Solta and Hvar, Sunday, June 14, 2026
We awoke to find that we’d missed some excitement during the night. An inexperienced pilot had anchored his catamaran in the wrong place, and the wind had driven it within 5o feet of the Malena. Ivo had sent Matteo across to tell them to move!
We were soon underway. Ivo was concerned about big waves in the open passage to the island of Vis, about 25 miles east of our anchorage. We sailed out into the Split Channel before coming around and heading to Vis. I counted fifty ships around us (some of them far out to sea) before I gave up.
It’s easy to get used to this particular form of relaxation, sitting in the bow with wind in your face and deep blue water all around.
There are also lounges amidships which Sue and Connie took advantage of.
As we headed for the more open passage to Vis, the wind proved too strong and we turned back for the island of Hvar. It wasn’t that the resulting chop and roll would have been too much for us, but the furniture would have had to be moved below decks and God knows what would have happened to the pots and pans!
This is the view out to Vis.
And here we are sailing along the coast of Hvar.
We dropped anchor on the north side of the Pakieni Islands, a chain of small islands just south of Hvar. After lazing about a bit, Sue, David, and Vladimir went down the ladder on the boat’s side and swam around for a bit.
Then it was decided that the Malena’s launch would take interested parties to Zorilca, a beach on the neighboring island of Marinkovac.
Five of us piled into the launch (actually a small RIB, or Reinforced Inflatable Boat): Sue, Cindy, David, Gary and I. Zorilca isn’t a beach in any traditional sense, just an expanse of small rocks with access from the land behind. There are a string of bars here, and many, many boats moored in the little bay.
It’s a bit tricky getting into the water, since there really isn’t any sand close to the water’s edge. But we all managed. The water was a bit chilly, but refreshing. And very, very salty; buoyancy certainly wasn’t an issue. We swam for a while then watched a border collie play with its owner in the water; when the woman got out, the dog went looking for someone else to play with. It must have been swimming for 40 minutes.
Back on the Malena, Mario put on a feast: anchovies and tuna paté; brodetto with fettuccine and monkfish; and crèpes suzette. We then read and lazed about for a couple of hours before we decided to take a water taxi into the town of Hvar, which lay just across the channel.
Hvar is an ancient town, settled by a Neolithic people. The Greeks made it into an important naval center due to its position at the center of the Adriatic waterways. The Venetians were finally responsible for much of the building in the old town.
The town is dominated by Fortica, the castle-like fortification lying above the old town. The fortification was begun in 1278 but underwent many changes over the centuries.
The harbor is surrounded by a broad pavement, which is today crammed with people. Hvar, to the dismay of many locals, has become a party scene, with bands of twenty- and thirty-somethings roaming the streets.
It really is a gorgeous town, with much of the architecture retaining a Venetian elegance.
The baroque cathedral sits just off the harbor.
The interior is austere and rather unremarkable, but the bronze doors are memorable.
Like Trogir, a network of narrow alleys transect the town.
The walls of Fortica run all the way down the steep hill to the harbor, necessitating a series of fortified gates.
We were particularly taken with an alley overflowing with bougainvillea!
We then came upon one of the steep alleys running down to the harbor that seemed particularly charming, and we settled in for a spritz.
After two days of Mario’s cooking, no one really wanted dinner. So we had ice cream instead!
As we waited for the water taxi, the harbor was aglow.
The end of a lovely day!
