Split to Dubrovnik on a sailboat ...

For our honeymoon we sailed from Split to Dubrovnik in a sailboat. Sounds amazing huh?! It was ...

We convinced our very good Uruguayan friends, Lula & Johnphi to join us. We made all the arrangements with our Croatian agency over the internet. I like to point that we had never been to Croatia, we had no idea of timings and we had never ever taken a solo sailboat trip. So we also hired a skipper! Hey that was a great idea huh? a Croatian skipper?! (Milo)




We arrived in Split and marvelled with the views and little streets of the old city, which was basically an old castle. Lula & JP made it to the city after being stuck in one of the country's airports for almost half a day and then stayed at this hotel which had been fired at during the war (and was still looking like the war times)



We all met the next morning at the marina and looked for our skipper and our boat for 2 solid hours. Finally, our gracious Milo showed up. We were hot and tired but happy to finally get on the boat and sail.

Oh yes, the boat... did I mentioned it was our honeymoon? well the sail boat was this very unergonomic and tiny 'boat'... Chuck & I got a bed shaped as a triangle and Lula & JP's was shaped as an 'L' (!!) yes! they were so nice to deferred and leave us the 'nicer' bed, not to mention Milo's bed, the dining room seats, just picture this, his feet and my face were separated by a piece of wood which was the door of our cabin.



Bliss ...

Croatia is a wonderful place, the sea is turquoise, the water is warm and the food is amazing. Everytime we could, we stopped in small islands and had fish steamed with vegetables and spices. It was a bit like a Peruvian dish and we all shared it which made it even more great.

Croatians, well that is another thing entirely. We (I) realised how different cultures could be, and how different meanings could come out of a gesture, a word. Milo was our test (and proof). Our skipper, kept trying to tell us how to do and not to do things. After the first evening, Chuck and JP hd to stop Lula & me from throwing him out of the boat in the middle of the night ... well we were trying, but the guy was built as a bull.

He kept saying: 'mmm problem' and then starting an explanation of some sort that neither Lula nor I would listen to. JP got tired at the second day, that left Chuck trying to be the Diplomat between the two sides. We managed a dinner away the 4 of us and just blurted all our feelings. True, we were all quite drunk at the end.

Well, our Milo, became a lot lot better after that. In fact he was the highlight in many ways: to have a Croatian tell you about his country, the islands and telling you some of his experiences really gives you a better insight about the place. We heard stories about his work, his life and we learned how to trade things during the trip. For example, to get ice for the boat (which was difficult to find in some islands) you dont just go and pay for it. You go to a local coffee shop, have a coffee (pay the coffee/s of the skipper), befriend the owner and get back with a large bag of ice.

The routine of the trip was great, we sailed during most of the day, Chuck & Johnphi trying to manage the boat. I was mostly sick and Lula tanning in the deck. Every so often we will see a naked woman in another boat, yes apparently it brings luck. I kept asking 'to whom?' but nobody answered. We will spot a nice place and jump in the water, swim for a while and then stop the boat to have lunch, which was usually bread, Croatian cheese, ham, tomatoes and our favourite drinks. Our diets went to the drain, except for Lula and Johnphi whose metabolism is so great they both looked like beach models throughout the trip.

In the afternoon we would reach our island and moor the boat (I kept calling it a boat, I know). Later we would get dressed up and out for a walk and a nice meal at a restaurant, usually with a bottle or three, of Croatian wine.

By the end of the trip, an evening under a wonderful starry sky, we just could not get enough of it. We talked, did not talk, and got a bit melancholic about leaving the boat. We even ended up best friends of 'our' Milo. At the end of the trip, we stopped at the marina and got him a new pair of mocasins, specially made for skippers, to substitute his (very) old ones. We all almost cried.

It was a wonderful experience, probably one of the best trips I have made as an adult. Did I mention it was our honeymoon?!. Yes it was an unconventional one, and because Chuck kept calling it a 'vacation' I think I am entitled to another one :-) We'll see...