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Day 1: Thursday, 9
August 2007 – arriving in Zagreb, Croatia |

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Previous logs will be posted on
Past section or
Past Logs 2007. You can
read our decisions and events leading up to the
purchase, boat survey, purchasing process,
registration process, etc. under
introduction
section.
Back to where we are:
Seen here are a view from a market place in
Zagreb and Bob and Elizabeth with all
the luggage we had at the bus station.
After leaving Becky (my wife) and daughter (the
real Snow White)
with their family in Turkey, I
took my flight to
Zagreb on the same day coinciding with Camerons'
arrival. I had all the inventory I could take
with me in two suitcases, plus a backpack and a
laptop. Camerons would be arriving from Toronto
via Frankfurt at the same time with additional
luggage filled with more boat stuff. My flight
arrived on time and I checked out with my
suitcases without any problem and went straight to
the “National” rental car office only to find
out they had no car for me. How would we go to Zadar 250 km away? Camerons arrived one hour
late and I met them as they came out of the
gate. We checked the taxi option which would be
400 Euros and then I saw the airport buses. We
decided to take the intercity bus to Zadar which
was at 130 Kuna each (approximately $26CD,
1CAD=5 Kunas). The bus person said he would have
to charge us extra for luggage which we paid an
extra 110 Kuna total after some joking and
arguing as if they never seen people with so
much luggage. The bus driver drove really fast
in a beautiful highway up and down the Dalmatian
mountains. We went through at least 10 long
tunnels one of them was over 6 km long, so many
rain, sunny and cloudy weather conditions and a
few rainbows. We arrived in Zadar at around 7 pm
looked for a taxi-cab, we found a station wagon
taxi who agreed to do two trips at 100 Kuna. He
thought he was taking us to downtown marina, we
wanted to go to Dalmatia marina. it will now
cost 200 Kuna. I agreed to pay him 175 Kuna. We
checked the boat and looked for the keys which
were left at dealer to be placed in the cockpit
locker inside the water bucket. No key was to be
found, there was nobody to be seen and it
started rain again while we were weighing our
options.
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As I was getting ready to break the hatch,
Bob said he could open one of the hatches on deck.
That was a great relief, I immediately went in
and luckily the main hatch could be opened from
inside and we were in. We just threw everything
in and lockup again to find a place to eat. We
went to the hotel just outside the marina,
“Jo-So Hotel” for dinner. The picture is taken
from the restaurant showing Dalmatia Marina. |
Day 2: Friday 10 August
2007 at Dalmatia (Dalmacija) Marina |
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The night was almost uneventful with a few
thunderstorms and rain. After breakfast, we were
able to get internet connection and checked the place out. Later in the
morning, we went to the marina restaurant,
visited a
small market shop, and looked around a marine supply shop.
We found out that we could order a
rental car which we did. It arrived at 2 pm, we
immediately went to the harbour office to get
our permit. The captain in charge told us that
we have to prepare for export not cruising
permit which we replied that we will do that out
of Dubrovnik (southern tip of Croatia) on the
way to Greece. Their computer was down due to
storm, he could not do anything anyway. We also
needed customs clearance so he sent us to check
customs a few blocks away. It was 4 pm, they had closed at
three, no one was there. We resigned to the fact
nothing could be established officially and went
into the old city of Zadar. It was raining quite
a bit, bought a couple of umbrellas from street
vendors, found a restaurant and ate a good meal.
Then, we walked over to the people’s market
place, bought lots of fruits, vegetables, olive
oil and cheese from local people. This was a
little quaint part of the town. Then, we went
for real shopping. Zadar which has multiple large
supermarkets and one large shopping center. We
visited a couple of them bought different things,
loaded the car and came to the marina. The
evening and night went quietly with a few more
thunderstorms in between.
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Day 3: Saturday, 11
August 2007, shopping at Zadar |
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In the morning the dealer’s son came and told us not to leave Zadar before customs formalities are completed.
When he came and told us that we would first get
the export/customs papers finished then get
cruising permit then the police report in
downtown on Monday. He apparently had a broker to look
after all that at his expense. Alexandra at the
dealer office told us that she will arrange
everything early Monday morning. We also
received our propane tanks, filled up water
tanks, washed the boat, cleaned up, emptied all
luggage and settled in nicely. A couple of more
thunder storms went by, we went shopping again,
this time for marine supplies. Some stores were
open but did not have the things we needed, some
were closed at 1 pm and opened at 3:30 pm. We
walked around the old city again but not much of
any activity. Finally, we decided to go back to the
same Jo-So restaurant, where we
had our meals and happily went back to the
marina.
