Simon's birthday. Some people had spent the night sleeping on deck , but it was noisy with a few crashes and bangs. More bangs in the morning when we blew up balloons and hung out bunting for Simons birthday. After opening his presents and breakfast we departed on the dingy at 8.30 am Jenny Sarah and Elly went shopping while Dave, Graham and Judith went to the briefing.Today was going to be a trip up a river to Skradin , the gateway to the Krka National Park. The river has to be navigated under motor so we hoped to get some sailing done in the morning. The youth decided to play silly games , swinging off the boat and throwing themselves in the water before we had more tea and toast which took a a long long time to cook and we eventually departed at about 11 am. The birthday boy motored us off the mooring before we managed some lovely peaceful sailing with some motoring interludes as the wind seem to die.
The lunch stop proved interesting , the quiet bay seem to be a favourite spot for naturists, who liked to display their wears on the bow of their motor boats and then jump into the water which looked painful! After a the usual swims and swinging off the halyards we attempted to sail to the river entrance but fickle winds didn't allow much sailing today. Entering the river we motored along passed Mussel farms and lovely scenery and under a couple of hairy bridges where we thought we might be de masted. We arrived at a picturesque town of Skradin at the edge of the Krka National park. We anchored opposite the town to avoid the marina fees, then had a swim and lots of screeching from Sarah as she tried to swing herself off the side of the boat. Briefing was at 6.30 so the "oldies " were dispatched to the shore. We admired the large super yachts moored in the town on the way to the briefing.The youth joined us and after wondering through the quaint town we found an excellent restaurant and were once again well wined and dined . The youth went looking for some night life to celebrate Simon's birthday but after one cocktail returned to the boat .