Kurukulla

Kurukulla
Kurukulla, anchored at James Bond Island, Thailand

Wednesday 25 August 2010

The best laid plans.

After an enjoyable lunch anchored off Uvala Konobe I decided that a final swim before setting off for Krk town and the fuelling jetty would be in order. I reached over the wheel to pick up my flippers and mask from the rear of the cockpit and that was the last movement I made for half an hour. Somehow I had managed to put my back out and the pain took half an hour to subside sufficiently to allow me to get myself down below and lie down. Fortunately the weather was stable and calm, therefore there was no requirement to reposition for the night or indeed any of the following three nights. Two days of very gingerly moving around the boat combined with regular applications of full strength Ibuprofen Gel (which had fortunately been procured and left onboard by Malvena Stuart-Taylor MD last year) got me to the stage where, with caution, I could go back to sea but I restricted myself to a direct passage to Rijeka; somewhere that I knew would be an easy berth to get alongside. Nothing adventurous and motor all the way was the order of the day!

A gentle stroll around Rijeka in the afternoon combined with a haircut (the first since I left England!) passed away a pleasant afternoon whilst waiting for the four friends who were due to join via a flight to Trieste and a taxi to Rijeka. Martin, Chris, Dom and Pete duly arrived at 1700 and by 1800 we were returning from the supermarket with victuals for a week. A rapid departure to avoid the joys of the Rijeka “Hyper-volume” Discotheque for a second Saturday night running, was followed, two and a half hours of brisk, excellent sailing later, by a night entry into Uvala Mala Jana. For the first time in my experience it was relatively crowded. As we ghosted in, carefully choosing a place to drop the anchor to avoid the other eight anchored boats or crossing their anchor cables, a helpful motorboat owner switched on every light he had, including his underwater floodlights, floodlighting us, just to make sure that everybodys' night vision was destroyed. Amazing how little some people know about seafaring! He obviously heard my freely offered advice to “switch the bloody lights off!!!” and complied. Two hours later, at midnight, he proceeded to wake the whole anchorage by starting his engines, leaving them idling for 15 minutes, then weighing anchor and leaving in another blaze of floodlights! I think I might have offended him!

Next day we sailed off the anchor and round to Krk town where we needed to take fuel and water. Fuelling in the tight corner where the fuelling jetty is situated was achieved without difficulty. After that we decided to berth on the town quay and have lunch ashore. Our first attempt at a Med moor, berthing stern to, with a wind blowing us onto the jetty, was not a great success. Initially all went well, that is until we hauled in the holding off line which we had successfully hooked from the stern and run forward. The outer end soon appeared on the bow of Kurukulla, attached to absolutely nothing! When you are committed you are committed! Some minutes later we had sorted out the problem, by swinging broadside to the jetty (fortunately causing no damage), finding the only other holding off line available and hauling ourselves laboriously off the jetty again into a perfect Med. moor. An excellent lunch in a restaurant on the quay was followed by a short walk around the town and then a brief sail over to Uvala Konobe for the night.

Next day we motored 10 miles, in a flat calm, to Rab for an afternoon of swimming and an evening BBQ on the beach, again! The last visit to Sahara beach for this year.

The following morning we sailed off the anchor in a brisk SE breeze and headed for Rab town where we anchored for a pair of hours in one of the rocky coves at the entrance to Rab before going to my now habitual anchorage to the NW of the town. That evening we went for a tour of the town followed by an excellent meal at the Arbiana Hotel restaurant in the gardens of the hotel.

This morning we made a victualling run to the Cash and Carry followed by a quick watering stop in Rab inner harbour and then to the same anchorage as the day before, for a brunch stop, before heading south. We are currently under-way to an anchorage off Pag, the next major island south.

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