Split to Split, 7 Nights

Passage

Split→Bobovišća, Brač

Distance

10 nm

Under sail

1h 20m

Boarding is in Split, where the crew has S/Y Rara Avis provisioned and ready before the first sundowner. Rather than rush the opening afternoon, the sail across to Brač is short: a little over an hour to Bobovišća, a pair of small bays on the island's west coast with a hamlet at the head of each and room to swing at anchor. First swim off the stern platform, first evening on deck, and the week sets its own pace from there.

• Boarding in Split, provisioned to your list
• First swim of the charter off the stern platform
• A quiet anchorage on the west coast of Brač

Passage

Bobovišća, Brač→Komiža, Vis

Distance

29 nm

Under sail

3h 40m

The longest crossing of the week, and the one the week is built around. Leaving Bobovišća early puts the yacht off Biševo for the late-morning window, roughly eleven to noon, when the sun stands high enough to throw light through the cave's underwater opening and fill it with blue. Entry is by small boat, and a run of strong wind can close the cave outright, so the captain keeps a second plan for the morning. From Biševo it is a short hop to Vis, closed to foreign visitors until 1989 and the least developed of Croatia's larger islands as a result. The night is spent in Komiža, a working fishing town on the western shore, or at anchor in a bay nearby.

• Blue Cave on Biševo in the late-morning light, sea state permitting
• Vis: closed to foreign visitors until 1989, and quieter for it
• Night in Komiža, or at anchor in a bay nearby

Passage

Komiža, Vis→Vis Town, Vis

Distance

13 nm

Under sail

1h 35m

A day on Vis without moving far. The island spent decades as a closed naval base and the works are still there: gun positions, tunnels driven through the hillsides, and the submarine pen at Parja on the north-east coast, a 127-metre gallery cut into the rock at sea level that a tender can still nose into. A guided military tour runs three to four hours, by jeep or by quad. In the afternoon the yacht repositions the short distance to Vis Town, and the crew can book a table ashore if you would like one - Villa Kaliopa sets its tables in the walled garden of a 16th-century palace - or the evening stays aboard.

• Military tour of the tunnels and the Parja submarine pen, 3 to 4 hours by jeep or quad
• Short repositioning sail to Vis Town
• A table ashore in Vis Town if you want one, arranged by the crew

Passage

Vis Town, Vis→Pakleni Islands

Distance

13 nm

Under sail

1h 40m

A mid-morning departure from Vis crosses open water toward Hvar, with the day given to the sea itself: a stop in a sheltered bay for the paddleboards, the SeaBob and a swim off the stern platform. The night is spent at anchor off Palmižana in the Pakleni Islands, properly Paklinski otoci, named for the pine resin once drawn here to caulk wooden hulls. The islets lie across the channel from Hvar Town, near enough for a tender ride in and far enough to wake to nothing but pines and water.

• Open-water crossing with a swim and watersports stop
• Night at anchor off Palmižana in the Pakleni Islands
• Hvar Town a short tender ride across the channel

Passage

Pakleni Islands→Hvar Town harbour

Distance

2 nm

Under sail

20m

A short crossing back into Hvar Town puts the main square, the cathedral and the fortress above the roofs within walking distance of the passerelle. Inland the island opens into the Stari Grad Plain: field boundaries laid out by Greek colonists from Paros in 384 BC, worked without a break for 24 centuries and on the UNESCO list since 2008. A wine tour through those vineyards and an afternoon in Stari Grad, the town the same settlers founded as Pharos, is the day most guests take.

• Alongside in Hvar Town, steps from the square and the fortress
• Wine tour across the Stari Grad Plain, worked since 384 BC
• Stari Grad, founded by Greek settlers as Pharos

Passage

Hvar→Bol, Brač

Distance

18 nm

Under sail

2h 10m

Back across the channel to Brač, on a mooring or at anchor off Bol, where Zlatni rat runs out into the strait and shifts its point with the current. The island repays a few hours ashore: Vidova Gora stands 780 metres above the beach and is the highest ground on any Adriatic island, Stina pours its wines on the Bol waterfront in the cooperative building of 1903, and the olive mill at Škrip, working since 1864, is now a museum that will pour its oil for you. The crew can book a table wherever suits - Konoba Pusa on the seafront in Bol, Konoba Kopačina up at Donji Humac for lamb under the bell - or the evening stays aboard.

• Moored off Zlatni rat, the beach that moves with the current
• Vidova Gora, 780 m, the highest point on any Adriatic island
• Wine at Stina on the waterfront, or the 1864 olive mill at Škrip

Passage

Bol, Brač→Split

Distance

23 nm

Under sail

2h 55m

The last sailing day runs back up the channel toward Split, with a final swim stop in a bay off Brač or Šolta on the way. It is an easy afternoon made for the deck rather than for covering ground, and the yacht is alongside in Split with the evening still ahead of you.

• Final swim stop off Brač or Šolta
• Easy afternoon sail back into Split
• Last evening of the charter, aboard or ashore in the old town

At anchor

Split

Breakfast aboard before disembarkation at 9:00, with the crew arranging transfers to the airport or into town. The last morning is an unhurried one: coffee on deck in the harbour, and Diocletian's Palace a few minutes' walk from the quay once you step ashore.

• Breakfast aboard before 9:00 disembarkation
• Transfers arranged to Split airport or the old town
• A last morning in the harbour, Diocletian's Palace minutes away