Friday June 15. Croatia: I’m coming

Written by Jack van Ommen on June 15th, 2012

Down the beach they are playing “Hit the road Jack”. I will, reluctantly because I like this place. It does not have the narrow alleys, old Roman forts. Most of the town, here next to the commercial port was built in nineties. But some excellent planning went into it. It has something for every kind of vacationer and locals. Particularly the children. Lots of open spaces near the beach, parks, tennis courts, esplanades. And the people come out and stroll the waterside.

I went to tell the harbor master that I am leaving at the crack of dawn. Then he told me that they had agreed to give me a “Vignette” (Sticker) after all. But I had already made my plans to head straight for Croatia. Why spend 45 euroes now for the vignette? If I had known this earlier I would have considered sailing to Kotor in Montenegro where at least one of the Gig Harbor settler families are from.

There is a chance that I can make it to Dubrovnik by tomorrow evening. The forecast is for fairly weak NW and clouds.

I got my bi-monthly hair cut. Four Euro. That is a heck of a lot cheaper than Amsterdam’s 30 odd euro, in Athens I paid 10 euro. The oil barons are not getting rich on me either. I filled up this afternoon, 26 liters. The previous fill up was in Patras 320 (nautical) miles ago.  The Swedes just scored their second goal against the Brits in the Europa soccer cup. They were 0-1 behind at half time. And now the Brits just made it 2-2.

Saturday morning: I forgot to mention that I did do the repair job on the crack in the hull surface. I first used the grinder and then the orbital sander. A tough job, hanging over the edge, down to the water line. It worked well. But I was unable to sand off the excess epoxy filler close to the waterline. I’ll need to work from a float or a dinghy and have electricity. The quay was too high. But the spot is secure and the filler nearly matches the hull color. Next I did remove the water tank. That is a really poor way this item is made by VETUS. The edges of the bladder wear off. I taped it with duct tape and put a bead of 5200 on the edges. I do not dare to fill the tank yet till it is fully cured. So, I’m working off my emergency jerry can for the next days. I just got my exit clearance but then the police gave me a hard time for not having the “Vignette”. They refuse to believe me that I was in 50 plus countries without a skippers license.

 

 

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