Croatia Sailing - Week 5

---

Day 1; Sipan
Number of pax for dinner; 24 (bbq on boat)

The crew had not planned a bbq that night but I asked them to do one as I think it's a nice thing to do in little Sipan. The crew on the Javorak are great, and not money-grubbers at all so they rarely ever offer anything that involves money unless asked.


We had just dropped anchor for our swim stop, about 10 minutes away from the lovely little island Sipan. Shannon dove into the water from the middle deck of the boat (which is allowed by the captain) for his first swim in the beautiful Adriatic. When he came out of the water he knew immediately that something was wrong with his shoulder. I was in the water with him and went inside right away to tell our waiter, Tonci. Tonci helped him out of the water, and then we spent about 20 minutes seeing if there was anything we could do to fix it, as we thought at that point that he'd simply popped his shoulder out of place. We had a pax-nurse on the case, as well as a bunch of rugby players who had done the same thing many times before. They tried all sorts of tricks, like hanging a can of water off his arm and dangling his arm off the side of the boat. I called Tracey at that point and she sent me the number of the doctor in Sipan. I also tried calling 112 for an hour, and never got an answer, and when someone finally did answer once, he hung up on me when I asked if he spoke English... Imagine that?!

When it was clear that no one on the boat could help, we set sail for Sipan, and when we arrived Tonci went to find the doctor. We couldn't get in touch with him at his office or on his mobile, so Tonci found a friend to drive Shannon, his girlfriend Gemma and Tonci to the doctor. The doctor (80 years old and drunk, by the way) wrapped his shoulder up, but recommended that he get X-Rays done back in Dubrovnik. They came back to the boat to get me, and I went with Shannon and Gemma to the ferry (Tonci stayed behind to cook the bbq). We had a 1-hr ferry ride to Dubrovnik, and when we got there I found us a cab to the emergency room (or "hitno", Croatian for emergency), and I paid for it too as I knew they'd have some serious expenses ahead! The taxi driver said he could help us out if we missed the last ferry back to Sipan at 8:00 and gave me his mobile number.

Shannon got his X-Rays done and found out he'd broken his shoulder and would need surgery. They recommended he get surgery in Zagreb, but he wanted to speak to his insurance company in Australia first to see what they suggested. He took the medical report and X-Ray with him, but didn't get any painkillers (poor thing had to survive on just Nurofen Plus!).

We had missed the last ferry back to Sipan, so I called John at Fresh Sheets to see if we could get a room there (John was very helpful). But Shannon decided he wanted to go back to the boat if we could, so I called our taxi driver to come get us. And this is where the incident went from tragic to hilarious fun! The driver's friend Tio picked us up in his little motorized dinghy and it was basically an adventure sports ride back to Sipan; it was wavy and we were bouncing all over the place and the guy was cruising along at top-speed. The three of us laughed our heads off the entire time, and we were very happy for the experience because it really made the best of a bad situation. It was well worth the 250 kunas we had to pay for it.

When we got back to the boat, Tonci and the cook prepared us a nice cevapcici meal.
That evening on the boat was a fun one. I had a group of 10 Kiwis travelling together, so they made the party anywhere we went. One guy had a guitar so we had beers on deck and sang songs, then headed over to the little dungeon bar, always a great time. Have I mentioned that I Love Sipan! The owner of the dungeon bar was the one who drove us to the doctor, what a nice guy. Also, remember I mentioned that some local jerk kicked a kitten into the sea last week? Well, apparently someone pushed him into the water this week... Serves him right!

Day 2; Korcula
Number of pax for dinner; 22 (Caenazzo)

We had a great time in Korcula that night at Dos Locos. Nik is one crazy guy, and is not shy about giving guides free shoters! This group was a particularly good one in terms of spending money, and were always up for everything. We docked at the creepy-dock again, but there were no incidents this time with bb guns, and I made sure to remind everyone many times to walk home in pairs.

Day 3; Hvar
Number of pax for dinner; 13 (picnic)

What a great day this was! We discovered the daytime Carpe Diem bar on the little island (I sent an email out about it), and then everyone got really psyched about the great party night ahead! Many of the pax really wanted seafood as they hadn't had any yet, so they passed on the picnic, but the rest of us enjoyed it. We made a bucket of punch and drank it at the picnic spot, and then again on the boat before heading to the bars. Carpe Diem was cool, Kiva was great as always (Sasa was slightly grouchy when we first arrived, but got happier eventually and gave us free t-shirts). Everyone stumbled up to Veneranda for more dancing. I was Very responsible and was home by 4am, the earliest of the bunch! 😉

Day 4; Bol
Number of pax for dinner; 0 (8 for wine tasting)

Everyone loved Bol, as always. Boys hired biscuits to ride at Zlatni Rat, and we had nice coffees and drinks later in town. I think the more time spent in Bol the better because it's always a favourite. I am also a firm believer that we could cut a stop out of the island hopper, or shorten a stop, I.e. Mljet, in favour of going to Bol instead (but that's just me).

This group was quite an older and sophisticated-ish one, so they were well up for the wine tasting at the winery. It cost 80 kunas, and we got to sample 3 wines (delicious ones) and a rakija, plus a plate of food. It was a really good time, and the manager,Vinko, offered to put together a seafood platter for us next time, which I think would go over really well with a group thst doesn't mind spending a bit of cash for a quality experience.

That night we drank and played cards on the boat and a few of the boys got naked and ran through the streets (as they do). I sat on the dock most of the night with the crew and drank wine and chatted. I really love the Javorak crew, and so do the passengers.


Day 5; Makarska
Number of pax for dinner; 22 (Susvid)

This was the first group that didn't really loce Makarska. They were very aware that it was on the mainland, and after such a wonderful time in little Bol, they wanted to be back in a smaller place. However, we rented some slide-boats (don't know what they're actually called?) and dinner was good (Gogo was particularly legendary when he gave a kimono to a girl to wear, just 'cause, and then when asked why he always wears a singlet under his shirt, he told us that Susvid becomes a strip club after hours and that's his costume... Brilliant!)

Thanks to Gary, the Grotta club opened for us and we had a good time there. Can't wait to check out Deep Club next week!

Day 6; Omis
Number of pax for dinner; 22 (Captains Dinner)

I finally got off my lazy butt and climbed to that fortress (And not only because Tracy had arrived and I didn't want to look unmotivated!). Really glad I did it, and I think I'll try to climb it every week).

Fun pirate party night; one of my guys had a guitar so there was some singing and dancing, also a bit of naked singing and dancing, and lots of pirate-esque lilo-stealing from the other boats. Good times had by all!

Day 7; Split
Number of pax for dinner; 22 (at new restaurant Fife)

Our crew had been raving about this restaurant Fife, so I made us a reservation there (and Tracey joined us for a bit too). Unfortunately, whilst the foid was decent, the service was awfully slow and they're not equipped for big groups at all. We spent about 3 hours there, and I probably wouldn't bring a big group there again (but it’s a good recommendation for a couple or a smaller group).

---