Departure Day

Because of the tides, we had to leave the harbour at 6am to have enough depth and avoid hitting the bottom. The tides have always been an important factor to take into account when entering and leaving this marina with our boat.

The day of departure was full of emotions. On the one hand, conversations and farewells with family members. On the other hand, a feeling of happiness to have arrived at the long-awaited day and to be able to share it with family, friends and other followers through a livestream.

It was a cool spring morning. The route began, as usual, by motor, crossing the Laguna di Marano for about an hour. On the way to sea we followed tradition and gave a drink to the God of the seas Neptune, asking him to protect us during the trip and that the challenges would not let us stop along the way. A few minutes later, in the middle of the canal, the engine stopped. Joseph had to investigate quickly. Fortunately, he knew it was simply a build-up of air in the engine hoses, which was easy to fix. Within minutes we were back on course. When we reached the exit of the harbour, things calmed down, we switched off the engine and started to sail.

After about six and a half hours we reached our first destination in Croatia, the town of Umag. We wanted to buy the annual navigation permit for Croatia, but unfortunately it was already closed. Due to our fatigue and dizziness after the first crossing, we decided to take it easy and spend the night in Umag. We took the opportunity to rest and take in everything that had happened. The next day we sailed a few miles despite the headwind. We bought the permit and continued our journey towards our next destination, Cala Dalja, which we already knew.Read more