43 21.0N 16 27.8E

Bobovisca Bay on Otak Brac (west coast) 23^rd August

We went into Split main harbour having sought permission from the Harbour Master  using the VHF ch.9; moored alongside opposite where the cruise ships and larger ferries berth and ahead of the smaller ferry berths. It was a rather lumpy and dirty place to be but served its purpose. Rob went to discuss checking out regulations at the Harbour Office while Jacky went sightseeing in the old part of the city – within the Diocletian’s Palace. It was a very busy day and the tourist areas were packed with cruise ship passengers! The Cathedral, Bell Tower, city walls and gates, crypt, baptistery and the Peristil were all visited in a whirl wind trip. After that it was down to more basic needs – the open market was just 100 metres from the boat so some fresh produce was purchased before departing (within our 2 hour time limit) for the next overnight stop on the island of Brac.

Rob’s discussions with the harbour office were again rather indecisive but to be on the safe side checking out is recommended even if we are going to an EU country from an EU country.

We motored across the 9 miles to Brac and soon found our way into the delightful harbour of Bobovisce. It is long and narrow and has a number of mooring buoys dotted along the edge of the bay. However we had telephoned and reserved a space on the small quay which had mooring lines power and water. We arrived just after another boat flying the Red Ensign and we duly moored up next to them. Ewan and Eileen Buchanan from Scotland, funnily enough we later discovered that Ewan had learnt his sailing from Rhu a town near to where Jacky lived as a child! We enjoyed our night here and at 320K inclusive of services we felt it was good value too. We had a pleasant meal at a Konoba just beside the boat dock called Vala. Jacky had a local speciality - Pasticada which is a beef dish that is marinaded in wine and spices slow cooked and served with Gnocchi – delicious and one of the nicest dishes she has eaten in Croatia! The village is lovely with some good swimming areas and the water was lovely and clean. We were quite surprised to hear so many English voices around and saw several families here who were obviously staying near-bye on holiday.

The following morning we took the opportunity to wash the boat as the water pressure was excellent and it certainly needed doing! Then we headed off to the next destination Stari Grad on Hvar.