Croatia

This trip brought me to places I have never been to before. Weather forecasts announced good Bora winds mixed with clouds and rain. This so called "Black Bora" is not as perfect for windsurfing as the so called "White Bora", where the bad weather - clouds and rain or snow - stays in the Alps. On the way to Premantura we had to cross the Alps. It was the second time in my life that I crossed the Alps without taking the Brenner route. On my way to the EFPT event in Six-Fours/ France last year, I decided to give the San Bernadino pass a try which was fine on the way there but kind of an adrenaline rush on the way back home with lots of snow and icy roads. The way to Croatia is quite different. You have to cross not only Austria but also Slovenia. You have to cross several tunnels: Tauern and Karawanken Tunnel, you have to buy a toll sticker for Austria and Slovenia and you have to pay a toll for the new motorway leading to Istria in Croatia. When you take a look at present-day politics in Germany where the government is thinking about introducing a high way toll for all vehicles you can but wonder why we have not done so before. It seems to me as if (nearly) every European country except for Germany collects huge sums of money by charging people who use their motorways. 
Let's see what our politicians are going to do in the near future…
The journey was fun and it was a great experience to see a bright blue sky and the waters of the Northern Adria as soon as we approached Trieste. The weather did not stay that good but temperatures were still way above ten degrees. The wind did not show up on Friday, which was quite a pity as I still went out - wobbling out for about a kilometre to sail a reef break that did not work properly. When I wanted to sail back, the wind dropped completely and turned offshore. It took me nearly an hour to sail upwind but I finally made it. Saturday was windy for 4.4 with super choppy conditions - but still fun. Sunday was light but I still went out and sailed a different reef since there was still a bit of a southerly swell coming in. That reef did not really work either but showed some potential. I will be back.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lightwind Session at Salzhaff

Image
The forecast for today was on the light side. I packed the 5.6 and headed to Salzhaff. Once at the spot, it didn't look windy enough. The water level was also really low. I could catch some very light gusts and pump myself onto the plane every once in a while. I captured some of the moves on camera. It was good to be out there, in nature, in the fresh air, even seeing some glimpses of the sun.  I felt light and a bit cold. Especially my feet were freezing because the water here has already cooled down quite a bit. I am not so happy with what the moves look like on film but have to remember that this is 5.6 in very marginal conditions and that the water was really shallow. I still felt kind of in tune with everything. The water was crystal clear, the sunlight, filtered through the grey clouds, danced over the hilly landscape to the southwest - like a spotlight. When the sky could be seen through the thick layers of clouds, it shimmered in a light blue color reminiscent of warmer day...
Read more

Kurzer Nordwindsurf nach Feierabend auf dem Darß

Image
Die Vorhersage für den heutigen Donnerstag war schon seit einigen Tagen vielversprechend. Ein starker Nordwind drückte viel Wasser in die Mecklenburger Bucht, so dass im Prinzip alle Spots mit Buhnen durch das Raster fielen. Es war ein grauer Tag mit viel Regen.  Wir versuchten es auf dem Darß und wurden fündig. Die Wellen wurden von einem Wellenbrecher geordnet, blieben oft lange rund und brachen dann schnell und manchmal auch kraftvoll.  Der Ultimate Wave 75 von JP hat mir auch in den heutigen, anspruchsvollen Bedingungen mit viel Strömung sehr gut gefallen.  Gerne würde ich öfters in Starboardtack-Bedingungen, also mit Wind von rechts Surfen. Leider sind solche Stürme wie heute sehr selten an der mecklenburgischen Ostseeküste. Dabei ist es doch ein wahres Geschenk, dass man nach der Arbeit noch eine gute Stunde vor der Dunkelheit ein paar schöne Wellen abreiten kann und so die Kraft der Naturgewalten spürt. Die Energie des Wassers und des Windes überträgt sich auf das ...
Read more

Bella Italia

Image
It was at the time before Christmas when I felt that leaving the daily routine behind and going on a windsurf trip in a van was something that my soul needed. I cannot really explain that feeling. It’s like when you watch the cars on a nearby motorway driving south and you feel an inner voice telling you to go on a journey. I knew that I wanted to go south because northern Germany and the nearby Scandinavian countries can be quite bleak and cold in the winter time. Windsurfing here between November and February can still be a great adventure and you can get that cosy “hygge“ feeling when renting a house and sitting by the fire place after a cold session - But what I needed was something to warm my heart. So the plan was to drive south straight after school and to make it to Lago di Garda on the same day. Afer a couple of hours on the road I suddenly realised that the sky was changing. Its grey colour, its standard setup in the winter time in northern Germany, started to give way to s...
Read more