Sailing with Balvenie - Montenegro

9:05 PM Tue 18 Aug 2009 GMT

'Stevi Stefan just south of Budva' Yacht Balvenie

Amanda Church and Mark Farrell continue with their tales of sailing the Mediterranean in their 47 ft yacht, Balvenie. After Greece is Montenegro and the tale of their multiple attempts to check in is hilarious, before they get down to serious sightseeing:

Our 170 mile overnight passage in the Southern Adriatic north from Corfu in Greece was reasonably uneventful. We were headed for Montenegro, a country that was once part of war torn Yugoslavia, then twinned with Serbia until May 2006 when it became independant.

We had left with very light winds forecast for a couple of days so motored the entire way. As we approached Southern Albania late in the afternoon, we could see in the distance a line of white water and motored into some choppy, messy seas and 20knots right on the nose for a couple of hours, then it dropped away as quickly as it arrived.

We had variable winds overnight of 10 - 15 knots, but always on the nose and relatively flat water so just kept on motoring through. Several friends had done this passage to Croatia before us and got caught in thunderstorms and gale force winds, even when they had left on a favourable forecast, so we wanted it behind us as quickly as possible!

As we motored along the coastline of this new country we enjoyed stunning scenery with high mountains coming right down to the waterline. We looked in at Sveti Stefan, a small exclusive resort island, famous over the years for the high profile people that stay there. The bay was netted off for swimmers, sun loungers and coca cola umbrellas crammed the shoreline, not quite my idea of an exclusive getaway.

The buildings of the ancient walled town of Kotor - Yacht Balvenie

We made landfall at Budva, a large bay on the Med coast. Customs and the Harbour Master only work from 10am - 12noon so we could not check in with them and obtain our Vignette 'Cruising Permit' until the following morning. We stayed tied up to the Customs Dock and went off for a walk around the small but picturesque old town, nestled at the end of the harbour.

On arrival back at the dock we were told by marina staff that we must leave the Customs Dock immediately and move to the outside marina wall where an available stern-to berth would be 61Euro. 61Euro to tie up anywhere is way too steep, but on the outside, unprotected wall it was a total rip off. One of our pilot books indicates no anchoring here, the other says its ok, we decided to give it a try, so in between fishing boats & tour boats, and with pedalos, jet skies and para sailing speed boats all wanting their piece of water we squeezed in to a spot for the night.

Sun loungers and umbrellas totally covered the shore, hundreds of bodies were cooling off in the sea and music was blaring out from various bars, this was our first real busy holiday resort and it was all rather manic. In fairness things settled down before dark and we had a restful night with much needed sleep.

Next morning we dinghied ashore to complete our check in. 10am came and went, so along with several others wanting to check out we waited for the authorities to honour us with their presence. By 10.45am it was our turn but customs would not check us in as we were not on the customs dock. We told him we had been 'removed' from the dock by the marina staff, it seems this was not acceptable and he went off, with our papers, ranting and raving at someone.

Some time later he returned indicating we must bring the boat to the dock, but we couldn't we showed him, it had been occupied by 2 enormous power boats, no doubt paying plenty of euros for the privilege. He could see this, but didn't change his opinion, in we must come!!!! Things were not going well, no one was being helpful, our first impressions of Montenegro were getting more tainted by the minute. We returned to Balvenie and decided to lift anchor and head on into the inland waterway which comprises of most of Montenegros coastline and try our luck there.

We headed for Zelenika, the main port of entry for the fjord like waterway. The customs dock was on a lee shore as the afternoon sea breeze was blowing and there were nasty big chunky black tyres along the concrete jetty. We really didn't want to tie up to it so we anchored and Mark went ashore while I stayed onboard.
I could tell by the arms signals and body language that they also wanted us to bring the boat alongside for check-in. I could also tell that this was not going to happen and that our stay in Montenegro was going to be a short one,

Croatia is only another 20 miles. As Mark was taking one last look at the dock before getting in the dinghy one of the officals came out to him and they went back to the office, progress!! About 30 minutes later we were all checked in and free to explore. Welcome to Montenegro, things were looking up.

