From Times Online
August 6, 2007
Picture-perfect sailing in Croatia
Rhea anchored in a quiet Croatian bay, for a spot of
lunch, swimming and watersports
(all other images
are shown at the bottom of this text)
Forget yachts; the best way to see the Dalmatian Coast is by tall ship, and Ginny McGrath knows just the one
I had my photo taken regularly in Montenegro and Croatia – by locals, by
tourists, even by policemen, and while I’d like to say it was my snappy
dress sense that attracted them, I can’t take the credit. It was Rhea they
wanted – her tall frame and smooth curves turned heads in every port.
She eclipsed every fibreglass yacht and shiny gin palace we moored next to,
and even outshone the helicopter-topped super yacht owned by Roman
Abramovich, which we inadvertently tailed around the Dalmatian Coast; but
more on him later.
Rhea attracts the crowds for her unusual looks – a vast Baltic trader built in
1900 and constructed of pine, teak and oak, she has a topsail schooner rig
(square sails) and two masts – she’s every inch the pirate ship.
It had been ten years since I’d been on Rhea – my family have great affection
for her after years of sailing holidays in Greece and Turkey, so we couldn’t
turn down the offer to be her first charter in the Balkans.
Owners David and Penny Ross have lived and sailed in Turkey for 20 years, but
brought Rhea to the Balkans this summer because competition among wooden
sailing boats is now so fierce. Gulet sailing holidays are two to the dozen
in Turkey and the boats are inexpensively produced on a wide scale, which
has driven down the cost of sailing holidays and eroded Rhea’s custom.
Being onboard felt wonderfully familiar, as places do when you return again
and again – the pine smell mixed with sea salt and the creak of the oak
beams as she rolls over the waves. One thing I hadn't remembered though
after years of villa holidays, was the dimensions of sail boat living.
People accustomed to sailing will know that travelling light and unpacking
neatly into cubby-holes is the only way to avoid cluttered cabin fever – the
phrase ship-shape has never been more apposite.
That said, you spend little time below-deck. Meals are in the shade of an
awning on deck and of the eight family and friends in our party, half of us
slept on deck most nights under vast inky skies smattered with twinkling
stars. It’s a great feeling waking with the sun warming your body, and open
your eyes to the sparkling Adriatic, even if it is 7am.
We began our trip at Kotor in Montenegro, a medieval town with narrow cobbled
streets and wide defensive walls that you enter like a secret garden through
a small stone arch. The town’s terracotta-tiled roofs are overlooked by the
San Giovanni fort and chapel, which have origins in the 9th century. To
reach them is a heart-pounding 90-minute walk up steps that wend between
cypress trees on the steep slope above the city.
Kotor has a fruit and vegetable market on the quay, where jewellery is sold at
night, lively nightlife that attracts hoards of glamorously-dressed young
Montenegrins, and restaurants that spill onto cobbled squares and
bougainvillea-draped terraces.
After Kotor we sailed into Kotor Bay, a steep-sided 16-mile fjord that spills
into the Adriatic Sea. We passed two diminutive islands, Gospaod Skrpjela
and Sveti Dorde, topped a 17th century church and a tiny museum and
monastery respectively, which you can tour with the resident nun for a small
fee. We sailed on to cross the border into Croatia at Herceg Novi, which
required a not insubstantial effort from skipper David, and the presentation
of two Rhea crew t-shirts for the officials.
Our initial plan was to sail to Hvar and Vis, two of the larger islands north
of Dubronik, but we found so many beautiful bays and ports along the way
that we didn’t make it further north than the island of Korcula. Here the
walled old town has a fishbone layout that keeps the streets shaded and
cooled by a sea breeze, and the main attraction is the house alleged to be
the birthplace of Marco Polo. We had a memorable sun-downer cocktail at
Tramonto Cocktail Bar and ate at the restaurant of the same name next door –
it was another enjoyable evening where the affable waiters and sunset views
made up for the odd disappointing dish.
On the point of restaurants, it is easy to summarise Dalmatian Coast cuisine –
every menu we encountered had similar options: grilled meat (the lamb kofta
kebab was excellent), grilled fish (scampi usually means crayfish), and
various salads, fish soups, and often pasta and pizza, denoting the Italian
influence.
Prices tended to be lower in Montenegro (£6-£15 a head for two courses with
wine), than Croatia (£10-£30 a head), and wine was pricey relative to the
food in both countries, topping £8 a bottle. Our experience of local wine
was mixed, although we had our greatest luck with a white wine called Posip
(bottles that cost less than £5 are not a bargain, and best avoided) and a
red called Plavac.
