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Our furthest north destination is Zadar.  This is another very old city that was populated many centuries ago.  It has a natural harbor on the mainland coast.  Today it is an industrial city with a large commercial port just south.  In the city there is the original port that is now used by a marina and ferry boats.  On the west side of the harbor is the old walled city and on the east is most of the hotels and all of the new part of the city.

On the trip up here from Pasman you pass through the Pasman Kanal which reminds me a little of the Thousand Islands on the St Lawrence boarding the USA and Canada.  The depths are shallow and you need to keep a close watch on the charts but not dangerous during the day.  Along the way are small town and holiday resorts that have been increasing in number over the last few years.  Now even water parks with slides dot the shoreline.  There are also new marinas that are expanding and now host an annual Croatian boat show in the fall.

The old town of Zadar is typical of the other towns along the coast.  Romans and Venetians took hold at times and some of the ruins are still in place.  In recent time with the 1990’s war this town was almost taken by the Serbs so a lot of damage happened then.  Today most has been repaired and the town is active in tourism.

A couple of tourist items are fun to do.  From the marina to the old town there are two ways to connect.  To the south is a foot bridge across the shallow side on the harbor.  It leads right into the heart of the old town and the open air market place.  On the northern end connecting the marina and the old town is the traditional rowing boats.  For 5 Kuna (about one dollar) you can be rowed across the 50 meter harbor entrance.  It is the most fun when the large ferries are passing though at that time.  Not surprisingly this transport is heavily used, even by the locals because it is conveniently located.

The second and third tourist things are the ocean organ and sunset.  The organ is a large number of pipes built into the steps along the seawall.  As the waves enter an enclosed airspace below the existing air activated the pipes like an organ.  So it gives this melodic song that can easily put you to sleep in the warm sun.

At night the sunsets are supposed to be amongst the best in the world, so said Alfred Hitchcock.  Since he lived in smoggy Los Angeles I do not consider him a sunset expert but that is fine. Each night, similar to Key West Florida, the tourist gather for the event.  They also have built in the pavement a glass covered light show just after the sunsets.  Not really that spectacular except for the kids who just love running around on the glass with the lights underneath.

Zadar does attract a large number of mega yachts and has the berthing to handle them.  However the ferry traffic and prevailing winds continue to make the harbor choppy and unpleasant for any extended stay on a boat.  I also watched the mega yachts have difficulty retrieving their anchors.  Seems to be a lot of junk on the bottom that snags them  The local diver make a good wage untangling the mess.  I watched his work on three yachts in one day.

We spent three nights here and enjoyed the stay except for the rocking of the boat on the second and third day.

Waterslide along the shoreline

Mega yacht and charter boats leaving together makes for tight maneuvering, especially with the ferries.

Traditional rowboat.  The rower pushes the oars instead of sitting and rowing backwards.  Not fast but it works.  They work all day long except if it rains which it never does in the summer.

Sculpture on the waterfront

Ruins of a Roman forum

Crowds sitting on the pipe organ steps waiting for sunset.

So here is the sunset with a boat, fisherman and dog.