Montenegro (Crna Gora)
Porto Bar 170NM, 27hrs 35min
Sunday September 23 - Monday 24
Sunday September 23 - Monday 24
The trip north from Corfu was pretty painless, departing at 0740hrs Saturday, flat the whole way, arriving at 1010hrs Sunday and checked in at Porto Bar, Montenegro, in the record time of one hour (and that included returning to the boat as Colin forgot his wallet).
Welcome back to Marina Bar where we got slugged €70 when we hadn't paid once in Greece after Gouvia Marina, even when moored up at the Lefkas town pier! Hard to believe this marina with its run down and dirty facilities can charge the same as Gouvia which has clean showers, a pool, numerous restaurants, and an all 'round more pleasant and better maintained facility. We had little choice though so we just had to pay and be done with it.
Both feeling exhausted from the overnight trip we decided to eat locally that night rather than take a taxi to the old town. We re-provisioned first then ate at the closest pizza cafe where I ordered squid risotto, blackened with the ink, not thinking it for a minute it would stain my teeth even more, but that it did. Now I won't be open-mouth smiling again until I see my dentist!
Click images to enlarge
Welcome back to Marina Bar where we got slugged €70 when we hadn't paid once in Greece after Gouvia Marina, even when moored up at the Lefkas town pier! Hard to believe this marina with its run down and dirty facilities can charge the same as Gouvia which has clean showers, a pool, numerous restaurants, and an all 'round more pleasant and better maintained facility. We had little choice though so we just had to pay and be done with it.
Both feeling exhausted from the overnight trip we decided to eat locally that night rather than take a taxi to the old town. We re-provisioned first then ate at the closest pizza cafe where I ordered squid risotto, blackened with the ink, not thinking it for a minute it would stain my teeth even more, but that it did. Now I won't be open-mouth smiling again until I see my dentist!
Click images to enlarge
Boka Kotorska (Bay of Kotor)
Otok Sveti Marko, the bay east of Uvala Velika 39NM, 6hrs 20min
Monday September 24 - Thursday 27
Monday September 24 - Thursday 27
Woken by alarm at 0630 Monday, and having paid up the night before, we were underway by 0700hrs to beat the Bora predicted to blow up at around 1500hrs. It seems we made it just in time as the rain came in as we were dropping anchor. It took two tries to make sure we were holding fast, then we battened down the hatches and waited out the rain. The evening blew up in gusts of 30+kns, enough to snap the cord that tied the dinghy to the bow (hence, dinghy found blown sideways in the morning), but for the most part maintained a steady blow of around 20kns. The gusts sounded scary but the anchor held and there was no swell to speak of, so other than my worrying it was a comfortable night.
Not everyone around held as fast though. The captain of the pirate ship next to us would have had a rude awakening Tuesday morning, having drifted to the other side of the bay during the night. Colin periodically stuck his head up during the gusts and noticed the vessel dragging further and further away, but there was not much he could do, and at some point in the morning the captain awoke, brought the boat back and re-anchored. We were curious to see where he'd end up the next night. Some people must not do the "pull back on the anchor" test to see if they're holding tight. Either that or a big gust dislodged his anchor.
I was full of cold and coldsores Tuesday so I spent the day updating the website, sewing buttons on pants and reading, while Colin sanded the cockpit table and did other boat maintenance chores. Wednesday we'd planned to head further into the bay to the town of Kotor but got held back by the ongoing Bora. Settling in for another day we switched on the SSB (single sideband) radio at 0800hrs (0600 UTC) to listen in on the MedNet, a network of cruisers that use the SSB radio to keep in touch at set scheduled times during the week. We were able to hear Brad from Korsar who was in Sicily and Alan from Ticketeeboo in Greece, another boat in the Peloponnese and someone in Malta. Interestingly we were all tucked up safely waiting out the same strong winds. Brad and Ruth had been stuck on their boat for three weeks already!
Thursday we had a break in the winds and headed to the inner east bay and the town of Kotor, but not before a cold swim to shore and washing my skanky hair - first time in days it's been warm enough for both! It wasn't just us taking advantage of the change in weather either as we passed yachts racing out of Porto Montenegro.
Photos by Colin and Nic. Click images to enlarge
Not everyone around held as fast though. The captain of the pirate ship next to us would have had a rude awakening Tuesday morning, having drifted to the other side of the bay during the night. Colin periodically stuck his head up during the gusts and noticed the vessel dragging further and further away, but there was not much he could do, and at some point in the morning the captain awoke, brought the boat back and re-anchored. We were curious to see where he'd end up the next night. Some people must not do the "pull back on the anchor" test to see if they're holding tight. Either that or a big gust dislodged his anchor.
