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December 15
update begins here  We
departed Cres for Pula on August 15. The marina was quite busy, with lots
of Italians and Germans on holiday. The large ancient Coliseum is nearby
and could be seen from the boat. (A rock concert one night could be heard
as well).
I
took a one-day trip on a fast ferry to Venice and enjoyed the sightseeing very
much. It included a walking tour, two gondola rides and a boat ride on the
Grand Canal. Two or three days would have been better, but one day was
better than not going at all. We
stayed one more day in Pula, then continued to Umag, which is to be the winter
home for the boat. The trip was reminiscent of last year's final voyage:
light winds and smooth seas. As I'd said then, Neptune was seducing us so
he could kick the stuff out of us next year. I
had sent a long email to the Technical Services company at the marina, outlining
work needed on the boat. He had it translated into Croatian and he, his
senior electrician and I reviewed everything. Two days later the boat was
hauled out; we lived aboard for the next ten days. Rut renewed all of the
exterior varnish while the electricians and mechanics did their work. The
day before we were to depart the inverter stopped working (the inverter provides
230-volt current from the 12-volt batteries). But the battery charger was
still working. They removed the inverter for inspection and determined
that they couldn't repair it; I later asked them to reinstall it so the
batteries could be charged.  While
in Cres, we'd seen a sign advertising Thai massage and Rut was able to locate
the masseuse. She told us that several more Thai women worked at a resort
in Umag. We met them and they had a few dinners with us on the boat.
Everyone was happy to speak their native language, especially Rut.
One
day we took a bus to Pula to meet friends from another yacht; they were
departing for Venice the next day. I'd hoped to buy some varnish at the
chandlery in Pula but they didn't have the brand I desired. I had learned
of a paint store in Trieste, Italy, which did carry that brand so I took a bus
to Trieste and purchased more varnish. With
almost all tasks complete, we felt OK about leaving the boat on August
31st. Rut's visa expired on September 1 and we could not obtain an
extension, hence our early departure. We would liked to have cruised
another two months. The
bus from Umag to Zagreb took about five hours; some of the scenery was familiar
and some new, but all enjoyable. The next day we were able to visit the
Strossmeyer Museum before a late-afternoon departure for the airport. Our
flights were on Austrian Airlines from Zagreb to Vienna, then to Bangkok.
The latter flight was 9.5 hours and very tiring. We
spent two nights in Bangkok, visiting friends and relatives and shopping.
We took the VIP bus to Phu Khieo, the large town near Rut's village. This
is a 32-passenger bus with single seats on the left side and double seats on the
right side, all quite large and comfortable.  Our
first stop after the hotel was the site of the house we're having built on land
we purchased last year. The foundation had been poured, vertical supports
were in place and they were welding the steel roof beams. Timing is
everything...they had begun to erect an interior wall which was not in the
plans!
The
next several weeks were spent selecting and purchasing myriad items for the
house and checking daily on the construction. While we could order some
building materials locally, most of our shopping was done in Chum Pae, 20
minutes away, or Khon Kaen, 1.5 hours away. Chum Pae was a good source for
lumber and other wood products, as well as tile. Khon
Kaen is one of the largest cities in Thailand and has lots of shopping.
Notable are two large supermarket/discount stores, Tesco Lotus and Big C, and
another warehouse store called Makro. Lastly, a Home Depot-like store
called Global House was the place for plumbing and electrical supplies, glass
blocks and tools. We also found a shop where we ordered custom-made
windows and doors. One of the larger furniture stores was having a
two-month sale, so we enjoyed some nice discounts on sofas, chairs, bed, desk,
etc. I decided to purchase a traditional Thai coffee table to offset the
modern living room set; I'm quite pleased with the result. We
purchased our refrigerator, washer and two air conditioning units from Rut's
brother's boss. He had met Big C's price on the washer and was a bit
cheaper on the refrigerator, both manufactured by Panasonic. The
appliances are interesting: the freezer is at the bottom of the
refrigerator, making the most-used section of the refrigerator more
accessible. The washer uses "fuzzy logic" to evaluate the load
and then indicates how much water it's going to use and how much detergent
should be added. During
our last shopping trips to Khon Kaen we purchased items to stock the
kitchen. It's been about 40 years since I had to start a kitchen from
scratch and I was amazed at the number of items that are needed! And some
items needed for Western food, such as loaf pans, potato mashers, thermometers
and timers, just aren't available! As
completion neared, Rut consulted the village elders (and perhaps the monks) to
determine which date was good for moving in. They decided upon November
14, so everyone rushed to finish their tasks. We did move most of our
belongings from the hotel the day before, but it was "bad luck" to
sleep in the house until the proper ceremonies had been conducted. The
first of these was conducted by the village elders around 0730. We paraded
around the house three times, then an exchange occurred between the leader of
the parade and another man at the head of the stairs. Then we went inside
for some more exchanges and some prayers. When the ceremony was concluded,
everyone ate. (Rut and others had begun cooking about 0200!)  The
next ceremony was with the monks. The dining table was moved aside to
provide room for them to sit against the wall, ten monks in all. Some
prayers, followed by an elaborate meal and then more prayers. After the
monks left, everyone else ate again. What's amazing is the way they clean
up after each meal...you'd hardly know that fifty people had been eating there.
