Explore Sailing Voyages in Montenegro 🇲🇪

I finished up at customs and returned to the boat. The police were fine but the customs lady wanted to see the previous year's vignette, which fortunately I kept. The boat was tied up in a commercial port on a dodgy dock, attached to just one bollard with a light crosswind. I got everything ready, started the engine and released the lines. Typically, and my fault for not being careful, I got a wrap on one of the two lines so I had to leap nimbly back onto the dock, undo the wrap, throw the rope back onto the boat, jumpy back onto the myself and head off, all while making sure the crosswind didn't blow the boat to the other side of the port and disaster. All was well and I tried to sail in the light and shifty winds as I emerged from the port and turned south but there was insufficient wind so I started to motor. I motored to about Ulcinj where there was enough wind behind me to sail. I got the genoa out - it was about 14 - 20 knots true - and sailed almost all the way to Shengjin. The best sail on the boat for a long time. The wind died about 5 miles from the port and I motored the rest of the way. The port bailed me on the VHF asking if I wanted to enter the port and despite the noticeable swell I said I would prefer to stay outside and anchor which I did. I paddled ashore, tied the boat to one of the foundation posts of the not yet open yacht club, chatted to Mr Froku and was then invited to his house (the pavement outside his house that he had enclosed with plants and greenery - to drink home made raki. I eventually went back to the caff restaurant and had pizza while he watched the Champions League final. I clambered back down the rocks in the dark, returned to the boat and let the raki encourage me to sleep

I woke early with the idea of being at the fuel berth at Porto Montenegro when it opened. After a pot of proper coffee and a banana, and checking that the forecast across all the weather models still showed basically no wind, I tuned the engine on about 7:10am and was anchor up - unsurprisingly needing to motor over it - at about 7:20. I arrived at the fuel berth and I was second there after a rib. Typically it had started to rain on the approach to the berth but as I got closer no wind at all became about 15 knots apparent. I formulated Robinson's Destination Law. If there is no wind on the way, there is always wind at the destination. Fortunately the berth was positioned ok for the wind and I filled up about 50 litres in the jerrycans and about 80 litres in the tank. I started motoring at about 5 knots towards Porto Novi and out of Boka Bay. As I passed Porto Novi I had my first suspicion of wind and by the time I was approaching the island at the entrance to the bay I had about 16-18 knots on the port beam. The rain was now heavy. A sailing vessel radio'ed me on 16 asking what the conditions were like inside the bay, he had come I think from Croatia. He said Windy was showing 'a.lotnof wind in the bay'. I told him around Tivat was calm, all on 16. I started hearing thunder and saw the sky light up somewhere with lightning. I was still in the bay but the wind was around 25 knots on the beam..I told myself that it was windy there when I came into the bay and this was probably a local thing. The lumpiness you would expect at the mouth of a bay was now pronounced and continued as I headed out. I noticed three or four speedboats heading out to the blue cave full of bedraggled punters which gave me some heart. The sea remained lumpy and the wind frequently gusted up close to 30 knots - I think I saw 28 a few times - but I was wrong to expect the sea would calm beyond the entrance. Shortly beyond this point is the entrance to Lustica Bay (my name for it I think, Bigova is in there) and because of the strength of the wind from my port and the fetch all the way into the bay, combined with the swell from the other side, the waves became biggish, confused and with a short period. The boat was thrown around a lot. I was pleased I stowed pretty much everything for sea so not much was spread all over. Some was. The washing up liquid bottle had fallen over and oozed everywhere for example. By this point the lightning had stopped but the rain was incessant and heavy. I had unrolled a bit of Genoa which gave me some extra speed and helped to steady the boat I am sure The wind was on the beam but it was not in any way safe to climb onto the deck and get the sail up, even clipped on. I was making about 6 knots with engine and sail and eventually I passed the bay. The wind became more on my port quarter as I approached Budva. There was still a big sea but it was now much more behind me.Thw wind has dropped to 12 - 18 knots apparent and it continued to drop as I headed towards Bar. The seas began to calm although a noticeable swell remained and about 5 miles out of Bar the rain stopped. I radio'ed ahead and was given an alongside berth. It was just spitting as I tied up but there was no wind. The end of an eventful passage. The boat performed immaculately. I made some sensibly cautious decisions

I left in a building westerly. Unlike at Porto Montenegro a few days before, this time I dropped the stern lines (I had help from a worker nearby) and then motored forward slowly and dropped the slime lines. By the time I was in clear water I had 18-20 knots on the nose. I tidied up the fenders and stern lines and decided it was as good a time as any to do some sailing to make sure everything was working ok. I got the full.main up with about 2 reefs in the Genoa and sailed up and down a couple of times. The wind was between 15 and 20 knots. I put in a reef to make sure everything was set up correctly and it was messy as I rebooted the sail before tightening the outhaul. I sorted that out and then took the reef out again as the wind began to drop. I dropped the main and sailed down the channel to the anchorage under Genoa. It took several attempts to set the anchor, even though it was stuck in when I came to lift it to reset. I suspect it was just ploughing up the mud. On the third or fourth attempt it set really well. it was only then I realised it was 5pm and I hadn't eaten or drunk anything since breakfast

Navar hadn't finished some tidying up work on the deck so I headed over in quiet, basically no wind, conditions. I did not have access to a weather forecast as there was no WiFi in the anchorage and by the time I arrived at Navar a westerly was blowing about 6-10 knots. The westerly is the dangerous wind there. Despite loads of space the mooring did not go well as the wind and waves blew me alongside the wall. I eventually sorted it out by pulling the slime lines in etc and adjusting the stern lines (I had help but the chap didn't really know what he was doing. The errors leading to me being alongside were all mine of course) and then arranged the passarelle as normal. Despite the modest winds there were already choppy waves on the wall and the passarelle struggled to stay in one place. I spoke to Bojo who sent the guy down immediately who finished the job in about an hour. I asked and he said I could go shopping meanwhile. I asked because I could see the sea building and the poor boat being chucked around all over the place. By the time I got back it was really very difficult to get on and off the boat and if it had hit the wall there would have been substantial damage.

I had spent the morning getting the sails sorted out - adding the mainsheet, putting the battens in the mainsheet and bending on the mizzen and the mizzen sheet and then Phil and Judith were after a grub screw so I grabbed some bits and paddles over to them. We had coffee, chatted of this and that and then I went shopping to the shop behind the hotel with the brown balconies. I got back and said I wanted to head off. I paddled back and gently motors over in about 12 - 16 knots apparent on the nose. there was a mobo in the middle of my favourite anchorage. I looked at the one next door but didn't fancy it so anchored inside the mobo, my anchor broadly in the middle of the anchorage with about 45-50m out in about 10m. The anchor seemed to grip on a transit with a taut chain. I didn't motor too long going backwards as I was scared of running around behind me if the anchor wasn't holding. I hope I don't live to regret this. I am adjacent to the mobo so assuming the wind comes N, I hope he has a similar amount of chain out to me so we miss each other as we swing round. time will tell. I am half expecting to have to anchor again later