Before the Yugoslavian conflict, many holidaymakers travelled to the coasts from Koper to Ulinj. A popular holiday destination for families with caravans, tents and collapsible inflatable boats or trailer boats. During such holidays, the younger generation discovered the fun of boating and later carried the pleasure into their own families. A development that was interrupted for years by the war and therefore led to a slowdown in boating (also known as the Yugoslavian boom).
In recent decades, Croatia has once again become a popular holiday destination for Germans. Today, people travel with motorhomes, cars and caravans or trailer boats and make themselves comfortable on the numerous campsites or in holiday flats. The odd inflatable or plastic boat is also taken along. Reason enough to take such a trip too: Family of four with LMC motorhome and Yam inflatable boat (made by Zodiac) as well as a 15 hp Yamaha outboard motor in their luggage.
As we had planned 14 days and the outward journey took us via Linz and Gmunden on Lake Traun, we set our sights on (nearby) Istria. More precisely, to the Mareda campsite between Umag and Novigrad. Our vehicle, a modern LMC Explorer Sport-Line I 745 motorhome, offers plenty of living space for four people. This starts with the bunks (two lift-up bunks in the driver's cab and two in the rear double bed), continues with the kitchen and seating area and ends with a separate shower and toilet room.
Our model has an awning so that everything outside is also cosy. We have stowed the camping furniture for this - as well as our boat and equipment - in the huge rear box. Now to a topic that is always hotly debated among motorhome drivers: the permissible total weight. A "magic limit" is 3500 kg. Up to this weight, motorhomes are treated similarly to cars when it comes to tolls and speeds.
Above that, they are more like lorries, which is particularly true in Austria. Weight checks are said to be particularly frequent and very strict there. With this warning in mind, I drove to a weighbridge to find out what our 7.40 metre-long motorhome really weighed. The shock: the scales read 3280 kg. We also weighed about 40 litres of fresh water, the diesel tank, which was a good half full, the outboard motor and camping furniture, basic equipment for the motorhome and crockery for four people. How is that supposed to work?
The four people alone are enough to make the barrel (the 3500 kg) overflow. However, a look at the papers brought relief: our test vehicle had a load increase to 3850 kg (maximum 4250 kg possible). Conversely, this means only 100 km/h on German motorways and only 80 km/h in Austria.
What is easy to drive with my "grey cardboard" is a problem for young drivers, as they are only allowed to sit in the driver's seat up to a permissible total weight of 3500 kg. Further expense: In Austria, we don't drive with the normal "Pikerl" but with the "GO Box" (available at designated rest areas), which charges our toll to the exact kilometre and depending on the emission class and number of axles.
In Slovenia and Croatia, we also take the lane for vehicles with a maximum permissible mass of over 3.5 tonnes. This means that the tolls are noticeably more expensive everywhere than for the "lightweights". But we start with a clear conscience, because we load up at home using household scales and a list of kilograms, and in the end, with a full diesel tank (water tank empty), we are guaranteed not to exceed 3850 kg.
The LMC motorhome is easy to drive. This is ensured by a 180 hp diesel engine, six-speed gearbox, cruise control, large exterior mirrors and reversing camera. The diesel was impressive: even at lorry speeds on Austria's motorways, you hardly had to leave sixth gear, even on mountain roads, and the cruise control regulated everything perfectly.
The reward for the low speed is the fuel consumption. According to the on-board computer, it is just under 10.5 l/100 km for the entire holiday distance of around 3000 km. The driver, co-driver and crew sit comfortably and can enjoy a good conversation.
The manufacturer has equipped our motorhome with a television and automatic satellite dish to ensure that we don't lose contact with our TV at home. Press the button and a few minutes later you have an extensive selection of German-language programmes in Croatia.
we have to set up our Yam 380 and, above all, register it with the harbour office. It takes about an hour to unload and set up the boat. Even the children are quickly persuaded to lend a hand.
When registering in Novigrad (I took a diesel train from the campsite to the town centre), I was completely on my own: The biggest problem was not the language (the lady in the harbour office speaks English), but finding the narrow little house, which is hidden in a row of restaurants with outdoor seating. At the office, it only takes a few minutes to sort out the formalities and I have to pay 188 kuna (just under 25.00 euros).
Now nothing stands in the way of our cruises (65 nm in total): we travelled to just before Umag and south to Poreč, where we visited the typical tourist market. The children like anchoring best, as they can do their favourite activity, snorkelling, from there. "We parked the Yam in a small harbour basin in front of the campsite, where jet skis can also be hired.
The dinghy is absolutely practical for supplies, as we drive to Novigrad a few times (mooring in the harbour near the petrol station) to go shopping. As a result, we didn't have to move our motorhome the whole time and only had to start it up again after our eleven-day holiday when we headed home.
The diesel starts without any problems, of course, and I only get nervous later on, because as we drove the first few kilometres in Austria, our "Go Box" suddenly beeped twice at every monitoring station. Which means: urgently drive to the nearest ASFINAG toll service and have the box checked.
We found out that the emission class had not yet been verified (that's right, I had received a small printout about it when I registered, which I didn't pay much attention to later), which the petrol station employee commented on with the sentence: "If this is not verified in time, you can expect a hefty fine".
And now? I then rang ASFINAG in Vienna and was told that nobody was working in administration any more (it was Friday evening). I was told to take a photo of the vehicle registration document and send it by email to "info@go-maut.at". I did, and a few days later I received confirmation by email that the emissions certificate had been issued. Phew... Lucky me, no hefty fine.
