Croatia Cruising

In July we had the opportunity to spend a week on a sail boat, cruising the Dalmatian coast of Croatia as a family.  It is something we have always wanted to do. 

Croatia itself is a beautiful country, although we just saw the coast.  The crown jewel is Dubrovnik, which we used as our home base. 

Each day we spent time on shore; shopping, sight seeing, and eating.  Come to think of it, we did a lot of eating (if you consider gelato eating?)

But most of the time was spent swimming.  Luckily we were usually surrounded by water, and it was just a few steps away. Below, the kids counted to three saying we'd all jump off the boat together, then laughed as Rebekah was the only one not in on the joke.

We also tried our hand at sailing, when ever the wind was cooperative. Unfortunately, there was not as much wind as we hoped, so sailing time was limited. Plus we had a captain on board (Captain Niko), who may have been a great sailor, but was not the most nurturing, patient instructor.

When the wind died down and kids were tired of swimming, Rebekah pulled out some knitting projects she had brought along. The kids couldn't pull themselves away! Who knew it would be such a hit?

But sewing (or needlepoint?) aside, most of the time really was spent in the water.

This is a quick insert from Rebekah: On the boat, we played a silly game the kids made up with Bret which they named "Wet Theory." The kids had had to answer questions Bret made up about their life. If they got the answer incorrect, he could push them off the back of the boat into the water. If they got the answer right, they jumped into the water on their own. The game had us all in stitches. I took picture after picture, and now as I think of it, I hope they see later in their lives, when they look back on these images, that I was behind the camera completely in love with their every giggle, their wit, their mannerisms. That had someone taken a picture of us, they would have captured a moment of pure joy in my life.

On a couple of occasions, we towed the kids behind the boat in the dingy. 

At first they just relaxed. Then they became brave (wild) which eventually led to drowning the boat.

Which was followed by bailing. 

Each day and night we spent time moored in some new harbor or bay. 

The kids grew tired of rowing the dingy, and would swim back and forth to shore (as part of their 'Adventure club').  Below you can see their little heads bobbing in the water. 

While we enjoyed these little hamlets and coves (to include the alleged birth place of Marco Polo), Dubrovnik really was in a class of its own.

It is a picturesque medieval walled city;  full of hills, stairs, alleyways, and luckily for us  flowing water fountains!

The city is surrounded on three sides by water.  This seems to be were the 'athletes' gather. Soccer was a big hit, but every town had a water polo field (yes, field). Apparently it is the national sport (at least along the coast).

Rebekah took this last picture... She loved the look, and the "Bellvue Water Polo Club" written on the tiny swimmers. (She says she took it for Flynn, and wished she could have gotten him a pair.)

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The city was a great place to explore and roam. The only down side is, we were not the only ones with that idea.  Dubrovnik gets up to 8 cruise ships a day in the Summer, so the little walled city can really fill up!

We would love to go back when it is a bit less crowded. Regardless, both Rebekah and I were happily surprised that it lived up to its reputation.

Of course, Shayne discovered a number of different creatures, including some very sick looking kittens. She was in heaven.

We lucked out with the weather (aside from the lack of wind). It was very pleasant to be outside on the boat or exploring the little villages on foot.

It did not hurt that they sold gelato. We never seemed to get our fill!  My Mom would have been proud.

Luckily we could work off all the gelato calories by swimming. 

And Jumping

and reading! (Rebekah got caught up in the Hunger Games books.)

In the end, we had a wonderful time, despite the overbearing captain.  In fact, we decided we wanted to do it again. As I type this up (back in Ireland), Rebekah is on the phone inquiring about captain certification courses.