This Is The Worst Trip I've Ever Been On

(Editor: Two "Sloop John B" title references on the same trip!   

Writer: Well, it is the second best Beach Boys song, so it's a natural.)

We did a great four hour boat ride from Dubrovnik to the Elephiti Islands (which I'm pretty sure are spelled differently on every website that references those islands).

But I had also heard from reliable sources, and youngest daughter Torie, that we should be on the water in Split -- either a Blue Lagoon and Five Islands tour, or a Blue Cave and Five Islands tour, or some combination of something blue and some number of islands.

So I booked us on a private boat to the Blue Cave and Five Islands for a full-day excursion.

Well that proved to be a mistake.

(Editor: Not your first mistake

Writer: Nor will it be my last!)

Strike One: The boat was small and had no gear on it for us to use (snorkels, towels, cooler).

Strike Two: The Adriatic Sea was particularly rough that day, with unfair winds and head-on seas.

Strike Three: The longer we were out, the further away our goals seemed to be, as though we were going backwards.

Carol and Maddy got drenched with one big wave (they had already been hit by several, whilst I was feeling fine getting some modest spray).

Our captain turned around, saw the outcome of drenched women, and stopped the boat as we bobbed in the waves.  It turns out the time to get to the Blue Cave went from 30-40 minutes to two and a half hours because of the wind and waves.

I said, "time to cancel."  The captain thought that was a wise idea.  There was more discussion as Carol was worried I'd be upset by cancelling.  I didn't want to spend eight hours with miserable conditions.

What had been such a calm and stunning Adriatic Sea outside of Dubrovnik was a nasty mess outside of Split that took the fun out of it.  And remember, Carol's bruised ribs meant she was frequently being slammed against the boat in pain.

Riding back on the east side of the boat, it was my turn to get soaked.  

We clearly made the right decision -- otherwise it would have been eight hours of suffering on rough seas.

I was able to get a refund for most of the money, with, as is fair, some money withheld for the captain's time and the gas.  

It wasn't a huge deal, as we got back to the harbor approximately 45 minutes after departing, so we still had most of a beautiful day ahead of us.

We should have listened

when he told us to beware

of the rough seas.