Vis

We reached the Island of Vis on the 20th of May.  There were strong northwesterlies on the crossing so we hauled close to the wind, then motored head on as we approached the island.  We chose a tiny bay named Milna to seek refuge from the gusts.  There was space for just us as we dropped our anchor in shallow water and put out 30 metres of chain.

This screenshot of our anchor alarm shows a night spent comfortably in position but at about 9am we began swinging towards the shallows so we made a quick exit.

We had been reminded that family friends the Macgregors had a home on the island so I pinged Keith an email asking for tips and recommendations.  He responded with a list of top destinations around the island but that we would miss them by just a few days.  He put us in touch with their friends the Stancombs, who kindly offered to scoop us up if our timing overlapped.

On our second day we were still sheltering from the wind and happened upon a picture perfect bay just past the small village of Rukavac.  Today was our only chance to take up the Stancomb's offer of hospitality before they left the island for a week.  The town of Vis was only fifteen minutes away but with more strong gusts forecast we were anxious about leaving Dragonfly alone on anchor.  We decided first to walk to the nearby village and maybe go on from there by taxi.

Theodore hiked in the midday heat in his wetsuit!

As often happens with Jozefina and Theodore, one short walk took forever. Every bug and butterfly stops them in their tracks and has to be examined!  We followed signs to a restaurant, praying it would be open as the sun beat down.  We were in luck.

After a sweltering hike back, the kids cooled off as we prepared to batten down the hatches for the forecast gusts of 30 knots.. which eventually never showed up.

On our second morning on Vis we motored a few bays along to take a mooring buoy at Stiniva Beach.  I couldn't handle seeing James Bond sing so never saw the beach in Mamma Mia but clearly a lot of people did. There was a constant stream of day trip boats coming in and out of the deep bay to see this famous beach.

Around mid-afternoon we decided to push on around the southwestern tip of Vis with the intention of anchoring close to Komiža.  The blue track on the chart plotter screen above shows the moment we rounded the headland into large waves and 30 knot gusts forcing us to beat a hasty retreat!  We returned to our mooring buoy and had Stiniva bay all to ourselves for the night.

On the 23rd of May we finally made it to Vis town and moored up stern-to in the town centre.  Having been on anchor for almost a week it was a relief to be back in civilisation.  We found Vis to be clean, calm and welcoming. After a quick lunch at the nearest restaurant we set off to explore. 

​The island of Vis has a fascinating and layered history, having been ruled at different times by the Greeks, Romans, Venetians, Austrians, Italians, and later Yugoslavia. Founded as the ancient Greek colony of Issa in the 4th century BC, Vis is one of the oldest urban settlements on the Adriatic. Venetian influence is instantly visible in the island’s stone architecture and narrow streets, while the local Croatian dialect still carries traces of Venetian linguistic roots.

During the Yugoslav era, Vis was closed to foreign visitors for decades and served as a military base for the Yugoslav Navy. This period of isolation helped preserve the island’s character and protected it from the tourism we've seen elsewhere along the Dalmatian coast.

We found the Macgregor and the Stancomb houses -without their owners in residence. Such a shame! We will ensure our return route brings us back to Vis.

Convenient victualling at the shop opposite the quay and then on to a recommended restaurant a few steps away where every ingredient is sourced from the island.

Zefi unamused-bouche!

We discovered why everyone on Vis is so cheerful -the local wine is 16%!

In the morning we caught (but lost) a fish for this hungry cat. We then slipped our lines and headed over to the fuel dock.  We didn't like the look of the skinny pontoon so decided we could survive without topping up the tanks. After motoring out of the harbour we let the wind decide our angle of attack as we headed towards Zadar.  At this point we discovered we had sailed beyond the charts loaded on the plotter.  It would take me a day or so to work out how to extend our coverage and until then we navigated the old fashioned way -by Iphone!