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Day 4: Sunday,
12 August 2007, more shopping at Zadar
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Sunny day, after having a full breakfast on
board, we were ready to do more shopping in Zadar.
We bought more
supplies thinking that we could leave the next
day. We returned the rental car and went to explore the beachside
of the marina. It was very pleasant with many
people swimming. We settled at a nice
café/restaurant at the tip of the marina which
opened to the beach and had supper there. They
were out of hamburgers (!) so we ate some local
meals. |
Day 5: Monday,
13 August 2007, exporting Snow White
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We were anxiously waiting, no one came and went
to the dealer’s office by the dock, no one was
there. The next door charter operations office
told me that Alexandra was not coming in today.
I tried to call the broker with no luck, asked
to charter person to call Alexandra, he
reluctantly agreed and talked to her over the
phone. He said that we should wait until
Alexandra informs him for us to leave. Elizabeth
and Bob decided to do the laundry, I waited at
the boat. At 10:30 the news came and he said we
should leave immediately. I ran to the laundry
place and found out that laundry is being
washed. We took them out without drying and came
to the boat, got it ready in 15 minutes, then
Alexandra phoned me to take the boat to the
marina. She said “broker is waiting for you”. I
said we are on our way and off we leave the
marina where Snow White stayed for first 3.5
years of her life.
It was a beautiful motoring to Zadar, except
that at the hour, there were this huge black
rubber siding spaced a boat length apart, we
could not get to. After a few tries and near
disasters, Bob took the helm, I jumped over and
tied to boat. Now, the danger was that any time a
huge ferry boat goes by, the boat moves wildly
against those black markers and scratches the
newly painted Snow White. I left those concerns
there and went to straight to customs office. No
broker was there, surprise! There was no answer
to my phone calls, then I asked a local person
to call him. He was able to get a hold of him
and asked me to wait by the boat. 10 minutes
later a young fellow showed up with papers. He
was the broker’s assistant. We went to customs
office, they wanted to have a crew list, we went
to the harbour office, they still had their
computer down could not issue crew list, we went
back to customs, he advised us to get a police
record or a temporary crew list. We were back at
the harbour master arguing, asking almost
begging for a temporary crew list. Finally, the
senior officer came back and agreed to sign a
hand written list but we had to have stamps and
police approval. We went to the customs and
informed that all in order and he should
complete his inspection before closing time at
three pm. We ran to get the stamps, obtained the
crew list, went to the police a few buildings
away, signed papers that we will leave Croatia
right away, then getting back to the harbour
master, the harbour captain who asked for our papers
on the way. He said we have to leave Croatia and
the only place we could go is across Adriatic to
Italy. I went back to the boat, Camerons would not
risk to go to Italy crossing the Adriatic due to
being unfamiliar with the boat and water. I went back to the
harbour master’s office, was told that they were
closed until three for a break. Well, if we don’t get the
papers, the customs will be closed at three and
the police wants us out of the country, what do
we do know? I think I am getting sick, really to
near collapsing with heat exhaustion and stress load. The
young broker’s assistant suggested that we
talked to the harbour master again. We met them
by the door, he reluctantly agreed to let us in,
gave us the approval stamp and their signatures.
He also advised me that it would be too
dangerous to go thru Adriatic sea, we should
consider coming back towards Split and continue
our journey from there. I understood his
concerns and asked for more explanations. After
confirming that I understood what he meant, I
gave them a little present, thank them and left
the office. Then the assistant ran to the
custom’s office to get the inspector and I went
straight to the boat thinking we have to leave
Croatia but how do I tell that to Camerons.
The broker’s assistant came to the boat a few
minutes later and said all the custom’s papers
were complete and we should leave now and never
come back to Zadar. But he added jokingly that
we could come back to Split later. I said “crew:
we are going out of Croatia now, I don’t want
any arguments!” So, we did.
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Day 6: Tuesday,
14 August 2007, returning to Croatia via Split |


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On the way out to the open sea, we found out
that our mast furling sail was stuck. It was
getting dark, and we saw a little set of islands
with anchoring marks on the map. We decided to
overnight there and decide what to do next,
possibly go to Split to get the mast fixed. The
place called Kakan at 44.41’.536N and
15.40’.144N turned out to be a popular place
with many overnight boats, well protected,
pristine location. After having a nice dinner
thanks to Elizabeth, we retired early to go to
Split in the morning.
