From Korcula to Dubrovnik by Kayak
Old habits die hard – and one I can think of right now is exploring. The desire to go places powered by yourself in natural ambiance has brought five of us together in Korcula town, where we met, had a briefing chat over coffee, went to the kayaking base, packed everything in our vessels, set out in the afternoon towards Badija and on through the archipelago of alluring islands between Korcula and Orebic. Pjero, Pajo and Vicko in single kayaks, Mario and I in double, started our voyage of nearly 60 nautical miles. When traveling I watch the world around and sometimes imagine those past events I know happened in the area, like the famous naval battle in 1298 between the Venetians and Genovese when Marco Polo was captured. I remember I used to wonder why the Romans had built villa rustica on Majsan islet, but time ago when I had got there it became immediately clear – you saw anyone approaching from directions of Dubrovnik, Mljet or Hvar, which was simply common sense if you happened to be living in those ancient times when enemy ships could suddenly appear on the horizon and start raiding the area. One can ask many questions in the Mediterranean and some will be answered.
Once we got to the peninsula across the strait we were awarded with NW wind known as maestral giving us both a push and hope to make enough miles for what was left of the day. We weren't sure where to make camp as given the later start reaching Zuljana would have been at night and we didn't feel like setting up tents and such in the dark if not necessary. We knew the area roughly but kayaking really gets you as close as it gets to the coast and enables you to discover spots one could call “secret“, if only because you easily miss them when on a boat.
And yes, there were few fabulous beaches and then just before the dark we found a cove to spend our first night camping. With a bit of snacks we'd brought accompanied by some red wine from the peninsula the conversation went easily. The morning had still easterly wind that soon died out and we headed on into the big bay between Trstenik and Zuljana to enjoy pebble beaches with nobody around.
It's fascinating to look from the sea level at numerous vineyards on the steep slopes knowing how much hard work, knowledge, and more recently implementation of new technologies, takes to produce famous red wines of the grape sort known as Plavac mali – a sort that has found its home in middle and south Dalmatian region. The scarce soil and a lot of sunlight which berries receive directly, then reflected from the rocks and the ocean surface, (triple effect), make for strong and among the best wines in Croatia. One really asks what it takes to make Korcula and Peljesac an inevitable wine region in the world. Perhaps Sideways 2 movie could be set here?
As if those few hundred meters long vineyards, little pebble beaches, secret caves weren't enough there came a stone gallery of incredible figures formed by the greatest artist – nature. Mario's comment, and by the way, Mario has seen a lot, was: “This can't be“!
That night we found a campsite, treated ourselves with beer and went for a real dinner. Bura wind started at night and held on till bit later in the morning which meant the day for us started slowly. When the wind dropped we finally dipped our paddles in the water without having to struggle against natural forces, and in smooth conditions we carried on. Little before leaving Peljesac Pjero spotted dolphins so Mario and I in double kayak, we nicknamed mother ship, went towards them and for a few strokes went side by side. After this extraordinary encounter in the open it turned out that minutes before it, each of the two of us was calling upon them in our own thoughts, and so it happened-).
And there came that moment to leave Peljesac behind and enter the Elafiti archipelago where thousands of years ago Odysseus and his men might have faced scary Scylla and Charybdis monsters!!! Survive we did.
Into the realm of Elafiti!!! The opening stretch was a candy with all the little islets competing which one would look greener and provide more contrast to the bluest and clearest water – one could find certain similarities to Polynesia. Having checked a wide bay on the first bigger island, we were cruising along the next one wondering about a place to stay for the night. Our strategy this time instead of including a private accommodation as option, was to camp, possibly in a nice spot where we would rather be alone. Suddenly there's a school of needlefish jumping out of the sea chased by a big and hungry tuna! The spectacle goes for few minutes and as we follow them they disappear but not without leading us into an empty and tiny cove where we decide to give up the pleasure of paddling with maestral for another hour or so – our pursuit was over. The abandoned site made us feel special and we spent the evening and a part of night just pouring stories one after another till we ran out of energy and went to sleep.
Mornings in solitary places by the sea are best – first you slip into the calm and silky water and then it's time for breakfast, coffee, story or two. Just as we were ready to head on the wind picked up in our face so the start was slow and heavy. An hour or so later we saw a neat pebble beach with a stylish restaurant and the place was calling us to pull the kayaks up and have a break. Couple of beers later we were again kayaking, better to say, sneaking underneath stunning cliffs, grottos, every now and then saying: “This can't be“!
For our last break before the ultimate destination we chose a sandy beach, played a game of picigin, did some scouting around and then it was time for the final push to Dubrovnik. Just another 6 miles to go, and somehow many of our legs in this trip were about 6 miles, so it was to be a perfect way to complete the feat, a distance we had already mastered.
When one approaches Dubrovnik from the sea, the real revelations start once you go past its eastern point from the south side and then kayak underneath stunning cliffs, little inlets and finally the hidden cove that those who watched Game of thrones should recognize as the one where boats usually docked and departed from King's Landing. Kayaking along the city walls is a privilege, yet to experience it with no other boats around gives an extra value to it. It would take a panel debate to decide whether it's more spectacular to walk round or kayak underneath the walls of the glorious city that used to be independent republic surviving and prospering over centuries' long competition against Venetian and Turkish empires. It all seems like a dream now, paddling here leaves you silent as words become redundant. And if that all wasn't enough we kayaked into the old port, met our local friends waiting for us and went all together to treat ourselves with, from our perspective, well-deserved food and drink before our ways parted till some next outdoor adventure to share
