Shake down cruise
We basked in the comfort of being berthed in the marina at Chioggia (pronounced KEY-OH-JA) post Venice Boat Show, completing a few tasks on the boat while awaiting Dede De Luca’s arrival for the testing of his (amazing) OneSails. The day was set for Tuesday 8 June and while the wind wasn’t cranking, there was enough to make for some good sailing and the sun was shining. Joining us on board this day were three members of The Boat Show, a digital media/TV platform followed by millions of boating enthusiasts, mostly in Europe and the states. They were covering the new ITA Catamaran 14.99, Waiata, with presenter Frederico Maselli and two of his crew filming and flying the drones. Along with Gavin and I, plus the team from ITA, we were 10 in total. It was funny at times as they were filming various places on the boat, we all had to hide as to appear not there. So we hung out on the floor of the saloon, the trampoline or in the cockpit, wherever we were directed to go. It was a fun day and we met some very nice people too.
The next day we set sail on our own for the first time and were both a bit nervous and excited. The plan was to have a couple of weeks cruising in Croatia by ourselves - and then return to Fano, Italy for the final commissioning of Waiata. This way we could get to know her and how she sails, gain confidence and ultimately iron out any issues before returning. I call this the ‘key learnings and high drama’ phase because there are just so many things to learn (and master) on this big girl and often things don’t go perfectly well or even close. Gavin calls it ‘the shake down cruise’. Getting out of our tight marina space was the first freaky moment, even with one of the marina’s lads helping us out-but we did it. Then it was off to get diesel for the generator at the fuel dock, it was easier tying up there, tick. And then we were away. We had some good sailing this day, but then the wind died and it was a motor-sail, followed by motor-only - and thus a slow day. All up it took some 13 hours to arrive in Rovinj, Croatia, at midnight where we successfully tied up at the customs dock, hugged each other and fell exhausted into bed.
The Rovinj policeman at customs came to us at 8am, just as we were getting ready to go to him. They are really strict in Croatia about prompt check in and this nice man told us we should have come to him at midnight when we arrived, but he didn’t fine us, whew. After we settled things with him we went to the captain of the port to pay our cruising permit, which was 300 kuna, around NZ$80. You also pay a tourist tax online and then you’re free to roam. The policeman allowed us one hour to explore Rovinj while tied up at his dock and we relished the chance to move our legs and walked all over the city. We didn’t want to stay in the marina in Rovinj at 500 euro per night and were craving a secluded bay and a swim so off we went.
Our first bay we found had an old stone building on it with an anchor and a slash across it. Although it looked like graffiti, we presumed it meant ‘don’t anchor’ but we did anyway as it was a nice day and we were just stopping for lunch. We upped anchor for an afternoon sail until we found another beautiful bay and I remarked to Gavin how strange it was that being a Saturday, no one else was there. We had a swim and were drying off when a boat approached with official-looking men. Turns out, we had put our anchor down in Brijuni National Park which is a big no no. And this is probably entirely our fault as we didn’t drill down into the charts and see the small print. The guy kept repeating the phrase, ‘we have a punishment for you’ so I finally asked, ‘what’s our punishment?’ (Part of me wanted to correct him and say, I think you mean ‘fine’ us - but I refrained) It was 750 Kuna which is about 100 euro and to be paid in cash only. He gave us change from his own wallet but did provide a receipt. We upped anchor and motored off, disappointed in ourselves but also feeling it was a bit inhospitable for tourists, we’d been there all of 30 minutes, just tell us to go, one warning would have been ‘kinder’. I think I might have said something like ‘it’s not very kind’ So NZ! LOL! Oh well, key learnings.
Other anchorages in Istria have been stunning and fun, with the most clear and beautiful water. Naked sailing and swimming is everywhere and at first a shock, ultimately, you understand why and get on board with it. Some places to mention: Stoja, where we met a lovely Aussie couple from Sydney, Paltana, where we stocked up on groceries, had to taxi back so large was the haul, Zabodarski, where we walked on shore for an hour and hid in the bushes upon our return when we saw the Kuna collection man circling our boat - presumably to see us and obtain a fee for our night at anchor, Ilovick, Vela Draga where we grabbed our first mooring (successfully!) and finally Sali where we chose for our clearing customs spot to head back to Italy.
