DAY 4 (4/16): On the water a second time briefly. And a visit to National Park Krka (as in Krka River) and Skradin. Fabulous feast at a local family family. (cistern video)
We enjoyed a short but effective row in the quad gigs first thing this morning as the wind started to build. Our focus was a continuation of both day one training and day two erg and tank work. The extremely effective methods Jim and Mark used demanded vigilance and patience. Take the longest strokes possible with exaggerated ratio. Alter the finish positions often enough to keep rowers’ minds engaged.
Left: Jeff is moving spacers as we prepare for the morning. Middle: I’ve swapped the cox seat for stroke seat. Occasional one-foot waves. Right: These two swans were on the water way during practice but eventually moved into the marina adjoining the rowing center.
Krka Rowing center above. Boat bays through roll-up doors to left; ergs and tank behind the first floor windows. Major expansion underway to convert the entire second floor (which used to be a disco) into a large training room not unlike BIR’s great room.
Left: Map of the Krka River starting from top within the National Park, flowing southwest via many waterfalls (see red “You Are Here” box) through a narrow channel into a lake, thence another channel before turning southeast past Sibenik, and finally cutting back southwest into the Adriatic. One can row from Sibenik to Skradin (town north of the major freeway on west side) Right: Park sign shows extensive boardwalk and complex waterway flowing over countless falls. Travertine rock grows, especially during low-water periods, and further complicates the water’s desire to reach the sea.
Nicolai Tesla and Ante Supuk (shown) conspired to build a hydroelectric plant along the south shore of River Krka completed in 1895 that supplied Sibenik with AC-powered streetlamp – a world-first close to Niagara Falls.
Below are some pictures of various spring flowers in bloom.
Final falls picture from NP Krka.
An incredible feast at a father-son restaurant. Peka is analogous to Dutch Oven cooking.
Sibenik “cistern” revisited – movie We stopped by this evening!
DAY 5 (4/17): Blown out for our last day! Excellent warmup and workout on ergs to include multiple 2 minute-on 1 minute-off pieces. We sought to carefully control and gradually, with each piece, reduce our average split by 1 (I did a few!) second(s). We then watched historical videos taken by Mark and Jim and discussed rigging (adjusting span) and oars. A visit to the rowing race course at Vaton and finally the Baraka Vineyard before returning to Split for dinner. We revisited St Christopher church in Sibenik, and I provide at the end a short video clip taken within the church at Primosten the day we arrived in Sibenik.
Both Tuesday and Thursday this week have been so windy as to preclude going on-water at all to row. This video conveys the challenge well! In place of on-water rowing, Jim and Mark sat us all down on ergs for the following mini-workout* after performing a reverse pick warmup sequence as described on DAY 3: 5 times 2 minutes “on” 1 minute “off.” This can readily be set on a PM-4 or PM-5 monitor using New Workout – Intervals/Time. Using full strokes, quickly, within a few strokes, set an easy pace (500 meter split time) at a low stroke rate and hold that pace plus or minus a second for two minutes. Focus hard on the proper form we’ve worked hard on to perfect all week. Paddle for a minute using good form! Firm up with around 20 seconds to go, then build with three strokes to what wants to be the same pace as the first set minus a second (a little more pressure) and repeat another two minutes holding pace plus or minus a second. Work through five sets in this fashion and add a sixth that returns to the original pace for a cool-down. *Jim’s favorite more intense version of this workout is 8 x 7 minutes “on”, 30 seconds “off.” With each set, increase both pressure and stroke rate to achieve a split improved by 5 seconds initially then, toward the final sets, by 1-2 seconds before a ninth cool-down set at the initial pace. The reader will note that this is a full hour’s workout in total. Jim noted the cardiovascular improvements workouts that exceed 40 minutes like this produce.
After our workout, Mark and Jim shared with us historical videos that are posted on smugmug.com that led to an in-depth discussion about adjusting rigging span as well as oar length and inboard to achieve a catch angle of 60-70 degrees.
Our first recreational stop today was a visit to the village of Vaton to the north at which there is a two kilometer race course within the fjord leading to town complete with an enclosed finish line station and markings along the shoreline at 500m intervals. See pictures below. Left: Vaton harbor. Middle: race course looking east. Right: finish line enclosure. Narration by Mark Wilson.
The Baraka Winery north of Sibenik is a fairly new small winery (about 30,000 bottles annually) that produces a span of red, rose, and white wines from vines with centuries-old DNA origins. Left: entrance. Middle: our guide in the main production room. Right: a portion of the vineyards.
We enjoyed a wonderful tasting of two whites, a rose, and two reds along with delicious cold plates prepared by our host after having completed a tour of other parts of the winery.
We revisited the tiny St Christopher church in Sibenik not far from Amerun Hotel for the purpose of mentioning what is inside this building. Over the centuries, visitors would bring small model sailing ships that would be hung in the sanctuary. Alas, in recent years, people began to steal – and not only here but in others of the 24 churches in town – so gradually the church were locked up with either controlled visitor entry allowed or none at all. Hence only a second picture of the building’s exterior.
A short video of the interior of the beautiful, tiny Primosten Church.
This concludes – finally – my recap of an incredible week in central coastal Croatia spanning towns and villages from Split north to Sibenik and a short ways farther north.
Stewart Travels 