THE YACHT WEEK!!!!
I must apologize in advance, this one’s going to be rather lengthy – however, I am trying to convey a weeks worth of mind blowing experiences and condense it into a short(ish) story for you to enjoy, so here it goes.
The moment I have been working my butt off for has finally arrived! It is June 23rd and it is the day we board our yacht for a week of sailing, swimming and partying! We all meet for breakfast then make our way to the nearest supermarket. We each grab a trolley and start loading up with chips, cheeses, deli meats, fruit, salad items and of course copious amounts of alcohol and mixes! One thousand, eight hundred Kuna later we squeeze through the super market doors with 5 trolleys completely over flowing with our items. A quick calculation and we realize it has cost us each a grand total of $27 for the food and $22 each for the alcohol – Croatia is becoming increasingly popular in our books. We make our way awkwardly down the cobble stone streets to find a taxi, in this blistering heat we have to get the groceries to a fridge asap. We reach the taxi point and the street is empty! We are also running out of time to get to our yacht before departure. Out of the blue a lonely taxi appears. We wave the man down and after a heated discussion on the 10 Euros he wants to charge to take our groceries we load the cab and send three of the crew on their way. Kendyl and I are left to take the trolleys back and to carry an insanely large and very heavy watermelon around the streets with us while we frantically search for the rest of our crew. After another awkward struggle we get back to the hostel to get all the baggage together to leave for the marina. At the last minute everyone seems to materialise and we all join the others at the marina.
After a long day of tasks we finally all make it to our yacht to unload our bags, groceries and get ready to set sail. After a quick briefing from our skipper we crack open a beer and set sail to our destination. We pass a beautiful old castle, find the yacht week pirate ship, and dock up in troga for the night. After finishing our drinks, and an attempt to make our makeup last for more than 2 minutes, we go ashore for dinner. We find a nice little restaurant and order copious amounts of Sea donuts, (calamari). *side note, the Calamari in Croatia is absolutely amazing! After fish soup, calamari, shots and ice cream we head to the bar for the first night partying on yacht week.
The next morning everyone is a little worse for wear. We set sail for the next destination. We drop anchor and jump in for a swim. After a quick champagne shower we raise the sail and make our way to an old submarine cave. We all jump in and swim to the cave. Two of the crazy crew members jump off the cliff, and after assuring they have landed safely we make our way back to the boat to head Vis.
Upon arrival Kendyl and I go ashore in search of a decent salad. We walk the cobble stone streets and find beautiful little restaurants set in amongst the old buildings. A friendly restauranteer shows us to a romantic little courtyard which is off the street, surrounded by beautiful greenery and trees and two friendly cats. He sets the table for us and we relax with a nice cold glass of coke and an amazing beef salad. Once everyone has had the standard afternoon nap, the music begins to pump and the makeup attempts begin again! Vodka, Snacks and a few jager shots later we are on shore making our way to the Fortress for what is to be the best party of our lives . . . thus far!
The fortress is like and old abandoned castle. With cobblestone floors and no roof. We have a celebratory jager bomb and get started on the G&T’s! The DJ is amazing, the lights are flashing and everyone is dancing like crazy. The dance floor almost looks like a mini collussium and is alive with fist pumping, hip thrusting yacht weekers. After another bottle of Gin with the crew I regret to say – I have no more details of this night lol.
Suprisingly the next day we are all relatively ok. One crew member is sporting suspicious tyre marks down his front, indicating a possible running over, but after closer inspection that nothing is bleeding all is ok. After breakfast we set off to our next destination. On our Journey we stop and explore the blue caves. A natural wonder and very beautiful. Our dingy doesn’t seem to be equipped with paddles so after using the motor to reach the cave our wonderful Crew mate Chris jumps in and swims through the cave towing our dingy with us in it behind him. The caves are amazing. There is an entry point under the water which lets the sun through and throws off a magical blue light. After photos, our customary champagne shower and a swim we make our way to the next destination.
As we approach our next stop I take in the beautiful sunset, slowly descending over the vast oil like waters in a dance of orange and pink light. We dock our ship and again the music begins to pump which signals nap times are over and the vodka is coming out to play. Tonight we make our way through the island walkways and over to the next yacht week party. Its an outdoor party and there are smoke machines, lights and drinks flowing. After a few hours of dancing – we find ourselves up on a balcony in the VIP area. Again, after copious amounts of vodka cranberries, details from this night are excessively blurry as well.
