Nautical tourism is booming in Croatia, with construction, expansion and modernisation taking place everywhere. Since joining the EU in summer 2013, the upturn has reached the last corner of the country. Can boaters still find the timeless Mediterranean beauty that the country has been advertising for years? "You have to go to the small islands that don't have a ferry connection," says Stefan Breck, base manager of Offshore Boote in Marina Kremik. "For example to Šćedro, where the clocks still go really slowly."
Šćedro lies off the mountainous southern coast of the island of Hvar. It is around 47 nautical miles from the Kremik marina. It is already afternoon, the Maistral is blowing from the north-west and has stirred up the Adriatic. Do you want to leave the harbour? "You won't notice the wave," says Stefan when I look at him questioningly. "The Adagio 51.5 has automatic stabilisers like a cruise ship."
We came to the luxury trawler like the virgin to the child: we had originally ordered a smaller boat, but it had to be repaired due to engine damage. We were rebooked without further ado. We were thrilled as soon as we entered the saloon: a sensational feeling of space paired with modern design.
We motor southeast from Kremik Marina at a speed of ten knots. The Maistral has built up a metre-high wave, which, coming diagonally from astern, crashes against our starboard side. All the sailing and motor boats around us, which are heading south like us, are rolling in the swell. But our big ship is travelling as if on rails.
Our destination, the island of Šćedro, is just 6.5 kilometres long and only 2 kilometres wide, making it only slightly smaller than the famous island of Sv. Klement off the coast of Hvar. Both islands lie at almost the same latitude and have a similar number of beautiful bays.
And yet there are significant differences: Sv. Klement is known far beyond the borders of Croatia thanks to the Palmižana botanical park. There is a marina and water taxis commute to the town around the clock. Thousands of tourists visit every year.
And Šćedro? The island is still cut off from the flow of tourists. There is not even a ferry connection. Nevertheless, people are said to live there all year round, without roads or cars. The island is said to have been a pirate hideout. It can only be visited and explored by boat.
It's about a five-hour journey from Kremik to Šćedro on our trawler. It is already 6 p.m. when we steer into the Pakleni Channel between Hvar in the north and Sv. Klement in the south. It's about 15 miles from here to Lovišće Bay in the north of the island of Šćedro. But we've never been there before and don't want to go to an unknown mooring in the dark.
The sun sinks glowing red into the sea. The lights of the town of Hvar flicker ahead. In the island metropolis, moorings are not only scarce, but also restless - especially when the Maistral has blown hard. In the last "can light" we therefore turn to starboard and round the island of Sv. Klement on the eastern side, travelling south through the Ždrilca Passage.
We head for Palmižana from the south and look for an anchorage in Vinogradišće Bay. There is absolutely no wind here and the water is as smooth as a mirror. Although there are already a dozen boats in the bay, thanks to our shallow draught we still find a spot in the first row directly in front of Palmižana beach. We pull our dinghy onto the gravel and walk about a hundred metres uphill. This is where the "Meneghello" restaurant is located.
Matteo Meneghello, son of a Venetian merchant family, acquired 300 hectares of land on the Sv. Klement archipelago in 1800, cultivated rosemary, built a house and named his estate "Palmižana". The most famous scion of the dynasty was Eugen Meneghello, born in 1878. He studied botany and mathematics in Vienna and taught astronavigation at the Dubrovnik Nautical School. He then recognised the special location of his island, which was washed by the sea. The Sv. Klement archipelago is one of the sunniest regions in the Adriatic.
The botanist invested energy and capital in the creation of an exotic park with plants from tropical countries around the world. His former nautical students, who later sailed around the world as captains, brought their highly honoured professor trees and shrubs from overseas. This is how the Palmižana Arboretum came into being. We are fascinated by the arboretum with never-before-seen palm trees and man-high cacti. It smells sweetly of pine trees and many flowers whose names we do not know.
