Travelling Slowly

After a week on the island of Korčula, we finally lifted our anchor which was very well dug in after the strong winds pulling on it. The anchor weighs 25kg, we eventually managed to release it and brought it up along with what seemed like an additional 25kg of sandy mud from the seabed.

It was a lovely sunny day but unfortunately no wind so we motored out of the bay. We were low on water and needed to refill our tanks so we headed towards Orebić which is on the Pelješac Peninsula and has a small harbour. The journey was only 3 nm directly across the strait between Korčula and the Peninsula.

When we arrived at Orebić we were happy to find that the harbour wasn’t too busy and there was space for us to moor onto the harbour wall with water available close by.

Orebić is a small town although it’s apparently the largest on the Pelješac Peninsula. This traditional seaside town has beaches, cafes and ice cream shops with a backdrop of mountains rising rapidly to 1,000m. The town thrives on farming, fruit growing, fishing and tourism.

We celebrated Paul’s birthday here the following day with breakfast in the cafe.

After filling our water tanks we left the harbour and motored north through the channel between Korčula and the Peninsula. There was a good sailing wind but it was coming from directly in front of us and would require a lot of tacking. However, we decided to continue on under power as it seemed that everyone was out enjoying the wind. We were surrounded by lots of water sport activities; dinghy sailing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, sailboats and passenger boats. Everyone was travelling in all directions with varying levels of competence. It was very entertaining but challenging to avoid everyone particularly when they were heading straight at us, some were very fast whilst others spent most of the time falling into the water. We successfully weaved our way slowly through them all.

After travelling 12 nm we arrived at Lovište which is a small fishing and farming village with just over 200 inhabitants, on the far north-western tip of the Pelješac Peninsula.

We anchored in the large bay in crystal clear water, overlooking the village surrounded by olive groves.

In the evening we enjoyed watching the sun go down and the moon rise.

There were further strong winds over the next couple of days so we stayed in the shelter of the bay, as did many others. We had boats quite close to us at times but luckily everyone’s anchor held.

After a few days here the forecast was for a good sailing wind from the south so we left Lovište and sailed 30nm northwest to the Pakleni archipelago, which is a chain of rocky islets south of Hvar town.

The archipelago is about 6nm long and consists of 14 islands or islets. We headed to Sveti Klement which is the largest island and anchored in the deep clear water of Taršće bay with long lines ashore tied onto rocks. This picturesque cove is uninhabited and very peaceful. As there are no local stores around the bay, each morning and evening a small boat visits everyone in the anchorage selling a variety of groceries, bread, and other essentials such as wine, beer and Pringles.

After the sun went down a colourful sky reflected onto the flat water.