‘Fill ‘er up!’ – ‘Sure that’ll be $270,000’

by James Bedding, Courier Mail/Sail-World on 4 Oct 2006 James Bedding of the Courier Mail recently wrote: ‘How do you holiday in correct style in the new Riviera? You potter about in a boat, of course.

‘And if you're Roman Abramovich, the Russian oil billionaire and owner of Chelsea Football Club, that means cruising around on a 100m motor yacht, complete with two helicopters, bullet-proof glass, missile detection system and a submarine – useful for looking for limpet mines.

‘Even if you're sufficiently well connected to be able to borrow a vessel such as the $180 million Pelorus, you'll want some loose change to look the part. Don't blanch, for example, when the pump attendant fills the tank and says that'll be $270,000, thank you very much.

‘OK, so you may not want to cruise Croatia the Russian nouveau-riche way. But the question remains: if the hottest Mediterranean destination is now firmly in new Europe, is it time to bid adieu to the classic holiday on the Med: old Europe, old hat?

‘Whether you believe any of the hype about the 'new Riviera', Croatia has certainly been attracting plenty of big names to cruise around its waters and 1000-plus islands – from Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg to John Malkovich and Jose Carreras.

‘Last summer Gerard Depardieu was here, ordering the cheapest house plonk; so too was Roman Abramovich, tanking up on bottles of the bar's finest vodka.

‘It is strange to think that only recently this exquisite stretch of coast was a theatre of war. Two decades ago it lay on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain; 15 years ago, former Yugoslavia began its painful break-up, leading to the bloodiest fighting in Europe since World War II; and only 10 summers have passed since peace returned to the region.

‘Croatia has big ambitions, too: after decades of economic stagnation in the Eastern Bloc, it wants to catch up with the wealthy economies of the West, although it is unlikely that it will be admitted into the European Union for another four years, at least.

‘So, what exactly do we have here? The new Med? The latest victim of holiday hype? Or is it rushing headlong into becoming like the French Riviera – a ribbon of concrete with few memories of the charm that brought visitors in the first place?’

James Bedding might well ask the question, but whatever Croatia’s ambitions might be, long-range cruising sailors in the Mediterranean this year have voted it the top new spot:

‘The nicest coast we’ve ever visited – even better than Turkey’ said one Canadian type over a sundowner.

‘It’s not true that you pay a fortune for anchoring – you can anchor in a thousand places for free.’ From a New Zealander

‘The people are still unspoiled and friendly – much more friendly than the Greeks.’ This from a French/English couple.

‘The Western Med is not encouraging of long range cruisers who cannot afford to pay €100 a night any more – we find the eastern Med far prettier, less concrete, more smiles, and as for Croatia, it’s just a dream.’ – An Englishman who cruises the Med every year.

High words of praise indeed.

As for the o so mysteriously enriched Roman Abromovich, his yacht Pelorus was spotted in Malta a few weeks ago, and is caught here by Sail-World’s photographer, sans helicopter.