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can make the way back from the southern Adriatic more interesting by going into
the broad channel (the Lošinj Channel) that is formed by the
southern end of Cres and the long eastern coast of Lošinj.
At the end of this channel we will head into a strait at the end of which is Osor,
the city that links the two islands. If we come from Olib or Silba, this
itinerary will be the only possible one if there are any very strong winds from
the third or fourth quarter. But since these winds are not all that common in
the central Adriatic, we shall try to find some reason in the charms of the
places that are one the menu here, and choose the course that we now have it in
mind to suggest.
Although it is not terribly important, if
we want to be proper when we sail into the Kvarner, we might
mention the existence of the Kvarnerić Vrata (Gate). This lies between the
isle of Grujice and Silba. Children can knock, since they have fancy enough.
The course for Osor will take us to the
east of Ilovik and Sv. Petar, and then further along the eastern coast of Lošinj.
Vele Orjule and Male Orjule, together with Lošinj, make up a channel that is
called Sidrište Orjule (Orjule Anchorage). Somewhere in the middle of this
anchorage we will see Trasorka islet, which conceals an attractive bay.
But if there is any kind of need, it is better to anchor in the shelter formed
by Vele and Male Orjule.
Lošinj is full of bays. Bočina,
opposite the point of Vele Orjule and Jamna, right next to it, finish
with beautiful pebble beaches. Before Kriška Point, in
the bay that this point closes, there is a twenty metre long pier. The bay
is not very much visited by yachtsmen, and yet the depth at the main pier is
three metres. Of the bays mentioned, this is the best shelter from the bora.
 eli Lošinj has its harbours in two
bays. The first is Rovenska Bay, easily told by its long pier. It is almost 200
metres in length, and since the filling operations went on almost up to an
existing island, the head of the pier is not the deepest part (as is usual). You
can start tying up starting from the place at which the pier reached and
captured the islet. On the inside of the pier the depth is about two metres, all
the way to the juncture of the shore and the jetty. The coast consists of a nice
beach, though with a rather alarming name - Barakuda. At the head of Rovenska
Bay there are two jetties, the depth at the head of the outer of the two being
some four metres. Both of them are very usually crammed with the boats of the
local people. For those who are interested in old customs, just near the slipway
there is an old stone olive press to be looked at.
Sailing into Rovenska, we are bound to be
taken aback by the sheer size of the pier, stretching out into the sea for
no particular reason. The literature says that in Veli Lošinj in 1799, in
the little shipyard in Rovenska harbour, the first major ship in Lošinj was
built, actually the first in the whole of the Kvarner islands. During the
nineteenth century there was an ambition to build a big shipyard on the
island, precisely in Rovenska. It was for this that the harbour was extended
with the construction of this vast pier in 1856. The shipyard was founded,
but the following year saw the outbreak of a world shipping crisis. And so
nothing came of the ambitious plans but the pier. That is why it is so big.
The second port in Veli Lošinj cuts deep into the heart of the town.
Yachtsmen can tie up by the hundred metre long quay right below the large
Baroque church. At the beginning of the quay (as you sail in) the depth is about
4 m, but as you get closer to the town it drops to some 1.5 metres.
Nota bene: neither of these two bays provides adequate shelter from the bora.
Veli Lošinj has long been involved in the tourist industry. In 1866 Archduke
Charles Stephen built a well-known mansion (Morska Straža - Sea Watch), and in
1892 the town was proclaimed a health resort. The mansion
had become famed for the abundance of all sorts of flora planted in the grounds,
and the archduke’s example was followed by many a sea-captain, who competed to
bring to Lošinj plants unknown to date in that area. Without expatiating too
much on Lošinj history, for that is the task of other guides, we might just
mention that the hungry can find some good restaurants here.
 ali Lošinj (which means little Lošinj, though it is bigger than
Veli, or big) is just a few kilometres away. You can get there by bus, car or
boat.
Two miles two the north of Veli, in Privlaka Bay, a moving bridge has been
installed. In summer it opens twice a day, and one has to find out at what time.
It is safest to ask at the Harbour Master’s in Mali Lošinj. In the event of a
strong bora, the bridge won’t open, the reason being the dangerous waves that
hinder sailing in the channel. Immediately after the exit from the channel (the
Mali Lošinj side) there is a marina. Naturally, since our aim is to stay in the
Lošinj Channel, we will only watch the bridge turning and making free the
narrow passage for ships between the two islands.
It opens at 9 and 18.
If the bridge does not open, then be careful, for the bora must be blowing.
Best shelter can be found a mile back towards Veli Lošinj, actually, in deep Baldarka
Bay. The northwestern arm is well protected from the north winds. At the
southern end there is a small jetty, with a depth of about three metres, but it
is not likely you can find a space. However, you can also take a break at
anchor.
 ow our target is the southernmost part of Cres
Island, sailing almost due north, across the Lošinj Channel. The
whole of the southern side of Cres is serrated with a mass of bays, and
if anyone wonders by
what criterion to pick one of them, we will answer at once - the one that dives
deepest into the island. And this is certainly Jadrišćica.
