A week with friends 42:35N 18:13E

Rubicon
Wed 26 Aug 2015 07:18
We made it into the Dubrovnik ACI marina by just showing up, after about 6 weeks of emails, phone calls, pleas etc for a berth ahead of time. Andrew, Bianca and kids were arriving on the 19th of August, and because we moored in the marina the day before, I was able to do a re-provisioning, a deep clean of the boat, and I dropped off 4 large loads of laundry to ensure that Rubicon was ready for guests. Just as the Orr's were scheduled to fly into Dubrovnik, the wind increased, the thunder and lightning started and the skies opened up. We were getting a bit concerned that they weren't going to be able to land, but it was all OK, and about 1 hour later, they all arrived on Rubicon.

We took them on a tour of the Southern Dalmatian Islands. We first went into Dubrovnik for the evening, and headed over to Uvula Sunj on Lopud Island the next day. Had a great hike with Bianca and Benno, finding an old church and a farm along the way. Next stop was Pomona on Mljet Island, where we took a dip in the saltwater lakes. Next day, Korcula, the birthplace of Marco Polo and a very well preserved Medieval walled town. Then heading back, we stopped at Polace on Mljet Island, Luka Sipanska on Sipan Island, and then to Tivat anchorage adjacent to Cavtat.

It was wonderful to have the Orr's with us for a week. We all got along famously, and in particular the kids were in heaven, with so many others to play and spend time with. Pavel has improved his crazy eights skills, and got up every morning to do his reading homework, first thing, with whomever was up for the job. Sophie loved swimming and diving off of the boat, and Benno was in his heaven, taking the dingy out to explore, and was very helpful taking people back and forth to the boat from shore. Vlad and Andrew got plenty of time to chill together, and we are grateful that the Orr's were so nice about hearing all of our sailing stories, that we have stored up for the last 6 months. Catherine just took it all in as usual. She loves being on the boat.

So here we are, anchored, slowly rocking in the swell of boats passing by. We must send off the Orr's today, and we are leaving Croatia and heading to Montenegro this afternoon. This part of our adventure has come to an end. Now it is time to start moving towards the west, and onto the Caribbean. It will take until mid December to get there. First, we will take some time to travel across the coast of Italy, then onto the Balearic Islands, and we plan to be in Gibraltar by September 27, 2015. John Eustace will be joining us to help with some warranty work, and will help us take Rubicon to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. Funnily enough to Marina Rubicon. Then will join the ARC and head to St Lucia, departing November 22. I won't always have good internet like we had in Croatia, but will do my best to keep the blog updated.

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