We called our friends on Samsara who had come straight here without the stop in Budva (smart move!), they had meet a boat while checking in that told them about, then shown them to, a new marina here called Portomontenegro in Tivat, as it's still under construction there is no charge, until May 2010, it's great and as I write this we are snugly attached, still there.

After all these experiences, we decided to stay the duration of our cruising permit in the marina and discover Montenegro by land instead, a great idea!!

Tivat is a small tidy town set along the waterfront with a busy beachfront and bustling outdoor cafe scene. Their summer music festival was on, so there was live music every night set in a small outdoor theatre against a backdrop of a floodlit ancient stone wall and crypt. We strolled up every night at 9.30pm and enjoyed a mix of styles, never quite sure what we were in for as we couldn't understand any of the programme, one night was a children's pantomime - we gave that one a miss and went for a gelato instead !!

The two day Montenegro Sailing Regatta was also on, Mark was offered a spot onboard Monty B, our dock neighbour in the marina. The winds were light and fluky, the fleet varied but a good time was had by all and he enjoyed being out racing again.

Regatta Week in Montenegro - Yacht Balvenie

We took the local bus around to the ancient walled town of Kotor. It sits at the end of a very deep fjord in a magnificent location. The castle walls rise high above the town, clawing into the steep mountainside. It is a beautiful small town in excellent condition. Its narrow alleys are a maze, originally designed this way to confuse unwelcome intruders.

There are churches everywhere, cafes, restaurants and a few boutique shops, but this is also home to many locals and the sight of laundry hanging from windows and balconies above certainly gives it that 'lived in' feeling. We visited four times during our stay, one night to attend a well advertised concert.

On that evening, we had a pizza in the square then set out for the concert but couldn't find it in the maze. We asked several people but ended up admitting defeat and headed home. Next time we were there we discovered the indoor concert venue was no more than 50 feet from where we had had our pizza, but we had been looking for an outdoor theatre!!!

We also visited Perast, a tiny waterfront village tucked between the deep fjord and mountains. It was July 22 and on this day for the past 550 years the locals make their way out by boat to a tiny island they have 'built' and throw stones overboard. This construction was helped by the sinking of 87 captured ships here!! Still, it is a part of their history and we enjoyed watching the procession and taking part in the festivities.

Annual festival at Perast making their way out to Our Lady of the Rock - Yacht Balvenie

On another day we hired a car and set off to explore inland. First we headed south along the coast and saw Budva again, still looking just as manic as when we had visited on Balvenie so we headed inland to the old capital of Cetinje.

It is now a small town, almost crumbling down but it still has some beautiful buildings in leafy lanes from the days in the late 19th century when it housed the government. Some of the old embassy buildings and former parliament building have been restored and house museums and art galleries, and some are art and music schools. It would all be splendid if restored, but for now has a feeling of decay with little hope of returning to its former glory.

Next stop was to see the old stone bridge in the tiny hamlet at Rijeka Crnojevica, down a narrow twisting road into a valley, the road signs were few and far between and our map somewhat lacking in detail and we were quite amazed we actually found it. After the outstanding bridges we had recently seen at Zagora in Greece this wasn't anything too special but the scenery was worth the trip.

We carried on in the car to Lake Skarda, home to the biggest bird sanctuary in Europe. The road was narrow, with potholes so big they nearly consumed our little VW Polo, but the views down over the lake were spectacular. We stopped for a late lunch but decided against a boat trip out on the lake, no doubt the best way to view all the birds, but when you live on a boat it's very difficult to pay for a boat trip!!!

Overlooking Lake Skadar - Yacht Balvenie

With many hours of daylight left we travelled further inland skirting the present capital of Podgorica, ghastly looking place with row upon row of concrete block square multi-storey apartment bunkers, no obvious town planning, no trees, rubbish everywhere, set on a flat plain surrounded by uninspiring countryside. Such a huge contrast in an otherwise clean, green, scenic country.

