A Crappy Day in Croatia

Split, Croatia

I am frequently reminded that I only like to talk about the good side of our cruising life in the blog, showing pictures of beautiful islands and writing about exotic foreign ports, so here is an example of the other side. We have bad days too.

Having put off some boat maintenance projects for too long, we needed to get to a large town, so it was off to Split, the second largest city in Croatia. Until recently, you could anchor in the Split harbor, but we had heard through the cruiser’s grapevine that the harbormaster had started fining boats that anchored there $150 – $200, a good excuse to go to the marina and work on the boat with the air-conditioning on.

Successfully docked and with the A/C running, we did a number of big projects, including servicing the engine and generator. These projects went so well I decided to jump into the dirty job of rebuilding the aft head (marine toilet) pump. While it was still working ok, it hadn’t been serviced in over six years and was in need of new valves.

Our heads work on a vacuum system, similar to the toilets in airplanes. I had heard a lot of horror stories from cruisers working on pressurized toilet systems and they were always hilarious because it happened to someone else.

The process was to flush the system with clean water, shut it down, and then take the pump apart. Like most boat projects, the work is done in a tight space with little room to move. To make a long story short, things were done in the wrong sequence, which resulted in a rather messy situation. Fortunately, the shower is right next to the head. Unfortunately, with the pump partially disassembled, the job had to be completed. So it was back under the sink with a facemask and hazMat suit. In the end, the pump worked better.

At home, we would have called a plumber. On Berkeley East I am that plumber!

So after a cold beer and another shower, it was off to have the best steak dinner we have had in all of Europe, payback for a real crappy day.

We spent the next day touring Split. This large town is the hub for ferries going to and from the Croatian islands and Italy.

The heart of Split is the Diocletian’s Palace. Built as a massive retirement home for the Roman Emperor in 300 A.D. The Palace is well preserved and is more a luxury villa than a fortress.

The ground floor was built to level the foundation and was used as a cellar to store water.

The 200 foot tall bell tower of Cathedral St. Dominus took over 300 years to build and provides sweeping views of Split and the harbor.

The statue of Grgur Ninski, a bishop who defied the Catholic Church and introduced the Croatian language into Church services in place of Latin, stands just outside the gates of Diocletian’s palace. Everyone stops and touches the statues big toe, which is said to bring you good luck. I should have done that before I tackled the toilet job!

Previous Comments

13 Sep 2012

Carol

So this conversation on thé Harbor of Marseille has taken long but I am amazed by the result Bravo