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A few years ago, Sean’s family started a sailing tradition in Croatia. What began as a small family trip slowly grew into a flotilla of boats packed with family, friends, and friends of friends all around the world. Somewhere along the way, the group earned the nickname “The Chumwumbas” – a completely made-up word that somehow stuck. In just two years I have had the pleasure of going on 4 Chumwumbas, and it was about to be my 4th!
This was my first time visiting Croatia, while Sean had already sailed here a few times before. This year, he was the skipper of our catamaran. We also invited our friends Kate and Hannah, as well as Steph and Matt, and joined a huge group of Chumwumbas spread across three full catamarans.
Over two weeks we sailed between islands, explored old towns, surfed behind the dinghy, ran countless kilometres, weathered storms, ate incredible food, and made memories we’ll be talking about for years.
This is how the trip went…
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LEAVING PERTH
29/05/2026
We left Perth on Friday evening, flying from Perth to Doha, then from Qatar to Athens.
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ATHENS (1 NIGHT)
30/05/2026
For reference, we stayed right next to Zara near the Acropolis in Athens.
We only spent one night in Athens, having dinner at a beautiful rooftop spot overlooking the city. After dinner, we (Sean, Kate, Hannah and myself) ventured through the streets laughing as we made our way up the central hill.
We found a great spot full of atmosphere and sat on the steps sharing a bottle of wine while soaking it all in.
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CROATIA
Sunday 31/05/2026
We woke up the next morning and headed straight to the airport. We were met with an enormous bus, which made us feel like we were travelling in a band! Our kind hotel staff made us breakfast in paper bags to go which felt like mum had packed school lunches. We had a good laugh about this.
By the time we collected our bags it was about 10am. From the airport we grabbed a minivan taxi and headed to the marina. The drive from the airport to the marina was beautiful, with green mountains surrounding still, crystal-clear water.
There’s always a long wait before getting on the boat, but luckily there was a restaurant and pool at the marina, so we stayed there until everything was ready.
By 6pm we had the boat! We ventured to Zaton Bay and anchored for dinner on land. At this point we had three full catamarans of Chumwumbas!
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Monday 01/06/2026
We woke up and everyone headed off in different directions. Some of the crew went for a walk, Sean disappeared into the mountains on his bike, and I went for a run.
I wasn’t sure where the footpaths were. It seemed to be mostly main roads, so I ended up running countless laps of a 750m strip along the coast just to get 9km in.
Once everyone was back on board, we headed over to Mljet.
We sailed for about three hours (around 50 nautical miles). Being the start of June, the coast was warm at times, but whenever the boat slipped into the shadows it became quite cold. If you’re planning a trip like this at this time of year, definitely pack a jacket!
We tucked into a protected area called Prozura and spent the afternoon foiling and surfing on the back of our dinghy.
Around 5:30pm we headed to Polače for the night. We paid €40 to park the boat on a buoy, took the dinghy ashore, and had the best tuna steak of the trip for dinner with Sean’s parents and family friends. Whilst on land we met a family from America were also exploring on their own catamaran, it’s always part of the adventure meeting new people.
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Tuesday 02/06/2026
We spent the morning parked in the same spot until about 2pm.
I then headed out for a 10km run with Sean’s brother Grant, we were met with some serious hills. Some of the crew hired bikes, and of course Sean went for a ride. We had lunch on one of the boats before taking turns swinging from the mast with my father-in-law.
So much fun!
We then sailed past a little spot that looked incredible. We couldn’t stop because it was a no-anchor zone, but we had a quick look around before continuing on.
Later we parked up for a quick surf while our dinghy was still working. That evening we had dinner at a small restaurant after anchoring in the bay of Uvala Račišće.
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Wednesday 03/06/2026
In the morning we moved from our mooring and docked right in front of a little restaurant due to the weather forecast. While we were docked, we topped up the boats’ water supply.
Sean went for a ride as routine calls while I headed out for a 10km run with Morgan another friend on board. There was a beautiful coastal route nearby — running from the boat and back would have been around 7km.
Later Sean and I rode into Korčula Town. Well, Sean rode his bike and I sat on the handlebars!
We enjoyed some of the most amazing food at a place called Leo’s. The kebab was unreal. The narrow streets and old stone buildings looked incredible.
I took the water taxi back with our friends while Sean rode back to the boat. We then sailed around to a nearby bay called Komunala Lučica Luka Korčula.
Just as we were parking, a huge storm rolled in.
Sean and I were completely drenched while anchoring in the pouring rain. It was thrilling. Once we were safely secured, we spent the storm inside playing cards with friends and family before making our way to another boat for an amazing curry dinner made by family friends who love to cook up a storm!
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Thursday 04/06/2026
We spent another night in the same bay.
The storm had disappeared and it was a beautiful sunny day.
We headed back into the Old Town and somehow found ourselves at Leo’s again for lunch. This time we ate with the whole crew just to prove to them how good the pita kebabs were. The lady who works there is incredibly kind, and the food was just as amazing the second time around.
We squeezed in some surfing again before our tender motor broke.
Another gorgeous day in paradise.
We even found a €6 mojito to enjoy in the sun. Another incredible day in paradise.
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Friday 05/06/2026
I woke up and ran 20km. It was a tough one with lots and lots of laps. You might be wondering why I was running so much, it’s marathon training, not the ordinary for me.
Afterwards we set sail at around 11:30am. After five to six hours on the water, we arrived at Milna Bay and docked for the night.
That evening we had a beautiful pasta dinner on our friends’ boat. They same friends who love to cook up a storm, they always surprise us!
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Saturday 06/06/2026
We spent the morning swimming before calling a water taxi to Hvar shore around 12:30pm.
We climbed the giant staircase up from the water and then went for an 8km run, followed by lunch.
Later we sailed to a nearby island and had dinner at a reserved restaurant that felt like dining in someone’s home. Not to mention dancing our lives away on the roof of the boat too!
The restaurant was an amazing experience, I highly recommend The Fisherman’s Kitchen.
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Sunday 07/06/2026
We sailed back to Hvar to pick up some more friends, Steph and Matt. We stocked up some food and drinks for the boat whilst on land.
Sean’s cousin Franko organised a new and improved tender for us to get into our activities for real. This was a game changer.
By 2:40pm we were sailing towards Vis.
That evening we enjoyed an amazing pizza and cocktail dinner at Mamma Mia on land. It was a great first night to welcome our friends Steph and Matt.
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Monday 08/06/2026
In the morning we docked in Vis to refill the boat’s water tanks.
I went for an hour-long run along the coast (about 10km of flat running) while Sean went for a ride and others enjoyed a morning walk (no surprises here).
By 11:40am we had moved to Parja Beach, only about five minutes away by boat.
The water was insane!
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READ WHOLE STORY IN DIGRESS RANTS
“CROATIA 2 WEEKS”