Deja Vu

Heading back into Southern Croatia

July 4^th, we met up with our Farnham friends, Yvonne and Paul in Herceg Novi, Montenegro and the next day we checked out of Montenegro, sailed 25 miles up the coast with the cruising chute and checked back into Croatia at Cavtat on Thursday 5^th July. We had been away almost exactly a month. We spent our first night back at anchor in Tiha Bay, Cavtat and enjoyed a Cuthbert style BBQ.

Nigel Mo Yvonne and Paul — Enjoying life on board

Our time with Yvonne and Paul went quickly, it was only 5 days, but we managed some good sailing, visited Okuklje on Mljet, Sipanska Luka for another great gourmet fish dinner at Marco’s, an explore around Sipan and the adjacent mainland.

Deja Vu ata nchor in Okuklje — Deja Vu at anchor in Okuklje

Our plan to drop our visitors off at Slano to get a taxi to the airport was foiled when our attempts to moor there were thwarted by unexpected 35 knot onshore gusts in the bay and a sudden failure of the bow thruster! Plan B came into play and we had a lively sail downwind to Zaton, close to the famous Dubrovnik Bridge, where we managed to moor up for their last night on board.

Yvonne and Paul left us on Monday July 9^th and we turned north once again stopping off at Polace on Mljet, then the delightful Racisce Bay, just south of Korcula Town in the island of Korcula.

Nigel’s investigation into the bow thruster failure took us into Korcula Town in the dinghy which proved to be a lively and exciting trip dodging waves, ferries and everything else! We went to see the engineer who had fixed our outboard last time we visited, who assured Nigel the part he had taken to show him was not broken, and we did not need a new pin! Back to the diagnostic drawing board and as you know Nigel is not one to be defeated. He sweated buckets in the heat of the evening, reassembled the unit, realigning various parts, and success, it worked!

Very relieved this is fixed, although we do need more oil in the gearbox.

It is now Wednesday 11^th July and today we had perhaps the best sail of the trip, as we journeyed from Korcula to Lastovo. We covered just over 20 miles with 15 knots of wind, which started as a broad reach, bent round to a beam reach and finished up a close reach before it died 2 miles before our destination. It was perfect sailing, averaging 5.5 knots.

We thought we had seen most of Croatia’s surprises, but here at Skrivena Luka on Lastovo, we seem to have found one of the best places it has to offer. It is beautiful, unspoilt, quiet, roomy – it is quite perfect and we feel immensely lucky to be here right now. Look out for the next posting, all about Lastovo.

Update from Billy

Well, where shall I start with this report. What a time we have had. We were told we were coming to a quiet country retreat where nothing much happened. Wrong! What will they throw at us next? The first upset was when 2 strange cars turned up and 8 humans moved in – 4 large ones and 4 of the kind they call boys. We could have coped with that but the large, hairy DOG was more than we could bear! Daisy moved out and took up residence in a small stone building and I have to confess I shared it with her from time to time. The Sue and Dick humans brought us food but there was a good supply of mice so we were OK. This situation lasted for a whole week and we ventured out on a Saturday morning to find the coast clear. A great deal of washing was blowing in the wind but all was otherwise calm. Imagine our distress when more cars arrived that afternoon this time bringing 6 big humans and 2 very small ones. Big ones we can cope with but the small ones were more scary than the dog so it was back to the shed! We had not forgotten our main purpose and I can say with complete certainty that there are no rabbits in Sue and Dick’s bedroom. I keep a personal watch from the bed and none have dared venture in. We have supplemented our usual diet by catching and eating quite a few in the grounds and we are ably abetted by 5 fox cubs. The Sue human seems quite pleased that her plants seem to be thriving as the rabbits are keeping their distance

We survived the visitation of the little people. The one called Mia can now crawl which is alarming in the extreme and the one called Elin moves very fast which frightens us. There was peace for one day although the kitchen looked chaotic with many pots and pans in use. The reason for this became apparent on Monday when, to our horror, many cars arrived in the evening and 18 people arrived to be fed. There was much noise and many bottles appeared by our cat flap – all empty! It seems this was called fundraising and we saw much money being exchanged. Smoked salmon makes us sick!!

