Day 4: Pakleni → Šolta

Today was a short sail but very intense. So intense that my first mate needed a good nap after lunch.

Initially we planned on rounding Hvar and heading east towards Brac. But with wind speeds up to 20kts we were making excellent time so we decided to take a detour and lunch stop in Šolta.

The sailing was hard work. Most of the way on a close hauled course and we were feathering to kill some speed. We had a few face fulls of ocean spray as we crashed through waves. This was the coldest day by far and we were wrapped up in our fleeces.

As we approached Šolta we adjusted our course to a beam reach and scanned the south side of the island for inviting bays. Upon bearing away our boat speed picked up tremendously.

We were both exhausted from being beaten by the wind and we dived into the first bay that looked big enough to give us some respite.

Fortunately for us the anchorage was gorgeous and we had the place all to ourselves. We loved it so much we decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing here and set a line ashore to keep us steady overnight.

In the afternoon we paddled our dinghy around the bay and marvelled at the geological exhibition on display around us. We felt so lucky to have the whole place to ourselves.

Just before we started dinner a few boats came right into our harbour and threatened to anchor right next to us, but fortunately they thought better and motored on.

We had a delicious pasta dinner with left over steak and an olive tomato sauce. Then enjoyed a romantic sunset.

Tonight is supposed to be extremely windy so hopefully all will be well. I’m very glad we have tied our stern ashore. And tomorrow’s sailing is likely to be even more intense than today’s!