With a length of 32 nautical miles, the island of Pag is one of the largest on the Croatian coast. Nevertheless, Pag is not one of the top destinations for nautical tourism. On the sheltered west coast (i.e. the side facing away from the bora) there is only a small marina in Šimunj and little-known places with small harbours. The entire east coast of Pag resembles a lunar landscape. Here, the ice-cold bora blows down from the Velebit Mountains with unchecked ferocity across the narrow Velebit Channel, dragging salt water with it and spraying it onto the east coast of Pag.
Everything is bare there, no trees, no shrubs, just stones with a few herbs surviving between them. A summer bora can easily reach 80 km/h (9 Beaufort). In winter, peak speeds of up to 240 km/h are measured. That's twice wind force 12! This makes the Velebit Channel the most dangerous sea area in the world. The maximum wind speeds off Cape Horn are "only" 160 km/h.
You rarely see sailors on the east coast of Pag because there are few places that offer protection in an emergency and the distances between them are long. Is it safe to sail a motorboat in this dangerous area when the bora is blowing? We wanted to find out and chartered a small, fast boat to circumnavigate the island.
We charter a Sea Ray 245 from the young Croatian company MCP in Marina Punat on Krk. The cabin cruiser is small and fast - ideal for this trip. It's early afternoon and the Maestral fair weather wind is blowing from the north-west, no risk of bora - perfect for the crossing to Pag.
We leave Punat in our wake, pass Cape Negrit and then steer at 142 degrees into the passage between the islands of Rab and Grgur. After half an hour we reach the east coast of Rab. It feels strange to be in the middle of the Velebit Channel, which is called the Rapski Channel here. This is the realm of the bora! Not a motorboat to be seen, not a sail for miles around.
On the starboard side, Rab shows its lesser-known side. Rugged rock faces rise over 100 metres high, almost vertically out of the sea. No shelter anywhere. The maestral has built up a swell of one metre in height, but it doesn't bother us as it pushes from astern. Cape Njivica with a pile of stones in front of it lies roughly in the centre of the east coast of Rab.
We spot two motorboats lying quietly at anchor. South of the cape, there is a small pool between the stone harbour and the rock face. But you have to know this hiding place! As the swell is too high, we don't dare go in.
We pass the narrowest part of the Velebit Channel in the very south of Rab, from where the ferry runs to Jablanac. This southern part is a completely barren scree landscape; all hell must break loose here in a bora. We can now see our actual destination, the island of Pag, ahead of us.
Our first spot is in the north-east, about half a mile south of Cape Zali. A fjord opens up there, leading 800 metres inland. The hideaway is called Veli Svetoj Ani. We sail into the fjord and drop anchor behind a small island. There are five motorboats moored here, all flying the German flag.
As safe as the anchorage seems, it is open to the east and I have my doubts as to whether it is possible to stay here overnight. After all, the fjord lies directly on the Velebit Channel. I ask the skipper of the Freedom 200XL next to us, named "Kema", for advice.
"Of course there can be bora here," says skipper Matthias Hofmann. The police officer from Nuremberg has been travelling here by boat for ten years and knows his way around. "I wouldn't stay in Veli Svetoj Ani bay in a bora. But if you have a fast boat, the bora is no problem. If it starts blowing, you quickly hide in a safe place. It takes about an hour for the swell to build up. By then you have to have disappeared from Velebit."
This explains why you mainly see small, fast motorboats here and rarely displacement boats or sailing yachts. As the weather is absolutely calm and the sea is as smooth as glass, we decide to stay the night. The treeless lunar landscape around Veli Svetoj Ani bay is completely uninhabited. However, two fortress ruins at the entrance and at the head of the fjord bear witness to a former settlement.
We experience a calm night with no wind and smooth water. From where we are, it would be good to continue sailing clockwise around Pag. The only problem is that there is only one petrol station on the island, in Novalja on the west coast. Due to our journey from Punat, we have already emptied almost half of our petrol tank. Clockwise, it's 58 miles to the petrol station. If we want to see a few more bays and harbours, we might run out. If we drive anti-clockwise to Novalja, it's only 25 miles.
So we head north-west, where the island of Pag points like a long finger towards Rab. The village of Tovarnele lies at the northern tip of this finger. We drive into the small bay and head for the "Jadran" tavern on the southern shore. We want to moor at the shallow pier below the terrace. But the innkeeper directs us behind a massive stone pier, where there is just enough space to leeward for our boat to go alongside.
"You're quieter there," says Nada Baričević. "The rubber boats are better moored on my terrace because it rocks there when the maestral blows or a ship passes by outside." From the terrace of the "Jadran", you have a sweeping view to the west over southern Kvarner. We like to think that at sunset, the small restaurant is full to capacity. Its speciality is grilled shark fillet with chard, which is available for just 70 kuna (9.50 euros).
