Because of unfavourable weather conditions (winds remaining south-easterly), and because this spot in the centre of Hvar is too good to be true (watching all the little monkeys pass by….), we decide to add another day to our visit and stay in Hvar.
Today things get a bit more serious. The idea is to sail to Korčula, quite a long trip for one day. We leave the harbour around 10:00 AM. There is a strong southerly wind, which is just about right. All sails up and go! Around noon, we put a reef in the sails, making good progress. However, our luck changes… Early afternoon, the wind changes to south-east (Jugo). And that is exactly the direction that we want to go. Since a sailing boat can do anything but sailing directly into the wind, we have to give up. We will not make it to Korčula if we have to tack all the time. Therefore, we change course towards the NW and sail to Hvar. We arrive around 15:00 hours, picking up the last free mooring along the quay.
During the morning, there is a short but solid rainstorm. Around noon, we leave Milna harbour and sail through Splitska Vrata. Course 210˚ towards Vis. Wind is variable, 6 – 16 knots from the south-east. When the wind disappears, the ‘iron sail’ (a.k.a. engine) needs to help and we motorsail towards Vodnjak (the most eastern island of the Pakleni Otoci south of Hvar). Here, we change course to 230˚, picking up the wind again around 14:30 in open sea. Around 17:00, we enter the bay of Vis (check out the photo-album here). That evening, we have a great pizza in Pizzeria Karijola. From the harbour, follow the road to the left up the hill. After a 200 – 300 meter (just after passing a church) you will find the pizzeria on the right-hand side (with beautiful sea-view). Update 2005: Pizzeria unfortunately closed down!
Upon leaving Split Harbour around 18:00 hours, there is a 15 – 20 knots wind from the south-east. Mainsail is hoisted, genua unrolled, and pretty soon our speed reaches over 7 knots. Our course is 180˚. Around 19:30 we drop our sails upon approaching the harbour-mouth of Milna, a small coastal town on the island of Brač. We moor in the small harbour at the mouth of the bay, and do not continue towards the ACI Marina at the back of the bay. Dutch harbourmaster here, would you believe it!