Over the course of the next couple of days we stayed in the marina to sit out some bad weather.  In Croatia and other part of the Adriatic they get winds called Bora.  The Bora comes down from the mountains on the eastern side of the Adriatic.  It is caused by cold air , which has been trapped in the mountains behind the coastal belt, falling to the sea.  Conditions that favor a bora are high pressure to the NE of the Adriatic and low pressure over Italy.  It can also occur as a katabatic wind caused by air cooling over the mountains and then falling down to the sea.  In the north around Trieste Italy the strongest bora blows with a recorded high gust of 110 knots (70 knot hourly average).

The weather forecast was for these type of winds so we decided this was a very good marina to wait them out.  So on the night of the 24^th the winds were 28-33 knots (force 6-7).  On the 25^th the winds continued with an average 28 – 35 knots and gusts over 40 knots.  The marina weather station recorded 55 knot gusts which is Force 10-11.  All the rental boats out on the water must have had some trying times if they anchored in some cove.  By the 26^th the wind dropped around noon along with some cooler air.  The 27^th was a calm day with light rain.

During the high winds the boat creaks, groans on its mooring lines and heels a bit.  But the marina is so well protected from waves that it is calm inside.  The Mega yachts on the outside have more wave action but still in good shape.  We did watch two 100 foot motor yachts berth alongside in the high winds.  They have powerful bow and stern thrusters to force the boats against the wind but even that was not enough.  The end result was they drove the boat toward the berth and got a couple of line to the marina staff and winched them over.  It took several tries as the wind kept blowing the mooring lines back to the boat as they were thrown.

So much for the weather.  The marina is designed to handle the huge bareboat chartering business that has taken off in Croatia.  This marina was specifically enhanced to hold hundreds of charter boats from many international and local companies.  Charters here all begin on Saturday afternoon with the boats returned on Friday afternoon.  The crews can stay onboard Friday night and leave Saturday morning.  New renters can get on board Saturday afternoon.

With this many boats the marina has set up a very efficient process to get the boats berthed on Friday.  The charter companies descend on the boats, inspect then for damage, repairs and begin the checkout process.  On Saturday morning all boats are washed, interiors cleaned, sails deployed and checked, outboards motors and main engines checked, divers inspect the hull for damage, etc.  Then in the afternoon the new renters are given a briefing on the operation of the boat, confirm the condition and get there stuff onboard.  The local grocery store is emptied of provisions, mainly beer.  The larger supermarket a kilometer away takes the bulk of the provisioning.  All of this reminds me of Southwest Airlines and there very effective turnaround of planes at the airports. 

Renters raise their local country flag on the port side (European thing) and blast out of the marina once the provisions arrive.  Only full throttle is used it seems in order to beat the other boats to the best spots.

We did very little during these days.  A visit to Trogir, a old city nearby was one day’s activity.  Another was a walk over to Kastela Gomilic.

Trogir is located in between two bays and was a important local city as a result.  It is one of the postcard picture type towns with a waterfront that invites and gets many mega yachts for the day or overnight.  In fact if your boat is less than 100 feet don’t bother trying to berth.  There is a marina across the inlet for those small boats.  Inside the town is like many other waterfront town.  Churches, old walls, new shops in old buildings, and many many restaurants along the water and in each small town square. 

Kastela Gomilic is one of several small protected hamlets located along the Kastela Bay.  These were normally constructed around the time of the Turkish invasions as a place of refuge for the locals.  While not an impressive castle by any imagination they are interesting and remain in use even today as residence.

Part of the marina on Saturday morning with all charter boats in their berths.

View of marina with all the charter boats gone.  Reception center in background with air conditioned lounges for guests waiting to get on their boat.

Trogir waterfront with mega yachts.

Trogir fort that is used for art festivals during the summer.

New entrance bridge to Kastela Gomilic.

I guess the resident of this place has time to kill.  This is inside the Kastela Gomilic.

Old parts from the mill get used to hold up the stairs!