By Andy Lund

Ed. note - This is the nineteenth installment of a multi-part series by Andy Lund on his ocean-crossing journey aboard Resolution, the Nordhavn 46 he took delivery of in February 2004.

August 22, 2006
Bari, Italy

After five lovely weeks in Croatia, we've crossed the Adriatic Sea and arrived in Bari, Italy, enroute to Valetta, Malta for fuel and routine maintenance.

In Croatia we met up with four other Nordhavns: John and Sue Spencer on N40 "Uno Mas", Chris Samuelson and Sonaia Maryon-Davies on N57 "Goleen", Scott and Terri Strickland on N47 "Strickly for Fun" and Braun and Tina Jones on N62 "Grey Pearl". We cruised some with "Goleen" and expect to see them again in Malta. We were all gathered in an impromptu Nordhavn rendezvous in Trogir, near Split, which made for a couple of fun parties.

Croatia is hot and sunny, dotted with islands, bays and coves, and many old, old towns. The architecture is Italian (from the centuries of Venetian rule along the Dalmatian coast) with a bit of Austrian (since Austria ruled from 1810 till 1918.) The hillsides are limestone rock, with plenty of pine trees. In a way, it is evocative of the Gulf Islands of British Columbia. The people are great, and the food is average. The country used to be really economical, but it has become quite expensive. The string of government "ACI" marinas, all in great locations, are about $75 a night. Anchoring out is possible, but we got blown out of one anchorage in 50 knots of wind, driving rain and crashing lightning. The wind came from the one direction it wasn't supposed to! Lots of scrambling by charter sailboats, but we were fine. We (and "Goleen") moved to a safer spot, rather than spend the night, with more risk of storms.

We didn't get any farther north than Skridan, about 40 miles north of Split, where we visited a nice national park up a river with some vigorous waterfalls. Nothing spectacular like we're used to in the USA and Canada, but pretty, and very crowded with local Croatians all swimming. Dubrovnik is a lovely old town, and all the damage from Serbian shelling during the Croatian war for independence in the early 1990s has been repaired. But it's totally overrun with tourists, at least in July, so seems very artificial. Diocletian's Palace in Split, built by the Roman emperor of that name around 300 AD, is still inhabited, and most of the principal Roman structures are in good repair.

All is well.