We
rested for a few hours before preparing for the evening's party, which included
family, friends, everyone who'd worked on the house and anyone from the village
who heard the music. It was a joyous event: the workers were proud of
their accomplishments and others were impressed by the result. (Three
pages of house photos are on the Photographs page). Rut's
30th birthday was one week later, the occasion for yet another large party,
complete with music and of course food. While I don't understand much Thai
(or Lao, either, which is the language most often spoken there) I can feel the
humor and joy in conversations. Unless
one has obtained a longer visa, stays in Thailand are limited to 30 days.
However, crossing a border and returning immediately is quite easy. The
border with Laos and Nong Khai, Thailand, is about 3.5 hours drive from Phu
Khieo. We did the trip three times; the second time we stayed overnight in
Vientiane. We'd visited there two years ago but had a friend with us so
took him to see the two major sites. The area around the small Arc de
Triomphe has been greatly improved, with assistance from the Chinese
government. Another
benefit of these "visa runs" is the ability to purchase duty-free
items in Laos. Several French food products were available, as well as a
nice selection of wines and spirits. Amidst
all the construction and other activities, we were able to participate in two
weddings, two funerals, three other family celebrations, observe a major
Buddhist holiday and celebrate Loy Krathong. The latter occurs on the night
of the November full moon; the major event is floating small rafts (krathongs), decorated
with leaves, flowers and candles, on any body of water. The lake in Phu
Khieo was a beautiful sight that evening! We
took the bus to Bangkok at the end of November to pick up airline tickets and
shop at a major department store for more kitchen items plus sheets and towels. We returned to Phu Khieo for one week,
then drove to Bangkok for my departure to the US. Of course, we had two
bags of rice for one of Rut's brothers and a box for a cousin, both of whom work
in Bangkok. When Rut
returned to Phu Khieo, two friends from a nearby village who had been working in
Bangkok returned with him. I
am writing this in California, happy to be in familiar surroundings and visiting
family, friends and neighbors. Oh, and catching up on eight months of
correspondence, etc. Currently, I plan to return to Thailand in late
January or early February; we will return to the boat in Croatia in late April.
August 12
update begins here
The third land tour
from Split took us to the Krk National Park, site of some rather beautiful
waterfalls. As you can see from the photo, we were not alone! This
is one of the most-visited nature sites in Croatia. During our return we
saw several inviting anchorages and a few old towns, one of which, Trogir, we
visited by boat after we left Split.
Trogir is a walled
city founded by the Greeks in the 3rd century B.C. although most of the
buildings appear to date from the 11-12th centuries. According to our
guide, urban planning in the form of architectural control had been practiced
here for a few hundred years, so no modern buildings intrude.
We were delighted to
be given a spot on the town quay, right in front of one of the gates to the city
(see Photos). The attendant told us he'd had a cancellation or it wouldn't
have been possible to be there. It was quite exciting as everyone walking
the quay was gawking at the boats, especially two very large yachts moored ahead
of us. Lots of pictures were taken of Knot Yet II as well, as people
walked the quay until after midnight!
As we worked our way
northwest through the islands we spent the next three nights anchored in
different bays, some crowded and some not. All in all, quite
pleasant. Our next city was Zadar, where we stayed in a marina for three
nights. A water taxi rowed between the marina and the Old Town, just
across the harbor entrance. Another warren of narrow streets with the
occasional open plaza, usually in front of a church. One church dated from
1066, another from the 12th-13th centuries, and yet another from the
1500's. A Franciscan monastery purportedly was founded by St. Francis
himself when he visited Zadar in 1219.
