Croatian
TurkishIl dolce far niente - THE ULTIMATE LEISURE ON THE SEA
THE ULTIMATE LEISURE ON THE SEA
In 2023, aboard an Italian beauty from the last millennium, a lazy, golden afternoon was unfolding. Leisure reigned supreme, and the Mediterranean breeze whispered nothing but relaxation. The perfect dolce far niente day.
Suddenly, a voice broke the silence from a nearby boat, another classic floating masterpiece.
"Hey, come over!"
Such a call at sea is never ignored – it’s an unwritten rule.
A bottle opener was quickly found, the coldest beer grabbed from the bottom of the marine fridge, and without so much as an introduction, the conversation flowed. Formalities? Forget them. No one needs them when everyone’s in their swimmers.
The crews had vanished, slipping into their own laissez-faire activities, but two resilient captains remained, sharing a moment on the worn, sun-bleached blue upholstery of the Italian vessel. Beer, sea, and pure maritime bliss.
The talk was typical—what they did before they caught the irresistible boating bug. They weren’t alone in this. Somewhere in every cockpit, other captains were having the exact same conversations.
But this one was different. The northern wind carried their words far from safe harbors, out to the open sea, where repairs were endless, and enthusiasm for fixing things dwindled as the list grew longer.
The anchor chain needed galvanizing, the bimini and spray hood had to be taken down, the tender removed, the keel protected, the engine recalibrated, old fuel drained, canisters scrubbed… The list went on and on.
“What about the cockpit cushions?” one captain asked.
"Nothing to do there,” the other replied. “New custom-made ones would be best. But fixing these? Impossible."
He sighed, resigned. "And who would even make new ones?"
“There’s an old guy I know,” the older captain mused. "But he’s vanished, hiding from marinas and clients. His seamstress left, the money's gone, orders are piled up, and new ones? Not happening."
Then, out of the blue, the younger captain of a sleek 14-footer declared, "We’ll make them ourselves!"
"You know, you're right," the older captain said, the conversation finally making sense. “And we’ll make the best.”
With that, they clinked their warm beers together, and Soledad Marine Textile was born.
For more sea stories like this, just say “Hey, come over!” the next time you spot us in a marina wearing a Soledad logo.
And so in Croatia the first real products of nautical textiles were created and from there they started to sail around the Mediterranean.