Open Water and Jugo Winds

DISPATCH 8, open water: Hvar to Vis 06/12/05

We never expected our crossing from the island of Hvar to the island of Vis to be a breeze. There’s nothing whimsical about a 10-mile open ocean crossing, ever. It’s not like a river where if something goes pear-shaped, as I always like to say, in other words “bad,” there’s no shoreline within easy reach. Upside down in the middle of the ocean would be something quite different. We took off early on a Sunday morning; we could see big waves in the channel between islands...on our maps there was a lighthouse on the far side, which we guessed would take us about four hours--that was our target. No breaking whitecaps, but big, rolling, effervescent waves created by winds blowing hard out of the south…creating four to five foot seas. Look away and the kayaker next to you disappeared in a wave drop. Eyes wide open, voices silent, we paddled without break. The big sea’s occasionally intimidating. I watched Pete’s eyes pop wide open as he side-surfed a big breaking wave. It also filled us with an incredible sense of freedom, of independence. The dangerous thing was the shifting and unrelenting winds. Off our shoulders as we were crossing and then straight into our faces as we neared the port town of Vis: thankfully, smiling and upright

DISPATCH 9, Vis 06/16/05

Vis is the furthest most inhabited island in Croatia, some 40 miles offshore. Komiza is its furthest most town. The combination of being far from land and the fact that the strong wind from the south, the jugo, which has been blowing for a week now...seems to be making everyone slightly mad...

These strong, non-stop winds can have mysterious affects on all people, but especially island people. Fishing catches decrease, and suicides increase. In the old days of the Dubrovnik Republic, when the jugo blew like this it was forbidden to sign contracts and punishments for crimes committed were lessened.

What we witnessed in Komiza today was but a small peek into just how mad. We saw a bride in full wedding gown plunge into the sea holding a small bouquet of flowers and a big orange buoy. We met the greatest fisherman in town, whose nickname - Fire - seemed odd for a seaman, though it is said (by him) that he has caught more than a million tons of fish in his life on the sea...and easily drank that much in beer...

At high noon we helped pull a sunken fishing boat from the sea, where it was being weathered (i.e. shrunk). Our reward? A lunch of bacon and cheese and onions in the cool of a 400 year old stone alleyway, with Fire and his pals, who seem to do a lot more lounging in the shade these days than fishing...