Hi steve!
Thanks a lot for your nice reply. You're absolutely right, croatia is superb for paddling. The croatian coastline is dottet with hundreds of islands. It's very save because the ocean gets 27 degrees and air is around 30 degrees in summer. Check google earth - it's a never ending story of paddling. Once you reach an island you'll see an other in paddling distance. Sometimes you get lost in the ocean and you forget the distances you've paddled. So food an drink are very helpful. Unfortunately croatia doesn't get that good downwind conditions in summer. Normally you get good conditions in bad weather. Spring and autumn are good for downwind paddling.
So surfskipaddling is getting more and more popular in europe!