Korcula

We departed Lastovo Island on the 12th of May and set our course for Korcula Island.  In the photo above you'll see the dinghy is looking a bit lop-sided.  In the midday heat the previous day I heard a 'pop' and a 'hiss'! I assumed it was a nearby boat fiddling with fenders but it turned out to be a gaping split in the side of our dinghy.  I managed to fix it temporarily but will not risk mounting the engine on it again.  I've fixed it too many times and will look for a replacement asap.

We are also running the engine with my boxer shorts wedged in to muffle the water temp alarm that buzzes nonstop.  Along with the internal AC sockets up the spout, that makes three so I'm not anticipating anything else breaking just yet!

Our crossing from Lastovo to Korcula began close-hauled with a good breeze but as we reached land we had to motor into the wind and waves.  It was a relief to round the end of the island and enter calm, sheltered water.  The sea here is beautifully clear with a turquoise glow.

We dropped the anchor in five metres of water just off Otok Badija, a stone's throw from a beautiful monastry.

Julia prepared one of her classic Greek salads for lunch and we found a quiet spot to keep the kids out of the way for while.  Just then I received a message that some family friends were not only in Croatia but were in the old town of Korcula for one night, with time spare to meet up in the next couple of hours! At the same moment a water taxi came by offering a ride to the town so we jumped onboard and were on the town quay within five minutes.

It was a lovely coincidence to meet up with the DamB's, Duxbury's and Carew Prices's. After a drink and a catch up, they had to head back to their boat so we went for a quick explore before the sky turned dark and we retreated back to Dragonfly.

The next morning (13th of May) Julia and Theodore went across to explore the island and monastery.  Zefi and I did a reading & writing lesson.  Then we weighed anchor and motored a few minutes around to the ACI marina back in Korcula town.  We were leaving Dragonfly here for a few days as we fly back to Warsaw to see friends, plan a family party and make use of some flights we booked in error!

With a Dragonfly booked in to the marina for a few days I took the opportunity to find a mechanic. The marina recommended Nikola and he seemed unfazed by my long list of fixes as I showed him around the boat.  The engine alarm was the most urgent to investigate.  We then found a taxi and drove fifteen minutes to discover Lumbarda and it's beautiful beaches.

Supper in town that night was a bit of a disaster. A table of 70 managed to order just before us. After an hour of waiting the waitress admitted she didn't know when we might get our food. We had tired, cold, hungry children so we left!

The next morning as were about to leave I mentioned our AC sockets issue to the marina electrician. Within minutes he'd found the cause -our shore power negative connection had come completely away from the socket. This explained a lot!
It would have ruined our batteries to leave Dragonfly for five days with the inverter running and no shore supply connected.

The mechanic kindly fixed the cable for us and we left Dragonfly.  For the next few days she would be at the mercy of the clumsy charter boats coming and going from this busy marina.

The previous day Lyndi had very generously given Jozefina and Theodore some Euros and a tip off about a very special crayon shop.  We found it on our way to catch the ferry to Dubrovnilk and it did not disappoint!

We had some time to spare before our flight to Warsaw so we took a detour through the old town of Dubrovnik.

Wet and windy weather is expected while we are away so our timing seems fortunate.

On the map below I quickly plotted our route so far. About 600 nautical miles in just over 4 weeks.