June 20th-July 11th We left Corfu at 6:30 am on June 20th. Icarus caught up to us about 8:30 pm, about 12 hours after they left. They slowed down and stayed with us for the rest of the passage. Along the way we saw a huge pod of Dolphins, but only a few played with the boat and they didn't stay for long. We arrived in Gruz, Croatia about 3:30 pm on June 21st along with Icarus. We went alongside where the Harbor Master showed us, which was in front of the town marina and went to check in. The customs office was across the street from the boat and it was air- conditioned!!! In the middle of our checking in, the custom officer had to leave to go meet a ferry that was approaching and we had to move the boat. We decided I would complete the check-in while Rudy kept Boundless out of harms way in the harbor to eliminate tying up to the ferry dock again. We were told that was not allowed because we had not officially checked in and we were his responsibility. So we had to pull alongside again along with Icarus and all go back to the custom office. Then we were off to Dubrovnik and the marina. They were having a heat wave and the temperature got up to around 115 degrees. Thank goodness Boundless is air-conditioned!!! We stayed thru Monday because we needed to get a Croatian phone chip for our phone. We went to the walled city and looked around briefly, but the heat was too intense and the pool too inviting at the marina!!! Also, when Ken and Chris come and join us, we will do it thoroughly with them. A note of caution for other cruisers; be sure you check-in immediately on arrival in Croatia! Some boats stopped and anchored at a quiet anchorage to rest from the passage before checking in. They were fined! The authorities watch for this and will give you a fine whether or not you get off of the boat even though the "Q" flag is flying! June 24th, we went to Otok Lopud on the south side in a little harbor called Uvak Sunj about 7 miles away. It was a nice quiet anchorage but open to the West. The next day we moved to the island of Mljet to a harbor called Luka Polace. We realized that the alternator wasn't working and Rudy fixed a loose wire. Truant II was anchored in the harbor and we anchored near-by. We went to dinner that night and a restaurant water taxi picked us up and returned us to our boat after dinner. We had a good but expensive meal and took a swim before we went to bed. We arrived in Korcula and went into a bay east of Korcula town called Uvala Luka. Blue Highway was there and we had cocktails on our boat and dinner on there's!!! Lynne made the most delicious chicken curry that Rudy and I had ever tasted!! (I got the recipe!!!) We also went thru 4 bottles of wine!!! The town looked wonderful but we didn't get off of the boat. Another place to explore later. The next morning, the charter boat in front of us was trying to untangle themselves from our anchor. Rudy tried to tell them the night before that they were too close, but they didn't think so. After they became free, we were off to the island of Hvar. Since we arrived in Croatia we noticed how beautiful the seacoast is and the small number of beaches. They seem to use every speck of beach area and how they get there is their secret!! ( We didn't see a lot of roads.) We arrived at the town of Hvar and decided to go on to Stari Grad where the re-union was being held. Bill from Soleil Sans Fins greeted us and told us where we could tie alongside and gave us a schedule of events and other information. The next day we moved to the quay and had electricity and water for about $10 a day. There were about 4 grocery stores, hardware store, an internet café (about 30 feet away) and at 10:00pm every night, ice cream!!! We met Paul and Sheryl on Two-Step who tape travel logs for Canadian and European T.V. About 16 of us went to the restaurant called Galerija Lybic and had a feast for about $15 each. Each of us got a bottle of wine, fish soup, seafood spaghetti, and grilled tuna and potatoes. It was all delicious!!! The next day Mad River and Free Spirit showed up and Dorian came in next to us. We learned that Dorian grew up in Merrick and lived a few blocks away from me. She was 10 years younger, so we never knew each other back then but we did a lot of "did you knows". July 1st was the start of the celebrations. Not only was it Canada Day, but Rudy's birthday as well!!! I made brownies for the crowd and since I couldn't find anything but PINK candles I put sparklers on them!! We had dinner in a stone restaurant across the canal from our boat with Blue Highway, Icarus, Mad River and Free Spirit. Everything was delicious and very reasonable!!! Everyone we met in Croatia has been very friendly, helpful, very calm and peaceful so far. On July 2nd, 54 of us (about 30 boats.16 American) went on a wine tour visiting several little towns. In Vrboska I found a great apple strudel, in Jelsa we ate pizza and in Pitve I bought lavender which is one of the items they are famous for!! The other item they are known for is their wine. It seems that the Greeks brought