Croatia Online - Relaxing And Taking Stock

Life has been hectic in the past few months and not without its share of ups and downs - that's the way it is for everyone. Trite as it may sound, we counted our blessings yesterday and wished for more similarly idyllic days off. Early March, beautiful weather and a friend with a sailing school nearby who likes nothing better than to take his mates sailing when the conditions are clement. In the season, Nigel and his professional team provide any number of RYA and related sailing courses week on, week off, and still seem to love it. Off season, we are grateful that Nigel chose to leave one of his yachts on standby for having an occasional fun day out - nowhere to be, a try out of a couple of new sails and "let's follow the winds around Kaštela bay".

The motley crew that responded to the early call on Sunday morning, despite various degrees of hangovers from the night before, were well rewarded. Yes there was plenty of sail changing, ok Nigel probably was breaking himself back into instructor mode for the season, maybe the novice sailing dog's bark was a little screaching at times, and some of the rabble weren't responding as energetically as they might to changing conditions or empty glasses. BUT there's not many other places where you could toy with the idea of easily reaching a handful of islands from a large city, or enjoy the company of seasoned Croats and Croataphiles who realise that there's much more to Croatia than struggling with the weekday bureacracy. If it was easy, we wouldn't have had the bay, a lovely yacht and the islands almost to ourselves!

We hope Nigel enjoyed his busman's day off as well - if anyone can help you enjoy sailing to your own maximum, he can. Croatia is the place to do it and if you just want to relax on the deck, in the sun, with a beer, that can be arranged too. Go to http://www.sailingschoolcroatia.com/ for more information on sailing courses and holidays. If you want an off season treat like we had then you'll have to do your minimum three year aprenticeship, full time in Croatia, and be prepared to contribute to the debate, the expenses and the stocks!

Those that want to book now, for the spring, summer and autumn, rest assured. Yesterday's rabble will be looking forward to catching up with Nigel in the winter of 2008 when he's finished scrubbing the boats and enjoyed delivering the normal conscientious and reliable, tailor-made premium service in his modern and purpose built yachts.