Jane & Darcy goes back to sailing after three weeks of shipyard work.
Life at MCI
MCI stands more Marine Club International, however do not be mistaken, it is a shipyard, not a marina.
Once you have set your expectations right, it is a great place to have your boat overhauled. It is incredibly busy. During the peak season, they move around 20 boats per day. There are no facilities because it is a shipyard. You have to take care when you move around. The place is not clean like a marina would be. But the work gets done, honestly, and well.
Back into the water
It is always exciting and terrifying to see your boat, your home, hanging from a crane. Everything can go bad in a moment. You don’t know whether you want to see, or it is better to be somewhere else. Everything was good this time. Finally, I managed to stop using precarious ladders to get on and off of our boat.
From Split to Trogir
After completing work at the MCI shipyard, it was time to move the boat to Trogir Marina. The rest of the crew was going to come on board there. One of our friends has joined in Split to help with the transfer. Unfortunately, they have gotten sick. So, it is a single-handed transfer. After four glorious days of sunshine and cool breezes, today it is overcast, with wind gusts from SE. I untie the boat from the MCI dock, deserted on a Saturday, and let the wind blow us off. Unfortunately, the bridges connecting the island of Ciovo to the mainland are fixed. Therefore, we must go around the island, which is approximately 20 miles.
Download here the waypoints for this trip – Warning, never use waypoints for navigation without previously validating them on your plotter.
Passage Notes
When leaving Split harbour, it can be quite busy. There are shipyards, commercial docks, huge tugs, a petroleum dock, and on the south side several obstacles. You first meet the Plic Silo IDM, then the Heidi Galija LH, followed by the Plic Galia IDM and NCM. Past the NCM it is possible to aim directly at the narrow delimited by Marjan (N) and Ciova (S) heads. Once we had cleared the Galija LH, we found a nice wind of 14 – 18 Kn. We set up the sails, starting with a broad reach. Then we adjusted to a beam reach. Getting closer to the narrows I grew uncomfortable. The wind was now 24 – 28 Kn and increasing. It was backing rapidly. This forced us to tack. Finally, we started the engine. As we approached Ciova head, we encountered a strong current. It was up to 2-3 Knots. The SE wind was pushing the waves inside the gulf of Kastela. I decided to stay well away from the head, as I saw races and overfalls. The wind had passed 30 Knots by the time we left the cape to STBD. It was great to turn the bow to NW after some 30 minutes of breaking waves straight against our bow.
Proceeding along the S coast of Ciova, the sea conditions improved gradually from moderate to slight. When we reached the Zaporinovac SLM, we turned the boat NNW entering the gulf of Trogir. The situation improved greatly. It improved especially after the Okruk head SLM when the sea was calm.
Docking in Marina Trogir, we discovered it is a canal dock. The strong current we had encountered at the exit of the gulf of Kastela was pushing the water through the canal. This made it riverlike.
Hard lessons for charter captains
While at the shipyard I saw several heavily damaged boats, especially catamarans.
I asked around and found that last year there was an intense storm. It threw several boats on lee shores and sank a few others. This was a tough lesson. You should regularly refresh your knowledge about the weather conditions. You also need to carefully assess the way you are anchoring and taking shelter. Interesting fact: these boats are bought and repaired by people who will sell them on the market. They will look fine, but how much can you trust a boat that has been damaged to such extent?
Haiku of the day
Back on the Water
Hull healed, sails aloft
Salt and sun kiss new journeys
Freedom hums again
S/YJane & Darcy 
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