In the morning, a swim in Vinogradišće Bay is tempting. I've rarely seen water this clear! Now it's only 15 nautical miles to our destination, the island of Šćedro. You can almost see the island, or at least get an idea. Knowing full well that we are leaving this comfortable paradise and heading for an island that is undeveloped for tourism, we weigh anchor and set course.
On our port side we now have the gigantic mountain massif of the south coast of Hvar with peaks over 600 metres high. This region with its steep rocky slopes is little developed. For thousands of years there were no sheltered harbours on the south coast. Finally, the winegrower Zlatan Plenković managed to overcome the resistance of authorities and know-it-alls and gave his village of Sveti Nedjelja a harbour.
Yet he is at an age when his peers are enjoying a long retirement. But he is bursting with youthfulness and creativity. And because he is also clever, he built a hollow concrete pier to store his best wines in.
We would like to moor at Plenković, but the wind has shifted to the south-east, a jugo right "on the head". It's too risky to enter in this weather because the narrow entrance faces south-east.
The island of Šćedro comes up on starboard. The only red beacon on the north coast shows us the way into the bay of Lovišće. We head south. It becomes calmer and soon there is hardly any sign of the Jugo.
We are still not sure where we can anchor or moor. Then we spot a buoy field to starboard in the western bulge. This seems to be the most popular mooring spot in the bay of Lovišće, and possibly also the safest. Unfortunately, we can't find a free buoy, so we drop the iron ten metres from the buoy field, where at least a dozen boats are moored. But where are the crews? Have they fallen into the trap of the buccaneers on Pirate Island? The smell of grilled fish wafts from the shore out into the bay. We climb into the dinghy and follow the tantalising smells.
The pirate suspicion was not so far-fetched. An old wooden ship is moored on the shore with the "Jolly Roger" waving from its mast. A fire is blazing in a black kitchen. A burly, tall man is wielding red-hot knives. When he turns to me sullenly, I get a fright. The guy has the visage of a buccaneer with a scarred face and a black eye patch.
As he continues to stoke the fire, he asks without turning round: "Who are you? What do you want here?"
While I search for an answer, he turns round and holds a long knife in his right hand. With his left hand, he rips his pirate mask off his face. The expression this reveals is a little friendlier. "You've come late and without an appointment."
The pirate captain puts the knife aside, wipes his hands on his apron, hands me his right paw and says: "I'm Ratomir, you can call me Rato. If you're hungry, sit down. My son Robert will bring you some wine. There's also some grilled fish. I'm the boss here. Do you have any questions?"
The man radiates unassailable authority. But behind the mask lies a deeply human smile. His son Robert serves us the house wine from the south coast of the island of Hvar opposite. This is followed by grilled fish and home-baked bread. We are the last guests to feast in the pirate hideaway, while the other crews are allowed to sail away in the dinghy after paying a "ransom".
On getting to know him better, the robber Ratomir turns out to be not at all brittle, but approachable and talkative. He claims that pirates used to anchor in Šćedro when travelling from the northern Adriatic to Korčula or Dubrovnik. Here they found shelter from bad weather and pursuers.
I ask until when pirates lived here. "The old man knows better," says Ratomir, beckoning a white-haired fisherman who is smoking his pipe at the neighbouring table.
The old man sits down with his wine glass. I pour him a drink from our carafe. The fisherman seems to enjoy talking a lot: "From the 15th to the 18th century, there was a Dominican monastery in the bay next door. At that time, pirates came regularly. But not to rob the monastery, but to buy food from the monks. They grew grain in the mountains. That's why Šćedro was also called the 'golden island'. Old and sick sailors were cared for in the monastery."
The fisherman draws on his pipe and pours himself a red: "The most famous pirate captain who anchored in Ma-nastir was Vitomir from Korčula. He had fallen in love with the beautiful girl Ivana, who had been raised as a foundling in the monastery. However, the Dominicans only wanted to give him the girl on the condition that Vitomir gave up robbing. So the swashbuckler laid down his arms and married the beautiful maiden. He buried his pirate treasure in Manastir Bay - somewhere between the beach and the monastery.