the first grapes over to this island in 385 BC. After the Romans conquered them, the peasants took over. They divided the land up in 100-meter lots with stone walls, which still exist. Since the inhabitants did not go near the coastline in fear of pirates, they concentrated on making wine. The wine was good, but I can't wait to taste the French wine. That is my favorite!!! July 3rd we had a Jam Session. Everyone who attended had to do something. There were some cruisers reciting poetry, singing songs, telling stories, juggling, playing instruments and I told Stories with Holes. (Rudy was too chicken to tap dance and sing!!) Because it was too windy the day before, we had to cancel some of the activities planned. So we jammed them all into the July 4th festivities. First was the Tug of War. The Americans were on one side and all of the other nationalities on the other side. We won two out of three!!! (I shared the tips I used for over 30 years with my kids in school) Next came the egg race, then the Crab Race. Rudy caught the crabs (about 10) and I picked the winner.. and it retired winning two out of two times!!! After that we had the Beer Can Sailboat Races. The rules were you had to make a sailboat hull out of beer cans and use any other material for the rest..no motoror. Rudy's sail was too big for the winds and The Eliminator was finished before it started!! Next came Watermelon Water Polo.a greased watermelon. Rudy was a goalie and he was awesome!!! His team won..of course! Finally came the Dinghy races. The rules were NOT to cross the finish line before the ref blew his whistle and everyone had to be in the dinghies, no motors, and anything goes. Rudy turned over more dinghies, more times than anyone else. Everyone was in the water more than they were in their boats!!! Since most of the boats crossed the finish line before the time and the other boats had their members still floating in the water, no one won. However, because Rudy's team had the best costume, Dick from Mad River won a bottle of Champagne. Now it was time to go back to our boats and prepare for tonight's Chicken Pot Luck Dinner. Russ, from Blue Highway, persuaded the Chicken Truck to make 30-40 chickens for that night. We all brought a dish to share and we had enough food for 30 more boats!!! July 5th was a chill-out day. The only thing we did was to make some 8x10 pictures for some of our fellow cruisers. July 6th we started to leave and Rudy realized the alternator was lying on its side. After asking around for some unique bolts, which Rudy had been looking for since Turkey, Rodney from Glen Lyon and Dick from Mad River each found one in his spare parts collection and saved us!!! After a couple of hours of working on the alternator, we were on our way to Uvala Razetinovac. We put the sails up and down all day since the winds came and went!!! We settled in the harbor, which was across from the town of Trogir. About 4 am the winds and lightning started up and Rudy decided to stay on watch. No problems, but not much sleep! July 7th we went to Vinisce and met Icarus and then Soleil Sans Fins joined us. We had cocktails on our boat and Bonnie and David on Icarus invited us to a Lasgna dinner on their boat. It was wonderful! July 8th we went to Skradin so we would be close to the Krka Falls. Nancy and Chris from Amulet had cocktails on their boat inviting Boundless, Mad River and Free Spirit. On the 9th , which was our 35th Anniversary, we visited the Krka Falls. We took our dinghy to Skradin and then rode down to the falls about 20 minutes away on the National Park's boat, which was free. We went to the lower and upper falls. The lower falls were magnificent. The cost was a little over $6 per person. It is a good idea to get the 8:00am boat to beat the crowds. To get to the upper falls you had to go on another boat ride, which stopped at a Monastery for half an hour and then to the falls. The falls were small and you could only see them from the boat. The boat ride to the upper falls and back was about 4 hours long and we wouldn't recommend doing that part again unless you want a nice quiet boat ride on a full boat for about $15 per person. That night Allan from Free Spirit joined us for dinner on our boat. July 10 and 11th we stayed in Tribunj across from a donkey preserve. The first day Amulet, Free Spirit and Mad River anchored with us. The next night Blue Highway and Glen Lyon joined us. We got fresh shrimp (1 kilo for about $4) one day and fresh fish the next day from the fishing boats as soon as they pulled in. Rudy and I had lunch at Bistro Sydney and had salads, mussels, fried calamari, spaghettis and shrimp and drinks for about $15. That night we had shrimp, salad, potatoes, and bread pudding on Glen Lyon. I think I just gained another 10 pounds!!! We plan to go as far north as we can before we go south to pick up Ken and Chris at Dubrovnik. Then we will try to see different places with Ken and Chris as we head north again to Split. At the end of September, we will sail to Italy and our home for the winter months!!!