby! Every single thing needs to be set up and tested so this is an important one. Today was the assembly of the hand operated washing machine (joy of joys). Ross is doing the "important" things;-)

May 16 Izola
We continue to have a major shower every few days. It can be sunny and fine and then there will be a roll of thunder in the distance and then half an hour later it will cloud over and pour and then half an hour later it will be sunny again. It all adds up to a lot of green!

We are still waiting for the boat to be finished and the guy who we are dealing with has gone quiet. I hope he gets it together soon. In the mean time my job for today and tomorrow is to wash every kitchen thing that we have bought as it will be easier to do it here in port rather than when we are under way and as we need things. We have loaded and packed away all our purchases so, even though we are not technically living on board, we can check that all things have a home and that systems are working correctly. The first thing washed was the kettle and a couple of cups so that we could have our first cup of tea, although I am really hanging out for the complete hand over so that we can crack the champagne. To make a cup of tea we first needed to check that water pressure pump and water outlets (sea cocks) were functioning and Ross hooked up and tested the gas - so's the water could be boiled. We do have a hot water tank but we need to hook up to the mains power to check that one out and the connector for the power supply needs to be changed before we can do this - every little thing needs to be checked and adjusted!

Other wise things are good for me, but Ross had a slip on the boat the other day and has hurt his back. He went to the doctor today and has pills to take and I think the Slovenian equivalent to dencorub for me to apply a couple of times a day. I hope this works as when he moves it seems to be very painful.

May 14 Izola
We have been so busy for the last 12 days doing stuff to set up the boat while we have had a car. There has been so much purchasing and running around I can't believe it. Now the car has been returned so I think things will, by necessity, start slowing down. Hopefully we will move onto the boat in the next day or so and then it will be much easier to get out my computer and write something cohesive. I've been taking pics but have yet to get them off the camera and into the old computer. It will happen...

One of the many excellent things about Izola is that the public library has free fast internet access. The marina has wifi for 10 euro (AU$18) a day and when we tried it out the signal kept on dropping out. When I asked the receptionist about it she said, 'Yes, is problem' and gave us our money back. I think online communications may not be as straight forward as we had hoped.

Happy belated Mother's Day! I did think of you all for the traditional soup and sausages lunch yesterday. Great that every one is fine. We had a quiet day with a swim at the Hotel Delfin where we moved to on Saturday. It is closest to the marina as we are without car. It is a funny place, owned by a Pension Fund – pensioners get a special price. It is a bit like staying in an old person’s home – we can see that there is much to look forward to in years to come - we are the youngest guests by far, it is incredibly bizarre. There are multiple salt water swimming pools including a few hydrotherapy pools and this is where most people hang out. At the end of each day we go for a soak and to be pummelled by waterfalls. In the afternoon we explored Izola on foot and then had a quite read in the evening. Other wise the days have been quite long doing boat related things - it is a huge undertaking to set up home in a boat!

Last Sunday when we had the car we went to the capital Lubijana for a trip (making Sunday our day of rest and away from the boat or it all gets a bit much), there were some interesting crafts but nothing that I thought you would really like. I will know when I see something to send you. A lot of the things
(and the people) here remind me of Auntie Anna. The city was lovely. Freezing first thing in the morning - we were still adjusting to the time here and rising very early at that stage - but then the clouds burnt off and the sun came out. It is not a very big city but pretty, with the old town set along the canal with a Sunday flea market. There were flower boxes, medieval buildings, cafes, a castle on the hill in the centre of town with interesting exhibitions and a scary climb up a narrow circular iron stair case up to the top of the highest tower (we are talking sweaty palms here) to see a fabulous view over the land. The Alps could even be seen in the distance.

Once we get onto the boat it will be easier to write something on my computer. I am also aware that when we do move on we are not likely to have such great internet access as we have here at the public library in Izola.

Slovenians say that the Italians are completely self absorbed. Even though Slovenia (which has been a separate country for 10 years) is only a few kilometres away from Trieste they think the border is still with Yugoslavia. Slovenians here on the coast all speak Italian and then they also learn English
or German at school. Every one speaks 5 languages, so I feel terribly inadequate on the language front. We will see how we go once English is not so widely spoken.

We are close to moving aboard. There are a couple of things to be completed and Ross is reluctant to move before they are complete or it may seem that we have accepted delivery and nothing further will happen. The agent in the UK agrees. In the mean time we have loaded all our purchases, I've washed the linen (apparently they don't have laundromats in Slovenia or Croatia so I did it all at the marina at the only coin operated laundry in the realm. It cost 50 euro in tokens for washers and dryers - that's about AU$90!!!! At least everything has had a good wash so from now on it will be the little hand
washing machine on the boat). I'm really looking forward to being onboard and with any luck it will be tomorrow or the next day.

Great that you are finally getting rain. Has the drought broken? The weather here is gorgeous. Again fine and warm with a light breeze.

