Discovering Grk

Having provisioned in Dubrovnik, we were below deck early the next morning preparing to leave when a large motor boat arrived sounding its horn and calling us. ZigZag was anchored just outside the marina which turned out to be the exact spot that this boat wanted to drop its anchor to reverse into its mooring on the outer pontoon. Luckily we were almost ready but this hurried us up, we lifted our anchor and motored out of the river.

It was a lovely sunny day with a light wind as we sailed out of the harbour and around the small islands of Koločep and Lopud.

There is a narrow channel between Otok Šipan and Otok Jakijan which we intended to navigate. As we approached it was difficult to see where the channel started and felt like we were heading directly for the rocks! (Thank goodness for charts).

As we got closer we could see the entrance but it looked very narrow, we continued cautiously and the channel opened up and we sailed into a large bay on Otok Šipan.

We dropped our anchor for the night in this pretty bay called Šipanska Luka, where a small village is surrounded by trees and the sound of birds singing.

In the evening it was hot and hazy as we went ashore for sundown cocktails and pizza.

There were strong winds and thunderstorms forecast over the next few days, so the following morning we lifted our anchor and sailed 35 nm further north to Korčula Island where we anchored on the east coast in Uvala Račišće. We stayed here last year, it’s not the prettiest bay and there’s not much here but we knew it would give us good protection from the forthcoming weather.

The next couple of days were very grey and overcast, we had 35kt winds and watched lightening strikes as thunderstorms and heavy rain passed over us, at least it cleaned any remaining sand and ash from the boat!

Once the storms had passed we had a couple of days of hot sunshine before further strong winds were due to arrive. We took the opportunity in this ‘calm before the storm’ to get off the boat and walk along the coastal path to the village of Lumbarda where there is a small marina, beaches, shops and restaurants. It was a pleasant walk in the shade of the overhanging trees with views of the surrounding islands and clear blue sea.

What a great place to have your school playground overlooking the sea.

Lumbarda is well known for its rare grape called Grk. The area is surrounded by large vineyards of sandy soil that enables the growth of these high quality grapes. This particular variety of grape is only grown in the Lumbarda region and due to the small local production of the Grk wines they are only available to purchase on the island of Korčula.

There are several vineyards that offer wine tasting so we decided that we couldn’t leave before trying some. We chose a family run winery set up on the hills with stunning views of the vineyards and the sea. It was a hot walk up the hill so we felt that we had earned a nice cold drink.

When we arrived we sat on a balcony and the views did not disappoint.

The staff were very friendly and gave us a full description of the process required to make each wine being served to us. We tried a white, rose and red which were all delicious and served with a large plate of snacks. After tasting them all, the owner asked us which was our favourite and gave us a further complimentary glass each before we left. The wine produced here is only available to be purchased from this family vineyard so of course we had to stock up on a few bottles.

After such a lovely day the storms returned, but this did give us a chance to complete a few more boat jobs before it was time to move on.