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Published: August 20th 2019
Our next stop was at anchor in a well protected bay at the village of Vinisce. We had heard from others that it had God holding with the bonus of have a couple of small grocery stores and a bus that goes to the nearby town of Trogir.
When we went to shore very conveniently right across the road there was a sign for the tourist information office. They had a bus schedule to Trogir already printed up to hand out so think it must be a common question for them. We had thought of going to Trogir when we left Split but decided to bypass it to head a little farther up the coast. This works out well in that we have a safe place for the boat and we can get to Trogir via a 35 minute bus ride. We now knew what we would be doing the next day. We either had the option of catching a bus at 7:10 or 11 so decided the early one would be best to beat the crowds in town. With having to get to shore by dinghy and walk to the bus stop we left the boat early and got
to the bus stop with time to spare. The morning sun was hot already and there was a store nearby that opened at 7 so Bob figured he'd have time to walk over to buy something to drink before the bus came. He only got half way there and the bus arrived 6 minutes early so he got his morning run back to the bus. We have not normally found public transportation running early but this one definitely did. We will keep that in mind for the return trip! As with all of the bus trips that we take we enjoy not only the destination, but also having a chance to see a little more of the country. This trip went through a bit of countryside so we had a chance to see some of the homes and landscape, but it also traveled up and down and around the curves hugging the bay's of the coastline giving us some great views. When we were dropped at the bus station in Trogir we were just steps away from the farmer's market, but as the day was a hot one and we were just starting our day of wandering we didn't tempt
Bob is in Heaven - They Serve Ice and Lemon
with the water here in Vinisce (even without asking!)ourselves and bypassed it this time.
Trogir is actually located on a small island that is connected by bridges to the mainland on the north and on the south to the island of Ciovo. We walked across the bridge next to the bus station entering Trogir to see what there was to offer here. As it had been a last minute decision to visit we hadn't had a chance to do much research on what was here. We knew that if we headed to the Cathedral we would at least be in the center of town so spotted the bell tower and headed there. Walking the streets you know it is a tourist town with all of the shops selling jewelry and the inevitable souvenirs.
The Cathedral of St. Lawrence is an impressive one from the outside with a bell tower that obviously was built over a long period of time as seen by the variety of styles of architecture at the various levels. The portal to the Cathedral is intricately carved which we later found out had been recently restored beautifully. As we arrived early even the Cathedral was not open yet so there was time to
Watermelon as a Sacrifice to the Wasps
to keep them away from other produce at the market stop for a coffee as well as wander around the main square. On one side of the square there is the Town Loggia next to the Church of St. Sebastian and on the other to the Church of St. Barbara. There was a convenient bench here where we could sit in the shade and take in the activity in the square watching the town "wake up". The town clock tower had been part of the Church of St. Sebastian is an impressive structure within the square adding to the look of the town.
At 9 the Cathedral opened and we went in to see not only the chapel, but also the treasury with its exhibit of gold and silver and intricate vestments. We found that we could climb the bell tower. We have had this opportunity in other places as well which we have chosen not to do but for some reason we decided to climb this one. It started out with the typical stone spiral staircase, but at the top it actually was a ladder straight up to the opening in the floor where the bell was located. When we got up to the top there was only
Views of the Village of Vinisce
definitely catering to the holiday makers here one other couple there so we were able to easily get views out of all four sides of the tower providing us impressive views. It was a very clear day making the climb up well worth it. We had to wait to start down as 6 people were coming up the ladder. We then started down and when we started the spiral staircase (which is quite narrow at the top) we could hear people coming up. There were landings every once in awhile, but this one couple said that there was plenty of room to pass without waiting at the landing. It wound up being a tight squeeze especially with my backpack on and the woman's bag but we were successful! The funny thing was when we were going up some of the stairs near the bottom had larger than normal risers and I had thought that they would be a little difficult coming down, but with the variety of steps, the tightness of the turns and the ladder at the top, I didn't even notice them on the way down! It was well worth the time to climb the town and was especially nice with the town square below
still just waking up.
