The Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is the part of the Mediterranean Sea which reaches deepest into the European mainland, and the area belonging to Croatia is characterised by an attractive and diverse coastal landscape, and as many as 1185 islands, islets, reefs and rocks. The Croatian coastline extends to the length of 5951 kilometres. The spread of the Adriatic islands is ideal for yachtsmen. They stretch, with breaks here and there, along most of the coastline, in a string from Rijeka to Dubrovnik. Usually not more than ten nautical miles apart, the islands form numerous channels, both between the mainland and themselves, and between themselves alone. The mainland and the islands abound with bays, coves and ports - large and small - in which mooring or anchorage can be found. These are ideal places to navigate by sail, but also to cruise on a motor yacht or a sports fishing boat. No place is far away from another place, and if you want to you can spend the whole day sailing. If the weather turns bad or a strong wind picks up, there is always some place nearby to find shelter in. Yachtsmen are, generally speaking, quite familiar with the prevailing winds of the Adriatic Sea. These are - clockwise from the north - the tramontana (N), the bura (bura), (NE, which can be both cyclonic and anticyclonic), the levant (levanter, E), the winter levant (levanter), the jugo (souther, SE, which can be both cyclonic and anticyclonic), the oπtro (ostral, S), the lebiÊ or garbin (SW), the pulenat (W), the maestral (NW) and the burin (a summertime thermal land breeze). Conditions for sailing are for the most part favourable during the nautical season. The maestral, as the most common summer wind, and the stable tramontana, are exceptionally pleasant sailing winds. It is much the same with the levant and jugo - if not too strong, but it is less frequent in summer. Even the bura blows with a somewhat reduced strength, although one should beware of it, as much as of the local storms and squalls which usually come from the west and southwest. The richly indented coastline, the currents and the local winds make navigation interesting. There is always something happening on a sailing boat. One moment you might be sailing with the wind, then you have to turn into the wind, then pass some narrow channel or a strait. The same applies when navigating a motor boat.
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The landscape changes constantly as you sail. In places the coastline is practically uninhabited and deserted, battered by the winter bura, like those on the north side of the islands of Krk, Rab or Pag. The south sides are usually verdant with vegetation. One moment you are sailing alongside thick pine woods descending to the very edge of the sea - as they do on the islands of Lastovo or Jakljan, the next moment all you can see are macchia and karst. You will sail by and drop anchor in towns of unmistakeably Mediterranean character, as well as in small fishing villages. The island settlements are diverse, interesting and well worth getting to know. Many, like KorËula, Stari Grad or Vis, have their roots in the Antiquity. Other settlements are of a more recent origin, having emerged as fishing ports or as the ports of large island settlements located deeper inland. The Adriatic Sea can be divided in various ways. Croatian meteorologists divide the entire Adriatic Sea into the northern, central and southern Adriatic along the lines stretching from Ancona to Zadar and from Monte Gargano to Dubrovnik. As far as the Croatian part of the Adriatic is concerned the most common division recognized by yachtsmen is defined by the dividing line at the promontory of PloËe or Cape Planka between Rogoznica and Primoπten, which divides it into two parts. This division is supported both geographically (there is a break in the string of islands at the PloËe promontory), and with regard to the climatic and atmospheric conditions. For the needs of sailing and of this edition we will divide it as follows: Istria, the islands of Kvarner and the islands and shoreline of the Velebit foothills, archipelagos and shorelines of Zadar, ©ibenik, Split and Dubrovnik.
11/13/08 4:02:56 PM