Meet the Parents, Part 2

It was great to have the parents on board and hear the tales of their Scottish adventure.

After a day recuperating in Cavtat we started heading north. Here we are passing the old walled city of Dubrovnik cameras at the ready.

 

A quick pit stop to top up with diesel was a good excuse to go under their impressive bridge as Grandad taught Amelia how to tie a bowline.

 

The parents quickly settled into boat life sampling the local produce.

 

 

Grandad was in heaven was the wind filled in for a romping sail north. Longest time the boat has been helmed by a human rather than the autopilot…

 

Then the wind had a holiday and it was Hot. Rushing north with a hot date. Hot date to get the water maker serviced. Seems rushing is our middle name.

 

Incredible scenery past the mainland as we pushed north. Those hills are 1000m tall… Very glad we have calm as the winds can be boisterous around here. When they have 4 named winds we pay attention to the forecast!

 

Water man playing.

 

Intergenerational water fight. Somewhat one sided Grandad.

 

Tucked into a little bay in Split watching an impressive thunder and lightening storm coming up to windward towards us with some trepidation. Thankfully it was the perfect storm, close enough for a great show, but then fading away before it got too close!

 

The boys coming back to Drakkar after a shore mission at the chandlery.

 

We were entertained by flying boats taxiing through the bay, not much quarter given by the local boats racing them into the marina and the pilots must be well skilled threading them into the dock.

 

On the hunt to refill our LPG bottles entailed lots of chasing a rare station down and run across the bay.

 

And walk through some industrial back blocks to the filling station in the scorching heat. Relieved by finding a large mall on the way for some air conditioned shopping. Not too much as we have to carry it back…

 

Three generations of boat boys.

 

In swan lake they know a soft touch boat. Crazy inland lake you can navigate all the way up to Skradin.

 

So Cute

I love a proper Pizza! This outdoor terrace had water mist blowing over us and was well appreciated as it approached 40 degrees.

 

Shannon was most upset we had to miss the amazing looking historic city of Sibenik on the inland lake as we rushed north.

 

Here is what the rush was about. Good service agents are few and far between and the water maker was being grumpy. Great guys were happy for me to help and watch so I can do it next time. Amazing number of o-rings goes into this unit. Very happy to have it running well again. Thanks Ivica and your guys at Cro-Yacht.

Tanned and blond boat boy on one of the kid’s favourite activities.

We bumped into our friend Tom again and had a great evening. Here kids are explaining sneeze hair.

 

If I had been a wee bit quicker on the draw I could have got the new Bentley passing into the same shot to show the extremes of Croatia. You’ll just have to imagine the shiny black Bentley couple squeezing past this old geezer.

 

Another scorching hot day. First time we have been able to get the supermarket trolley anywhere near the dinghy. Yay!!!

 

An afternoon’s frivolity on Tom’s boat was great fun. Improvised spinnaker pole swing a hot with the kids.

 

 

And a hit with the big kids too!

 

The results of Shannon’s rum experiment…

 

Grab that sunset moment and bank it!

 

Grandad kindly spliced an eye into the new steering cable. Instillation amongst the crazies took some time… Nothing to do with correcting stuff that we didn’t expect to find.

 

And then it was time to run south again back towards the airport. Weather cooled off as a bora blew in. Made for some nice sailing even though we had to pull the jackets out of storage.

 

Grandad has the scent of blood, spotted our Ozzie friend’s cat ahead and we are gaining on them. Not competitive or anything you understand but they were soundly thrashed as we passed to windward.

Gracious in defeat they sent pics of us, but didn’t stop in the same bay as us.

 

Amelia princess

 

A rare moment when Grandad has let go of the helm…

 

The last sail down to Dubrovnik became a fantastic send off with great running conditions all day under clear skies. Even with double reefed main again we are charging along. Lovely.

 

I could get used to this…

 

No thank you, I am not ready to go home!

 

Dragging the parents into the dinghy for the last time left fingernail marks down the transom…

So soon it was time to say goodbye. Already plotting the next time they can join us.

Miss you guys!