44 04.8 N 15 11.3 E

Preko Marina Ugljan

17^th – 19^th July

We managed a bit of a sail through the small islands heading east from Dumboka and then south along the eastern side of Ugljan to get to Preko. There were several bays that looked attractive for anchoring in the future. We arrived and were duly moored up by 1200 in this very pleasant small marina. (61 Euros per night which included the CA discount). There are plenty of food shops and a plethora of restaurants, a fresh fish market and fruit and vegetable stalls outside the reasonably sized Kosum (Super market). With a stony swimming beach a 100 metres from the boat or the option to use the ladder on the outer harbour wall the swimming was good too. We did a small shop a full load of washing in the machine in the toilet block – (40K per load to wash)and filled up with water as well as getting information about the ferry service to Zadar the regional capital and just a few miles across the water from us in Preko.  The following morning we walked to the ferry quay – 10 minutes round the headland. Caught the 0815 ferry and were in Zadar and ashore by 0915. We found the fish market first and to our delight there was also a substantial fresh food market and a large Kosum too. We resolved to return once we had done the sightseeing bit!

Zadar was a town before the Romans arrived in the 3^rd century BC so there were plenty of remains to see (despite the allied bombing in 1943! which almost wiped out the ancient forum but luckily missed the 9^th century church and slightly younger cathedral). We wandered around the small streets and were amazed by the church of St. Donas – it has the most amazing examples of ancient recycling we have ever seen! The foundations of the huge pillars had bits of roman pillars and even dressed stone slabs with script on them. Also incorporated into the building were bits of ornate plaster work rather haphazardly used almost at floor level – in a previous life they must have been tops of capitals on the ancient Roman buildings! We had a beer and then went to shop for fresh produce before catching the 1230 ferry back to Preko.

On Friday night we had a meal out at a restaurant mentioned on Trip Advisor called Jardins – it was OK but as we went for the cheap set meal at 80K it wasn’t bad I guess! During our stay at Preko we met the manager of the Marina – Alan who kindly came on board to give us some local information regarding the next part of our journey north. He also agreed that we could have some medication sent to the marina for us to collect on our way back south (Rob is running out of one of his tablets); and we also decided to leave an empty gas bottle which they will get filled again ready for collection in mid-August.

Before heading off to bed we were visited by Gillian and David Percy CA members whom we met in the spring. They were newly arrived back in their home marina and were busy packing up to go home so we only had a brief chat and drink but hope to see them again later in August.

We left the marina around 0900 on Friday morning heading northwest for an overnight at anchorage in a bay called Muline (free) just 7 miles away at the top end of Ugljan.