I was full of cold and coldsores Tuesday so I spent the day updating the website, sewing buttons on pants and reading, while Colin sanded the cockpit table and did other boat maintenance chores. Wednesday we'd planned to head further into the bay to the town of Kotor but got held back by the ongoing Bora. Settling in for another day we switched on the SSB (single sideband) radio at 0800hrs (0600 UTC) to listen in on the MedNet, a network of cruisers that use the SSB radio to keep in touch at set scheduled times during the week. We were able to hear Brad from Korsar who was in Sicily and Alan from Ticketeeboo in Greece, another boat in the Peloponnese and someone in Malta. Interestingly we were all tucked up safely waiting out the same strong winds. Brad and Ruth had been stuck on their boat for three weeks already!
Thursday we had a break in the winds and headed to the inner east bay and the town of Kotor, but not before a cold swim to shore and washing my skanky hair - first time in days it's been warm enough for both! It wasn't just us taking advantage of the change in weather either as we passed yachts racing out of Porto Montenegro.
Photos by Colin and Nic. Click images to enlarge
Kotor 11NM, 2hrs
Thursday September 27 - Saturday 29
Thursday September 27 - Saturday 29
Holding first time in the mud around Kotor we anchored near Nimrod, a catamaran that had been next to us the previous night in Sveti Marko. We'd hauled up a massive load of mud on the anchor when we set sail, and expected to do so again here based on past experience. The wind settled and so did we, getting an early night in anticipation of an early morning to climb the walls of the fortified city. The nights and mornings had been getting colder (we sure could have done with our fleece lined slippers the rat ate!) so instead of rising early to beat the heat we'd been sleeping in a bit to let the day warm up. Despite a somewhat delayed start we had a glorious day for hiking the walls, in shade most of the time and barely breaking a sweat. It was an interesting walk, up 1350 stairs, with spectacular views of the town and the cruise ship that stirred up a whirlpool of mud mooring up. The wall is hard to distinguish from a distance, as a fortification should be I suppose, but Thursday night I was able to get a photo with it lit up, making it easier to see where the wall cuts the landscape. Coming down from the wall (which, incidentally, my knees took days to recover from) we ended up in a square where we sat and had coffee and booked for dinner as the food being served looked fantastic. And it was! We had a lovely waiter, a delicious meal, and a peaceful ambience after the jackhammer finished in the square.
Photos by Colin and Nic. Click images to enlarge
Photos by Colin and Nic. Click images to enlarge
Tivat 10NM, 2hrs
Saturday September 29 - Sunday 30
Saturday September 29 - Sunday 30
Saturday morning, with six minutes left in the AFL Grand Final, we had a visit from Chris from Nimrod. He was kindly coming to tell us this bay would get very uncomfortable with the predicted winds, and that he was headed off to anchor just south of Porto Montenegro. That said we watched the remaining 14 seconds of the match and quickly headed into town to do shopping then move out in the same direction. We decided to suss out the fuel jetty in Porto Montenegro, and though the winds were gusting up to 30kns and we were being blown onto the fuelling jetty the captain decided we were here, we might as well fill up. Okay so nobody got hurt, except maybe those poor lads who were trying to push a 7.5 tonne boat off the jetty as we tried to leave, but many valuable lessons were learned. I was a bit rattled by the experience and once anchored I skipped lunch in favour of diving into my detective novel and having a nap.
Sunday, weighing anchor at 0800, we moored up to the customs jetty at Porto Montenegro and were checked out and back on the boat by 0900hrs. A lovely young girl helped us through the whole process and even asked if we needed a ride back to our boat. As it was less than 100m away we said we could walk. The customs processes have been remarkably different in the three countries we've visited so far, and Porto Montenegro wins hands down for friendliness and helpfulness. They want your repeat business, that's for sure, and they make the necessary procedures as easy and pleasant for you as they can.
Click images to enlarge
Sunday, weighing anchor at 0800, we moored up to the customs jetty at Porto Montenegro and were checked out and back on the boat by 0900hrs. A lovely young girl helped us through the whole process and even asked if we needed a ride back to our boat. As it was less than 100m away we said we could walk. The customs processes have been remarkably different in the three countries we've visited so far, and Porto Montenegro wins hands down for friendliness and helpfulness. They want your repeat business, that's for sure, and they make the necessary procedures as easy and pleasant for you as they can.
Click images to enlarge