In June 2015, 23 sailors from Edinburgh University Sailing Club went island hopping in Croatia for a relaxing week of cruising, exploring and partying! Setting sail from the picturesque historic town of Trogir, the Edinburgh yachts sailed in a flotilla of 17 boats alongside students from other university sailing clubs. Everyday was a cosy 31°C and almost void of clouds completely – perfect!

We soon found ourselves in a generous sea breeze taking us to our first island destination, Uvala Smrka – a secluded bay on the island of Brač, stopping to take a refreshing dip in the clear blue water several times on route. Reaching the bay first, we initiated the world’s poorest attempt at a 17-yacht raft. A beach party under the stars was the setting for a fun sociable evening with the rest of the flotilla. We sailed over in lighter winds to the ancient town of Hvar the next day with some more swimming over lunch. There was plenty to discover here with a venetian fortress overlooking the town and a main square with lots of narrow old streets to wander and take in the atmosphere.

On to the Island of Vis after another chilled day cruising the Adriatic Sea with the sails up. What was planned to be a quiet night off turned into lots of “name the marine animal” charades. We visited an abandoned Yugoslavian secret submarine base on our travels the next day, meeting up with some of the flotilla in a deserted bay in the Paklinski Islands for lunch and a flotilla group swim between the yachts and catamarans.

A much more successful raft up was established at our destination bay in the Paklinski Islands for the night. The early evening was spent bobbing about in the shallow waters around the yachts with a much needed chilled drink to cool us down. We were introduced to the local sea cucumbers and sea urchins (unintentionally) below us in the water to top up our “name the marine animal” creativity. The evening was spent socialising on the catamaran deck. With the warmth in the evening air and the vast number of stars visible, away from the lights of the island towns, it was really an evening hard to outdo.

To our penultimate destination, Stomorksa, the sailing was slow but peaceful. A well earned rest was taken by everyone on board taking some time to lie down on deck and enjoy the warm breeze, sun and scenery. With an ice-cream and a swim with the locals on arrival, it was a much smaller town than the previous visited. We were completely off the main tourist trail which was great.

Finally, we motored back to Trogir and it was over L Those staying in Croatia a bit longer managed to explore Split and the Roman Diocletian Palace with lots of ice cream!

Check out our YouTube page to see our Croatia video! Sailing club youtube
Everyone is welcome to join us for our next adventure abroad in June 2016!