Useful Information

NOVSKO ZDRILO

NOVSKO ZDRILO (44° 15'N; 15° 31'E), passage connecting Novigradsko more with Velebitski kanal, 2M long, 0.15M wide. The channel is spanned by a bridge (NW of Zdrijac point; destroyed on November 21, 1991 during the Patriotic War).

Approach: Landmarks: at the N entrance to the passage: a green buoy surmounted by a green cone (green light) and a red buoy surmounted by a red can (red light); the quadrangular red concrete tower (red light) on the E Baljenica point (conspicuously yellow and brown) and the round red tower with a column and gallery (green light) on Korotanja point at the opposite side of the entrance. The coast of the passage is fringed by several lights; the green tower with a column and gallery (green light) at Vranine point and the red tower (red light) at Brzac point. At the Zdrijac point there is a loading place reserved for the carferry; on the W side of the south entrance to Zdrilo there is a round green tower with a column and a gallery (green light).

The NW going current in the passage attains a rate of 1 knot, but with the sirocco blowing it can attain 4 knots.

Directions for navigation. The speed limit in the passage is 8 knots. Vessels must not pass or overtake each other in the passage. A vessel about to enter the passage must stop off the entrance, 500m N of the northern point of Baljenica and 500m off the southern point of Zdrijac and give two 5-second siren blasts. Any vessel already in the passage must reply by giving five 1second blasts. Vessels waiting to enter the passage will, on hearing the blasts, wait at the above given position until the vessel in the passage comes out. When entering the passage, all vessels must give five short blasts to signal their presence to smaller craft (boats).

Facilities: In the village of Maslenica, on the E inner point of the entrance to Zdrilo, is a cargo terminal (bauxite) and an old ferry landing ground.

On NE side of Novsko zdrilo (by the bridge) there is a motel with 154 beds, a swimming pool, a supermarket and a tourist office.

Sights: Rovanjska with Sv Petar church (St Peter, early Romanesque, built on the site of a Roman villa rustica); Jasenice with Sv Juraj church (St George, early Romanesque).

NOVIGRADSKO MORE, stretch of sea connected with Velebitski kanal by Novsko zdrilo and with Karinsko more by Karinsko zdrilo.

Its N and E coasts are steep; its S and W coasts are covered with woods and olive groves and slope gently towards the sea. On the E coast is the estuary of the river Zrmanja.

The bora is very strong, the sirocco more moderate. The nearby villages include Maslenica, Posedarje (its shallow coast is fringed by reefs) and Novigrad.