We were left for 2 days after all this and Sue and Dick went somewhere for a rest – so they said. When they returned we thought the worst was over but no, more cars arrived and we have had another week of upheaval. This time just big humans but with another large dog. However, I decided to show my mettle this time and stayed around to hiss at him. It worked a treat and the dog was terrified of me. So I kept hissing every time I saw him and reduced him to a trembling wreck! Very satisfying. Now all is quiet and they tell me it will stay that way for a while. I have to say it will be nice to relax and concentrate on the serious business of rabbit catching. Daisy ate a whole one yesterday so I’ll have to get one of my own. Daisy and I don’t really get on and we avoid each other as much as possible but I do like the humans. I no longer bite and scratch but submit meekly to cuddles and being carried downstairs when I have completed my rabbit watch in the bedroom. It seems the best policy to ensure food and a warm lap! We will try to submit more regular reports now things have calmed down.

Southern Montenegro

Our night passage north from Albania concluded at 8am at the Customs Quay in Bar, a port we visited just 2 weeks previously, convenient to clear immigration and customs formalities. This was soon done and we left speedily to find a quiet anchorage so we could catch up on the lost sleep of the previous night passage.

We settled on St Stefan, a pretty holiday bay sheltered by the iconic rocky headland, home to the famous St Stefan hotel.

We slept well, enjoyed lazy swimming and when sufficiently irritated by the afternoon jet skiers, we left and headed into Budva, just a couple of miles further north.

What a fun town!

Clearly party central for the mixed race holidaymakers, many Russians. The thumping disco finally quietened down around 1am, but we were away exploring the cafe bars in the old walled town. Again a picture postcard lovely town with beautiful churches, spires, bell towers and impressive citadel which we climbed for stunning views over the bay. Mo was fascinated by the library inside the citadel. Filled with many English language books, one title included ‘Scouting in Serbia’ where the youth depicted on the cover was heavy laden with weapons!

Citadel library — Books in the library at the Citadel

From Budva to Bigova, 10 miles or so north up the coast, we anchored in the quiet bay and enjoyed a lovely sunset.

July 3^rd we revisit Herceg Novi in the Gulf of Kotor briefly to collect Paul and Yvonne, our Farnham friends who are flying into Dubrovnik. They will join us on the sail back into Croatia.

We have enjoyed Montenegro. We are sure the new airport at Tivat will find itself on the Easy jet or Ryan Air destination list before too long!

Arrival in Albania

Tuesday 26th June – We had an uneventful trip from Erikoussa to the Gulf of Vlore. The highlights included the sunrise over Albania again and a visit from a pod of dolphins!

Hoisting the flag — Hoisting the Albanian flag

As we rounded the long peninsular that forms the entrance to the Gulf of Vlore we spotted hundreds of abandoned bunkers littering the hillsides . This is supposed to be a very busy port, but we saw no boats, no one, nothing at all. It was eerily silent.

The Gulf of Vlore appeared empty of boats despite being a huge expanse of water. Ahead we could see the new oil export terminal and the buildings of Vlore. We headed for the main harbour to check-in as instructed and after berthing alongside a car ferry, were met by our apponted agent. Nigel left with him to do the formalities and Mo was in charge of the boat. As soon as Nigel and the agent had left she was beset by a gang of teenage boys wanting food, money, cigarettes and anything else they could think of. She engaged them in conversation that consisted mainly of No, and an attempt to enagage about football. Meanwhile Nigel and the agent were now offsite in an internet cafe copying papers and filling forms. Returning to the boat we were free to go and off we set to the small Orikum Marina, about 6 miles to the south.

This is a small but friendly Marina with a hairy entrance, narrow and shallow. Moored up and showered, we entertained three Americans from a neighbouring boat, the only other visitors, for cocktails. Dinner which we shared with them was in a nearby restaurant which provided excellent food and wine at prices left behind by the rest of Europe 20 years ago.

Wednesday 27th – We had not planned to sail this day as the forecast was for strong winds.

They were not wrong apart from the strength which the forecasters had underestimated. We took a taxi for the morning to visit the mountains of Southern Albania driving through the national park. The views were breathtaking as we climbed from fertile valley through alpine forest and into the clouds and on up, must have been well over 2000ft to a view of Northern Corfu and across to Otranto in Italy. We also saw a small boat with three Americans in a very uncomfortable looking sea, they were warned!

Road trip to National Park in Southern Albania — Road trip round National Park

A road apparently funded by the Italians zig-zagged down the mountainside to the coast where we visited beautiful and little developed sandy beaches. What a land of opportunity this is! Returning to the Marina for the afternoon we walked down to see the waves hitting the somewhat inadequate breakwater. (see above) I would not like to be around when the wind and sea really get going.

Farewell to Greece

Due to an unforeseen electrical problem we were obliged to spend 2 further nights in Corfu’s Gouvia Marina to get it fixed, and this we did with impressive efficiency by the local Marine company.

