June 2007 - Eastern Italy, Croatia USA
Croatia |Otok Mljet | Okuklje
June 30, 2007
Hi, We had great fun with 7 Italian couples last night. We finally met real Italian cruisers with wives that helped
handle the boat. Our experience up until now was the husband brought the boat in alone while the women were below preparing to go in to town. One man spoke excellent English so we had an interpreter for the evening. He sells home interior decorations. He's had Michaels craft stores as a client and right now has an order with Trump. We ate family style at the restaurant. Our waitress delivered platters of prosciutto, cheese, and olives, two kinds of grilled fish, cabbage and tomato salad and potatoes. We had chocolate crepes for dessert.
This morning we emptied out the cockpit lazarettes and tackled the squeaking steering quadrant. Al had to remove 4 pulleys to grease them and put the chain back on the track. Big job but it's done and no more squeaking. We also had a life line break yesterday so Al made a temporary fix. We need to replace them all and in the mean time we plan to take precautions for safety that doesn't depend on them! We left Okuklje about 3:00 and moved further up Otok Mljet to the National Reserve at Polace. The wind was on the nose so we motored the 12 miles as we wanted to swim and enjoy the evening in Polace. The water was fantastic, refreshing after the hot day. Then a cockpit shower to wash the salt away. We plan to grill outside tonight for a change. We've been conserving gas and grilling on the George Foreman. We plan to stay here tomorrow and sight see. Love and God Bless
Love Sally and Al
June 28 - 29, 2007
Hi, Artemis is back in the water today. Yesterday we finished re-bedding the chain plates and polishing stainless. We had to loosen the rigging and unhook the pro furl for the jib to prepare for launch. Mark and Murphy a couple from Massachusetts (we met last fall in Porto Turistico di Roma) came into the harbor. Mark helped Al rig the boat this morning. What a blessing. Sometimes my muscles just don't do the job. He helped us get the sail back on to0. We were glad for the additional help. We spent most of the day putting things back together again. We can keep things cold again. When out of the water we can't run our refrigeration so we had to buy things as we needed it. Now we can provision the boat again with perishables. Going for a swim and then plan to grill. We had great steaks last night, we think, as it's hard to compare after the wedding filet :-> Love and God Bless, Sally and Al
Couldn't get the mail to go out last night so into Fri. June 29. We were chased away from the crane area early this morning. So we took on fuel and some provisions and headed out. Great sailing day but lots of tacking. We sailed up to Okuklje a bay on Otok Mljet. We tied to the quay for free but they expect you visit their restaurant. Hope we start having better luck with airmail :-(
Love Sally and Al
Croatia | Dubrovnik | Luggage arrived
June 26, 2007
Hi, We finally have all of our luggage. We were beginning to worry. Our clothing bag came yesterday so we called the airport again today. They said our final two bags were being held at customs and we would have to come to the airport to retrieve them. We took the bus and claimed our luggage. No problems once we said we were a boat in transit and opened the bag for their inspection. What a relief. We stopped at Vodophone and got our Croatian sim card. Our cell phone number here is 00385 91 9106197. We are not charged for incoming calls. Yesterday we rebedded seven chain plates. We only have five left to do (did two earlier). Today I washed the hull and put Awlgrip protector wax on it. Looks great. Al replaced the zincs and put our purchases away. We have a few projects yet to do so we plan to go back into the water tomorrow or Thursday. Can't wait. We're hoping the boat will stay cooler when in the water and we can start the refrigeration. We've been buying food before each meal as ice is hard to find and costly. We just got back from the pool and are grilling some pork steaks for dinner. Love and God Bless,
Love Sally and Al
June 24, 2007
Hi, We were up at 9:00 today so doing better with our jet lag. Still no luggage but the airport said it will arrive sometime today. Al's sweating the bags that have all our boat parts and supplies in them. We have a little bit of money tied up in them. We went to Dubrovnik for mass at Franciscan Monastery/Convent chapel. After mass we heard a madrigal vocal group perform. That was a special treat for Al and I as we sang in a madrigal group in college. We had a nice lunch in Gundulic's Square then headed back to the marina. The pool was the only place to be on such a hot afternoon. Love and God Bless,
Love Sally and Al
June 22, 2007
Hi, What lazy bums we are! We slept until 11:30 today. Our sail arrived but still no luggage. We took the bus up to Dubrovnik and wandered around, had lunch and ice cream (of course. I bought a swimsuit as I had both of my suits in my suitcase. It is hot and humid but a nice breeze. We went back to the boat and wandered up to the pool. We acted like people on vacation today lazing around by the pool. We grilled and just enjoyed the evening. I guess we can get use to this again. WE so miss baby Josie, our kids, family and friends but time certainly flies when you're having fun. Love and God Bless,
Love Sally and Al
June 21, 2007
Hi, We are safe aboard Artemis once again. We left Mpls Wed late due to weather and left close to departure time in Chicago. We hit big storms in Frankfurt which delayed our landing and our departure to Dubrovnik. We finally left Frankfurt about 4:30 and arrived in Dubrovnik about 6. No luggage so we had to wait in a long line to give our luggage information. We took a cab to the marina as the next bus wasn't going until after 9 PM. Artemis was as we left her but it took a while to cool off the inside. It was in the 90's here today so it was pretty warm inside. We are going to hit the sack. I'll write more tomorrow. Love and God Bless, Sally and Al
Love Sally and Al
