Today was one of those perfect sailing days that reminds us exactly why we love this life. Sunshine, steady wind, and KORA moving beautifully through the water – we even hit 7 knots at times as we sailed most of the way to Cres. The coastline views along the way were absolutely stunning, surrounded by lush green islands with rocky outcrops, little villages, and that endless Adriatic blue in every direction.
We also successfully tackled our first Mediterranean mooring with slime lines of the season like pros! For those new here, Med mooring is the Mediterranean style of docking where you back the boat stern-first to the dock, tie lines from the back of the boat to shore, then secure the front of the boat, the bow, using permanent harbor mooring lines called lazy lines or “slime lines.” These lines live underwater year-round connected between seabed blocks on the harbor floor and the dock… so one grabs them from the shore connection and carries the lines to the front of the boat to tie off – and yes, they are exactly as slimy as they sound!
Cres itself was such a lovely stop. The old Venetian-style town has clear Italian influence from the period after WWI, when Cres became part of Italy. The Italian influence is especially obvious around the harbor and clock tower – which charmingly rings every 15 minutes… just somehow about 8 minutes off the actual quarter hour. 😂 In summer this place is packed with European holidaymakers, but in shoulder season it felt relaxed and peaceful. We wandered the harbor, grabbed ice cream and a local sweet treat, and admired all the little waterfront restaurants spilling out along the promenade.
We spent the afternoon soaking up the sun, stopping for drinks and appetizers while enjoying some excellent people watching before heading back to KORA for an accidental jet-lag nap. Honestly, between the travel and all the prep work getting ready to sail, we are exhausted.
Part of this adventure is definitely about the food, but tonight we resisted eating out again because we had groceries onboard needing to be used. So I whipped up a creamy Tuscan chicken & pasta dish that was honestly delicious if I do say so myself. We ate dinner right on the back deck, docked in the middle of the Old Town harbor, watching the evening come alive around us.
After one more stroll through town after dark, a little itinerary planning for the next few days (now posted on KORA’s website!), then we finally crawled into bed… and slept incredibly well.
