Equinox 2023

We never cease to be amused and sometimes bewildered by “Port Theatre”.  The bay we are in has two small quays and one has various notices advising people not to moor there.  However, 2 boats had chosen to ignore this and spent the night at the quay. Early the next morning, as we had suspected might happen, two large tourist boats appeared.  We have seen these here before as they bring people of cycling trips. Anyway, the first of the tourist boats blasted its horn a number of times, firmly giving the message to “get out of the way”. I don’t think that the folks on one of the boats were actually awake when this happened, but they started pouring out onto deck reasonably quickly and soon started to move their boat away from the quay.  The crew of the other boat had obviously gone for a walk, as we saw them running back along the path at the waterside.  They too managed to get their boat moving quite quickly. Both of the moored boats then headed straight off, with...

Oh, I love this weather. We’ve now had several days of dry warm sunshine in a blue sky.  We’ve heard that there is a load of debris in the water in the northern Adriatic, from the recent storms that hit Northern Italy. Today we saw a huge log in the water, and wondered if that debris will be traversing through this part of the sea over the next few days. We will see. We had in mind that we may stay in Luka Skivena for another night, but last night we were bounced around quite a bit in the NW4 wind. It wasn’t of any concern, just not ideally comfortable. The contours of the land means that it is not as sheltered as one might expect. A check on the forecast for tonight showed NW3, so we decided to move. It was less than seven miles to our destination and we left with a breeze from the south, allowing us to sail very sedately, with just the jib, at the same speed that we would travelled under engine. It was glorious, passing the pretty coast of the south side of Lastovo. We anch...

This was another morning to get up to a clear blue sky in a beautiful bay. We needed bread, so rowed ashore in the tender, visited the bakery, had a coffee in Pavo’s restaurant and said our farewells to our friends. After a Sunday treat of croissants for breakfast, we slipped lines and headed out of the bay. Today had a good wind forecast for us to sail to Lastovo, but for the first couple of hours we didn’t make a great deal of progress in the light airs. That gave us chance to chat to Henry. I always delight in being able to talk on the phone, while we are in transit.   There is a very prominent lighthouse near the entrance to the bay The wind picked up and we had an excellent upwind sail, tacking towards our destination. We arrived in the Luka Skrivena a little after 5.00pm. There are mooring buoys here with bazaar configurations, but we found one we could attach to without one of us having go for a swim to complete the process. Steve is an expert a lassoing the buoy first...

We had an excellent sail along the north coast of Mljet. We planned to break up the journey by popping into the bay of Okuklje, which is very pretty indeed. However, we had hoped to anchor for our a lunch stop, but there wasn’t enough room. There’s a Sunsail chart base here. Only two of their boats were in, the rest we had passed on the way there, presumably making their way to Dubrovnik. It might have been nice to take the offer of mooring to one of the restaurant quays, but we were saving ourselves for dinner in the evening in Polace. Blue sky, islands, sea and mountains. What more could you want? We have got to know the routes of the ferries. Even in open water when normal rules of right of way should apply, they give no quarter of attention to that at all, so now we give way and keep well clear of them, especially the high speed cat, which travels at 27-28 knots.  Polo, the owner of restaurant Ankora, was there at his buoy, when we arrived to help us tie up and order our dinn...

Getting up in the morning to greet the new day, with a beautiful bay as your back garden, can’t be beaten. The sky was pearl grey, but no matter, it’s not raining. Today included two trips ashore, the morning one to walk along the coastal path, to Blace Cove. What a gorgeous beach! It’s a protected bay and boasts being the best preserved bay of coastal sands in Croatia. Rare plants and fungi grow here, along with marine algae and sea grass meadows in the water. It’s a wide bay with shallow water and lots of rocks so even quite small boats couldn’t get in, even if they were allowed, which they are not. It is surrounded by the largest stone pine forest in Croatia and is completely peaceful and tranquil. Blace Cove Just as well we didn't step on this fella as we returned Saplunara is a tiny village, with a high number of rental apartments for the size of the place. The locals were working hard, getting the place ready for visitors. I’m guessing that a lot will open on 1st June. If y...

Onwards, ever onwards.  We spent the morning on preparation s, taking advantage of being in a large town probably for the last time until we reach Italy. Then, suitably restocked, it was time to slip our lines and head northwest. Once we were clear of the entrance to Dubrovnik’s port, we were able to get the sails up and have good wind to tack towards our destination. It seems like a long time since we have been able to do this and it was an enormous pleasure. After a while we started to see heavy clouds building over the land, and what looked like rain. This was then confirmed by the mountains disappearing from view behind the cloud and rain, and repeated flashes of lightning in the sky.   This makes you think a bit as we have a 24 metre metal post sticking up into the air!   We were not too far from our destination and were not keen to get wet, so the sails came down and we scurried the last couple of miles under motor.   We had a few spots before we were in an...