In contrast to the
Old Town was a huge modern German supermarket we visited. We hadn't see
one that large this year and our overflowing shopping cart showed that!
While we had walked there from the marina, a taxi was required for the return
trip.
From Zagreb we
worked our way through some islands to the Velebitski Channel, which is
notorious for dangerously high winds in the winter. Our trip, which
included three different anchorages, was very pleasant. Rut climbed the
hill opposite the boat in one anchorage and took the photo which appears on the
main Log Book page. The third anchorage was in a large bay just west
of Rab Town on the island of Rab. Rab Town was a short ride in the
dinghy. It is described in The Rough Guide to Croatia as "a perfectly
preserved late-medieval Adriatic settlement squeezed onto a slender peninsula,
along which are dotted the city's trademark sequence of Romanesque
campaniles." Another charming place to explore, although, as is our
habit, we did so during the hottest part of the day.
The next voyage was
42 miles, which is the longest we've traveled since arriving in Croatia.
We docked in a marina in Icici; with different accents on the two c's it is
almost unpronounceable by English speakers (Itch-ee-tee). It is on the
southwest coast of the Rijeka Gulf, in the middle of the "Rijekan
Riviera." A very popular place for vacationing Austrians during the
Austro-Hungarian Empire, many magnificent villas remain, most of which are now
used as hotels. The day after we arrived, the yacht "Autumn
Wind", a Nordhavn 62, arrived. We'd met previously in Dubrovnik and
Split; they are from Healdsburg, California. We had lunch together and
decided to hire a car and driver to tour Istria, the peninsula to the west of
Rijeka. We did so the next day...in the rain...and visited several walled
villages, all on hilltops. One bills itself as "the smallest town in
the world"; while it is properly a town, it only has 16 inhabitants at the
moment! This is also truffle country and we had a great meal in a
delightful restaurant, with all dishes containing truffles in one form or another.
On the weekend we
took a bus to Zagreb, the Capital of Croatia, and were met by a guide and
driver. Our first stop was the Mirogrof Cemetery, a very large cemetery
built in the 1870's. Again quoting the Rough Guide, it is "an
ivy-covered, fortress-like wall topped by a row of greening cupolas."
Other impressive sights included St. Mary's Cathedral, several other churches,
some very large plazas and lovely parks. The architecture is a mixture of
Venetian and Austrian. A very European city!
We had fortunately
done our outside touring on Saturday as we awoke to rain on Sunday. Since
this was museum day, we didn't mind. The first was the Mimara Museum,
containing nearly 4,000 pieces in various media which had been collected over
many years by a Croatian who lived mostly abroad. His desire was to share
these pieces with the citizens of Zagreb and he was active in planning the
museum's layout. Unfortunately, he died six months before the museum
opened but his legacy is impressive.
Perhaps the best of
the three was the Zagreb City Museum The building is the former Convent of the
Poor Clares. While the buildings
were being repaired and restored for this use, archeological excavations were
begun (1989-1997), which revealed artifacts dating through several layers of
civilization to the 7th century BC!
The first exhibits show these artifacts from the various times; you
actually walk through several layers of excavations.
Subsequent exhibits show city life from each of the major time periods,
with good descriptions in several languages of the various periods.
The museum is really well done and was a delight to see.
Unfortunately, we had only one hour before the 1300 closing. The
last museum was more like a small gallery, devoted to the works of a famous
Croatian sculptor. We had hoped to visit one more, the Strossmeyer Museum,
but early Sunday closing prevented that.
We spent a few more
days in Icici, which was longer than planned. However, I did see a
sailboat coming in one afternoon with a Thai woman aboard. So she and Rut
had the opportunity to speak their native language during the evening and the
next morning. Her husband is Austrian and she speaks that language.
Sounds funny to hear a Thai speaking Austrian!
We're now in the
Island of Cres (pronounced Tsress with a rolled r, again almost
impossible). We've decided to leave the boat in Croatia rather than
proceed to Malta and had hoped to leave it here. However the Travelift is
too small. The Marina Director has been very helpful in assisting us in
contacting another marina in the group which has a larger lift and will
accomodate us. This is in Umag on the Istrian Peninsula, near the city of
Pula. So we'll travel in that direction next week and make arrangements
for several repairs and the winter's storage. We're a little unhappy to be
shortening this year's cruisiing season but it seems to be the correct
decision.
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