Our 53rd paddle day was on Saturday, the 6th of April, 2024. We kayaked from Vukovar to Ilok in Croatia along the Danube. Our inflatable kayak Zucchini was unfortunately malfunctioning, which resulted in a lot of stops. This was our fourth day on the river in 2024 and our 53rd day in total. 

Excitement for Today + Taxi to Vukovar Kanu Klub

Though the setback of having a leaky vent the previous paddle day made us doubt Zucchini, we were very enthusiastic about paddling to Ilok. It’s a big milestone; at 140 kilometers, we will have done 10% of what we have left of the Danube. Also, Ilok is the last place in Croatia before we paddle fully in Serbia. And lastly, the town has a cool castle on a bluff and lots of wineries. Exciting things to look forward to.

On the morning of departure, we had breakfast at the hotel at 6:30. We also took this opportunity to prepare our sandwiches for the day. We already had the bread, but since we didn’t have a fridge in the room, Jonas still had to pick up some cheese from the supermarket down the street. After breakfast, we made the sandwiches, packed them up, and then returned to the room.

Once we were ready and wearing our paddle outfits, Jonas called a taxi via the Cammeo app. This was the only point of insecurity, but we got one in a reasonable 10 minutes. We loaded everything in the back of the car and drove off to the ex canoe club of Vukovar.

On the slipway, we inflated Zucchini. The very first cruise ship we’ve seen on the Danube traveled upstream. The main worry was having a leaky (left) vent, so we listened a bit to it. No noise.

We used the edge of the slipway to drop Zucchini into the water. I held her while Jonas installed the dry bags, but the wake of a second cruise ship made it difficult to do a good job. It was very wobbly, and I just wanted to get going; 8:39 is our latest starting time (yet).

Are We Paddling in the Danube, or in Denial?

On the river, we first paddled into the current and then looked back at the water tower of Vukovar. We continued in the direction of Vučedol. Though we haven’t been to the prehistoric site and museum, I know that this place was a center of human activity already ~7000–5000 years ago. It’s kind of crazy that these places along the Danube have been inhabited for so long already.

But any thoughts of our copper-smelting ancestors were soon replaced when Jonas said that Zucchini felt rather deflated. He mostly referred to the bottom compartment. I was just trying to get into paddle mode while going eastward, ignoring the fact that I was sitting rather low in the boat.

We passed on the left, outer side of Orlovnjak/Orlov Island while I attempted to use the kayak sail. Shit, I have installed it the wrong way. Orlov Otok means Eagle’s Island and the name is not wrong. At some point, the deflated state of Zucchini became untenable. Jonas really wanted to land, but all of the Croatian embankment on the island looked muddy. We eventually had to land.

In this less-than-ideal spot, we managed to climb out of the boat while cursing the slippery mud. We got the pump out of the CabinMAX. After some analysis, we decided that all three compartments need more air. I also used the opportunity to fix the kayak sail so it was usable.

This is what I was afraid of last time: first, one problem occurs. Then, three problems occur at once. And it cascades like that until having an inflatable boat becomes the bad idea our parents said it was.

We inflated all the compartments till we were happy with the pressure and then kept paddling. What else can we do right now?

Egrets and Regrets

We passed around a grassy river island that was unmapped. Seven swans were floating in this area. We first thought they were geese since we thought they were small, but when one group flew up when we approached, I realized they were undoubtedly swans.

And as dumb birds do, they flew downstream of us to escape us, giving us four minutes before they had to swim or fly away from us again.

The river turned south and we saw the church on the hill of Sotin. Zucchini’s bottom compartment was feeling rather deflated again. Shit, that means we probably have a leak or two.

Against the wind, we kept paddling. The calmer right bank featured common birds such as the grey type of herons. But then we also met two egrets. I only learned today that egrets are just a flashy type of heron. These two were surprisingly chill for water birds, who are usually scared shitless of us.

I looked at a clearing in the embankment to land. I didn’t know if it was going to be any good, but if we at least paddled there, we could get out, pack Zucchini, and take a bus or taxi or train from Sotin to Ilok. It wouldn’t be fun, but we could admit defeat here.

We landed Zucchini on the rocks of some artificial embankment below Sotin. It was also sort of a construction site.

Jonas searched for a leak, but couldn’t find anything. What now?

Just inflate the bottom cushion again and keep paddling. I’d already found our next landing spot on the map.

Kayak Sailing + Opatovac Channel

Through the turn now going southeast once again, we had a backwind. I used the kayak sail with quite some success to speed up downwind. Since I knew now we were losing air constantly, I hooked the sail into my life vest and paddled as well for extra speed.

Now was the decision to either paddle in the main Danube shipping lane to the left side of Opatovačka Ada or on the town side of Opatovac. The island supposedly has a beachy side to land and reinflate the boat, but the town is a potential exit spot. Jonas decided for the town side, so we paddled into the channel. We still had some good backwind there and I used the sail some more.

This channel was an amazing experience on the Danube. It was peaceful and beautiful. Like a young river.

Some 500 meters before the town of Opatovac, we found some jetties and fishermen’s houses. We landed Zucchini on one of the jetties and ate our protein bars there to take a break. Before we continued, we inflated Zucchini again.

From the jetty, I’d seen some disturbed water in the distance. I told Jonas about it, but the troubled waters were also the only way through the Opatovac channel.

Once in the kayak, we noticed it’s not just whooshy water, but actual rapids. Not much, but still, such a drop was unexpected this late in the Danube. But it was all fun. Especially since we’d recently reinflated Zucchini’s bottom chamber.

