Family sailing vacation in Croatia
A CRUISE REPORT FROM THE “FLOTTEN LOTTE”
The following sentence comes from Klaus Pitter: “Is there a more beautiful terrace with a sea view than the view from the bathing platform?” It’s true – that’s the best thing about cruising, I always have the terrace with the best location – always and everywhere.
When I wasn’t on the boat myself, I used to look with envy at the yachts moored in front of the most beautiful bays.It’s true – there are many places that can only be reached by boat. You are often very exclusive and have the luxury of a vacation apartment.
Below is our travel report from a wonderful sailing trip on the northern Adriatic!
Our Crew consists of my wife, our two children aged 10 and 12 and myself. We sail our chic Bavaria C42 Style with teak deck and black composite steering wheels. The name of the boat says it all:“Flotte Lotte” 😉
You can now read my full trip report on our family sailing vacation in 2023, a 2-week trip from the Pitter Yachtcharter base in Pula-Veruda. The next trip is already planned!
Texts and photos provided by Wolfgang Dostmann – many thanks!
Saturday, 19.08.
Journey to Pula Veruda
We arrived at Marina Veruda feeling completely relaxed. The children jumped straight into the marina’s own large pool. The marina is a sheltered, enclosed area with spacious sanitary facilities, a well-kept restaurant, mini-market and laundry. You feel comfortable and safe here. The staff at the marina and Pitter Yachtcharter are friendly and helpful. In addition to the good starting point for the islands in Kvarner, this is one of the reasons why we often set off from Pula/Veruda. Especially with a family, it is very relaxing to do the boat and check-in here. While my wife and our daughter relax on the sun loungers, I check the boat and equipment. Our son makes a video inspection and sends the pictures straight to his best friend in Germany. In the evening, we have a delicious meal in the marina restaurant. 🥃
Sunday, 20.08.
From Veruda to Susak
In the morning, we set sail immediately after leaving the harbor and pass the striking “Porer” lighthouse heading south. With 10-14 knots of wind, we reach Porat Bay on the west side of Susak after 4 hours. The anchor digs itself into the light sand at a depth of 5 meters. We enjoy a magnificent sunset. As predicted, the night is starry and calm. You should only stay overnight in the bay, which is open to the west, if the weather is stable.
Monday, 21.08.
Continue to Ilovik – Parzine Bay
With little wind, we motor the relatively short distance to Ilovik and spend most of our time in the water here. The bay is one of the few places in Croatia where there is a fine, light-colored sandy beach without any pebbles or stones. We anchor in 4 meters of water. The bay protects us from the bora and northerly winds, but is not suitable for jugo or winds from the south. We cook on board and spend a cozy evening on the boat with a sundowner and a game of cards. 😊
Tuesday, 22.08.
Wreck diving off Veli Rat (Dugi Otok)
In good time, we weigh anchor and sail west between the islands of Premuda and Skrada towards the open sea. It’s pretty rocky there, so we finish our breakfast under sail in a hurry. By 9 a.m. we are already at the wreck of the Italian freighter “Michele”, which sank in 1984. The ship lies just below the surface of the sea and is impressively large. There are colorful fish everywhere. You can still stand on the ship’s deck and rest a little from diving. After we have explored everything, we continue south on the west side of Dugi Otok past the Veli Rat lighthouse. We take a quick look at the much-praised sandy beach of Sakarun – but it’s too crowded for us. We anchor between Veli Zal beach and the island of Mezanj off Dugi Otok. We have stable weather with a light easterly wind and therefore hardly any swell. The anchorage is perfect at a depth of 4 meters – fine, light sand. It’s not even a bay here, but we decide to stay overnight. The conditions are ideal. 300 meters further on there is a large cat at anchor, but no other boats to be seen.
Wednesday, 23.08.
Spook in the water cave and a delicious dinner
We set off early again – we want to explore the Golubinka water cave on our own. We are already in front of the cave at 8:00 am. Unfortunately, anchoring is not possible here due to the steep coast. There is no excursion boat here yet. We back up to 5 meters in front of the cave entrance. My wife and children jump into the water and swim into the cave. I stay on board and keep the boat in position. After half a minute, everyone comes out of the cave again. “Well, that’s a short visit to the cave, which is over 50 meters deep,” I think. As it turns out, it was just too dark and scary. Now my wife stays on board with our son, and together with my daughter I dare to make a second attempt. It’s really dark – but after a short distance, light shines into the cave from above. It looks great – voices can be heard, is it haunted? No – despite the early hour, we are not alone. There are already two visitors. After our brief exploration, my wife and our son venture into the cave again, while I stay on board. After a good hour, we move on. We have breakfast while we continue south along the beautiful cliffs of Dugi Otok. Between Dugi Otok and Kornat, we moor at the classy Konoba “Mare” on Otok Katina in the afternoon. The restaurant is known for its fresh fish and beautiful location, but also for its high prices. There are a number of mooring places on the pier; electricity and water only intermittently. In the evening we enjoy a nice fish menu. The price for mooring is included in the menu price.
Thursday, 24.08.
From Otok Katina through the Kornati islands to Tribunj
At sunrise, I climb the small island’s local mountain with my wife. The view of the Kornati islands is unique. After a late breakfast, we don’t set sail until lunchtime and continue south through the Kornati islands. We spot our first dolphins just off the island of Mana with the ruins of a movie set. We excitedly take photos. With a light wind, we reach Otok Kaprije under sail and anchor for a swim in the Blue Lagoon bay. The bay is too narrow and unsafe for me to spend the night. We decide on a buoy field off Tribunj, which we reach just in the last light of the can. Relieved, we tie up to a buoy. Due to the not too beautiful location (not far from the marina exit), there are still a lot of buoys free here.
