Central and Northern Dalmatia

The Dalmatian Islands of Croatia with their clear turquoise water, sheltered anchorages and charming villages and towns are, without doubt, an outstanding crusing area for yachtsmen. This is borne out by the many charter yachts and owner’s yachts that are sailing here. One wonders however how much longer the sailors on those yachts will be prepared to bear the extortionately high prices of virtually every where before the bubble bursts. The cost of a marina berth for the night is akin to that on the south coast of England and the food is little cheaper and of poorer quality and variation than that one can buy at Tesco in Lymington. Yet the people are paid much less than those in the south of England. The price of a berth for the night on one particular town quay has doubled over the past year and the electricity supply is only turned on from sunset to sunrise and the price of an overnight berth on the town quay at Trogir is £49! An employee of a Chandlery who under measured rope he sold us by 5% when confronted shrugged and said ‘so what’. We are not averse to companies making a reasonable return on their investment but avarice we object to most strongly.

Our departure point on the Island of Brac and the Split archipelago was Milna. Miggy was looking forward to revisiting the place, then a small town where she moored to the quay, which she enjoyed so much 25 years ago. She was desperately disappointed to find a large tourist town with little character and a marina which has taken over the town quay and every other berthing place as well! We have got the moans out of the system now and will go on the happier and more positive things.

We sheltered from near gale conditions for a week in a marina in a place called, surprisingly enough, Marina. It was a true ‘sirocco’ with the wind reaching 45 knots and torrential rain covering the decks with red Sahara sand. Miggy was not at all happy as she had scrubbed the decks the previous day. From Marina we put on our sightseeing hats and took the bus to Trogir and Split.

Trogir, although settled since the Greeks arrived in 380BC prospered from 1420 under Venetian rule. The historic town, quite deservedly a UNESCO World heritage Site, stands on a small Island now linked to the mainland by a bridge. There are many attractive, 12th to 15th century buildings fronting narrow streets and passages but by far the most interesting surround the main square. St Lawrence Cathedral is splendid for, amongst other features, its beautifully carved Romanesque door surround, its 13th century octagonal stone pulpit supported on eight marble columns and the Gothic bell tower, to the top of which we climbed for a magnificent view over the town and surrounding countryside. The strikingly plain Clock Tower with its pavilion roof and the attached 14th century Loggia together with the ornate facade of the Cipiko Palace and the Town Hall with its pretty porticoed courtyard complete the enclosure to the main square.

We hadn’t intended to visit Split as it appeared to be an enormous metropolis which possesses little of interest to us. We are glad that the weather forced us to do so however. The old town centre has grown up around Roman Emperor Diocletian’s vast Palace. He was the first settler of Split in 305AD. Some of the original Roman Palace remains and in particular Diocletian’s mausoleum which was consecrated as the Cathedral in the 7th century. Most of it, however, has been redeveloped over the years under Byzantine, Croat and Venetian rule. It was under the Venetians that the town centre flourished in the 15th century and amongst the typical medieval buildings jostling for position on the narrow twisted streets, many fine buildings of that period remain notably the Town Hall and the Cambi Palace both of which are in the bustling and atmospheric People’s Square. It was great to go to the top of the Campanile built adjacent to the Cathedral during the 12th to the 16th centuries and gaze out over the town spread out beneath us. We had lunch of good pasta and beer in People’s Square very happily watching the chic Split world go round.

Finally the weather was set fair for us to move on north. We had no more than 10 knots of wind from astern but managed a pleasant sail for the couple of hours it took us to get to Rogoznica, or Rogersknickers as it is pronounced in the trade, where we dropped a hook in the mud at U.Stupin. Then disaster struck as the frame of Miggy’s remaining pair of varifocal specs broke, having lost the spare pair, the frames of which snapped earlier, overboard in Stari Grad.

Fortunately we were due to pass the large town of Sibenik, where we found an Optician, on our way to Skradin to visit the Krka waterfalls. The extremely professional and pleasant lady Optician tested Miggy’s eyes and found that her current prescription had altered. It took about two weeks for the best quality German lenses to be delivered and for the two pairs of specs we ordered to be ready, during which we sailed locally in the islands of the Sibenik archipelago. The cost of lenses and frames was about the same as that in UK although the quality of the lenses is probably better and that of the frames certainly is.

We had not intended to visit Sibenik because of the bad press it has in the Pilot Book and adverse comments we have received from those who have been here. All we can say is that they clearly have been no further than the docks. We took the trouble to look and were pleasantly surprised by what we found. The medieval ‘old town’ with its later strong Venetian influence is charming and its centrepiece, the 13th to 14th century Cathedral Sv Jakov, a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its unusual if not unique stone barrel vaulted stone roof, is astounding.

The passage up the narrow steep sided limestone gorges of the Krka River to anchor in fresh water opposite the charming town of Skradin was remarkable. We joined the tourist boat for the twenty minute trip up the Krka River with reeds lining the banks and Swans with their cygnets welcoming us into the Krka National Park and the lower base for the Skradinski Buk, the magnificent and very beautiful waterfalls. A series of footpaths and bridges meander over and around the falls and its ponds and through the forest of Plane, Cypresses and Pines. Flora and fauna abound with 18 species of fish in the quiet shaded pools, frogs croaking loudly in the water meadows and lily ponds, numerous kinds of birds and bats and snakes and reptiles in the bush and stony areas. Our walk in this paradise with its sights sounds and smells was blissful.

In 1895 the falls were harnessed for the production and distribution of the first alternating electric current in the world. It is true that the Hydro-electric plant on Niagara Falls went into operation two days earlier than that at Skradin but it took Niagara another year or so to build the distribution system, so the electricity produced at Skradin actually powered city utilities considerably earlier than that produced at Niagara. A modernized Hydro-electric plant is still in use at the Skradin Falls today.


We spent two weeks in the Sibenik archipelago primarily at anchor in the small harbours and sandy coves of the islands of Zlarin, Prvic, Kaprije and Zakan. These islands have not been overtaken by tourism to any great extent and remain the domain of the indigenous people. They have no motorized transport and only the occasional tractor for deliveries of goods from the regular little ferries. Our time here was relaxing and peaceful and the weather has settled down with gentle to not so gentle sea breezes and clear blue skies out of which however sudden storms may still erupt.
For the second week of our stay in the Sibenik archipelago we were joined by our dear friends from Sway, Ted and Iris Watts, who had chartered a yacht for two weeks, the first to sail with their family and the second to sail in company with us. This time together was a great pleasure for us and the highlight of our season.

Miggy will next broadcast on BBC Radio Solent at approx, 0640 on Thursday 14th August 2008.