Adventures of Thésée: From Croatia to Montenegro (correction Italy!)

From Croatia to Montenegro (correction Italy!)

Friday 3rd September... Linda - Before I write about today's adventures, a strange thing happened this morning before we left Polace. We were inside the boat when a tiny bird flew right into the companion way, through the saloon, and into the fore cabin landing on our bed (Dean's pillow actually).... and at top speed too! Dean was on the phone at the time, and the next thing we knew it flew back into the saloon and we both had to duck to miss it. We lost sight of it and thought it flew towards one of the side windows but couldn't see it, so assumed it had flew outside (whilst we were both ducking). Half an hour later the bird appeared behind the curtain of the side window. We were shocked but pleased to see it was not stuck inside the small spaces. Dean managed to grab it and took it outside where it flew away. We were both relieved, as we didn't want a dead bird rotting inside the inners of the boat. Plus the little bird was OK of course 😊.

We are on a mission now to reach and cross the border with Montenegro, we moved on 28 miles to the small island of Lopud, a few miles north of Dubrovnik. Originally planning to anchor on the south side, we actually anchored on the north side. That's either because the weather forecast was incorrect again, or I am going loopy?? Answers on a postcard please...

Anyway, we were pleased with our north side anchorage because it really was very lovely to look at. So much so that we made the effort and decided to go ashore for a legacy walk.

Lopud

Massive hotel over on the west shore

Church on the east side. Typically Croatia.

The second shock of the day.... ashore we came across the Garden of Eden, well not quite but it was the Garden of Lopud. Almost like a botanical garden with lots of different trees and some old monuments etc. We weren't expecting that at all.

Into the Garden we go

First trails

They reckon these two pine trees are the largest in Croatia

More Garden

The lily pond with goldfish in it

Goldfish

Lots of different tree species

Another monument

More varieties here

Me under the arches

What's this?

It had a face in the wall, with the sunlight shining through...

spooky

Even more spooky now with the help of Dean's hands

Old walls

Back on the seafront we took a stroll along the shops and restaurants....and churches of course

Monastery

Inside

It's huge

Info

Table settings, and a Pirate ship in port

Which way to the Church?

Take your pick

Alleyways

Sunset

Saturday 4th September... Linda - Bin day here in Lopud. Well the bin lorry arrived on a barge, which pulled up next to the quay and the waiting bins were all emptied onto the lorry! Unique.

Bin day

There it goes

It was such a serene morning though. I love mornings like this. We raised the anchor about 9.30am. Dean called me forward to have a look at the massive pile of mud that came up with it. Well he did tell me that it was dug in well. He was right.

Peaceful morning

Raising the anchor, Yikes !

So we are nearing the border with Montenegro, and today's trip took us past Dubrovnik, and its 'Old Town'. We stayed close into the coast to get a better look at this famous walled town. Here's some photos as we passed by.

Our destination was Srebreno, just south of Dubrovnik. It's another really lovely place, beautiful scenery and it was of course a calm day today.

Views from the anchorage

...and again

...again

...and a nice Sheraton hotel over there

...and a small quay for big boats

The buoy field with Thesee in the background

Over there

This afternoon we found out that there was a shopping complex less than a five minute walk away and they had a big proper Konzum supermarket too. Bonus! We went shopping, and we even got to buy English Mature Cheddar cheese.. Hip Hip Hooray.

And tonight, a walk around the promenade which was just as lovely as it looks from the anchorage. What a lovely place this is.

Sunday 5th September... Linda - Today we needed to get a covid test to be able to check into Montenegro. Even though the Montenegrin Government website states that we don't need a test as we have been in Croatia for more than 15 days, the Port Authority in Tivat, Montenegro said we have to have a test to be able to check into the country. We had no choice other than get a test.

So we moved from the anchorage and onto the quay. A guy called Antonio runs it, we found out he is amazing. We asked about getting a taxi to Dubrovnik airport covid testing centre. More to follow tomorrow, running out of battery...

WE'RE BACK ONLINE here's the story. So we asked Antonio about getting the test and a taxi. Well he offered to be our taxi as it would be cheaper than a normal taxi return. We decided to go for the test about 5pm and in the meantime went back to the big supermarket for more food shopping. Antonio picked us up and took us to the airport and waited whilst we got the covid tests done, then took us back to Thesee. He was so good to us, and obviously we did pay him, but he saved us a lot of hassle and stress. Nothing was too much trouble for him. It was worth the trip even just for the incredible views. This area around Dubrovnik and Cavtat is really beautiful. So tests done, were finally getting somewhere and felt happy with the way things were panning out. All set for an early departure to Montenegro the next day.

Google maps view of our anchorage and

the quay at Srebreno.

Dubrovnik airport was so pretty

Views on the way back

On the evening we realised that we may not get any phone reception, and/or there would be extra charges as Montenegro isn't in the EU roaming area. It was another added complication to deal with. Then around 10pm the wind started blowing a hoolie, and we were being blown back onto the concrete quay. Never a good thing, as if the lazy lines don't hold you're in trouble.

Our lines seemed to be doing the job and we had added a spare line too, then went to bed. Well no sleep that night as we must have had 30-40 knots all night long. It was like a washing machine with the waves rebounding off the quay and the boat slapping every few seconds.

Monday 6th September... Linda - 8am this morning in the anchorage and on the quay, it was still blowing hard, not even a slight improvement.

