Today was ‘fuel up and fill the gas tanks’ Tuesday. That meant a trip to the Split fuel dock. We dodged the cruise ships and many other harbour craft to join those milling about in the fuel queue. It’s a tricky time for the Captain and me as there are plenty of dis-courteous sailors who have bigger credit cards than their boats. A super yacht was leaving, another arriving, two boats arriving behind us, and a jet boat trying to dodge the queue. You get the idea. It’s stressful, hectic and you need to remain calm.
There is usually space for two boats at a time but due to Sailing Waiata’s length and rather broad bottom, we really needed the dock to ourselves. We had our fenders ready and managed to get our lines thrown and tied to the bollards well. And then she drank in a lot of diesel. It was painful on the wallet but otherwise an uneventful exercise. Thankfully! It’s always a slightly stressful time when we come alongside. The guy who manages the fuel dock was terrific, and his female colleague wore a beatific smile and did an actual dance for us as we approached the dock. Applause!
Split was founded in the 3rd or 2nd century BC by the Greeks, and latterly overtaken by the Venetian’s, Austrians, French, Italian and Yugoslav’s. It is one of many UNESCO world heritage sites that we have visited on our sailing travels. It is a popular tourist magnet on the Adriatic coast that offers olde worlde style charm and easy access to any number of Croatia’s thousand plus islands. In the local language it is nicknamed ‘Velo misto’ – which means ‘the Big Town’.
You can click to watch our video of coming into Split and the fuel dock below.
With the fueling challenge out of the way, we puttered past flying flags and beach clubs, and are now anchored, hanging on the hook in the bay near Split airport. Excitingly, in a few days we have friends arriving from England to stay on board with us for a week. What fun.
Of most interest today however, is a catamaran named “Waka Waka” that is also anchored in this bay, anchored about 200 meters away. It is 2014 Nautitech 542 and we note, she’s currently for sale. It is Dutch flagged boat …. but our interest is for our friends at home in Auckland who also have a catamaran bearing the same name “Waka Waka”.
In pidgin English “Waka Waka” means “do it” – as in ‘perform a task’. In Māori “Waka” simply means canoe or water craft. So as we await the arrival of friends, this post is for our New Zealand friends who own the first ‘Waka Waka’ catamaran known to us. This post today is especially for you.
“Waka Waka” by the ultimate hip-shaker, Shakira
“You’re on the front line
Everyone’s watching
You know it’s serious, we are getting closer
This isn’t over
The pressure’s on, you feel it
But you got it all, believe it”
