Montenegro

En route!

We sailed from Corfu straight to Bar, Montenegro. It was our first continuous and overnight sail, which totaled to about 24 hours and about 180 nautical miles. The trip was mostly uneventful, with calm seas and light wind for the majority of the journey. Jared and I traded shifts every few hours.

We started out motoring with the jib out. After most of the day with very light winds, we had enough to justify putting up the main. We averaged 6-7 knots into the evening and put in a reef as the sun set. Around 1am the winds picked up so we sped up to 8-9 knots. 3:30am found us bashing into sloppy seas (where did they come from?), so we reefed the jib a little to slow down the bashing.
As the sun rose at 4:45am, Matthew woke up to tell us his room was drenched with sea water. There was a couple of bucket fulls of water in the starboard bilge. It turns out the hatches were vented and not closed all the way. The port front cabin was also drenched. This would all have to wait until we were tied up to a dock though, as we needed to focus on entering the harbor.
After hailing several times, we decided to just tie up to the customs dock (you can go to the marina to handle paperwork, but since no one answered our call, we didn’t feel like we could just assign ourselves a berth).

We entered the commercial port around 8am and saw the customs dock next to the ferry area.
We found a spot between two coast guard boats to tie up, and a few minutes later, a customs officer greeted us and gave Jared directions to the harbor master’s building. I spent the next hour taking everything out of both front cabins, rinsing in fresh water and set to dry in the sun on the trampoline, lifelines, and jib sheets.  What a sight we must have been! I also had amassed a huge pile of laundry and got the machine going. In between that, I washed down the cabins with fresh water and vinegar and dried it all thoroughly (do not want mold anywhere). This included everything under the beds and taking bucketfuls of water out of those storage areas, as well as out of the bilge. With the hot sun, things dried rather quickly.

After getting a permit to cruise for one month (104 euros to cruise for 1 week or 174 for one month), Jared went to the customs office to show our permit and get stamped into the country. Turns out, Montenegro just scans the passports and does not stamp them anymore.

We left the customs dock for the marina around 9am. Tried hailing the marina office on the way in and they answered (office hours are 9am-1pm). After receiving our berth assignment, we motored over, took up the lazy lines, and were soon plugged in to shore power (air conditioning!) Ah, it felt so nice to have a/c! For 100 euro per night, we had unlimited power and water. I planned on taking full advantage of this! We usually anchor out, but it was so worth it to have a good night’s sleep and get all the cleaning done.

Painted streets.

I went to work doing several loads of laundry, as we had to clean all of the bedding, toys, and other items that were drenched in salt water. It ended up taking all day for this task but felt great to have it all done. We cleaned up the boat, washed her down with fresh water, and filled the tanks using our filter.

Waves!

The next couple of days were spent exploring the town of Bar. There are lots of shops, restaurants, and activities for families. We visited a little carnival, walked through a little nature park, and learned about some new fruit.

Produce market.

Landscaped gardens everywhere!

Walking through a park and playground.

We set sail for Budva early on Sunday afternoon, as we wanted to get out of the expensive marina (though it was so nice to have all the amenities close by). We anchored in a nearby bay, but our chain was in danger of wrapping around the large underwater rocks. After trying a few other spots, we called it and set out along the coast. We poked in to several other bays, but found the bottom to either be comprised of mud and not the best holding or entirely rocky. The bay near the luxury resort of Sv. Stefan would have been wonderful, except it was not protected with the winds and the boats already anchored looked as if they were on rocking horses! That's how we ended up at Budva bay.

Budva bay.

A large island provides two entrances into this bay and it is split in half by a very shallow reef. The reef is marked on the charts but nothing is physically marking it. We nosed around the south side of the bay, but it seemed the popular place for jet skis and small power boats to practice their donuts in. We skirted around the island and went into the northern half of the bay. There, just beyond the marina and the channel, we anchored in about 7m of water. We hit a nie sandy patch amongst the tall sea grass and settled in to enjoy the show. It was quite the show! Colorful umbrellas and beach chairs covered every inch of the sand. Restaurants blasted out music, competing for customers over their playlists. Power boats, jet skis, water skiers, paddle boarders, and parasailers cavorted around the bay. It was quite bumpy in the anchorage! If you like quiet and solitude, this bay is NOT for you. The music went until around 5am.

The next morning, after breakfast and a quick dip to cool off, we hauled anchor and sailed into the Bay of Kotor. There are a few anchorages along the way we added to our 'must explore' list, but at present, they were full to the brim with day tripper boats.

Entering Kotor. Croatia owns the peninsula on the left.

You pass part of Croatia on your port as you enter the bay. Kotor has three basins and is one of the largest fjords in the world! We sailed into the middle basin and stern tied to shore. This would provide a good base for exploring a deserted resort that is rumoured to be on the island we are tied to. According to one of our sailing friends, this resort looks very much as if the people just up and vanished. Type writers still have memos in mid-composition, notes tacked to the corkboard, furniture still in place, and rooms left as if the guests had merely stepped out for a bit. Fact is, everyone was told to evacuate immediately and were not allowed to return (impending war).

On my list is to procure the 777 Adriatic pilot guide, as these books are chock full of history. You really get a feel for the place if you know a little of its background. I'll be able to elaborate a bit more on the blog, after reading it.