We opted for another trip into Corfu Town to visit the rather impressive forts that proudly guard the town and we did not want to leave Greece behind without another mention of Corfu Town. As described before the town has a lot of character and charm in its labyrinth of narrow streets. This time we headed for the fort and discovered a different part of town and once again enjoyed stunning Venetian style buildings, large squares and narrow streets with surprises around each corner.

Venetian style buildings — Venetian style

The Old Fortress was worth visiting, although the lack of any kind of information about its history was staggering. We had to gen up after the visit!

Built in Byzantine times on a natural peninsular, the Venetians turned it into an island during the 15^th century and successfully held out against several onslaughts by the Ottoman Turks in the 16^th century. The British has a presence 1815-1864 and thereafter, when Corfu became part of Greece, the fort was little used. During WWII the island was occupied by the Italians and then the Germans. Many internal parts of the fort were destroyed at that time.

inside the fortress — Inside the fortress

We left Corfu on Monday 25^th June, having checked out of the country officially, and we headed north.

We cleared the top of Corfu and set about tacking in the Westerley wind to the first of the Diapondia Islands, Erikoussa. Here we anchored in Porto Bay for the night – we could not of course go ashore! – in preparation for an early start north through the straits of Otranto to Albania.

Anchored in Porto Bay — At anchor in Porto Bay

Corfu and Paxos

Corfu is a long narrow island, over 30 miles long, and we checked into Greece at Gouvia Marina close to Corfu Town about half way down on the east coast. This well sheltered marina has reasonable facilities, and most importantly a swimming pool that we made good use of. It is home to many ‘live aboard’ couples on their boats, many of them English. We were disappointed to find a shortage of bays on the south east coast to anchor in, there were some on the north coast that we had passed by and a couple on the west coast, a long sail away. We took an afternoon bus ride into Corfu old town and were delighted with its character and atmosphere. It is on the cruise liner circuit and there were 2 large liners in port disgorging their passengers into the town. We hoped they were spending in the many lovely shops as the restaurants did not have much chance of attracting custom from them.

We soon set sail to Paxos and arrived on the north of the island in Lukka Bay. Lovely but oh so busy with anchored yachts. With little room left we anchored on the outside and suffered a rather rolly night. The village here though was charming, brimming with welcoming restaurants, bars and cafes and we took the dinghy ashore to enjoy a beer on the waterfront before retiring for the night.

A couple of miles down the coast was the main town on Paxos, Gaios, where we headed the next day. We anchored off to swim during the day and then went into the town for the night. Another delightful place. Paxos is renowned as the jewel in the North Ionian isles and it is clear to see why. Would love to go back again sometime.

Time to turn back on Friday June 22^nd, we headed north across to the mainland and anchored in Monastery Bay. It has been so hot, swimming is as much as we wanted to do, as often as possible!

end of a hot day — End of a hot day in Monastery Bay

Saturday June 23^rd sees us back in Gouvia Marina to provision the boat and check out of Greece, as we plan our journey back to Croatia.

South to Corfu

A couple of sessions in the internet cafe studying weather forecasts and grib files convinced us that we had a good weather window to make a break for Corfu, a journey of just over 170 miles from the south of Montenegro, which we reckoned would take 30-35 hours.

It occurred to Mo that this journey time was much the same as travelling to New Zealand, a distance of over 13,000 miles!

Having restocked at Herceg Novi we set sail for Bar, the southernmost port of Montenegro where we could officially check out of the country. We had a fair wind and a broad reach and did most of the sail using the cruising chute. For those of you who have sailed with Mo and Nigel, you will be familiar with the angst this furling sail has caused over the seasons. This final attempt to use it effectively actually worked well so it looks like the chute is officially back on the sail list! Bar had a large and safe marina and the pontoons within it were owned or managed by different agencies. It was just pot luck that we fetched up on one largely occupied by Russians. Nigel befriended a local skipper who soon had our gas bottle filled thanks to his network of local friends. Bar itself had little to commend it, save the mountain backdrop, but it was functional for stocking up and setting of again.

Early on Sunday June 17^th, we checked out of Montenegro and motored off to find some wind.

We did not have to wait long for enough wind just aft of the beam to fly the cruising chute again. We set the compass course to South and made great distance averaging a very good 7 knots.

The wind freshened up to 20-25 knots so we reverted to white sails, and continued to make excellent speed until the going down of the sun killed the wind. Unfortunately the quartering sea did not calm and the night trip, under motor was exceeding ly uncomfortable. It was an exciting night of dodging ferries and cruise liners going through the narrow passage between Albania and Italy. Like bats they all travel at night so we were kept busy and were grateful for our radar and AIS!

