October 26, 2019 - Hvar adventure tourism takes to the open seas, as Hvar and Italy are connected by kayak in Lesina 2 Lesina 2019. 

I have a good friend from Hvar called Vese. She is an adrenaline freak and is always up to something crazy. Now the owner of the successful And Adventure active tourism agency, she was one of the pioneers of adventure tourism on Hvar with the first such agency back in 2005. 

Just following her on Facebook made me feel a lot healthier, and her guys were always up to something crazy. 

Such as time we all awoke on February 4, 2012 to find the entire island of Hvar covered in snow. While most sensible people stayed inside, those guys decided to jog on up to Sveti Nikola, the peak of the island. 

So when I heard of a project to connect Hvar (whose former name was Lesina in Venetian times) with Lesina in Italy, I had a feeling that Vese's agency might be involved. And so it proved - here are details of the planned trip as previously featured on TCN). 

It was always going to be a challenging trip, even in perfect weather conditions, something hard to guarantee in mid-October, and the trip certainly started brightly enough from Hvar Town, above. 

The Lesina 2 Lesina team posted a daily update of their progress, which I will reproduce below: 

DAY 1:

We started on Tuesday 15th of October at 8am from Hvar! Weather was good but all the time jugo was increasing so we had to cut the day a bit shorter than planned! We paddled 15Nm all the way to Proizd (near Vela Luka) where we left kayaks and continued on a support boat to Vela Luka for overnight. Successful day! 

DAY 2:

Second day jugo increased too much for safe kayaking and there was no option for safe mooring for the support boat so we had a hard time to bring a decision to stop kayaking. Final call was to sail to Ubli in Lastovo and spend a night there and the next day get to Sušac. We had to move forward with no delays as the weather forecast was showing changes in upcoming days! 

DAY 3:

Our skipper started from Ubli around 5am and we were at Sušac ready for what we thought was the longest day! We started paddling from Sušac to Palagruža, about 25Nm and about 7,5 hours. Struggling with waves, some winds but at least it was in a favourable direction. We arrived at Palagruža just before sunset! Perfect time to witness how magnificent it is.. as it is from different world! We found a safe mooring spot for overnight, got in the boat as we had to make plan what to do next... Looking at the weather and keeping on mind safe mooring spots for our support boat we have decided to alter the original plan!

DAY 4:

This was the longest day! As we had to rush to make sure the weather will still be favorable for our return we decided to cut a day, but that meant that we will skip visiting Lesina. So instead of adding one more night on Tremiti islands (about 23Nm to Pianosa) we have decided to go for 31Nm to Vieste. This was also the most beautiful day! Calm, almost no winds until we came closer to Italy and jugo started to pick up. About 10 hours of the open sea until we finally reached Vieste and connected Hvar with Italy!!

Truly a wonderful journey!

Participants: andAdventure sea kayaking team: Kristian Marovic, Vedran Medvesek, Veselka Huljic, Anamaria Šparica and Georges Buj from TZ Hvar + AndAdventure support crew on the sailing boat: Capitan Goran Treursic, his beautiful daughter, Tina Treursic, who was making sure our stomach is full and happy, young skipper Filip Biočina.

Sponsors: Visit Hvar, Grad Hvar / Hvar Town, Visit Jelsa, Visit Stari Grad Hvar and Hula Hula Hvar official.

Congratulations to all. I feel quite exhausted just following it all.

And the good news is that you don't have to go all the way to Italy if you fancy a little kayaking in Dalmatia next summer. Check out the Kayaking with Vese experience in the video below.  

October 13, 2019 - The season may be ending but the promotion goes on - an ambitious project to connect the Lesina of old (Hvar) with Lesina in Italy today - by kayak. 

The island of Hvar has had many names over the centuries. When the Ancient Greeks from the island of Paros sailed into what is now Stari Grad some 2,400 years ago, they named the island Pharos. In the 3C BC, the Greek poet Apollonius of Rhodes referred to it as Piteyeia after its pine trees, while the Romans changed the name slightly to Pharia and then Fara. Slavic influences changed the name to Quarra and finally to Hvar, but there was one other important period of the island's history when the name changed completely, as you can see from the postcard of the original Hotel Elisabeth, now available on eBay for a cool 12,000 euro - Lesina.

Lesina was the Venetian name for Hvar, and it remained its name for centuries, and Venetian culture, history and architecture has left its mark on the island over the years.  

This week sees an ambitious attempt to connect the island formerly known as Lesina (Hvar) with the settlement of the same name in Gargano, some way up the coast from Bari. And what better way to join the project 'From Lesina to Lesina' than by kayak, thereby showcasing Hvar's adventure tourism credentials. Hvar Tourist Board has teamed up with adventure tourism specialists, AndAdventure, and the plan is for representatives of the tourist board and the tour agency to set off from Hvar on October 15 - weather permitting - and undertake a six-day kayak across the Adriatic to Lesina in Italy. Stops on the way will include the Croatian islands of Korcula, Palagruza and Susac, as well as the Italian islands of Pienose and San Domino. 

After arriving in Italy, our kayaking heroes will hold meetings with representatives from the representatives of Lesina, as well as visiting the island of San Clemento, which shares its name with the largest of the Pakleni Islands, Sveti Klement. 

Assuming perfect weather conditions, the expedition From Lesina to Lesina will depart on October 15 from the harbour in Hvar at 08:00.  

Feeling inspired to get into a kayak and start a journey of discovery of your own? AndAdventure among the top regional kayak specialists, whether that is kayaking between UNESCO World Heritage Sites Trogir and Diocletian's Palace in Split or a sunset paddle around the Pakleni islands. Take a tour of their services or check out the kayak promo video below.