Goli otok, 6-7 June 2025

The aerial view of Goli Otok makes it clear why its name translates into English as "Barren Island" and into French as l’Île Nue. We spent two nights there in the square-shaped harbour to visit the island.

Goli Otok was an internment camp established in 1949 in the aftermath of the Tito–Stalin split. Tito, who became Prime Minister of Yugoslavia in 1945, sought a more independent and regionally influential role for Yugoslav communists, particularly in relation to neighbouring countries such as Albania, Greece, and Bulgaria—an ambition Stalin did not support. Tensions culminated in 1948 when the Communist Information Bureau (Cominform) issued a resolution calling for a change of leadership in Yugoslavia. This led to a rift between Tito’s Yugoslav communists and the pro-Stalin Cominformists.

The Yugoslav communists retained power and established a system of camps and prisons to detain Cominform supporters—the largest of which was the Goli Otok camp, opened in July 1949.

Image source: Republic of Croatia State Geodetic Administration

Today, the island is abandoned and slowly being reclaimed by nature. Yet, Croatians remain acutely aware of their history and the crises that have shaped it—reaching a peak during the Balkan wars of the early 1990s.

Let's have a tour...

Start of the summer sailing, 4 June

 With both of us officially on vacation starting end of May, we took a few days to get the boat ready for a month tour of Croatia. In particular, it was rather difficult to get new parachute flares as regulation requires some special pyrotechnic closet in shops, and none of the ship chandlers contacted in Pula could get any! We finally got them from Rijeka.

On 4 June, late afternoon, we depart from Oula for Banjole, a few miles out. Night at anchor.

Sunrise in Banjole, 5 June

Start of the 2025 season: Pula to Pula through Cres, Krk and Losinj (172 nm)

May 6 - 10, a practice with a crew of newly licensed sailors

This year the season started on the 6th of May with a request from motivated nephews to "experience" sailing after having obtained their sailing licence the year before, the idea being to go through all waters and weather conditions. And the crew got it, because May is the right time to experience unstable weather conditions, associating warm spring days driven by breezes and cold days driven by Bora (catabatic winds) and Yugo! We got it all!

The crew, May 6, departing from Pula