My Maestral Family - Sail Croatia

The thing with having a full time job is that I only have a finite number of days on which I can be on holiday. And if I’m going to use a quarter of those days in one go, I want it to be worth it. As holidays go, I can tell you that my latest one well and truly was.

Just over a year ago I was hopping around the Greek Islands (having the time of my life) on an organised tour with a company called Med Experience. It was during this time that I found out about Sail Croatia, part of the same company, that does exactly what it says on the tin – organised sails around the coast of Croatia. I’d heard so many good things about this trip through friends that it shot straight to the top of my to do list. I mean how could it not? A week of sailing the Adriatic Sea with a bunch of (initially) strangers, discovering Croatia, swimming in clear blue water and finishing each day off with a vino or two. So when my friend Jarrod asked if I wanted to do a sail while he was over in Europe I didn’t even have to think about it.

And now that I’ve done it, obviously I’m going to tell you all about it. Well not all about it, that would take forever, but I’ll give you my version of the highlights.

The itinerary went like this: we would spend one night each in Hvar, Korcula, Mljet, Makarska and finally Split (where the trip started from). Somewhere in the middle we also had two nights in Dubrovnik. Barring day one when we set sail around lunchtime, most days we would leave the port between 4-7am to head to our next destination. We had swim stops on our way (weather depending), and these were definitely one of my favourite parts of the trip – jumping off the boat into some of the nicest waters I’ve seen. There was no shortage of back flips and GoPro videos happening, although in the name of getting some great footage I came fairly close to cracking some ribs as I landed sideways jumping off the top deck. Anyway, that’s the bones of it…

As I sat down to write this blog, I couldn’t help but laugh at how much can change in a year. You see I had the good fortune of booking my Greece trip last year just as their financial crisis was in full swing. The banks literally closed the day I arrived. Cue stress over having enough cash out before I got there (and then not having had to worry about it anyway). Fast-forward a year and there I was, just landed in Split and about to get on the bus to the harbour when I remembered I didn’t have any Kunas (Croatian currency) to pay for the journey.

Anyway, back to the sail. There was around forty of us on the boat (called “Maestral”), including the crew. The cruise we had booked on was the “Navigator”, which is advertised essentially as the party cruise. I won’t lie to you, we did party most nights, but during the day we saw our fair share of each destination, taking in the history, the sights and signing up for various excursions. My parents didn’t believe me when I told them this, but hand on my heart, it’s true! Here are a few of my favourite bits:

• After a family dinner and drinks on the boat, we went into Hvar to check out the nightlife on the first night. Once we were sick of the club, Jarrod and I decided to get out of there, grab a beer and wander around Hvar for a bit. When we decided to head back, I thought a shortcut was in order, but it turns out bushwhacking in the dark is easier said than done. I ended up with a grazed knee and an elbow I couldn’t lean on – I was off to a great start.

• The next one isn’t exactly my favourite part, but a highlight nonetheless. I woke up feeling worse for wear the next day, and shrugged it off thinking it was self-inflicted as we set out to kayak to another island. However, after barely being able to hold down two sips of beer and a bite of pizza for dinner and feeling a fever coming on, I realised I may have more than a hangover. As hard as it was for me, I put myself to bed early that night as the rest of the boat danced around the top deck having a silent disco. That was probably the best decision I made all trip.

• In Dubrovnik, we signed up to do the walking tour around the Old Town. I’ve done a few of these tours, and they can be a bit of a gamble, but luckily we had a great guide who knew her stuff. The Old Town has a huge amount of history, and is absolutely stunning, made even more impressive by the damage that was done in the Yugoslav War in the early 90s. It is surrounded by walls, which go for around 1.6km, and if you make the effort to walk the whole thing you see some unbelievable views. It got to the point where I just had to put my phone away as I was going to use up it’s memory with these scenic shots.

• Both nights we were in Dubrovnik we partied in a club called Revelin. Now, whether you’re a fan of partying or not, there’s no way you couldn’t be impressed by this nightclub – it’s in a 500+ year-old fortress, spanning 3000m2, with a capacity of around 1500 people. There are certainly worse places to dance the night away…

• During this two-night stop, we also had the opportunity to go on a buggy safari up on the hills. This provided us with plenty of entertainment (a non-casualty crash within the first five minutes) and some incredible scenery. Jarrod and I opted to stay on a little longer and visit the War museum after. While the museum was interesting, the view of the city we got from the top of that building was by far the highlight.

• Quite possibly the most hilarious part of the entire trip was the night a couple of kiwi guys from our boat got trapped outside the Old Town. This wouldn’t have been a problem, however they were on the wrong part of the “outside”, with the wall on one side of them and the ocean on the other. These walls were originally built to defend the city from invading armies, so it wasn’t looking good for these lads in the early hours of the morning. My advice to “go for a swim” didn’t go down too well either.

• Some much-needed R&R was on the cards at our next destination, Mljet, where we swam in the beautiful saltwater lakes and saw one of many stunning Croatian sunsets.

• The final highlight of the trip for me was definitely the Pirate/Sailor party on our boat in Makarska, on our last night before sailing back to Split, where it all began. We’d all gotten to know each other fairly well by this point, and spirits were high. You’ve never seen true elation until you’ve seen our boat bartender, Dario, line up 30+ Jagerbombs and successfully knock the Jager shots into glasses of Red Bull like dominoes.

I find it quite hard to write a blog like this and be able to fully express what an amazing trip it was. It’s not for everyone – our boat was certainly just as “lively” as the Sail Croatia website described it to be. But that’s only one part of it. Photos can never do justice to the unbelievable scenery and panoramic views we were constantly exposed to. No words can describe the feeling of jumping off the very top of the boat into the bluest water on a daily basis. And unless you do a trip like this yourself, you won’t have any idea how cool it is to spend a week with a bunch of like-minded people from all walks of life, who you didn’t know existed until now, but who make your world a little brighter having crossed paths. People are always my favourite part of travelling, and they were definitely my favourite part of this trip.

So it’s safe to say I used that 25% of my annual leave very wisely. Now it’s time to get back to it and start planning the next adventure.

“We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.” – Japanese Proverb.

That’s all for now,

Jordyn x