Our next challenge was to visit the Ostrog Monastery. Lonely Planet describes it as 'precipitously resting on a cliff face 900m above the Zeta valley on a long and windy road'. Maybe we should have read into that, that the long and windy road would also precipitously rest on the cliff face. I can only describe it as terrifying, one lane wide for two lanes of traffic, potholes even bigger than before, passing spaces few and far between and a steady stream of traffic.

Looking down into the fjord-like inland waterway with Our Lady of the Rock in the foreground - Yacht Balvenie

The views again were spectacular of course and the monastery interesting, but I was extremely pleased to be back down on the flat in one piece. Then it was time to head on back home to Tivat. Still using our very vague map we travelled down more one-lane country roads, past tiny villages with houses still showing obvious signs of the recent war. We found compact vineyards around the village boarders, fertile valleys with fruit trees, farmers tending their fields and eventually we turned a corner and our pothole ridden track turned into a two lane highway for the final half hour as we descended on this deserted ghost-road-from-nowhere, down to the waters edge not far from Perast. After 300kms we made it home to Balvenie, what a great day and what a beautiful country.

Cruising Info for Montenegro:
The buses go from Tivat to Kotor hourly and take about 40minutes around the waterfront. 1.50E pp ow

Our VW Polo was 50E for the day and fuel was 20E, organized through Sip Travel in Tivat ph (382)32670090. They were very helpful and spoke enough English. It is compulsory to have your lights on at all times when driving (why????)

Anchorages -
Budva Customs Dock ... 42 16.748N 18 50.345E 3.5m side tied
Budva at Anchor ... 42 16.90N 18 50.68E 7m some weed but can see the sandy patches. Exposed to west but had very calm conditions
NOTE ... the pilot books show a town quay and a marina. It is all now operated by the marina with matching price tag. 61Euro on exposed outside wall. Does have mooring lines though
Tivat - Portomontenegro Marina ... Our berth 42 25.96N 18 41.55E Free berths until June 2010 (full over winter, waitlist only) Pilot book shows naval yard here. Entrance is on left side as approaching, huge red and white stripped crane on right side. Bow or stern to, two moorings lines provided. Everything brand new and of high quality. Prepay transponder for power and water on the dock. www.portomontenegro.com/ berths@portomontenegro.com phone 0382 3267 2353. Most staff speak good English. Try and call on VHF before arrival and they will direct you in
Internet - Didn't check in Budva. Free wifi in Porto Montenegro Marina, good signal
Money - Didn't see any ATM's in Old Town Budva but will be some further afield. Tivat plenty ashore less than 5 minutes walk. ATM close by Zelenika Customs Dock. Montenegro uses Euros
Provisions - Budva Marina has a fuel dock adjacent to the Customs Dock. No fuel dock yet in Porto Montenegro Marina. Diesel currently .82c euro a litre. Tivat has good supermarkets, bakerys, farmers market and a small chandlery all within easy walking
Eating Out - Cappuccino E1.50 We have found a pizzeria where we can have a medium pizza to share, 2 glasses of wine and 1 beer for E8.10 Bread .60
Formalities - We don' t recommend Budva but at a diferent time it may well have been very straightforward. Zelenika would be much easier with huge fenders and either a bow thruster or no on shore wind so you can leave the quay again. It was straightforward and quick once they agreed to let us stay at anchor.
Charges -Vignette (Cruising Permit)
7 to 12 metres 1wk 40Euro 1mth 95Euro 3mths 200Euro 6mths 280Euro 1yr 400Euro
12 to 17 metres 1wk 120Euro 1mth 220Euro 3mths 400Euro 6mths 540Euro 1yr 750Euro
Plus we paid 7Euro port tax and 10Euro (should be gold plated) for a courtesy flag.
We have heard that your insurance must be valid for the entire length of your cruising permit, this would be hard to do if you are wintering over and want a 1 year vignette.

by Amanda Church and Mark Farrell