In the morning, we realise that Lovišće Bay is not only home to Rato's Pirate Konoba, but also two other restaurants, the "Porat Grill" and the "Kod Ive" restaurant. The latter made a very clean and well-kept impression on us. However, there is nowhere to moor. Boats with a draught of more than one metre have to anchor or use the buoy.
We take the dinghy to the southernmost tip of the bay and go ashore at the "Porat Grill". Here we discover a narrow path that leads uphill into the interior of the island. A Fiat 500 has been rusting by the wayside for years. Wild climbing plants have already partially conquered it, and a small fig tree is growing on the back seat.
After 600 metres, we reach the top and enter the village of Nastane. The former village consists mainly of ruins. Apart from two surviving houses, the settlement appears to have been abandoned. It smells of aromatic herbs. Sage, rosemary and oregano grow wild everywhere between the stone cracks. The former small fields and terraces have also been taken over by wild undergrowth.
It is only 700 metres from here to the south coast of the island with its secluded beaches. But some of the paths leading there are overgrown with scrubland. It seems as if time has stood still as nature gradually reclaims the terrain that was once taken from it by the people living here. We don't meet a single tourist or local. An incredible silence lies over the former pirate island. Back on the boat, we decide to circumnavigate the island. Even with a slow boat, you can do this in a good hour, as the trip around Šćedro is just under nine nautical miles.
And yet it's a wonderful way to while away a day. Because there are more than a dozen bays around Šćedro - each one more beautiful than the next. We were most impressed by Porteruša Bay, also known as "Uvala Carnjeni" on some maps, in the south-east of the island. A paradisiacal beach that is partially shaded by tall pine trees. It's hard to believe that you can still discover such an untouched landscape in tourist Croatia.
We round Šćedro in the west and take a look at the deeply indented Uvala Tufera. There is also a secluded beach here. So no matter which way the wind blows, you will always find a suitable bay. A small Croatian motorboat is anchored in front of the beach. A white-haired man on the foredeck is waving a rope. We pull up. His wife speaks German: "Our anchor won't come up. Can you help us?"
At first I consider taking the boat alongside and having its anchor chain pulled up by our electric winch. But then I realise that his chain is very thin and I fear that our winch would tear it immediately. The anchor is at a depth of about five metres. Without additional breathing air, it's difficult to get the iron up.
I saw a freediver on our charter boat. The device consists of a small compressor that is powered by a moped battery and pumps breathing air into a hose with a regulator fitted at the end. The device is assembled in just a few minutes. I put on a diving mask, start the compressor and go to depth with the regulator attached to the hose. There I can see how the motorboat's folding boom has become wedged in a crevice. Nothing could be done from above. In a few minutes I have it free, and the boat crew are pleased that they didn't have to cut it.
At this point, I would like to mention that a freediver on board has already helped me several times or I have been able to help other crews with it. Any healthy person who can swim and snorkel quickly learns how to use the equipment. You don't need a diving licence. It fits in any back box. A rope in the propeller or maintenance work on the underwater hull are no longer a problem. The white-haired woman from the small motorboat asks where we are going to be tonight. I ask back where the most beautiful place is. "In Manastir Bay," says the woman. That's where we wanted to go anyway. So we follow the little boat.
Manastir Bay is smaller and not quite as sheltered as the neighbouring Lovišće Bay, where we were yesterday. Manastir is open to the north. But it doesn't look like bora. The few buoys are occupied, so we drop anchor in the middle of the bay.
When we come ashore in the dinghy, the elderly couple are waiting for us to give us a bottle of olive oil. "It's from an ancient olive tree on the island of Šćedro. When the monastery was still active there," explains the woman, "wine and olives were also grown on Šćedro. The old terraces and the beautiful olive trees are still there."
