David's Diary: Wednesday, August 21, 2002
Twenty-Four Hours to Venice, Italy
Arriving in Venice from the Sea
Yesterday we said goodbye to Dany II then pulled up our anchor. We headed around Dugi Otok, stopped for food and fuel, and then headed off for Venice, Italy. Dugi Otok is such a large island that it was almost dark before we cleared the end of the island. We then headed out into the open Adriatic Sea. As night fell we navigated our way around large fish boats, but once we were away from land there was little traffic for us to worry about.
At the Yacht Club (note posts for mooring)
By early afternoon we were making our final approach to Venice. From sea the islands around Venice are low and flat so it took careful navigation for us to identify the deep-water channel that leads into Venice itself. Our final destination was the Sant Elena Yacht Club at the western extreme of Venice. Karalee was at the helm as we made our final approach. The entrance was tiny and a strong current was pushing Dragonsinger sideways, but Karalee pushed the throttle forward and shot Dragonsinger through the gap.
We checked in with the marina and were directed to our berth. Instead of mooring lines, piles are driven into the soft mud and we used these to tie ourselves to the dock. In twenty-four hours we have left Croatia and completed one of the dreams we had of our voyage -- sailing to Venice.
For more pictures of the area around the yacht club and our first explorations of Venice, visit our Venice pictures Web page. After looking at the pictures use your back button to return here.
