Hrvatska Republica - The Adriatic from Top to Bottom in Autumn 2008
How the idea developed:
Good reasons for a paddling vagrant's life:
+ Fitness and healthy food +
+ Independence from fossil fuels (makes it cheap) +
+ Being able to carry enough equipment to be self-sufficient yet moving with relative ease compared to a bicycle +
+ The experience of being slow yet covering quite big distances by being continuously on the move +
+ Being able to pull the boat up onto the beach or rocks adds safety compared to a sailboat +
+ The "Robinson-life" as a Croat put it - a very good reason indeed :) +
More on the disadvantages and details later...
This is a very rough description of my route. Still counting the miles covered, as I lost diary and all documentation with the boat. But more on that later.
This mantis welcomed me to Plavnik, after the griffon vultures on the cliffs made me a little unsure of myself.
Found a beautiful little beach on Plavnik at last. Round pebbles and dry seaweed for insulation make it comfy.
Getting up at 5am to get to Krk city before the tourists do. This is 6:20am and the sun is coming up behind the Velebit. To the left, behind that little piece of headland there's Otok Krk with the city of Krk. In Krk a girl from Hungary and a Croat invite me to a drink. I am just coming out of a cafe with 15 litres of freshwater in bottles when they tell me I remind them of the movie "Into the Wild". We have a wonderful discussion about Sean Penn and civilisation and I move on happily with a sixpack and a watermelon.
Some insane voice in my head suggests to cross directly to Otok Sveti Grgur. When I am right in the middle between the two islands on a totally calm sea with no other boat in sight, I notice a huge black wall building up a few miles to the west. It doesn't seem to move, but neither do I. From time to time gusts of wind appear out of nothing. Then it's quiet again. Too quiet. This is only my fourth day paddling so I nearly die from overheating while convinced I will die there. 17:30 I finally reach Sv. Grgur.
Bunker on the former women's prison island Otok(island) Sveti(holy) Grgur. The adjacent island Goli Otok was the men's prison. Dictator Tito put his political adversaries here. The area is known as the one most seriously hit by the Bora. Which is also the reason why there is hardly any vegetation. Also goats and sheep have done their part as in many places in Croatia.
When I arrive, the storm-front has already come very close. I eat a muesli, put a bottle of warm Karlovačko in the water and a friendly local adds one from his stash. Then some of the local people help to carry the boat out of the water. It's still calm by then, but 20 minutes later suddenly big waves come rolling in and it gets windy. Then the wind calms down and it starts raining. I am done putting up the tent and taking these photos of the impressive lightshow when suddenly hailstones as big as icecubes start to fall.
Next morning: calm and perfect weather. This guy comes over to say hello. The deer population must be living almost entirely of figs and fig-leaves and twigs. This is the only sheltered part of the small island. 95% of it are bald.
A pretty monotonous lookout: Cres in the distance from a prison cell.
Fig tree plantation. Pure sugar! :)
This bug works hard to get the deer-digested figs underground to feed his little ones. There are thousands of them fighting over millions of turds!
90% of all minibays look like this. This time it seems to be the leftovers of a boat.
Hopping over to Olib from Otok Škrda in the evening. One in two sandy beaches on my whole journey. Rotting seaweed makes it less enjoyable.
The coast of Olib with the Velebit in the background.
The harbour of Olib.
Pimp my Pasta on Silba.
Also Silba. Storm predicted turns out to be only strong winds of up to 5 Beaufort.
Resting on Rava with fish and tasty sea-urchin. Big island opposite is Dugi Otok (long island).
He asked if I could give him and his mates a lift away from their micro-island. The Baikal doesn't make such a good Arche, we found. A pity, they seemed bored.
Resting the boat on rubbish always works in the Adriatic. Plenty available!
Otok Mana, famous for its overhanging cliffs and for the ruins of a Greek style village built in 1961 as a set for the film ‘The Raging Sea’ seen on the far right.