Compared to the other bays on Šćedro, Manastir is permanently inhabited. I counted nine old stone houses. Most of the buildings stretch upwards from the head of the bay with the boat moorings in a small valley. They all have bright red roofs and are in good condition.
Close to the harbour and opposite the old row of houses is the former Dominican monastery "Zur Heiligen Maria". The ruins of the church, the bell tower and the residential buildings are still relatively well preserved and can be visited. However, they are not open to tourists. The origins of the complex are said to date back to the 11th century. In 1456, a document mentions that the Dominicans cared for sick fishermen and sailors in their monastery. It is still unclear why the monastery was abandoned at the end of the 18th century.
Very little is known about the original inhabitants of the present-day village of Moster or Mostir (both certainly derived from Manastir). Mostir was only repopulated at the beginning of the 20th century by Pave and Ljubica Kordic, who, in the 1930s, worked hard with simple tools to cultivate the vineyards, olive groves and fields surrounded by stone walls.
Their son Stjepko and his sons Pavao and Filip are the settlers who now live here. They live with their families in the old stone houses of the original village and practise ecologically orientated farming. The olives come from the monastery garden, the wine is harvested and pressed by themselves and an excellent grappa is distilled from the mash.
The vegetables come from their own gardens and the bee colonies scattered around the island collect rosemary, lavender and sage honey. In the morning, the men go fishing while the women bake bread over an open fire according to an old tradition. There are only a few islands left in the Adriatic where a small village community is largely self-sufficient. No car, not even a moped or tractor, disturbs the idyll. The water in the bay is crystal clear. I have rarely seen such a paradise.
The Kordic family's Manastir restaurant is located between the beach and the village. Host Stjepko serves Dalmatian ham and cheese with olives as a starter. Accompanied by this year's house wine from their own cellar. The main course is scorpion fish and grilled vegetables, served with freshly baked bread. Simply delicious!
Although we would like to stay longer, the zenith of a charter week is soon passed and we have to gradually head back home. We head west along the south coast of the island of Hvar.
The wind is blowing strongly from the south-east. So we "sail" with the Jugo behind us and are once again amazed at how stable our ship is in rough seas. We pass the Pakleni Channel between Hvar and Sv. Klement and head for the south-western tip of the island of Brač.
We enter Lučice Bay in the afternoon. A working boat from the "Smrčeva" restaurant immediately pulls up to us, the skipper shouts "Follow me!" and guides us through the buoy field to a particularly large buoy. With practised hand movements, he takes off our leader line and threads it through the ring of the buoy. He would love to take us to the restaurant straight away.
We are relatively well protected here, but the bay is open to the south. That's why I want to know what the Jugo is up to tonight. Like the entire fleet of offshore boats, our ship has its own WLAN network. At around 5 pm I read a storm warning. The jugo is expected to increase during the night with gusts of up to 8 Beaufort, rain and swell. The bay doesn't seem protected enough for such weather.
It is still light and relatively quiet. We leave Lučice, round the western tip of Brač and head for Milna. We are almost in the town when the sun sinks milky behind a wall of clouds. Shortly after dark, the first gusts of rain sweep over Milna. Where should we moor? We won't be able to find a mooring in the marina with our big boat. In front of the church? But these popular spots are all taken. I would prefer to be able to go alongside on the promenade with the bow against the wind. But an excursion boat is already parked alongside and a mega yacht is moored at the bow anchor with its stern to the pier. There are ten to fifteen metres of space between them, unfortunately too narrow to be able to go alongside.
The gusts are now whistling ever more violently and the rain is pelting down. A man on land gives us a hand signal: We are to deploy the bow anchor and park it backwards between the two ships mentioned above - in strong gusts from the side. Now it's important to give plenty of chain so that the manoeuvre succeeds and the anchor really holds. We drop the iron in front of the jetty opposite. We slowly feel our way backwards, adding chain metre by metre. Shortly before the pier, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep the ship in position in the gusts. The marinero catches the anchor line and puts it around the bollard. I put the other end around the electric winch at the stern. A win!