Friday, 25.08.
The southernmost point of our journey – the “Chinese Wall of Croatia”
We only have a very short distance to drive today, so we decide to take a short tour of the large bay off Sibenik. We pass very close to the Nikole fortress and a submarine bunker. We sail in and out of the Sveti Ante channel – everyone else is motoring. But the wind is perfect and so the jockey stays out for the time being. We continue to the Ostrica peninsula. The peninsula is separated from the mainland by a long wall. The Ostrica wall was intended to protect the inhabitants from the Ottomans a long time ago. Today there is a beautiful landscape with wild goats behind it. We stay at anchor here overnight.
Saturday, 26.08.
From Ostrica to Pasman
After a hearty breakfast, we head north again. We make a nice swimming stop in a bay on the west side of Murter and discover a starfish. We pass Vrgada on the west side. On Pasman , we moor at a buoy in Soline Bay and reserve a table in the local konoba. It’s very busy – but we still get our dinner quite quickly. The konoba is reasonably priced, but also offers rather simple fare. We have a bit of trouble finding our boat in the dinghy in the dark.
Monday, 28.08.
From Pasman to Mali Losinj
The wind has been howling all night and strong gusts are still whipping through the harbor today. We stay here another day and visit the Cikat Aquapark. The park is a disappointment: 2 slides, cold water, very expensive and few sunbathing areas. This was our first and last visit. We go for a pizza in the evening.
Tuesday, 29.08.
Harbor day in Mali Losinj
The Jugo takes a break and we cast off in the late morning. A lot of wind is forecast for the next two days. It turns from south to west and is expected to pick up again during the night. Out off Losinj, however, the sea is still rough from the previous day. We rock towards Susak. Thank goodness it’s only a few nautical miles. The rocking subsides as we reach the cover of the island. The harbour master speaks good German and is very nice. We get a place in the small inner harbor. One mooring will have to do. Next to us is an X-Yacht with a couple from Munich. As it turns out, they have air conditioning on board, an option I would also like to have when chartering in summer.
Susak is a great island: the island is car-free and there are no hotels. The islanders have a long tradition; there are two large, beautiful sandy beaches. There are hardly any wasps or biting flies on Susak, which is due to the special geology of the island. In summer, quite a few day visitors come by ferry from Losinj – or they are motorboat drivers who moor at the pier. Most of them disappear in the evening. This year is different – the rough seas, strong winds and inconsistent weather mean that there are hardly any tourists. The ferry service is limited. We take a nice hike to the lighthouse, admire the graffiti walls in an abandoned bunker and reach Porat Bay on the west side. Waves and spray crash onto the beach there. It is the same bay where we spent the night a week ago. Anchoring here is impossible today. We enjoy dinner on board.
Wednesday, 30.08.
Harbor day on Susak
Before he even gets up, my son says to me: “The island is so great – can’t we stay another night?” That’s exactly to my taste, and it’s still windy and unstable. We spend the day on the beach, on the soccer pitch and in a konoba that is also an ice cream parlor, bar and café. From everywhere you have a beautiful view over the blue sea. You could easily stay here longer.
Thursday, 31.08.
From Susak across the Kvarner to Kamenjak
Today we are heading back north towards Porer lighthouse: we are on course for 325°. The crossing over the Kvarner is unspectacular, as we have experienced quite differently before. This time we have to motor two thirds of the way. Nevertheless, we make good progress, as we have the larger of the two possible engine options with almost 60 hp on the “Flotte Lotte”. We spend another night in an anchorage bay at Cape Kamenjak. In the evening, we take a trip to the rocks in front of the lighthouse.
Friday, 01.09.
Return to Marina Pula/Veruda
Unfortunately, the night comes to an end at 5 o’clock. There is lightning and thunder, the wind picks up and comes from a direction that was not predicted. The engine is on standby. I watch the Windex for a while and am then somewhat reassured. After a quick breakfast, we weigh anchor and leave the bay. On the last few meters we see a waterspout forming. No danger – it’s far away. Before we dock in Marina Veruda, we go to the filling station and fill up on fuel – after all, we’ve been underway for two weeks and almost 300 nautical miles. In the evening, we wistfully clear our 7 things off the boat. After all, it was a safe home for two weeks of wonderful vacation.
“Flotte Lotte”, we’ll be back!
Bavaria C42 Style “Flotte Lotte”
The sailing yacht Bavaria C42 Style “Flotte Lotte”, built in 2022, is located at the Pitter Yachtcharter base in Marina Veruda in Pula, Croatia. The yacht has 3 cabins, offers space for up to 7 people and is equipped with 2 toilets and 2 showers.
The “Flotte Lotte” impresses with its modern equipment: furling mainsail, self-tacking jib, bimini top, autopilot, sprayhood, heating, teak in the cockpit as well as a GPS chart plotter in the cockpit and a battery storage system.
The yacht offers extra comfort with additional features such as a bow thruster, comfortable cockpit cushions, an inverter and a solar panel.
Visually, the Bavaria C42 Style impresses with its elegant teak deck and stylish composite steering wheels.
Welcome on board!
➡️ Experience with Pitter Yachtcharter the beauty of Croatia on a sailing trip full of adventure, relaxation and good food in nice konobas.
I hope my trip report has put you in the mood for your next sailing trip in Croatia. I hope you enjoy planning your vacation! Gladly with the “Flotte Lotte”!
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