Sea kayak around Vrgada

We were extremely grateful the skies were clearing this morning since our plan for the day was kayaking. We packed up early and headed for the town of Pakistane where we caught a boat for the island of Vrgada.
There we outfitted ourselves with life jackets and paddles and headed out to circumnavigate the island. The sea varied from dark green to brilliant turquoise depending on the light and depth of the water. We had another opportunity to practice our Croation as we paddled,  lijevo, desno (left, right) trying to stay in sync. 
About half way around the island we stopped at a cove for a swim and the requisite snack. I was happy I brought my swim goggles as they came in handy to watch the sea life.  There were only a few fish, but there were urchin and sea cucumbers. The best sight by far was a small octopus who was completely camouflaged in the sandy bottom until I scared him by swimming too close. He zipped away quickly but did not feel frightened enough to shoot his ink, so I had a good view.  The water was a nice temperature but it wasn't particularly warm out as the clouds had returned. I was happy I had kept my shirt and shorts dry while I swam. However, this comfort was short lived. A few minutes later I capsized us while adjusting my seat! I was laughing harder than Mike, who was completely dry up to that point. We easily righted the boat and jumped back in, paddling quickly to catch up with the others. We were all happy to see the little harbor where we had started, come into view. This meant LUNCH!! Robbie had been raving about the Croatian tuna and this was the day it was being specially prepared for us. We were offered the traditional aperitif combo of figs and rakija. I stuck with the figs which were delicious! These were followed by salad, bread and  "black risotto" made with squid ink. The risotto was rich and flavorful, the challenge was not to eat too much before the tuna arrived. The tuna steaks were cut thin, simply grilled with olive oil and served over a cold vinagrette style potato salad. It was incredibly delicious and we thrilled and complimented our host by making an extremely generous amount of food quickly disappear. With full bellies we walked back to the boat to head for the mainland. On board with us was a older woman who claimed to be the granddaughter of the Duke who had once owned the island. She was speaking with some older men in Croatian and Robbie started quietly laughing. Later, he explained one of the men had told the woman her face "reminds me of my dead aunt." We all chuckled over this slightly creepy comparison.  Ever the comedian, I expect this story to be incorporated into Robbie's repitoire. Speaking of creepy, we found this life sized gelato cone a little disturbing.  It was a prelude to the somewhat disturbing image of a girl on the cone dispenser at the gelato shop in our destination for the evening, Skradin.