In the morning, there are puddles everywhere on Milna's beautiful promenade and everything looks a little deserted. The Jugo has lost much of its power and occasionally lets the sun shine through. We head north-west along the rugged north coast of Šolta. One bay after another opens up, and behind every rocky outcrop there is a new paradise to discover.
We want to treat ourselves to something good and steer our trawler to the small archipelago of Krknjaš on the east coast of the island of Veli Drvenik. Especially at midday, when the sun is almost vertical, there is a Caribbean feeling here. The anchorage is between two and five metres shallow, with light-coloured sand and sea grass alternating on the bottom. Despite the many boats moored here, the wind and current ensure that the water is always clear. Krknjaš is one of the most beautiful bathing bays just outside Split.
Our charter trip around Šćedro is coming to an end. We will have fond memories of this peaceful former pirate hideaway. For us, it's time to say goodbye to this paradisiacal country, where there is always something unknown to discover.
TERRITORY INFORMATION
Company
With currently 27 yachts from 11 to 21 metres in length as well as various rigid-hull sports boats, the Austrian company Offshore Boote is one of the largest charter providers for motor yachts in Croatia. Founded in 1991, the company's fleet consists mainly of tried and tested classics, which are maintained, serviced and renovated with great care and expertise. The "Adagio 51.5 Europe" that we sailed is an exception in this respect, as the ship is brand new. The Offshore Boote base has been located in the Kremik marina near Primošten since 1997.
Boat
The Chinese-built trawler "Adagio 51.5 Europe" can be chartered in the offshore fleet in Kremik. The impressively generous amount of space makes the trawler a comfortable charter vessel that leaves nothing to be desired in terms of quality of life. Three spacious cabins with double beds or single berths, a separate crew cabin and three bathrooms mean that you will never feel cramped, even on trips lasting several weeks.
Particularly noteworthy are the hydraulic stabilisers, which allow the ship to sail smoothly even in rough seas. Bow and stern thrusters help with harbour manoeuvres. The instrumentation, including the chart plotter, is state of the art. W-LAN is available everywhere on board. The gangway, bathing steps and dinghy crane are hydraulic.
Technical data
Length 15.70 m; width 4.50 m; draught 1.44 m; engines 2 x 435 hp Volvo Penta; water tank 950 litres; diesel tank 2120 litres. Consumption depends very much on the speed driven, we have determined the following values: 7 knots (1500 rpm) 2 x 4.5 litres/h, 10 knots (2200 rpm) 2 x 24 litres/h, 15 knots (3100 rpm = maximum speed) 2 x 79 litres/h.
Prices
The "Adagio 51.5 Europe" costs, depending on the season, from 8232 to 13 720 E per week. The deposit is 7000 E. The final cleaning costs 150 E. Optionally, a skipper can be booked for 150 E per day plus catering. Information and booking: Offshore Boote, Baumgasse 83, A-1030 Vienna, Austria, Tel. 0043-1-799 23 45. www.offshore-boote.at
More info
The Croatian National Tourist Board also provides nautical information on its website, some of which can be downloaded. Nautical brochures can be ordered free of charge from the following tourist offices: Croatian National Tourist Board, Hochstr. 43, 60313 Frankfurt/Main, or Rumfordstr. 7, 80469 Munich - or Liechtensteinstr. 22 a, 1/1/7, A-1090 Vienna. www.croatia.hr
Journey
The most convenient way to get to Split is by plane. Croatia Airlines flies directly to the destination from Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna. Tickets (there and back) cost from 172 E on the Internet (depending on time of booking and travel season). The transfer from the airport in Split to the charter base in Marina Kremik (the journey takes around 45 minutes) can be organised by the charter company on request. www.croatiaairlines.com
