Day 2: Drvnick → Vis

We both had a fitful night of sleep (or lack of) adjusting to the boat. The anchor alarm went off once but fortunately we didn’t drift far.

Waking up the next day was all worthwhile. We felt like we were in paradise. As the sun rose the shallow waters in front of the beach turned a bright turquoise. We lounged around and swam for the better part of the morning and set off for Vis around 11am.

The breeze was a little too weak to sail initially but picked up to a steady 10kts and we were smooth sailing. We made the entire 25 nautical miles to the northern side of the island in about 5 hours on a single tack (all upwind more or less close hauled).

There was a heavy wind warning for the evening so we planned to take shelter on the southern side of the island. I was getting a little worried as we rounded the western tip at 4:45pm because the sun was starting to set and we were still quite a ways away from the well reviewed anchorages so I switched on our engine.

We poked our nose into one bay which felt a little too small so we powered on. The second bay was much larger but there was a flotilla taking up a lot of the available space. The rocky walls of the bay were so close that it was clear we would need to tie a line ashore to keep us from smashing into the walls or another boat, and even then it would be a precarious spot.

We tried a few attempts to anchor in this bay but after about 30-45 mins decided to abandon in search of somewhere safer. It felt a little nerve wracking at this time because the sun was setting and there was limited time to find a good spot. The unforgiving rocky coastline of Vis added to the pressure.

Fortunately we found a less crowded bay with enough space for us to anchor freely. I think we would have been ok with only a single anchor and letting our stern swing freely, but for safe measure we tied our stern to shore which gave us better peace of mind. This was my first experience making the “Mediterranean anchorage” and it worked out ok. I feel like I’d be much more comfortable doing it again. Perhaps I’ll bring some more suitable shoes than flip flops next time. The rocks were extremely sharp, so I’m glad I had the sense to wear my sailing gloves to climb the rocks.

Once the rope was tied and I was back on the boat Lucy and I both felt super relaxed and peaceful. The sunset was beautiful and we had a lovely dinner on the deck overlooking the rising moon.