The daily agenda aboard Rhea slips nicely into the routine of a morning sail
to find a quiet bay for lunch, swimming, snorkelling (although there’s not a
lot of marine life to see), canoeing, waterskiing and wakeboarding, plus
occasional forays onto dry land, then an afternoon sail to port. Here, the
enduringly fiddly task of finding a mooring space, then slotting into it,
bring evening entertainment for all onboard and the crowd that invariably
gathers on the quay.
Imagine driving a Bentley into a car park coated in black ice where the only
available space is between two Jaguars; and you don’t have power steering.
Modern yachts often have bow and stern thrusters to propel the boat sideways
to counter wind or straighten up for a mooring, but Rhea has none. It’s only
David’s intimate understanding of how she operates, even in a side wind,
that gets you into harbour.
Once docked Penny serves anchoring drams. She's a cordial hostess who can
produce a cup of tea, a bacon buttie and even a lunch of lamb and salad
pittas in rough weather. It is only the smells wafting through the galley
hatch that alert those lounging on deck that another tasty lunch is being
prepared.
There’s a lot of lounging; I’m not sure whether it’s the loll of the sea, or
the utter surrender to holiday slovenliness, but once onboard people snooze
in the day, but have no problems getting a full night's sleep. You don’t
have to be lazy – although David and Penny have two crew members who’ll take
care of the rope pulling, they’re happy for you to join in.
Our charter’s crew included daughter Julia, whose patient waterskiing
instruction was welcome, and Ramazan, a Turkish bodybuilder-type and
rope-puller extraordinaire. There are no motorised winches on Rhea, so the
sails are hoisted the good old-fashioned way, and it was a thrill on our
penultimate day to be sailing into Montenegro all sails up and the boat
purring at eight knots.
Interrupting the tranquillity, Rhea did not let us down with moments of
adventure. Unravelling our anchor from an unmarked fishing net as the wind
slowly blew us towards the rocks, gave us an anxious half hour. Then there
was the time we returned from a boozy supper to find Ramazan ready to
up-anchor as we’d drifted toward a sleek racing yacht that turned out to
have smashed a transatlantic sailing record and be worth a small fortune.
Its crew were waving and shouting for us to move, which meant dodging moored
boats in the darkness. It didn’t phase Rhea's crew, but it got us
landlubbers excited.
More indulgent highlights included eating lobster at Sponga (tel. 0091 588
3948; lobster costs £55/kg), a restaurant at Polace on the island of Mljet,
where the owner swore he had been visited by Abramovich the night before.
We’d first seen Abramovich’s boat in Dubrovnik, and had tailed him to Mljet,
where we were surprised by his taste in restaurants, although Sponga’s
mismatched plastic furniture belied the quality of its sensational seafood
dishes.
Mljet was also the scene of one of our most amusing land expeditions, when we hired
a fleet of scooters and a car dressed as a mouse, to visit a fresh water
lake in Mljet’s national park. The lake is pretty and has a sandy cycle
track around it, so in truth it’s best visited by bicycle, but our
expedition was worthwhile just to hear the hoots of laughter as the mouse
car passed quayside cafes.
For holiday memories, Rhea is been unbeatable for her charm, coastal scenery
that changes daily and the inevitable adventures of a holiday on water.
Reading through the guestbook it’s clear she’s offered once-in-a-lifetime
holidays to families who have recorded their exploits in cartoons, poems and
stories – a dog-eared visitors’ book to which I hope to add another entry
myself one day.
Need to know
For details on how to charter Rhea, which has availability in August and
September 2007, go to .
The approximate charge for one week’s charter is E12,750 for up to eight
guests and E14,250 for up to ten guests. This price includes two meals a day
and fuel, but not harbour fees, drinks, evening meals, taxis and cruising
taxes. Rhea can sleep up to ten guests in five cabins, with one larger
double aft cabin and four smaller double cabins in the centre and front of
the boat.
Rhea under sail is an impressive sight
Rhea, below deck
A classic Dalmation Coast view of rocky
islands and deep blue sea across the bows of Rhea
Guests can do as much, or as little as they want onboard
Rhea
The view over The Bay of Kotor from the steps to the San
Giovanni fort
Luka bay on the island
of Sipan
The comedy cavalcade takes off for a tour of
Mljet island
The old port
of Dubrovnik, taken from
the City Walls
Sammy, the ship dog, who can join charters or not depending
on the wishes of the guests, jumps ship... again