The check out of Montenegro at Portonovi lived up to expectations, being very easy. The marina office staff had booked our slot with the border police. The whole process took less than 20 minutes, including seeing the Harbour Master and the police. Seeing customs wasn’t necessary. We were on our way out of the marina at 0845. There was no wind, so it was a motoring day. However this did mean that we travelled in a straight line (no tacking) and stayed outside the islands, which the Dubrovnik border police had told us we must do. Last views of Montenegro... Glassy seas as we left Montenegro on the left and entered Croatia on the right  Back to Dubrovnik It was a great relief, having had an unpleasant experience checking out of Croatia, that it was all fine checking back in today. A very nice lady police officer explained everything and it was all no trouble at all. The Harbour Master and customs were also perfectly reasonable. Marina Frappa is directly opposite the border...

I could have happily stayed longer in this wide bay, as there’s no significant wind forecast for the next couple of days, but we have recalculated our count of Schengen days , taking into account our confirmed dates of travel and realised we can make our way back to Croatia. Montenegro has been interesting and has a majestic beauty, but we would now really like to be somewhere where it doesn’t rain so much. We had some wind and managed an hour or so of sailing out of the bay, which seemed quite a novelty after not having the sails up for more than a week. As forecast, though, the wind died and we motored back into the Boka. A short distance outside the entrance to the Boka, a French warship, having gone past us, now stopped. I’m not sure if a small warship can anchor in eighty-five meters of water, so I guess they could be hovering. We are back in Portonovi (Posh-ville) for the night. It’s busier than when we here ten days or so ago, and the restaurants now have a lot more outside ta...

Last time we used the tender engine, it was very temperamental but today it ran like a dream to carry us into the marina of Lustica Bay. The marineros were very happy for us to leave the tender at the end of one of the pontoons, while we went I explore the town and have some lunch. We’ve left the best until last. Porto Montenegro is different because it offers full boat services, but of the three other newly developed marinas we have visited in the area, this is by far the nicest. The hotels and apartments have varied architecture, making it look like an authentic town. The roads snake up the hill, rather than being in straight lines. All the properties appear positioned such that the view from, at least the upper floors, is not blocked by the buildings in front. Concierge and security services are very evident. Despite it being Montenegro’s independence national holiday, building work was going on higher up the hill, but the shops were closed. Some of the restaurants are quite pri...

Last night a party boat came out into the middle of the bay, and sat where the water is relatively deep, with it’s navigation lights on, just hovering and not at anchor. The heavy beat of the trance music drifted across the water. It was all fine; it didn’t disturb us because it didn’t go on until late, although we did wonder what the nuns who live on the island made of it. The vista of the bay is superb at night, with the shore lights looking so pretty. The orange colour of sodium like street lights is particularly in keeping with the environment. On our way out of the bay, we passed the impressive fortifications which once guarded it We have also seen a couple of submarine pens hidden in the shoreline The weather forecasts tell us that there will be very little wind for the next few days, so this is a good time to explore a little of the coast outside of the Boka. Our destination today was Lustica, a completely new town and marina, built with funding from a developer and the governme...

Today was a day to regroup and take things a bit more slowly.   We are restricted in Porto Montenegro by their rules on not discharging anything into the water. However we had seen plenty of the motor cruisers being cleaned, with not just water, so decided we could clean Equinox. The rains had deposited sand all over the deck. It’s good to get it rinsed off. We’ve managed to provision, despite limited choose in the supermarkets, for the few days over the national holiday. We are told that everything will be closed on Monday and Tuesday. Lots of boats have departed the marina.    We only travelled a little over a mile to anchor on the north side of (Island of Flowers). It’s a bit of misnomer as we haven’t seen any flowers on this island from either side. It must have been covered in flowers once upon a time. Once two boats playing loud music left in the early afternoon, it was very quiet. Unfortunately, the water is quite murky, as there’s mud on the bottom, so ...

We said goodbye to Maja, the exceptionally helpful lady, who runs Marina Kordic in Prcanj. We also said farewell to the New Zealand couple who had been berthed next door to us. They left their boat in this marina for the winter and were getting it ready to sail to Greece. This bay of Montenegro suffers from very high winds during the winter and the wind had ripped one of their solar panels from its fixing. Otherwise the boat had survived. It has been so wet for the last two weeks or more that Equinox is quite damp inside. This morning there was the heaviest condensation I’ve seen inside the boat for several years. Thank goodness we have a heating system so we can make an attempt at drying out.  We slipped out of the marina after the "block of flats" (cruise ship) had gone past and enjoyed seeing the bay in glorious sunshine. The colours of everything were so much more vivid. The town of Prcanj through small, appears to have at least 4 churches  Perast from the water We ...

Our target destination today was Perast. It’s a town on the opposite side of the bay from our mooring. Getting to their involved two bus rides. We’d heard that the first bus, from outside the marina, was once an hour, on the half an hour, but it’s often late, because of the traffic. As we exited the marina, we asked some workmen where the bus stop was. “There isn’t one”, they said, we just had to flag down the bus when it appears, and so we did. On the second bus it was surprise to see children going home from school, at about 11.00am. Apparently they start school about 7.00 in the morning and usually finish 12.00-2.00pm, but one day a week earlier. Looking like a chunk of Venice that has floated down the Adriatic and anchored itself onto the Bay of Kotor, Perast hums with melancholy memories of the days when it was rich and powerful. Despite having only one main street, this tiny town boasts 16 churches and 17 formerly grand palazzi. While some are just enigmatic ruins sprouting b...