We continue our journey in the afternoon so that we can make it round Pag in a week. Our next stop is three miles further south in the picturesque village of Dudići. We moor alongside the stubby pier in front of the Crnika restaurant. The owner, Sandra, tells us that most of her guests come by small motorboat. She serves local specialities such as scampi and Pag cheese. Guests with small boats without sleeping accommodation can stay overnight in her guesthouse.
In other words, it's a real area for small boats. Up to ten metres in length and a draught of one metre, there are plenty of excursion destinations just a few miles apart, at least on the west coast of Pag. We point our bow to the south-east again. Just a mile further on is the settlement of Jakišnica on a wide bay. There are several small piers, with restaurants and guesthouses behind them. Jakišnica no longer looks as idyllic as Dudići. So on to Novalja.
We moor at the petrol station at around 7.30 pm. We fill up with 200 litres of petrol. The tank has a capacity of 220 litres - just as well we didn't try to round Pag in the opposite direction. The only petrol station on the island can only be reached by boats with a draught of up to one metre.
At the harbour of Novalja you can see the remains of a former old town. But everything around it is mercilessly built up. One of the reasons for the boom is the sandy beaches around the town, which have been popular with young holidaymakers for several years and where there is a lively party scene in summer. If you want to stay by boat, you might be lucky enough to find a guest spot on the inside of the new breakwater.
We leave the lively tourist town and head for Mandre, a few miles to the south, in the last evening light. Its harbour is largely occupied by fishing boats. However, there is a guest mooring with electricity and water in the eastern part of the bay in front of the tourist information centre.
Mandre is a good starting point for an excursion into the interior of the island. It is well known that Pag is Croatia's cheese island. Gligora, the most famous cheese factory, is not by the sea, but up in the mountains in Kolan, seven kilometres away. A taxi takes us there. Although we arrive spontaneously, company boss Ivan Gligora and his son Šime greet us personally. The two proudly tell us that they won three gold medals at the 2010 World Cheese Championships in Birmingham in a competition of 2,600 cheeses.
The company boss describes the secret of Pag cheese as follows: "Due to the bora, the pastures are barren and salty. Only low plants such as sage and immortelle thrive. You can taste this flavour in the sheep's milk - that's what makes our cheese so unique."
The next harbour is the relatively small ACI Marina Šimuni, where every service is available, but unfortunately no petrol station. After shopping in the supermarket, we make a detour to the island of Maun off the western coast, where there is a popular anchorage on the north-western tip. The bay is known among insiders as Šip, the water is turquoise blue and between one and two metres shallow. Around a dozen small motorboats are moored here. A paradise for swimming and snorkelling.
We have chosen the village of Košljun in the south-west of Pag for the night. In the evening light, we head for the pier where the red and green sector light stands. The inside of the jetty is blocked with local fishing boats, which are already moored where it is deep. We go alongside on the outside of the pier, where there is just enough room for our small boat. Košljun turns out to be a sleepy fishing village. Unfortunately, there is no tavern either. So we finally finish off our supplies of spaghetti and wine.
In the morning, we motor to Povljana, three nautical miles further south. Modern times have already begun here and the harbour to the west has a new breakwater with local motorboats moored on the inside.
We turn into the Nove Povljane channel, the natural sound between the islands of Pag and Vir. The lighted Cape Prutna marks the southernmost tip of the cheese island. From here, a fairway that looks like a slalom course on the map leads northeastwards across several inlets to the Velebit Channel. Once again, the landscape becomes bare and rocky. The church of Zečevo with a small harbour in front of it is a striking landmark. This mini harbour, which is not yet listed in any nautical guide, offers protection from the wind and swell from the north-east and would therefore be a shelter in the event of a bora.
The south coast of Pag, which we now have on our port side, is very rugged and sparsely populated. The jetty below the village of Smokvica consists of a simple stone pier. The new marina in front of the village of Vlašići is more interesting. It is located to the west next to the beach and in front of the terrace of a konoba. There is space for ten small motorboats on the new L-shaped pier.
On our course around Pag, we approach the Ljubačka Vrata strait, which is spanned by the Paški Most (Pag Bridge). When the wind is blowing, it blows directly through the strait, which is flanked by high rocks. In the gust, the storm intensifies to such an extent that the Ljubačka Vrata becomes impassable during bora. It is forbidden to sail through the strait at night.
We are lucky. The maestral is still blowing, allowing us to pass safely under the bridge and out onto the Velebit Channel. We head north-west along the magnificent, bare cliffs of Pag. There are a number of inlets on this steep coast that you can enter by boat - provided the water is smooth and the weather is good.
