Sailing Away....

I'm looking forward to posting some more POKER action very soon as I just got back from a week of sailing in Croatia. It was the 4th year with a group of 5 buds, and this year proved to be no let down. We sailed a 45' Beneteau sailboat this year, named Larisa. She was slightly smaller than the 49-51' we have had in the past, which made maneuvering in over crowded ports more manageable. Highlights from the week include a Lingerie and Fashion show sponsored by Palmers underwear on the island of Hvar. I've never been to one of these kinds of things before, and always thought it would be full of gawking dudes, but it was actually very classy (if not a little boring). The runway was a catwalk around and over the Adriana Hotel's new indoor/outdoor rooftop pool with vistas onto the glistening Adriatic Sea and under glimmering stars. The finale shocked everyone as 10 seemingly uptight Eastern European models dove into the pool to finish the show. Sitting poolside, I got soaked as the infinity pool edge offered no splash guard, but somehow I didn't mind. Couple observations: models don't drink and they don't eat. When the food started circulating and complimentary Slovenian wine "Simcic" corks were popping, we quickly forgot about the half-naked anorexics in the pool, well almost. After downing a dozen double RedBull Vodkas, it seemed natural to follow it with 3 (very overpriced) bottles of 1998 Dom Perignon after we asked them "this the best you got?" Apparently it was, as the bill was eye-popping.

Along the way we hit the islands of Brac and Vis, visiting the ports of Bol (known for its phallic beach), Komisza (very scenic old-style Croatia fishing village, now teaming with tourists), and Milna (sleepy half-way-to-home port). On our final afternoon, we set off from Vis, heading to our home port of Split, which was about a 4-5 hour sail. We would spend the night in Split and fly out on Saturday morning (today). However, after the first hour, someone remarked that it was strange we hadn't seen ANY boats, not a single one. That was our first clue. During the month of August, the Adriatic is filled with boats, and you can usual observe a good 10-20 in some areas. So, as the sky started darkening and the sea swells began worsening, we could only blame ourselves for not being more cautious.

Que the tape of Gilligan's Island theme song: ".... the weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed, if not for the courage of fearless crew, the minnow would be lost....."

But seriously, this was THE WORST storm I've ever been through. About 1 1/2 hours from the nearest shore, we changed course and headed for Milna, the closest harbor. We could see a squall line a few miles away approaching rapidly. Seas swells were at least 2 meters and the rain became solid, with no discernible drops. That's all fine, wet/wind/waves, but this was an electrical storm and we had a 50 foot mast sticking up in the middle of a wide-open sea. Lightning bolts were striking every 5-10 seconds within the visible 7 mile radius, and it was heading directly for us. As the heart of the storm hit our boat, we had autopilot engaged and everyone was below deck, far away from the mast's center rod that ran down the center of cabin to the keel. There were 45 minutes where I was seriously seeing the headlines about the tourist charter boat where all aboard were lost after a lightning strike. Instead, we rode it out safely and the intensity gradually declined by the time we reached our safe-harbor, Milna. Uneventfully we made our way to Split at 5.30am this morning, after anchoring in safety as the storm fully passed us by. One of the younger guys on the boat summed it up by saying: "God was chasing someone else...I wonder what they did to deserve that!?"

Can't wait for next year!