Bob needed to look for a couple of things at a chandlery and found that there was one here at the marina so that became a destination to check out. It happened to be located on the island of Ciovo which gave us a chance to get a great view of the waterfront of Trogir. We had to ask a few times where the chandlery was as Google map was having a difficult time getting us to the exact location as we found it was actually tucked back in within the marina complex. Fortunately they had a couple things we were looking for and it gave us a chance to walk around the area more. We walked the promenade which is always great for people watching as well as view the variety of boats plying these waters. At the end of the island the Kamerlengo Fortress was built between 1420-1437 right after Venetians conquered Trogir. We walked down around the outside, but decided not to go in as the big selling point here was the views from the top of the oldest tower and as we just had wonderful views from the Cathedral tower we
took a pass on this one.
It was quite a hot day and felt we saw a good part of Trogir we decided to stop for lunch and then catch the afternoon bus back to Vinisce. We find that we enjoy the chance to take the bus to explore neighboring towns as it also gives us a chance to see the countryside which has a number of olive groves and definitely plenty of stone fences due to the large quantity readily available!
We had been at the anchorage in Vinisce for a few days and were thinking of moving on, but in looking at the weather we were promised a thunderstorm and some high winds. We have a very good hook here so decided we would stay where we have good land protection around us in this deep bay and good mud for holding the anchor. On Friday, August 2nd we started off in the early evening with a little rain, but it didn't last long. We were sitting out back reading when we could see the clouds moving in. We were still hoping it would miss us, but instead it surrounded us as we could see lightening
both in front and in back of the boat. The wind picked up producing sizable waves and we were rocking and rolling at anchor. The winds would pipe up to 38 knots but most of the time it was around 20-25 knots. There were quite a few boats in the anchorage. You can see that there were people on watch on the other boats as well thankfully. Almost all of the boats were privately owned so they would know their boat well compared to those that charter boats for the week. With everyone pulling on their anchor chain we did our preparations just like others- we put the engine on (just in case it was needed in a hurry), turned the VHF radio on in case anyone in the anchorage was having problems and trying to communicate. Eventually a few boats dragged anchored and as a result were motoring around the anchorage so turned on our spreader light so we would be easier to see. The storm hit us about 10:30 pm and it finally settled down about midnight so figured we could finally get some sleep. Fortunately everyone made it through the night without any damage or injury, but
Items to Play With in Vinisce
and other communities along the coast here it definitely got the adrenalin going. These kinds of nights remind you that there are many stressful times as well as the much more enjoyable times to the cruising lifestyle. Fortunately we haven't had many of these kinds of nights but knew enough to be in a very well protected harbor.
The next day we were to get some wind in the afternoon, but not as strong. In the morning we felt comfortable leaving the boat to take a nice long walk on shore, pick up a few things at the store and then treated ourselves to lunch out. In the afternoon we did get the winds that were forecasted, but it only got to 22 knots and we didn't have any rain. It is amazing how the same amount of wind can feel differently in the daylight then in the nighttime! Only thing different this night was the number of charter boats that arrived. We aren't that far from one of the bases where they pick up their boats and with the winds we were having instead of heading out to the islands as we assumed they would normally do, they came to this nice protected bay. Not
a problem as the bay is large, just had to watch as many wanted to anchor quite close so a few ended up closer than we would have liked. It took a little while, but everyone found a space and settled in. Just noticing though that the noise level in the bay is quite different with everyone on holiday enjoying their first night out. Tomorrow we will leave at 6am and hopefully find a place that is calm and quiet. Vinisce has worked out to be an excellent stop with its great holding as proven by the storm we went through, a quay to take our dinghy ashore, a couple of small grocery stores, a small fruit market, some restaurants and a bus that takes to neighboring towns. The only thing we missed was a laundry, but that can wait!