Next stop is Hvar, and to what is very soon to become THE best party of our lives! We previously arranged a bay watch / life saver theme for our crew so we all don our red shorts and bikini tops and decide that our blow up dolphin toy needs to experience this party also. After pre-drinks and shots we take the dingy to shore to party. We arrive and establish that the best way to drink today is mojitos by the jug! The drinks here are insanely massive – and delicious. I go to the bar to order a round of long island iced teas to get us started and the bar man pushes me up on the bar to dance! As opposed to this as I was (not) I oblige and then am fed shot after shot for my wonderful efforts. This also seems to get me free mojito jugs so all in all a win win situation! Everyone is having the best time, its another scorching hot day and the bar staff ensure to keep us cool by soaking us all with hoses. The blow up dolphin is abducted and held captive by a mystery pirate and will soon become our mission to save him. The party finishes at 8pm and after a mystery wander and loosing my crew I find a nice group of yacht weekers to join for dinner. I order possibly the best seafood risotto in the world and enjoy the conversation with new Norwegian friends. After dinner I go to check on my crews boat and after engaging in too many conversations along the way manage to loose my new friends. However – I have managed to make new ones and end up in a beautiful roof top lounge bar with more mojitos in my hands. Again I attempt to find my crew so I sneak my mojito out and find my boat. Everyone is coming ashore to party so I join in and head to a local bar for more dancing. Eventually we stumble home via a scenic walk, learning the constellations and the northern star guiding us home.
The Hvar party is the talk of the boat today. Possibly the best night of everyones lives. Definitely in need of a swim today! We sail to the other side of the island of Hvar. After docking up for a swim with a few other boats, there is an anchor problem and the 40metre chain must be hauled up manually. So we girls do our part by lying back and relaxing while we watch about 15 sweaty, muscly hunks manually heave up the chain –not bad entertainment for the afternoon. We sail to our next docking point, organise dinner and the drinking begins again (tough life) I will not bore you with another description of the night, as amazing as it was it was no Hvar party and this blog is becoming increasingly long winded!
In the morning Gasper our skipper leads us to a gorgeous little restaurant set on the hill, surrounded by an amazing garden, trees and a local peacock. We enjoy a nice meal and make our way back to the boat. We indulge in another standard day of swimming, eating, sunbathing, napping and drinking and then head out to party again at night.
The final day. I can’t believe this amazing week is almost over! We dock up with other boats we have made friends with over the week and enjoy a final day of swimming and sunbathing. We take the dingy across to a lovely little restaurant overlooking the ocean and have our final ‘famliy’ lunch. After eating we continue on our journey back to the split marina. The music begins to pump again and everyone arises from their slumber for one final epic night. We indulge in check point Charlies-a fabulous cocktail made from a multitude of spirits, juice and soda. Once everyone is ready and the jager shots are down we catch our taxis to the club. Everyone we have met are there and in the best moods. Vodka and redbulls are the choice to get the night started. There are VIP booths full of our friends, a large swimming pool and the DJ is amazing. Needless to say tonights gonna be a good night! Mid way through the night the tunes esculate and the fireworks begin. The cheers arise and everyone is linking arms and dancing whilst looking up at the amazing display going on above. The atmosphere is fantastic, everyone is so friendly and excited to see one another for one final night of shenanigans. We party well into the late hours of the morning before heading back to the boat and passing out wherever we manage to fall – our 9am departure from the boat is not going to be fun.
After around 2 hours sleep each we stagger around cleaning, packing and unloading our boat. For the size of the night we have just had we are not doing too bad. We make it to shore and sit in the shade until docking fees are paid and we have been signed out. Now the hard part, the time everyone has been avoiding – the goodbyes! We share hugs, tears and depart our separate ways. The final 6 head to the hostel where we will stay tonight. We sign in and stagger our way to the lunch tables to get some much needed food. Our rooms will be ready as soon as possible they tell us. After 3 hours of torture waiting in the bright yellow lunch room we finally get the all clear and race to our room. The moment my head touches my pillow I am asleep. It feels amazing to lie down, in an airconditioned room, fresh sheets and a bed that is not rocking from the current.
The yacht week has come to an end. It has been a week I will never forget. The people I have met leave an imprint in my heart and the experiences, scenery, Adriatic ocean and great times I have had will be locked in my mind forever. An absolute amazing way to begin my travels around our wonderous world. So now, after a good rest, a bag of laundry washed and some running shoes purchased, Kendyl, Claire and I make our way to the marina once again to catch our Ferry across the ocean to Ancona where we will stay for one night before boarding a long winded day of travel to reach our next destination . . . Greece.
Love to you all
Living Life to it’s Fullest
Experiencing all the wonder the world has to offer
Taking every Opportunity