We hugged the South Albanian coast as dawn broke. Mo was delighted to be on watch when the dolphins came to play around the boat’ s bow wave as as the wind came back we sailed the next 60 miles down to Corfu arriving around 2pm on Monday 18^th June.

Corfu lies at 39 degrees latitude and it is significantly hotter than Croatia and Montenegro lying at 42 degrees.

In true Greek style there was quite a relaxed approach to getting the registration formalities organised. The Port Authorities were only working a half day, so back to them tomorrow.

Quick essential cooling down swim in the marina pool before heading off to the bar to plan what we are going to do on Corfu!

Enjoying the Gulf of Kotor

With a forecast of strong winds we decided to stay in the Gulf of Kotor and explore further. We enjoyed recreational sailing with plenty of stops for refreshing swims and long lunches.

Typical shoreline in the Gulf — Typical shoreline - the old and the new

We found a sheltered overnight anchorage at Risan in the north west corner of the Gulf.

The Gulf of Kotor — Cruising the Gulf of Kotor

After a quiet night we awoke to storm clouds and rain, at which point the men donned wet jackets to do the morning bread run.

Ashore we explored the interesting roman mosaics before setting off to find a new lunchtime anchorage for a swim.

Roman mosaic at Risan — One of many roman mosaics at Risan

We ended the day anchored back at Kotor. Nigel’s seafood spaghetti was a big hit and the night backdrop of the illuminated city wall was stunning.

Kotor at night — Kotor by night - the walls illuminated

Our sail on Thursday 13^th June was a well reefed beat in a freshening wind to Herceg Novi, where John and Ada planned to depart for Dubrovnik airport the next day. It got a bit too exciting as we clocked a few gusts of 35knots and Nigel did stirling stuff mooring up in the strong cross wind. Deja Vu did some rocking and rolling tied up on the harbour wall whilst we all went to explore this very attractive seaside resort.

Moored at Herceg Novi — Rockin' and rollin' at Herceg Novi

Old town Herceg Novi — Up in the Old town

Climbing hundreds of steps to the Old town, we found the 16^th century fort on top, now usefully used a stage setting for Summer concerts and festivals. We were well rewarded with glorious views.

Following a recommendation from a Norwegian regular staying in the area, we ended the day dining at Konoba Feral. We ate enough steak to last us all week.

Friday dawned and it was farewell to John and Ada as their taxi swept them away leaving Nigel and Mo to plan the next stage of the trip. We hope to travel down the coast of Montenegro to Budva and or Bar in the next couple of days and thereafter the weather will dictate our next course.

Kotor

En route to Kotor, the biggest old urban area in Montenegro, we anchored up in Dinj Morinj for a much needed swim. Wow was the water cold in large patches, it felt like alpine melt, and we were sure there was a stream entering in the bay mixing with the otherwise acceptably warm water! We motored past Perast and the two delightful churches built on mounds of stones offshore from the town.

All of us on board, Nigel, Mo, John and Ada were overwhelmed with the town of Kotor. Even as we approached we could see the city walls coiling up the mountainside to fortress ruins on the top – it looked like a mini version of the Great Wall of China.

Approaching Kotor, can you see the walls?

At sea level, the walls encircled the old town and access was by only 3 gates, one of which was almost opposite where the boat was moored up.

Roman origins, Byzantine and Venetian buildings have given Kotor a unique mix of cultural influences. It was listed with UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1979.

The Cathedral of St Tryphon was a highlight, as was the Maritime Museum with its interesting audio tour.

The areas has longstanding traditions with ship building, defence and maritime activity.

We all set off to climb the city walls, and only John and Ada made it to the very top. Nigel and Mo set off to find refreshement in the cafe below!

Arrival in Montenegro

We had a brisk beat from Cavtat to the Boka Kotorska and we hoisted our Montenegro and customs flags as we rounded the forts that dominated the entrance to the famous ‘fjord’.

The scenery all around us was just stunning. The sun drenched mountains aloft just fell into the blue sea and we soon felt enclosed by them as we proceeded into the first of the three main bay areas.

We cleared customs at the new Porto Montenegro marina at Tivat. Warmly welcomed by a fellow Brit yacht with a much coveted bucket of ice, we were obliged to have a gin and tonic there and then! No complaints from the crew, we excitedly made plans to explore this extraordinarily beautiful area.