In Sali we had two nights in a stern-to berth along the oceanfront promenade. This was a tight squeeze (didn’t love getting in there although there was a guy on shore assisting) and utterly surreal for us Kiwis. You’re cheek to jowl with other boats, all coming and going, and directly at our stern, the iconic Maritimo Bar. This is a go-to place for both tourists and locals and where sport is watched and drinks are drunk; it’s very pirate-like in looks with broken windows on the upper floors. Our sun shade wasn’t yet made so we were in direct view of everyone in the bar, who openly stare, (who can blame them?) at our boat. We celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary in Sali on 21 June, with a meal out, toasted our good fortune and love. The next morning we did the required Covid PCR test there, (negative again) and cleared out.
The sail back to Italy was perhaps the best we’d had. We had a 12-15 knot ‘sirocco’ wind in a flat sea and just honked along at 9-10 knots. She moved like a train and there was zero swell, my kind of sailing! The sirocco wind comes from north Africa and leaves red dust on your boat and makes the sky red also, a rather surreal setting. We went to Ancona this time as it is a customs clearing in point, tied up at the fuel dock around 9:30pm, long day…but we felt exhilarated in coming to understand the power of this amazing boat.
The next day we motored and sailed up to Fano, about 4 hours. It felt like coming home in a way. Marina dei Cesari, (Cesari pronounced Cheese-ah-ree) has a nice bunch of people working for them, all very helpful. They loan bikes to guests which we enjoyed using. There’s a wonderful promenade for walkers, runners and bikers that surrounds the marina and a replica of a Grecian statue of a man/god? is placed proudly at the end of this promenade. The locals believe fondling his testicles is good luck, thus they are shiny from all the touching. Of course we got on board with that practice on our daily walks, just to keep the good luck flowing! We enjoyed meeting an owner of the marina, Maura, a glamorous lady who rides her E-bike all over, checking out the state of play and meeting her guests. She had visited NZ before and kindly shared books on cruising Croatia with us.
Once berthed in Fano it was all on with team ITA cracking through the final projects on the boat, the Raymarine i70, BBQ, pressure pump on starboard, service the generator, the cockpit covers and shade, etc, and deliveries of items we’d bought and had shipped to them. These included a blow up wing foil board for Gavin and a set of Eartec UltraLite wireless headphones for us. The latter are game changers, the headphones allow us to communicate quietly when putting down or raising the anchor, or picking up moorings and getting into marina berths - no more shouting and gesticulating from the Whites on Waiata!
While in Fano it was especially nice to be reunited with the ITA Catamaran people whom we’ve come to love. We all went sailing twice to take out prospective buyers and apart from meeting new and very nice people, it was an escape from the sweltering heat of the marina and another chance to enjoy the magic and power of Waiata. We also had a fun and delicious farewell dinner with Sonia, Ema, Aslan and his wife Katia (sadly Fede, Francesco, Emi, Sandra, Emanuela, Nicolo, and Ezio were not in attendance this night as they weren't in Fano, we’ll catch you next time!) and vowed we’d meet again, (maybe in NZ?). It’s a rare blessing to meet and work with people who have a passion so strong for what they do that it flows into every aspect of the project and hits the mark of excellence so perfectly. We cannot rate their service and attention to detail on all aspects of this boat and their treatment of us as owners highly enough; it is simply off the charts.
Finally, it was suggested to us by Maura from the marina to take a day excursion to Urbino, (40 minute drive) a nearby walled-city known for, amongst other things, the turreted, 15th-century Palazzo Ducale and birthplace of Raphael the renaissance painter. It was the hot spot to be in the 15th century for artists and scholars and attracted these types from all over Italy and beyond. It is UNESCO recognised and totally charming. Our guide Lela gave us an excellent tour of the town and then we explored on our own including a visit to Casa Raffaello.
It was time to leave Italy for good and we went through the usual steps, check out with police in Ancona, Covid test (our noses are well used to this now) and final provisioning. We were stoked to be in Italy for this task and loaded up big time on the beautiful wines and wonderful food products. I’ve cooked mostly vegetarian on the boat, except for an occasion where Giovani a local fisherman drove his boat over to us and sold us a couple of freshly caught sea bass. I had to Google ‘how to cook whole fish’ as I’d never done that before. Thankfully the tips I got were spot on and it was delicious!
As I write this we are anchored in a bay near Premuda, Croatia with our anchor stuck under a rock 10 metres down. Gavin, aka, ‘McGyver’ has used everything in his arsenal to get us out, alas to no avail. This experience falls into the ‘high drama’ category, edging close to the rocks on shore is never nice. It also ticks the ‘key learnings’ box with a note to selves to get diving equipment on board. Thankfully Zoran, a local man who looked to be in late 60’s, came to the rescue just now and retrieved it. We’re back on our way heading south down the Croatian coast.
