Dalmatia in 7 days from Split

Check-in at the ACI Marina happens opposite Diocletian's Palace: take an hour to walk old Split before casting off, you won't see a town this size again until Saturday.

Twelve miles across the Brač channel on the afternoon maestral: the perfect leg to tune boat and crew. Milna, an old Venetian harbour deep in a sheltered bay, serves up a first konoba dinner five metres from the boat.

A short run down to the Pakleni archipelago, the maze of islets facing Hvar. Pick up a buoy in Vinogradišće bay: pine woods, two historic restaurants, and the most photogenic water in the Adriatic.

In the evening, taxi-boat to Hvar (10 minutes): climb the Spanish fortress for the view, then retreat to the calm of your buoy as the town heats up. The best of both worlds — provided you booked the buoy in July–August.

The crossing to Vis is the week's open-water piece: 13 shelterless miles past the Pakleni point. In an established maestral it is a fast reach — spray and grins guaranteed. Vis, long closed to foreigners as a Yugoslav military base, kept a raw character Hvar has lost.

Komiža, on the west coast, is our favourite stop on the island: a genuine fishing harbour, lanes free of souvenir shops, and Biševo's Blue Cave 5 miles away for the next morning.

Dawn start for the Blue Cave tour before the crowds (official boat from Komiža — anchoring there is forbidden), then off on the week's longest leg: 35 miles due east to Korčula.

The arrival rewards the effort: Korčula, a mini-Dubrovnik on its rocky spur, deserves the whole evening. Dine in the herringbone lanes designed to cut the bora, and try grk, the local white you will hardly find anywhere else.

Up along Hvar's south coast, the island's wildest: swim stop in Dubovica cove or below the terraced vineyards of Ivan Dolac, which literally tumble into the sea.

Stari Grad — Croatia's oldest town, founded by the Greeks in 384 BC — is Hvar town's serene counterpoint: a quiet quay, polished stone lanes, and our favourite konoba on the island in a hidden courtyard (Kod Damira).

North again through the channel between Brač and Šolta. Maslinica, the only harbour on Šolta's west coast, faces an archipelago of seven islets that slices up the sunset — the photo spot of the week.

Two options for the night: the boutique Martinis Marchi marina (a converted Venetian castle) or, our preference, anchoring between the Polebrnjak and Stipanska islets, three dinghy strokes from the village.

Only twelve miles: time for a last swim in Šešula bay, just south of Maslinica, before crossing the Split channel one final time.

Diesel at the marina fuel dock (expect a queue after 4 pm on Friday), boat debrief, and if your Saturday flight is late, luggage storage at the ACI then one last morning inside Diocletian's Palace.