Paradise Regained. Zoraće.

It is a sign of ageing that I like routine in my holidays: get up and seven, have a glass of juice and shave, and than go to the vegetable market and meet of few people that became familiar enough to exchange greetings. All the time trying to use as much Croatian as I can (which is very little).
Than breakfast followed by cappuccino at the cafe frequented by the locals, a couple of them rapidly becoming friends. This morning the only unusual thing was than the wind started to turn gusty.
As we sailed out of Hvar harbour heading east, we could feel the freshening west wind behind us. We were sailing under main sail only, going pretty fast and feeling over-canvassed.
Soon we were in the Zoraće bay, the ideal shelter from westerlies. A local offered us to moor at the peer, and we settled to another day of swimming, sun-bathing, and reading in the shade during the hottest part of the day. One of the local restaurants looked so nice that we decided to go there for a light meal (octopus salad, yummy) and chat to the very friendly young lady who owns it. She generously complimented my Croatian and reciprocated with a few words in Portuguese.

My beautiful crew in the restaurant overlooking Zoraće bay.

Getting away from the peer was a bit troublesome. Local boats overlook the fact that unlike them we have a keel and a mast and freely put mooring ropes in ways that unintentionally cause us trouble. Trying to disentangle us First-Mate had a nasty fall over the pulpit, for which she had blue bruises for the rest of the holiday. Ouch!
The return was great, challenging sailing. With one reef in the main and a very reduced genoa Mekićevica was slicing trough the waves. The big chartered boats were all motoring and one of them, crewed by a bunch of big guys, came really close to give the thumbs-up to Mekićevica's performance.