44 41.3N 14 45.7E

Rab old town quay Friday 2^nd August

Fumija Bay just west of the old town 3^rd – 4^th August

We had a swift motor sail to Rab winding through the various reefs and small off lying islands at the southern end of Losinj and on the north- west side of Pag. The sea was like glass and we saw few boats about until we had almost arrived at the town of Rab. We decided to go into the bay where the ACI marina is situated (to the east of the old town) and investigate the chances of getting onto the town quay which we had been told might be feasible. Sure enough we found a spot and with the help of the very friendly harbour marinera we were soon all fast alongside the quay just under the rather impressive hotel  Arbiana.

We really liked this town and enjoyed exploring the narrow lanes and visiting the various old churches; however it was quite noisy and there was continuous wash from boats entering and leaving the bay (the speed limit was 3 knots but even the water taxis didn’t keep to that!). We had a lovely meal at a restaurant - St. Maria which is situated in an old church, the décor was lovely and the food good too. Thanks to Stuart Bradley from the Cruising Association for the recommendation.

Having done a small shop in the supermarket at the head of the bay we decided to go around to the west of the old town and anchor in a more peaceful setting. Shortly before leaving a gentleman stopped to talk to us about Bosham – he had grown up there and was so pleased to see a boat with the village name included. He apparently has a Croatian wife whose family are from Rab so they visit every year – lucky them!

We had a good day and night at anchor although it was very hot and also the wind got up in the night so we had to fold away the sun awning at 0130. That aside we decided to stay another night so this is being written as we sit on the anchor having had a very lazy day swimming, reading and snoozing (too hot to do much else!) One other advantage of this anchorage is the excellent wifi signal so that means we can get blog posts up to date and keep an eye on the weather forecast. We will be moving off again tomorrow probably back to the west to another quiet anchorage.