We head for our final destination, the island capital of Pag, which lies at the southernmost tip of Paški Zaljev (Pag Bay). Like the other boats, we moor alongside the beautiful promenade with the bow facing north. From the north-west, the Maestral is blowing waves and rocking our little boat badly. But we know that this wind will calm down in the evening and we will have a quiet berth.
Pag is a very beautiful medieval town. Narrow alleyways lined with boutiques and pubs lead from the harbour to the market with St Mary's Church and the 15th century ducal palace. Pag became rich in the Middle Ages through the production and sale of sea salt. The salt pans are located just behind the town and are still in operation today.
We say goodbye a little wistfully. We stop for a swim in Slana Bay, just before the exit to the Velebit Canal, surrounded by a lunar landscape and crystal-clear water. We head out onto the Velebit Channel one last time and complete our circle around Cheese Island. We continue towards the Barbatksi Canal to refuel and spend the night in the town of Rab one last time before returning the boat to Punat.
we return the boat to Punat.
On the way there, we stop at the mainland mountains. Half a mile south of the Zavratnica fjord is the Konoba "Stina". The jetty is open all round. Six boats can moor there, with the bow to the pier and the stern line to one of the konoba's buoys. According to the operators, you can stay moored at the restaurant even in a medium bora. However, strong winds from the west are dangerous. Then you should seek shelter around the corner in the Zavratnica fjord.
On the way home to the north-west, we are met by whole groups of small pleasure craft. We now know that the island of Pag is a particularly attractive destination for such crews.
WHAT SKIPPERS NEED TO KNOW
The company Motorboat Charter Punat (MCP) is a young Croatian company that started in 2003 with two boats and today has a fleet of 27 charter boats in total - from a small
5 metre day cruisers to 42-foot yachts. The boats can be hired by the day or week, with or without a skipper. MCP also sells new and used boats. The base is Marina Punat in the south of the island of Krk.
The boatThe Sea Ray Sundancer 245 chartered by us has an aft cabin and two sunbeds in the saloon. The galley is well equipped for the size of the boat with a fridge, sink, gas hob and microwave. There is a small wet room (WC, shower) and an outside shower. The living space is designed for a sporty crew of two to a maximum of four people (although it does get cramped here). The Sea Ray is too small for exceptionally tall (over 1.80 metres) or overweight people. Due to its speed and easy handling, the boat is a lot of fun to drive.
Nautical equipment: depth sounder, fuel gauge, plotter, VHF, CD radio, electric anchor winch with 30 m chain.
Technical data: Length 8.03 m, beam 2.59 m, draught 0.80 m, water tank 76 l, petrol tank 220 l; engine: Mercruiser inboard with sterndrive/220 kW, fuel consumption 30 l/h, top speed 35 kn. In our experience, the boat is best steered at a maximum speed of 27 knots.
The pricesDepending on the season, the Sea Ray Sundancer 245 costs between 360 and 450 euros per day or between 1800 and 2300 euros per week. Bed linen and towels included. Deposit 1500 euros. Booking address in Germany: Master Yachting Ochsenfurter Str. 1a, 97286 Sommerhausen, Tel. 09333-90 440-0, Fax 09333-90 440-11, www.master-yachting.de
The bora It makes sense to refuel the charter boat in Rab on the way to the island of Pag. As you know, the only petrol station on the island of Pag is on the west coast in Novalja. With an almost full tank of petrol, you are free to decide whether to sail around Pag to the right or left.
You should never sail into the Velebit Channel (east coast of Pag) in Bora. This wind is difficult to predict. We can only say that the situation is such that there could be bora. It can start literally out of the blue. An omen is a cylindrical cloud over the Velebit Mountains.
The start of the bora can be felt through cold, gusty winds from the north-east. They can be recognised visually by dark, rippled surfaces that quickly approach over the still smooth water. With these signs, it is high time to get to safety. The wind usually picks up quickly and swell builds up after about an hour.
Where to flee to when you are in the Velebit Channel and the bora is coming? In the north of Pag you can find shelter in Tovarnele or in Stara Novalja. In the southern part, you can weather the bora in Packi Zaljev, for example in the town of Pag. In the far south, the quickest way to escape is through Ljubacka Vrata, and west of the bridge there are several options. A summer bora can last several hours or a day, less often two to three days.
The cruise stages(in nautical miles)
Punat - Veli Svetojani: 31
Veli Svetojani - Mandre: 30
Mandre - Kosljun: 17
Kosljun - Pag: 37
Pag - Rab: 30
Rab - Punat: 22
Total: 167