The only shoes I took. Tough trekking, but I didn't really regret it.
A pretty bay with an amazing local. He came in snorkelling with 15 Octopussies and 3 big fish on his string. Too bad he didn't understand english. He then made his way up a rocky hill-road in that rotten Zastava. Any self appointed off-road-specialist would have been happy to get up there in a 4x4. That car looked like from a museum with small rockhard tyres with hardly any tread. Incredible!
Enjoying the show near Split.
Split from Čiovo. I avoided close contact with dirty cities like this one and snuck out towards Brač for some peace. ;)
Munching my muesli on Čiovo. All the red-burnt tourists have gone to their city-nightlife and left me a beautiful clean beach with Split in safe distance. Perfect! :)
Figs dried in 30°C. 100% organic. They do have the occasional mini-maggot, but that doesn't affect the taste.
On the way to Brač trying not to get run over. F***ing high speed ferries! Who needs them?
Huge blue mussels stolen from the fish cages. They thrive in that disgustingly over-eutrophic water.
"Eating and sleeping since 1906" - She's my type! ;)
Fancy a commercially organised tour? After meeting these poor people and their tourguide I was suddenly really happy to be on my own again. What's the point feeling lonesome with this for an alternative? Took them about an hour to get into their tank-like boats.
"Pokonji Dol"(according to Google Maps): When I get there in the evening I actually just want to have a quick refreshing swim and then leave to find a beach back on Hvar. But then a group of Aussies helps me to pull the boat up and we have a chat before they return to Hvar in their rented boat. The first night I get some heavy Bora and the tent nearly get's blown away. The next day I spend spearing fish and fixing the tent. There's a figtree and I got "Der Butt" by Günther Grass to spend the sparetime. On the second day a couple from Sydney pays a visit in a borrowed sit-on-top. We condider eating one of the 3 skinny sheep for dinner, but they change their mind.
Out spearing: Under the waves crashing against the cliffs it's quiet even in a storm.
One of two cosy micro-islands between Hvar and Korčula.
Shot my dinner, made a fire and while cooking I realise I left my headlamp on the cliffs on Hvar. The next morning I leave half my water and cooking stuff on the island and go back 4 nautic miles to Hvar. A quick snack there and when I return to my island around midday, the wind is getting stronger. I put the tent up again and decide to stay for another night.
Just the average amount of rubbish in bay like this.
A shipwreck near Orebić on Pelješac.
The southeast tip of Pelješac.
Mljet in the distance. One third of the island is covered by a National Park.
Jakljan, an island blessed with dozens of starving cats.
Lopud, a beautiful island. If you manage to miss the high season by a good bit it is really worth a look!
Sunji Beach on Lopud, just a few miles from Dubrovnik. Montenegro probably beginning in the distance on the right.
Beautiful? This is one of up to 7 cruise ships that unload a mass of moneyspending zombies into the old town of Dubrovnik. Ever seen 12.000 people being squashed into 0.5km²? Once it got all jammed up and the police had to free the tourists from the old town. :)
Eucalypts in the botanic garden of Lokrum right next to Dubrovnik's old town.
Symbolic for Dubrovnik?
Lookout from the balcony of friends that gave me a roof over my head and lots of hospitality after my boat got stolen. They work for Tammie, an American lady running a kayak tour organizer in Dubrovnik. If you plan to visit Dubrovnik, a Kayak is THE way to chill from the heat and the incredible crowds! Paddling around Lokrum and checking out the caves is a must. And you don't need to know anything about paddling to have fun with them! This is the address: adriatickayaktours.com
Going up the coast by bus to catch the plane from Zadar, I stopped in Primošten which I had passed on my way down. A beautiful place with a renowned local wine: Babić - a strong red that is said to be very healthy. Got me some Babić and Chips and slept on the rooftop of a shed on a basketball-court overlooking the town beach.