We left Kakan at around 9:00 am with sunny,
clear weather, 3-4 knots of wind, motored all
the way close to the Dreviniki channel then but
the genoa up. Downwind wind at about 14-18 knots
helped us to get around 7 knots of speed all the
way to Split at 43.29’940N and 16.25’970E. We
entered the harbour at 3:30 docked at a Beneteau
dealer’s dock got instructions where to go, etc.
Then we motored to the harbour master’s place,
docked at a low boat dock with not much
difficulty, tied the boat, I got the passports,
left the crew to look after the boat, walked to
the nice looking harbour master building,
crossing my fingers all the way in. I got in the
double doors, three officers sitting at the
counters smoking and talking, no one else was
in. Now, what happened next surprised the heck
out of me! I said I need a new “windjeta” to fix
my mast. The harbour master “captain” took a
look at my papers and called up the next person
at the adjacent counter, he switched over to my
window, asked for passports, registration of my
boat, insurance. I handed them over, he asked
for operator’s license, and couple of questions
on specification of boat, etc. Then, he asked
for 1,330 Kuna, a permit fee for one year. I
said I needed only for a few day to get out of
the country again. He replied that there is only
one permit and it is good for one year. I only
had 1400 Kunas on me, handed over the money, he
gave me original documents, a permit for one
year and a receipt. I walked out of the office
in disbelief that how smooth this had gone. I
took my time telling the crew that we could stay
in Croatia for the rest of the year if we wanted
to. Then I called the surveyor, Srecko, whom we
communicated earlier to meet in Split. He
promised to meet with us tomorrow morning. Snow
White had docked alongside a walking only street
which was the main attraction place of the town.
Our Canadian flag attracted a few Canadians
immediately. We made a ceremonial event to raise
the Croatian flag took a few pictures, Camerons
had a walk in the old part of the city, I did
some scrubbing of the rubber marks. Then, we
went to the ACI Marina to dock. We had a nice
and long dinner at the marina’s restaurant, a
good shower, and a restful evening only to be
awaken by fireworks around 11:30 pm. We watched
the fireworks until midnight then went to sleep.
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Day 7:
Wednesday, August 15, 2007, cruising in Croatia
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Srecko
www.adriatic-expert.hr and his assistant came along at 9:30 as
we were having breakfast. They brought a
beautiful set of cruising guide/maps for
Croatian coastlines and asked us to stay in
Croatia for the rest of the year. We told them
about our journey and took some pictures with
them. We asked for their help to get the main
sail out of the mast which I had liberally
lubricated with silicone spray. Lo and behold!
The sail came right out with a few pull and
push. So, we realized that this was not a big
problem and asked for a marine shop for other
items that we wanted to buy. They
suggested a shop in Dubrovnik, because it was a
national holiday on this day (St Mary’s day?),
all shops were closed. They gave us some ideas
to anchor on the way to Dubrovnik.
It was 11 am, we decided to leave the marina. I
paid the fees, we set sail for Vis at
about12:30pm. After a 20 knots wind and
excellent sailing, we arrived at Vis at around
5:30 into a beautiful bay at 43.04’.734N and
16.11’.921E. Elizabeth and I got into the water
right after anchoring and enjoyed the rest of
the evening. This was a quiet bay with 15 houses
along the slopes of the hills; we saw some
Italians, some Americans and heard some Greeks
and all having a nice time. I tried to catch some
fish with no luck. It was a beautiful evening
with tons of stars in the milky way and
occasional meteors (or falling stars…) in the
sky.
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Day 8:
Thursday, August 16, 2007, on the way to
Dubrovnik
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Absolutely gorgeous morning, I was up at seven,
I called the crew at 7:15 am to get ready. We
had a light breakfast, got the anchor up and
left this nice place at 8:15 am. Our second day
of real cruising started with a clear sky, no
winds, 23 degrees and humming diesel engine at
2200 rpm. It is now 5:30 and we haven’t stopped
yet. Our ETA to destination is 7:30 pm. We
wanted to get as close to Dubrovnik as possible.
Meanwhile, Bob wanted to mess around with Snow
White’s chart plotter and figured out a way to
link the way points to the auto pilot and just
hit “track” key on auto pilot. Voila! We are
tracking to the chart plotter right on. Now, if
we could only understand how to enter a route,
next time we are cruising on auto pilot all the
way to destination. What a convenience!
In the meantime, I let out a lure from the back
of the boat all day. It is 5:30 pm ad still no
fish, sucks.
At 7:30pm we
anchored one of the most beautiful anchorage in
the area called Sipan. But unfortunately, it was
also crowded with cruisers and large yachts.
