Time to set sail! I found the Azimut. It was fifth in line in a stack of boats at the dock so I couldn’t see it last night. I checked out of the hotel and was able to walk with my luggage to the boat. The most difficult part was dragging things through the other four boats. Although I was able to leave my luggage ahead of time the official boarding time was noon so I did some wandering in Trojir. At noon I was able to get settled in my cabin. A nice lunch was served and then we were given a briefing on the trip. It had been decided that in order to avoid some of the congestion at the docks we would tour the islands in reverse order of what the itinerary described. It didn’t make a particle of difference to any of us. For most of us this was our first time in Croatia and most had never been on a bike trip of this sort. When everything and everyone was settled we set sail for the island of Solta.
We docked in the port of Maslinica and prepared ourselves for the start of the bike tour. The weather was not with us. Although it was not severe it was overcast and there was some rain. The total biking distance for the day was 20 km but is was hilly. There was a lot of olive and fig groves along with fields of lavender and rosemary.
At about the 1/2 way point we made a stop at a local beekeeper. He gave a fascinating lecture about bees, beekeeping, what they produce (which isn’t just honey) and the problem of bees dying off. I had heard of the die-off of bees but it is not just a North America problem, it is happening in many areas of the world. Yes, the beekeeper was selling his products but the education was worth the stop.
We continued on, with a bit of rain, to the port of Stomorska where we met up with the boat. It was a good start to the adventure and, as we found out, we got the bad weather out of the way on the first day.