What a change from the crowded anchorage in Vinisce! We left there at 5:50 am weaving in and out of the helter skelter 30 plus boats anchored in the bay. We have heard from numerous people that it is worth going to the Krka National Park as there a few wonderful waterfalls there which would be a nice reminder
of back home. Bob checked the weather as usual and then looked at the chart to try to find a nice anchorage not too far away. The trip took us through a number of islands reminding us of our times up in the Thousand Islands. He did a great job and found a very small bay called Vela Krbela. It appeared to be the "local swimming hole" as there were quite a few small boats around the edges of the bay where it was shallow. Fortunately there was enough space in the middle of the bay for us in about 18 feet of water so it was perfect. We were settled in place about 11am which worked out great as later in the day a few other boats wanted to anchor there, but there wasn't any room. A couple did actually put down a hook outside of the bay but only stayed for a few hours so they had time to take a swim and then we're off. Guess our thoughts of taking off early from and anchorage and stopping early at the next place is working. Let's hope it continues. In the afternoon a small local sailboat anchored near
A 16th C. Tower in Marina, Croatia
is now a hotel - seen on our bus trip to Trogir us. Bob saw that the man onboard was showing off quite a string of fish for his wife to take a photo. Bob hollered over congratulations and clapped while the man acknowledged with a smile. We were very pleasantly surprised when later in the day he swam over to our stern pushing a dishpan with a plastic bag in it with two cleaned fish giving us them as a gift. What a generous offer indeed. We definitely enjoyed them that evening for dinner.
We had been told there was a place to anchor at the mouth of the river that goes into Krka National Park so that was our destination for the next morning. Our friends told us they took a dinghy ride from there up into the town of Sibenik to walk around and get tickets for the park so that was our plan. We anchored behind St. Nicholas Fortress along with a couple other sailboats. Just in the short time we were anchored there we knew the place would be crowded as there were boats (private as well as plenty of large tour boats) going up the river. Oh well, we figure we would at least check
Numerous Fish Farms Dot the Coastline
these were seen on the way to Trogir from the bus out Sibernik. With all the boats moving it was a wild dinghy ride up with all of the wake they were kicking up, but got to the quay in Sibernik and found a place to tie up. We started to walk around town thinking we'd stop for a coffee but found most places closed. We then realized that it was a holiday here so most of the shops and cafes were closed. We found that only a few restaurants were open. The holiday definitely did not keep the tourist away as the streets were packed with people wandering around. With the number of tour boats constantly going up the river and the people here in town we made the decision not to head up to the falls. We may regret it later, but with that decision made we just took the rest of the time to do some wandering around, hopefully find a place for lunch and then head back to fairly empty anchorage out by the fort. When we had been on the island of Klement recently a family we talked to there had gone to the falls and showed us photos. They said it was so crowded that
they could hardly see the falls with all the people there and that you had to almost elbow your way through the crowd. We are thinking that there are a few other places in Croatia we would like to see at a better time of year so we may just have to come back on a land trip to see those. We will add Krka Falls to the list of places to check out then. With so much closed in Sibenik we just took to hike up and down the various levels of town wandering the alleyways. One building that is quite impressive is the Cathedral of St. James built between 1402 - 1555 with an impressive dome and sculptures on the portal. It is in a wonderful location overlooking the waterfront here.
With our change of plans this meant that we could pull up anchor the next morning. The next large town we wanted to visit was Zadar, but decided to make a stop at an anchorage part way there so had a nice quiet evening in Vrgada. It has been very enjoyable to spend evenings at anchor but tomorrow the plan will be to check into a
The Bus Went By Some Bays that Reminded
us of sights we have seen in upstate NY marina for a few days as we have a few things to get done such as laundry, filling up the water tank, washing the boat and defrosting the freezer.
We are still definitely enjoying our time in Croatia - a wonderful place to visit!
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