This should have been our nice peaceful stopover

Well with all night lying in bed and pondering over our plans, and no way we would be going anywhere this morning, we both said that we were going off the idea of Montenegro. It had recently been put on the UK covid red list, and if we went then it would be Albania next (another border crossing and covid test). Plus some other issues we've had. After all things considered, we abandoned the idea. The last thing we want is to be stranded in Montenegro or Albania.

But wait, Dean just paid for taxis and covid tests, and now that will all go to waste. What to do? Let's go back to Italy and then it will be easy to make our way down the coast and cross to Greece. We checked the 'weather forecast' and the sea crossing looked feasible. If we don't leave now we shall have to wait for another weather window, and our days left in Croatia are decreasing rapidly.

Decision made... LET'S GO FOR IT. By now it was 10.30am and wind had finally died down. So we left! Just like that! It was a short bay crossing to get to Cavtat to check out of the country. And we did have to wait about 20 minutes to get space on the Q quay. Dean had to go and see the harbour master, and the Port Police so they could stamp us out.

Customs quay

Q quay

Cavtat

Flags

Cavtat town

Again

Waterside bars

Dean - I finally managed to find the harbour masters office hidden on the second floor in some dodgy back street, she was very nice and immediately stopped her pole dancing as I walked in. Wait not that story!

Loads of Tuna jumping

Sunset

I know the tuna shots are far away but someone hides the camera in case the pirates get hold of it, or maybe she's looking at the shots of the harbour master??? Any way the crossing from Cavtat to Bari took 23 hours and we managed to sail all the way so all's well. The marina manager did the usual paperwork and the police came to check us in and stamp our passports as of course were not Europeans any more...More Brexshit to deal with.

Tuesday 7th September... Linda - Yes well as Dean said, amazingly we sailed the whole way across the Adriatic... 120 miles in total, and only one tack. The wind was good to us and it was a comfortable crossing with lots and lots and even more lots of stars. No moon though so it was really dark. But our good cruise ship friend MSC Splendida (who we seem to see everywhere) was about 5 miles off us for about 6 hours during the night, as it gradually caught us up and overtook us. The ship was indeed well lit up and gave us something to focus on. It only beat us into Bari by about three hours.

There was a lot of traffic in the shipping lanes, but our AIS (Automatic Identification System) is fantastic as it shows which way the ships are going, plus all their information, and it actually tells you how close you will pass each other and when. So it gives you a lot of confidence, especially when it's dark. Out of all the shipping we encountered, we only had an issue with one ferry who was aiming straight at us. Dean had to call him up on the radio as he was only 4 miles off us and closing. He didn't answer until Dean called for the the third time. Then he took action and we safely passed port to port. We were sailing and it was difficult to change direction with the wind, and another ship was passing behind us at the time.

The last couple of hours were in daylight, and the sea had got up a fair bit which made it rather annoying. Those hours seemed to drag, it was like we were never going to reach land. The harbour at Bari is massive and so we didn't drop the mainsail until we were inside the harbour and out of the rolly sea. We're on a decent boatyard pontoon and we recognised the boat next to us as it was near to us last winter in Licata. I was quite shattered, Dean fared better than me. We were told there was a big vaccination centre not far away, so we took a walk to see if we could get jabbed..... No was the answer, that's the 4th time we've tried and failed.

It's a good job we still had an Italian courtesy flag. In fact we did have two but I'd previously cut one up to repair our Cruising Association flag. We also had to fly the yellow 'Q' flag which means 'We request customs clearance'. This is the first time we've ever flown it, so it was quite exciting.

The two flags on arrival

Vessel Finder website shows our track

across the Adriatic Sea

Our friend MSC Splendida

The shipyard travel lift

The biggest chains I've ever seen,

holding the pontoons in place

Wednesday 8th September... Linda - Almost 12 hours sleep and it felt so good. We were in bed at 8.30pm last night! I still had a little headache this morning though. Today was all about cleaning, Dean outside and me inside. It feels like we've been on the go for weeks, in fact it's been quite hectic. First exploring the beautiful Croatian Islands, Claire and Charlie's visit, swimming in fantastic blue water coves, and crossing international borders.

It was kind of nice to just get the boat tidied up again. Dean had fender cleaning to do, he filled the water tanks, rewired the freezer, cleaned the deck and hull. Meanwhile, inside and apart from my own cleaning and tidying, I gave Thesee's mast a polish and most importantly a big big hug. I like to talk to him and thank him for keeping us safe, cuddle him and tell him it's our turn now to give him some TLC.

Strangely, I feel like I've been on holiday to Croatia and now I've just got home. And also, the fact that we are back in the same country as our sweet Saffy Dog. We both think that we made the right decision to abort Montenegro and come to Italy. Saying that though, we might not be here very long, as we hope to be in Corfu by next week! Tomorrow Brindisi.

Thursday 9th September... Linda - Oh God, long day. 60 miles to Brindisi, no wind, engine on, boring coastline, stroppy Dean. We left at 8.30am and it was 10 hours to Brindisi. We thought a good idea to get fuel as you never know what time of day or night you might want to leave. So over an hour at the fuel berth because two boats in front of us. One of them a fair size power boat spending over 10 thousand euros to fill his tanks.... yes that's TEN THOUSAND EUROS.

So after rushing to arrive before dark we actually got to berth IN THE DARK. It's not a problem but this med berthing method is horrible and the slime lines you have to tie to the bow cleats are disgusting. We've ended up taking up two spaces. Maybe have a change around tomorrow.