City is kept in its original shape since
centuries. We visited the town, beautiful stone
building and ate fish at one of the restaurants.
www.vivendum.de/hotel-sipan
Crystal clear
waters, quiet and protected. We will post more
pictures later.
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Day 9:
Friday, August 17, 2007,
Dubrovnik
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We were told to get to
Dubrovnik ACI marina early to get a slip, As
early as 7 am, I prepared Snow White and
awakened Camerons. We were on the way at 7:30
and arrived at ACI around 9:15. We waited about
45 minutes in line to get in, finally settled at
a berth without any difficulty. The marina was
beautiful, there was even a swimming pool that
we took advantage before heading out to town.
Pictures tell the story. |
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Day 10: Saturday, August 17, 2007, Leaving
Croatia from Cavtat
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After finding out that Cavtat would be our place
to check out from Croatia into Montenegro, we
decided we had enough exposure to this beautiful
area and marina and should get going the next
day. Cavtat is only 12 miles away and easy to
get to. We did our shopping and internet
business in the morning, paid about 385 Kunas
for the night, (arguably the most expensive
stay) and left the marina to fill up the diesel.
We used up 108 litres of diesel, filled up the
extra container and left Dubrovnik at around 1
pm.
We arrived Cavtat harbour at 3 pm. I was able to
find the police station to get our papers
stamped. He looked at me almost in disbelief
(bare footed and sleeveless shirts) and asked
where to boat was. I said it was anchored. He
sent me to the harbour master to get the crew
list stamped. I found the harbour master a few
blocks away, got the stamps, asked a few
questions and returned to the same police. He
stamped the crew list and passports. I rowed
back to Snow White and told the crew, sorry, no
lunch here, we have to leave now to Montenegro.
So, we did. We motored all the way to Zelenika
at 2200 rpm. We arrived to Zelenika at
approximately 7 pm, moored in front of a white
building at approximately 42.27’.053 N and
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Day 11:
Saturday, August 18, 2007,
entering Serbia & Montenegro via Zelenika
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The person turned out to be officer on duty for
the marina. His name was Vukovic Mladen
(382-6935-1765), email:
nemomarine@cg.yu apparently a well traveled
seaman including North America and Great Lakes.
He was very helpful and trying for the marina,
how inexpensive it really was. (We paid 26 Euro
for the night including electricity and water).
While I was completing the paperwork, Camerons
talked to the skipper of this American yacht.
His name was Jeffery, a retired Serbian-American
naval architect out of San Francisco, who built
that enormous yacht himself in 11 years and
shipped the boat here paying $40,000. He found
this marina very good for wintering and cruising
around.
At about 3 pm we left the boat to explore the
town. The name Bar certainly lived up to its
English meaning with many bars along the main
street. We had hamburger at a Greek restaurant
and took a taxi-cab to the old city fortress
about 4 km away, paid 5 Euro. The fortress was
magnificent atop the hills surrounded by deep
valleys and more hills a naturally protected
place. At the base, it was this little town from
historical times with sporadic new buildings.
There was even a mosque still operating called
Omer Pasha Mosque built in around 1600 by the
Ottomans. Ottomans ruled this area for about 300
years and this town looked like a small town in
Turkey. It was praying time so, I quickly
finished the fortress tour (1 Euro, which was
ruined by a couple of strong earthquakes) and
went to the mosque. Had a chat with imam, a
young person in his early thirties and told me
that Bar has 45000 inhabitants of those about
15000 are Muslim who supports this mosque.
After a cold drink at the base of the fortress,
we took another taxi-cab down to the marina at 5
Euro. The houses along the slopes were beautiful
with very large yards, fruit trees, and gardens.
Seems like a good place to live, very peaceful.
We got our sugar fix for the day at another
restaurant near marina with huge ice cream
desserts then walked along the beach with
extremely wide sidewalk. People were having a
good time at the beach as the sun went down.
There were preparations at St. Nichola’s summer
house for a concert (I think he was one of the
Serbian kings). While we were getting ready to
sleep, they started fireworks at 10:30 right
over our heads! It lasted almost half an hour.
The evening was restful. The next morning, I
tried to find the harbour officer of the day to
clear but no one was there at 7 pm. At 8 pm, all
showed up, I paid the marina fee of 26.75 Euro
then went to the police station around the same
building, got crew list and returned to the
boat. We bid farewell to Jeffery, topped up the
diesel across the dock inside the marina (38
litres at 0.95 Euros/lt) and cast off to Greece.
That’s going to be our longest journey, about
160 nautical miles, approximately 30 hours
staying off the coast of Albania.
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Contact us
for this voyage
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