Lastovo to Hvar

From Lastovo Island we made our way over to the island of Hvar. As we left the nature park and put our main sail up, hundreds of dead spiders rained down on the deck… Seriously. A frightening and perplexing issue to say the least, and something we were certainly not prepared for! It seems that some mud dauber wasps had fancied the folds of our sail as a protected place to make their nests. After constructing their nest cells from wet dirt, mud daubers then provision the cell for their young. They capture spiders by stinging and permanently paralysing them, and this preserves the spider until the larvae are ready to eat. Unfortunately for both them and us, the main sail was not a good place to build a nest at all! We spent the entire passage sweeping up the spiders to chuck overboard, and cleaning down the main sail. It was not a fun experience in the slightest.

Unfortunately, the day didn’t improve… Our generator wouldn’t start (which we need to make water), there was frustratingly little wind (contrary to the forecast), the anchorages near the town of Hvar were difficult & busy (just as forecast), we were nearly blown onto some rocks by a surprise crosswind (perhaps we should have predicted it), and Frankie was stung by a summer wasp (but not a mud dauber). To add salt in the wound, we were due to meet the Captain’s sister in Hvar but her trip from the UK was cancelled. All-in-all it was just not our day. And after searching for hours for a spot to anchor, in the end we decided to pick up a restaurant mooring ball late in the day - it was the only one left in the area. The conditions are that you have to eat at that restaurant, and can only stay one night. The price of the mooring is deducted off your dinner bill. It was the best decision we had made all day.

The Fisherman’s House is a gorgeous family-run restaurant and guest house. They grow all their own fruit & vegetables and make their own wine onsite. The staff were welcoming and the food was delicious. But best of all was when the waitress took the children off to play at the end of the night, and led us up to a rooftop terrace for kid-free wine and limoncello. It was like a big, warm hug at the end of a difficult day. As the saying goes, all’s well that ends well.