The eastern coast of Jadrišćica is fringed with high rocks, and the rocks
are edged by a pine forest. Here there is a nudist paradise. And of course,
where there are naturists, there is often a nice camp, as is the case here. It
starts in Bokinić Bay. If there is room we can tie up at the little jetty at
the head of which the depth is about two metres.
A small arm of the sea runs in a hundred metres or so towards Pogana village,
and at the end of it there are several little jetties; however, their depth does
not recommend them. Only inside the main pier, identifiable from its light
(green) is the sea about two metres deep. But however deep we have sailed into
this bay, if we hear that a sirocco is in the offing, it is time to get out.
Luckily though, from the bora, which does not give so much advance notice, we
are quite well sheltered.
Sailing towards Osor, we have to be on our guard, keeping a constant eye on
the chart. The sea around us is shallow and full of traps, and it is thus best
to round every point in a wide arc.
 he western shoreline of Cres, with neighbouring Lošinj making up the
edge of the Lošinj
Channel, tempts us with a mass of bays too. We will mention only the biggest:
Martinšćica and Kaldonta. A mere look at the chart will tell us that they are
safe refuges from the bora, but only one of them will
protect us from the sirocco, Kaldonta Bay.
Of the bigger places just before Osor, but now on Lošinj again, Nerezine is
quite a draw. It is located just behind Artac Point. We are bound to ask what it
is that is floating in the sea. But it is not floating.
The ingenious local people, to protect the point better, prolonged it by
sinking an iron lighter off it. This is also one side of the entrance into the
shipyard, in which sailors can reckon on finding high-quality and expert help
from the owner. You can tie up at the stone wharf of the shipyard, the depth
being about three metres.
he port of Nerezine itself is a bit
further to the north. The entrance is between the pier that protects the harbour
from the southeastern side and the shorter quay on the northwest side. At the
head of the pier there is a red lighthouse. It is best to tie up at the inner
side of the pier where the depth is about three and half metres at the head, two
at the foot. From the foot of the pier to the easily visible crane it is too
shallow. Inside the port there are two little jetties on piles. There is
adequate depth at both of them, from two to three metres. Where the jetties
adjoin the land there are hookups for water and electricity. The western side of
the harbour is shallow. And in Nerezine, as if one needed to say, there are some
good restaurants.
If we stop in Nerezine, it is a good opportunity to climb lofty Osorčica.
You need have no fear that the locals will think you are odd (whoever heard of
sailors climbing?), for every July 27 they celebrate the feast of St Anne by
climbing to the top of Osorčica, actually, to take mass in the Chapel of St
Nicholas. Sober minded skippers will take the opportunity to scout out the whole
of the Gulf of Kvarner from this height. As well as the chart and other devices
that we use, it is good occasionally to take a real look at the waters we are
sailing in.
Now, after Nerezine, nothing is keeping us from sailing into the Osor Canal.
Of course, there are many more famous ones in the world, like the Panama, the
Kiel… but the Osor Canal is older than them, much, much older.
Around Lopar Point start the signs warning us how to sail through the canal.
For as the chart will also tell us, the whole of the channel is extremely
shallow. The five red marks in the shape of cylinders fixed to a concrete plinth
have to be sailed round from the east. You have to know that a safe course is
not right by the marks, rather some fifteen metres from them. Of course, in such
straits we obey the same customs as on the roads. Keep to the right. At sea
these rules go even for the English.
 sor. If we started the whole of this journey in fashionable Opatija,
which shows through its appearance that it was born somewhere at the end of the
nineteenth century, then it is quite fitting to close this nautical guide with
Osor, several millennia old.
The story of Osor begins with the words that open every story. Once upon a
time, when the islands of Cres and Lošinj were once an island, the Apsyrtidean
island. It is said that the Liburnians sailed the seas then, brave warriors and
seasoned sailors. Wondering how they could be still faster at sea, they had a
bright idea. They cut through the island of Apsyrtides at its narrowest point,
in order to sail through the northern Adriatic the faster.
The name, mark, does not derive from the
Liburnians. The names are like the footsteps of the Greek mariners who,
sailing the Adriatic, built their cities on suitable sites. In the
foundations of part of the defensive walls, there are traces of the Greek
age. But there are much earlier things, say the archaeologists, dating as
far back as 1600 BC. In the age of Greece it was called Apsoros, later
becoming Osor. By the side of the Osor Canal, a major mercantile town
started developing on Cres. It reached its acme in Roman times.
The bridge opens swinging towards the east. Right of way belongs to boats
coming from the south, because only one craft can be in the canal. The current
can reach up to six knots, and one has to beware of it. If you are attracted by
the museum-town, you can tie up at the Cres end of the canal, as close as
possible to the red lighthouse. The depth is about four metres.
After our passage through the Osor Canal, the Kvarner is before us once
again. But now we know it a great deal better.
Break a leg!
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