Destination Dalmatia

It’s a knee jerk reaction I suppose but say “Croatia” and I still think tank battles, refugees and swarthy eastern European gangsters. But those days are long gone, independence came in 1992 and now Croatia is a destination in its own right. For sailing, the Adriatic’s Dalmation coast - a stone’s throw but a world away from ritzier ports-of-call in the southern Med – has revived its centuries old seafaring history to become one of the truly superb modern charter sailing grounds. Most unfortunately I can’t speak from experience but check out this article that details a recent charter aboard a 50-foot yacht (five woman and their Captain ;-)…and if you want to plan a sailing trip to Dalmatia be sure to read up here and here. The second link, the official Dalmatia sailing page from the Board of Tourism, has a wealth of information for you deskbound dreamers. In particular I enjoyed the "weather" section that explains the names of the various winds - the bura (bora) and the jugo-siroco (jugo-scirocco) are the main winds on the Adriatic. The prevailing wind in the summer is the maestral. Which begs the question, what do we call the two knot puff that tortures us in August during most hazy, hot and humid afternoons on Long Island Sound?