From Diocletian's Palace to Solta 43:23N 16:19E
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Mon 10 Aug 2015 10:30
palace. There were even the remains of sewage pipes in the basement, which, although not an appetizing topic for conversation, reveals the sophistication of the architecture. Diocletian also arranged for an aqueduct to be built to his palace, and 1700 years later it is entirely intact and supplies the fresh water to the area even today.
The next day we made our way out of the marina at about noon. Instead of stressing about a new anchorage, we headed to the reliable Vinisce inlet and had a relaxing rest of the day after a fresh sail over there. We anchored in a more shallow location than usual, in about 5 m of water (which is about 15 feet, and this is still fairly deep, but not for the Med). There was a bit of a storm, with thunder, lightening and rain and several of the boats, including ours, dragged a bit with the 180 degree change in the wind direction with the storms arrival. In the am, when I was shopping for fresh fruit, veggies and bread, the anchor dragged a bit more, and Vlad reset it by himself.
That afternoon we headed to the Island of Solta. We anchored outside of the harbour of Maslinca. When we went to pull up the anchor, it didn't work and after a bit of time to figure out what the problem was, Vlad got it going again. Phew!
In the meantime, a man from a restaurant had came by and said that we could moor there in the inlet of Sesula if we ate at the restaurant. So we decided that we wouldn't have to anchor and could sleep easily tied to mooring lines - especially as there were sudden thunderstorms predicted for the area. The restaurant Sismis, was really great and the atmosphere of the place was outstanding. A little piece of paradise. Wild goats came by to say hello, which the kids loved.
The next day, off to see if we could find an anchorage on the south side of Solta. We didn't find anything we liked, but suddenly there were a significant number of splashes in the water, and we saw tuna jumping right out of the water and
the fins of dolphins. There must have been at least 40-50 large fish/dolphins in pursuit of a school of fish below. They say the Med is dead, but I don't think it is so barren in the Adriatic. We ended up back in Necujam harbour, and anchored on the east side, as once again we didn't find a place elsewhere that we liked, although there was plenty of choice. The eastern edge is our preference. Stayed two nights. Off to the ACI marina in Split so we can get more beverages ( we drink water but also need Fanta, juice, milk, Coke Zero etc) as we are going through it all so fast in this hot humid weather. Also planning to buy some boat supplies if we can find a chandlery.