May 10 Izola
I have yet to progress my blog as we are doing a lot of running around for the boat. I've taken a few photos but have not worked out how to process them and get them onto the blog, and I have not written a word. I'll get onto that when things have settled down.

Today is another running around day. This morning we loaded another car full of stuff on board from another big purchasing day (we went to Ikea in Padua, Italy on Monday for most of our kitchen, bathroom and bedroom gear - it is exactly the same as in Australia). Yesterday we did tools, kitchen and cleaning bits and pieces. The day before we went to a few chandlery stores for boat gear.

I can't believe how exhausting all this purchasing and decision making is! It also took us a while to get over the jet lag, but we are, thankfully, adjusted now.

The boat is looking good but there are a few things that must be done before handover (like a 3rd reef in the main sail, compasses adjusted, instruments calibrated, a good clean and we are still awaiting delivery of the anchor) so we will not move on board just yet. We think we will be on board at the end of next week, mostly because of the delay in getting the sail reefed. While we can't wait to start using the boat, we really need to wait until everything is done so that there is a clean handover. There are still some things we need to purchase to make life on board workable but hopefully we will get them done today.

We will change hotel tomorrow or the next day and we only have the car booked for one more day (we may need to extend this for a few days). There will be a major readjustment when we lose the car and then move on board...

May 8, Izola
I am sending this email from the Izola public library and the keyboard is different to our keyboard, most notably the z and y are in opposite positions and it is difficult to capitalise and punctuate, so I hope you will forgive some sloppiness.

We are very well. The weather here has been quite changeable. Today it is bright and sunny and already warm at 10am. We have had some amazing downpours. We have not seen rain like this for as long as I can remember. I do think of you when it rains like this - are you expecting more rain? I hope there's rain in Melbourne too as it was soooo dry when we left. It can be sunny and warm and there will be thunder in the distance and then an hour later an incredible down pour for half an hour, which one must take shelter from - we really need to buy an umbrella. We had one day when it rained most of the day, so it is very, very green here. Interestingly, Slovenia is the most forested country in Europe.

May 3, Izola (through a haze of jetlag)
Ross and I are now in Izola and have had a look at the boat (which should be ready for hand over on Friday). To think that it will be our new home. It is pretty amazing. There is much to be done to set it all up and then there is the paper work to do, but this is a very, very beautiful spot to start out from. The
people are lovely and very helpful. I'll try taking some photos to put up on the blog. I am in the local library where there are free internet computers – which is also amazing!

I think we will be quite busy with the set up, but I do hope to take a day to visit Venice, which is right across the bay.

April 14-ish
This email or similar went out to friends and family a couple of weeks before we departed Melbourne. It gives a little back ground and a link to information about our boat ‘Manali’.

“Some of you know most of the plans that Ross and I are hatching, some know a little and some know nought. The short version is; we have packed up house in St Kilda, have moved with all our stuff to the Tecoma cottage, we fly out on the 29th of April– yes, that is only two weeks away – to Trieste where we pick up a car and drive to Izola on Slovenia’s tiny coast (squeezed between Italy and Croatia) where we take delivery of the new yacht that we will then live on.

This has been a long term dream for Ross and I am now his willing accomplice (gulp!).

If anyone had said to me 5 years ago that in 5 years I would be shutting up shop to live on a boat in the Mediterranean I would have asked what medication they were on and did they have any to spare. However, there’s an adventure to be had and what better time than the present?

Since the New Year I have been in training – a Competent Crew course, Coastal Navigation and Marine Radio Operator’s course (what strings for my old landlubbers bow!). Ross has years of sailing experience and qualifications so we are as ready as we will ever be to give life afloat a go. If it doesn’t work out we can always sell up and come back.

You can see pictures of the boat here http://www.bavaria-vision.de/index.php?id=787&L=1. She’s a 42ft Bavaria Cruiser and her name is 'Manali'. She’s gorgeous and we look forward to making her our own.

At this stage we are thinking we’ll sail down the coast of Croatia, take a left at the bottom to explore the coast and islands off Greece and Turkey and then who knows where; maybe south to Tunisa, although recently Israel and Egypt have caught our attention. We’ll see which way the wind is blowing.
Last week we packed up house in St Kilda and moved up here to Tecoma where we will live until the grand departure day. We can also come back here from time to time and plan to be back around November for a few months, so if we don’t catch up before we go we can catch up then.

Whilst it's a long way for people to come, we hope that some of our family and friends will be able to join us on the Med to share some of the experience (the highs, lows, excitement, boredom, tears, laughter, beauty, culture, fear, nature, history… the discomfort!).

I’m thinking there will be a blog so you can find out where we are and what we're up to, but more on that later. My mobile number stays the same and you can get me via this email address and on Skype from time to time.

So, that's it in a nutshell. It's all happening and there are still 101 things to do in the next couple of weeks – those darned lists still seem to be getting longer rather than shorter but we're ploughing through them.