Blue cave was all it was cracked up to be. Getting there not a piece of cake. We sailed a great deal to get there with winds over 20 knots. We found the entrance to the cave but, being the lemmings that we were, we waited for some Aussies to try it first. We had to anchor Danina and take the dingy by row into the cave entrance. Larry stayed on board having been seasick most of the day and we were unsure of the hook's grab on what was typically an unknown seabed. Good thing. The boat started to drift.
On board our dingy, it was quite tough to paddle against what seemed to be a developing Bora. Marilyn as usual seemed most adept at paddling but the oars were attached incorrectly and we had diminished leverage on the oars. The solution was to disconnect and reattach the oars in their correct position. The knurled nob on one oar was missing. What a cluster. When you checkout a charter boat it is hard to find all the issues that might lurk below the surface till it comes time to need or use something.
We took a bunch of pix and R's Minolta finally ran out of memory in the cave. We did not bring Liz's camera into this less that seemingly, totally safe environment. D and M got a bunch of pix to follow. Out friends the Aussies, who, BTW, motored their dingy out to Danina thinking she was adrift with no one at the helm, grabbed on to our dingy and pulled us back to our boat. What a day. But it was not over.
Our plan was to harbor in Komiža on Vis for the night. R thought that since we did not need food or supplies we could save mooring fees and just drop anchor at a cove off the southern coast such as Rukavac. It was then, on our way that the wind began to shift northerly and over 30 knots. R's greatest concern before even leaving on this trip was the dreaded Bora. And here we were half way between the two major harbors and one unknown. Rukavac. The harbor was not where it showed on the chart but when we found it it provided no shelter from the wind. Our anchor seems undersized and will not hold in whatever the sea bottom is composed of. It does not feel safe to stay and does not feel safe to leave. We leave and head east to Vis harbor.
Our passage thru the southeast part of the island is a mind field of rocks and shoals. D's at the helm, M and L are at the lookout and R's glued to the Nav table as we attempt to navigate these treacherous shoals that we cannot breakout of into open sea. The good news is that the monster wind is blowing from the north and we're on the lee side of the island. The bad news is that the wind is still steady over 20 with gusts to about 28 knots and it's getting late in the day.
We finally round the east side and see the light at Rt Stončica. We're almost home free. There's still the 4 point mooring with winds blowing. The day before the crew had a discussion about the elements of good team dynamics. Today we put them into practice. And, without a word from anyone, everyone just doing their own job and not worrying about anyone else, our landing was perfect. We secured our lines, had some great local 2006 red wine and another great dinner by M and D of salad and spaghetti. No cards tonight. Everyone was in bed by 2100. Tomorrow: Korčula.
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