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concrete pier some fifteen metres long. At the
head of the pier the depth of water is about three
metres, and the only safe mooring is at the head
of the pier.
The Srakane duo are a good overture to what is
waiting for us on an island located some four
miles to the south Susak.
If Kornati is the archipelago most painted, Susak
is the island most talked of. Some people have
even taken their doctorates about all the
particularities of the place. It is interesting to
many. Linguists study the language of the
Susakites, which is different from all other
Croatian dialects. Vintners look for the secret of
the far-famed wines of the island. Builders study
the way the Susakites filter seawater through the
sand and produce brackish water. Biologists are
fascinated by the vegetation of it, and geologists
try to figure out how it was formed. The Susakites
themselves, obviously not overwhelmingly
interested in these topics, have emigrated en
masse. This has led to a new twist for the linguists,
because they now talk a language replete with
Americanisms. There is one more thing that
distinguishes the island from all others. Instead
of with the well-known dry stone walls, the
holdings on this island are separated by rushes.
It is cut in such a way that it grows like walls
between the fields, also protecting the crops from
winds and spindrift.
On the highest elevation of the island is a
conspicuous lighthouse the light of which has a
very great range, being one of the three most
powerful in the Adriatic. At night, at regular
intervals of time, its light touches the whole of the
island, and if we take the effort to climb up to
some eminence, during windy nights it will
create for us a rare play of light in the rushes that
grow all around.
Susak ladies are known for their unusual
traditional costumes. They are studied by
ethnologists (the clothing). Many couples come
from America, more precisely from New York's
Hoboken, to get married here, paying tribute to
their origins in thismanner.
The port of Susak is called Drago a. This is the
only place on the island where one can tie up.
The pier protects the little harbour from the bora,
but it is very nasty to have to sail inwhile this wind
is actually blowing. Only twenty metres from the
head of the pier, on which there is a green
lighthouse, lie the remains of a ruined pier. This
is not just a stone, a rock, but the whole
underwater length of a demolished pier. In the
inner part of the harbour lots of barques of the
local population are tied up. However, sensible of
the value of tourism, they usually leave spots free
for yachtsmen. But of course, since Susak is a
very attractive island, we often won't find any
room left.
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