43:18.6N 16:26.7E

Enough rocking and rolling in the berth at Split while we wait on the pump.  Time to get away from a marina and into a place we can swim and relax.  So off we went to the south looking for an anchorage on the south side of Otok Solta.  Only a 9-10 nautical mile trip to get away and find something nice.  First was an anchorage that looked good in the pilot guide.  Upon arrival it is much smaller than the impression I had and water depths are fairly deep with questionable anchor holding capacity.  Further there was a boat swinging on anchor using most of the available space.  There are bollards on shore to tie off to while at anchor to reduce the swing.  He was not using them so not the place to stay.  East to Otok Brac and check out a large anchorage.  U. Lucice is a large cove with three fingers.  The western most is the largest and has two restaurants that have set mooring bouys.  The other two are smaller, require use of an anchor and are exposed to the south wash from passing ferries.

We picked up a mooring bouy for 60 bucks (300 Kuna).  In this part of the anchorage the water was 28 meters deep, more than I want to anchor in so the 5 ton concrete block is a better solution.  About 30 boats used this cove on moorings and about 10 anchored along the shore and tied off to trees and rocks for free.  The problem with tying off is that is sets the beam to the waves that come into the cove.  Not a big item since the protection is good.  The restaurant hires a guy to help with the mooring, collect the fee, take the garbage and deliver fresh bread in the morning.  Mooring spacing is not the best and with 25 – 30 meters depth the swing is pretty large.  Boats that looked far away get real close when the wind changes.  I saw two “hit” but where saved by fast response of the crews.

Overall this is a great place to relax, calm, quiet except for the loud sailboaters who are on their party time for a week.  Adult Austrians laughing and shouting till the wee hours.  Air Cond and closed hatches does wonders for us.

We enjoyed snorkeling, swimming, kayaking and one short dingy ride to check out the rest of the harbor.  Mainly Holiday houses with interesting small bathing areas created in the Karst stone (Limestone layers that are nearly level making almost a platform).  This part of Croatia is sedimentary rock not volcanic.

This anchorage like many other is heavily populated with black sea urchins.  They have destroyed most aquatic plants.  Additionally the heavy fishing for octopus and lobsters eliminated any other help in ridding the waters of the urchins.  Small fish abound however and there are some starfish, small corals, sponges and sea pens (clams).

Boats on moorings in 25+ meters water (80 feet).  These two, power boat and sailboat came together later in the night as the slight wind shifted.  No damage.

Sea star on rock at bottom.  Sea urchin to the right with a shell on its spines.  These black urchins have very brittle spines and can cause infections if stepped on since it is nearly impossible to get out all the broken parts of the spine.