The town of Opatovac itself had a lot of embankment works going on. I’m happy we didn’t land inside town for our break. Once we paddled out of the Opatovac Channel, we saw a small river island to our left. The downstream tip had a group of about six people having a barbecue and camping session. It’s crazy that it’s early April and such activities are already possible.

Mohovo + Šarengrad + Lovka

By now, we had figured out that as long as we made a stop every 5 – 7 kilometers to reinflate the boat, we’d be good. So our next stop was in Mohovo at 12:30. We reapplied sunscreen on someone’s slipway before reinflating the boat. Everyting only took 12 minutes. We were completely silent because I was afraid to trigger some dogs who would probably attack us. I don’t have proof of these dogs, but I know they are plentiful.

The sunny and hot weather really got to us. Somehow, the tailwind had disappeared and we were left to our own powers and the current. It wasn’t bad. Our next stop was in Šarengrad.

We found an excellent slipway in Šarengrad past a river police boat. We ate a sandwich here while a tractor with a water tank filled itself up with Danubian water. Presumably for the fields, which are already dried out a bit this time of year. There’s a nice church in Šarengrad that has seen better days. The policemen said hi to us, but didn’t bother us or asked for our papers. We reinflated Zucchini and kept going in the direction of Ilok. We could already see the tower of church at the castle of Ilok.

Our last stop was only three kilometers before Ilok. We landed at a forested zone with a muddy beach and one moored fishing boat. In 13 minutes we were out on the Danube again. But it was 14:36 at this point. I’d hoped to already be in Ilok by this time.

Arriving in Ilok + Finding the Leak

In the last few kilometers, we tried to paddle a bit in the shadow of the trees on the south shore. This is something we did a lot in 2019 as well. The bridge from Ilok to Bačka Palanka in Serbia appeared. If our boat is fixable, I won’t mind taking the bridge by taxi or whatever to continue paddling. This deflated boat has sucked so much today.

The area around Ilok is a bit confusion for navigation. There are some floodplains and dead ends. We passed the 1300-kilometer sign. Ah, the Black Sea is just around the corner now.

I told Jonas where our landing spot was based on OSM information. It’s a mapped slipway and it’s perfect for landing. But we didn’t see it until we were parallel to Ilok castle. Its crenulated wall is quite beautiful. Like something from Game of Thrones (this is an age check).

We landed Zucchini at the pointy end of the slipway and climbed out. Arrival time: 15:07. We put Zucchini on land and I walked to the nearby restaurant to see if it’s open while Jonas tried to locate the leak.

The restaurant was open, but there was no terrace to watch our boat dry and enjoy a drink. So I walked back with no tips on where to dry the boat.

Meanwhile, Jonas had found the very obvious leak. A small puncture that let out a continuous stream of precious air. Damn.

But we have a boat repair kit. This isn’t the place, but we can do it from our accommodation in Ilok. Later worries.

We ate a sandwich in the grass while Zucchini dried in the sun. Jonas messaged our host about our arrival while we ate our last sandwiches. A man approached Jonas and asked him something. That was our host. As promised the day before, he was here to pick us up. We loaded everything into the back of the car and drove to the holiday home in Ilok.

It was the start of four beautiful days in one of the most remarkable parts of Croatia.

Punctured Inflatable Kayak: Fixing Zucchini’s Hole

During our four-night stay in Ilok, we tried patching up Zucchini’s puncture. This is what we learned about fixing a leak on our inflatable kayak.

First, we checked what kind of glue was in our mixed repair kit. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good anymore after five years of no use. Jonas went out with our host to buy rubber glue, since that’s what we thought we needed. After cleaning the area, we tried patching it. However, the rubber glue didn’t stick at all, so we went out in search of super glue.

After testing the super glue on our spare materials patch to see if it would melt or become hot, we patched the hole with super glue and one of the bicycle tire repair patches. We’ve carried around this bicycle repair box since we bought our inflatable kayak in 2019, but never had to use it in that year. That’s why in 2024, I’m not sure which items came with the repair kit of the boat and which came with the bike repair kit I’ve had since 2018. To be honest, please add a bicycle tire repair kit to your paddling gear list, because it’s unlikely the stuff that came with the boat is sufficient for a long kayaking journey like ours.

Eventually, the learning was like this:

1. Find the puncture. We found it by listening and then feeling the air stream
2. Feel around if the thing that caused the puncture is still in/near the boat
3. Clean the puncture area and let it air dry
4. Use super glue and a bike tire puncture patch to fix the hole
5. Press it down well with a spoon so there are no air bubbles
6. Keep the pressure with a clothespin for an hour
7. Let the resident cat help by showing her airplane ears at your punctured boat
8. Take off the clothespin and let the glue dry for 24 hours
9. After letting the glue dry, inflate the air chamber and listen at the puncture to see if the leak is fixed
10. Keep inflated for at least an hour and use a manometer to check if the pressure went down
11. Tape off the area with electrical tape to protect the patch. Replace electrical tape whenever it gets worn down
12. Continue kayaking!

We have no idea what caused our puncture, but we stopped ‘sliding’ the bottom air chamber back and forth inside the boat to prevent further leaks like this. The puncture was fixed and held up well till at least Ruse in Bulgaria (where I am publishing this article from).

Four Nights in Ilok: The Castle + Traminac Wine Tasting

Feeling Entertained? Consider buying me a glass of wine!

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