Adriatic Sea
Genaral: Croatian shore of the Adriatic Sea is one of the most popular for sailing because
it has many islands and bays. The Adriatic Sea is actually quite narrow gulf of Mediterranean,
therefore you can find enough quite waters there, protected from big waves and very appropriate
for day sailing. Such places you can find along the whole Croatian shore.
Where it is: Between Apennine and Balkan peninsula.
Statistics: : Surface of the whole Adriatic Sea is 160.000 km2, its length 800 km, width
150 km, depth in the northern part rarely more than 50 m, maximal depth is south from Dubrovnik -
900 m, average depth 250 m, salinity 38,300 ppm is higher than the average salinity of the
Mediterranean, the total length of the Croatian shore is 3.737 km, together with shores of the
islands 7.867 km.
Weather: Mediterranean climate. The winds:
Burin – Burin is the night thermic wind that blows from land to the sea. It blows only near
the shore, from sun set to sun rise, from a direction between north-northeast (NNE) and
east-northeast (ENE).
Burja – Burja is one of the most famous and for Adriatic typical wind. It is dry, cold and
jerky wind. It creates sharp waves that break up and foam. Most commonly it blows from northeast (NE),
but also from any other direction between north (N) and east (E). It is a result of two areas of air
pressure above the Central Europe and Adriatic or Mediterranean. It can be also a local wind, when
the air above the inner land is cold and it rolls down from the mountains to the sea. When Burja is
local, it can start suddenly, it does not last long, but can be very strong. Burja blows the whole
year through, but more often in the winter. It can blow few hours (especially in the summer), few
days or a week or two (especially in the winter). The most famous areas with Burja are the Gulf of
Trieste, Kvarner, the doors of Senj/Senjska vrata, Klis, Vrulje at Makarska.
Levante – in the northern Adriatic Levante is temporary, humid wind that blows from the east
(E). It is typical for the winter. It is formed in a calm weather and changes to Burja or Jugo.
Jugo – warm and humid wind that blows from direction between east-southeast (ESE) and
south-southeast (SSE). It is accompanied by cloudy weather, often also with rain. In the southern
Adriatic it is stronger and also blows more often, in the northern Adriatic it usually blows from
March to June. The average strength of Jugo is 4-5 Beauforts. In summer it blows up to three days,
and in winter up to nine days, with breaks also up to three weeks. Jugo stirs the sea strongly, but
the waves are more symmetrical, constant and longer than the waves, created by Burja, therefore they
do not break so much. Jugo is not so dangerous as Burja, because it blows constantly and does not
start so suddenly, it becomes stormy only on the third day after it starts blowing.
Oštro – temporary wind that blows from the south (S).
Maestral – pleasant daily thermic wind that blows near the shore. It blows from sea to land.
On the Slovenian shore it blows from the direction west-northwest (WNW), and on the most of the
Croatian Adriatic sea from northwest (NW), and on the southern Adriatic even from the west (W).
It starts blowing after 10 AM, it achieves the highest strength at 2 PM (around 4 Beauforts) and
stops blowing before the sun sets.
Lebič ali garbin – stormy southwest (SW) wind, accompanied by heavy rain. In the summer it is
formed as a local thermic storm. In other seasons it has typical cyclone characteristics.
It creates big waves and endangers the ports that are not protected from the southwest winds.
Ponente – stormy wind that blows from the west (W).
Tramontana – – temporary wind blowing from the north. It blows in any season, it can be
strong and dangerous. Usually it changes to Burja.
Marines, yacht clubs: In Croatia there are around 50 marines with capacity 13.200 moorings in
the water and over 4.500 dry moorings. 21 of these marines are so called ACI marines, which offer
also technical service, restaurants, shops, laundries etc. Launches for putting a day sailer into the
water can be found along the whole shore, nearby bigger settlements, moorings are available in almost
any inhabited bay.
Weather
