“The magic of sailing has struck once again! I have often visited Croatia, along the coast and the islands, but sailing from one island to the next is really a powerful experience.”
The Project Beginning
“I love sailing. It is a disease that I caught a bit late in life, but one to which I was exposed in my early childhood by my grandfather, who was a sailor in Croatia. I have just a few memories of his boat, and none of sailing, but the effect is still there, 30 years later.
“It was natural that, when Nathalie Ille, our captain, spoke to me of a sailing expedition through Croatia for her association, Expe2M, I jumped at the occasion! I have long raised awareness about the environment via my professional activity, but the institutional approaches presented limitations. In taking part in this expedition, we wanted to speak about our relationship with nature, to share the sensation of physical contact with nature."
The Departure
“It was decided, then, that the sail would be from the 15th to the 28th of October, after the rush of summer tourism, and at the end of the Indian summer… We hoped for wind and expected a beautiful, low-angled light without risking winter cold weather. The charter company, our partner, DYC, offered us a catamaran. Nathalie and I agreed… we would opt instead for a Sun Odyssey 469. Okay, we must accommodate eight people and some gear and be comfortable enough to conduct our work, but we want to sail, all the same!
“We departed the new marina in Trogir on a Saturday, before nightfall, and headed for the island of Zlarin. We began our tour of the Dalmatian islands in the North because the weather was already challenging, and the locals had advised us to head south to the rhythm of the advancing season.
“We had a schedule and meetings set up within the framework of the expedition, and above all, a healthy dose of adaptability in order to work with the caprices of the weather in general good humour. Happily, the network coverage was exceptional, and I had no problem calling to alert our local contacts of our arrival, of our delay, or of an eventual change in programme. The Internet connection often worked, and to share our adventure in real time, we were only limited by the absence of solar panels. For an environmental sailing expedition, having to use the engine to charge computers posed a dilemma, one to which we only rarely gave in!”
Testimony of Maïté, co-organizer of the expedition "Uživaj, Dalmatian odyssey"
