Preko was exactly opposite Zadar so after less than an hour on the motor, we arrived. However, the marina in Zadar was full so we had to go to the other marina, a little further. D-Marina Borik had finger berths, laundrette, hot showers, super helpful and friendly staff- pure luxury! It also cost 140 euros a night, so that meant we would anchor more for the days to come!

Zadar

Zadar is a historic city with an 18th-century cathedral of St Anastasia (yes, that is the only reason we visited the city), Venetian and Roman landmarks, UNESCO World Heritage city walls, and many cafes. Truth be told, we were not very impressed. It was too hot, quite touristic and the ruins were interesting but not special. What was very cool though, was the sea organ, a music installation by the sea where music is played by the waves!

We stayed in Zadar for 1 day but we took full advantage of the marina, meaning we did the washing, and drying, cleaned the boat, charged our batteries, and generally did a LOT of chores. On Sunday 17th July we released our mooring lines and set sail to island Murter. We had a beautiful, sunny sailing day and after a few hours, we threw our anchor at Uvala Korsirica. We enjoyed this green bay and relaxed and Jelle also caught up with his work. It was a nice change after the hot city of Zadar.

Šibenik

After two days in our anchorage, we decided to go back to civilization, this time to Šibenik. Due to our up-wind sailing, we were lazy and only hoisted our front sail but still reached a speed over 5knots! We entered the Šibenik channel, but we anchored just in the front, opposite the medieval Fort of Sveti Nicola.

Šibenik is often described as a small-scale Zadar, but it is much more interesting. It also features a UNESCO World Heritage site, this time its cathedral of St. James. The promenade is nice and the buildings are old but well maintained (mostly) often with green or red shutters, which adds a little color to this rather white-ish town. There was some green in the main park of the city, but other than that, the town was dominated by the white-grey of stone buildings and the crystal blue from the sea and the clear sky. Šibenik cannot be regarded as a rich city but it has a certain atmosphere though, a type of former glory still lingering in the air. We had dinner at a local tavern or “konoba” as it is called in Croatian where we tasted the local pasticada, a beef stew with gnocchi, fried calamari, and a liter of malvasia wine. Conclusion? Greeks do it better..

Primošten

From Šibenik we motorsailed to Primošten, as it was only a few miles and the wind was light. Primošten was one of the best towns we visited so far! The old city is a lovely round almost-island little town and the new town is nothing special, an average modern city. We were lucky because we were able to anchor in the big, well-protected bay of Primošten and used the dinghy to go ashore. This little resort town has cute cafes and restaurants and some of the most breathtaking views, as you can walk all around it and even climb to the top (although we didn’t) and witness the sharp contrast between the deep blue Adriatic sea and the white/grey stones surrounding the land. Moreover, once you stepped foot ashore, you immediately felt relaxed, a tourist casually strolling around and enjoying the beach, the food, and the salty air. We spoiled ourselves visiting Sipurina where we tasted a delicious black risotto, sheep cheese, grilled squid and -yes, you guessed it- white wine. Luscious dinner!

Trogir

Leaving the lovely Primosten on Saturday, 23rd July, we set course to Trogir. We had a nice upwind sailing, then a little half-wind and within 6 hours we threw our anchor between the town marina and the ferry quay. This was an official anchorage as we had read in the pilot, but what was not clearly mentioned was the limited space and the swallow waters. We managed, however, to set our anchor but we decided to only spend the night and leave first thing in the morning. The passing ferry and the busy channel did not make for a comfortable stay.

Trogir is a historic city, situated between the mainland and the island Ciovo. The historic center of Trogir is a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its Venetian architecture. Thankfully, the center is small enough so we managed to stroll through the cobblestone narrow paths and fancy restaurants and even enjoyed a drink by the harbor, all in one afternoon! We even visited a playground where Elena played to her heart’s content despite the high temperature and burning sun!

Early on Saturday morning of 23rd July, we set sail to our next destination: Brač island! Wanna know more about our Croatian island hopping? Look out for our next post! Until then!