When we caught up with Pucci and Aldo in Bolzano they asked us to go sailing with them in June. I was a little wary (I get sea sick on ferries) but have always wanted to do this so was keen. Pucci warned me it would be like camping, she was wrong - it was way better than camping!!
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| Getting ready to go. |
Here are my thoughts and I'll get Malcolm to add some detail as well:
If you are going sailing, go with Italians - they apologise for what they perceive as basic food whilst I'm thinking - wow it doesn't get better than this! Pucci, Aldo and their daughter, Stefania, were wonderful, they made me feel very welcome and comfortable, they made sure that they took us to places were the water was not too rough. No journey between bays lasted more than a couple of hours, most shorter, so I had not time to get sick. Surprisingly I slept extremely well for the 9 nights on board. My berth was only as wide as me but I slept much better than I have in a long time. It was an amazing 10 days, we got to relax, read, swim and go for walks. The water and surrounds were as beautiful as I kept hearing. When we finished though it was great to have a shower in fresh water and wash my hair!
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| On the last day. |
Malcolm:
It was exactly thirty years ago that I had last cruised these waters with Pucci and Aldo on board "Jole". Sadly, Pucci's father Vittorio was not with us this time, but we had the delightful addition of Stefania. Whilst the political situation has changed markedly in the interim, the outlying islands of Croatia are still starkly beautiful and sparsely populated as before - perfect for cruising.
"Jole" is a traditionally planked wooden Sparkman & Stephens 36 footer, immaculately built and maintained by the Morri & Para boatyard near Rimini. Her build commenced in 1961 alongside Aldo's family's 46' yawl "Gemma II". So painstaking was the yard, that they were both launched around 6 years later.
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| Dinner on shore |
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