Friendship – Page 5 – Sailing Azure Seas

Porto Montenegro throws a Party

Frosty and Louise have left us for a small Greek island, with a bar that you can drink at while your feet are wading in the water. After over 500 miles on Mercier, from Malta to Montenegro, another 10 hour drive with Rad through Albania, and a short taxi ride at 160Km per hour to Lefkada, we think they deserve a nice quiet drink with Marg. But we miss them. If you go into photo gallery and click on Kotor, you will see a few more photos of our stay in Montenegro.

John Stephens must have heard the sighs coming from Mercier and realised the loss of our playmates was causing us a bit of ennui, so he invited us to a party on Saturday night- a James Bond party. Well actually a Misahara jewelry launch* Hmm, what to wear? 35 degrees and sunny even at 6:00PM.

Porto Montenegro is glamourous and there were quite a few amazing dresses on the tall, slim local beauties. The violin & guitar duo added an air of sophistication to the event.

Conversations abounded about cruising in the local area and in Croatia with Aussies John Stephens and PM Marina Director Tony Browne. They are the fonts of local knowledge about sailing in this area.

Fellow Aussie John Stephen has been welcoming and a font of local knowledge — Fellow Aussie John Stephens has been so welcoming and a font of local knowledge

Tony Brown, ex Bruny Island, Aussie is the Marina Director. He has promised great tips for Croatian cruising. — Tony Browne, ex Bruny Island, Aussie is the Marina Director. He has promised great tips for Croatian cruising.

Then came Bond – James Bond, he plummeted off the pontoon into the bay for a high speed chase of the bad guys. That will teach them to spike his drink. Too many photos to add to the page, but click on Photo Gallery and then Bond.

*see the jewelry at www.mishara.com

Montenegro

We sailed through the confused seas off of Capo Santa Maria di Leuca, the point where the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Sea meet. It was confused for several hours and not terribly comfortable.

The large yellow moon was so bright that the stars were very hard to see. Louise and I thought we would take photos. All the caveats for photography of night skies were broken – what good is a tripod on a lurching boat. We could barely keep the moon on the screen, our cameras turned into game consoles. We were giggling and shreiking as the red globe careened over the camera frame.

Midday the next day, we sailed into the Port of Bar, Montenegro. It is a very picturesque harbour and town, mountains coming down to meet the sea. The biggest activity seems to be a passeggiata at sunset, the whole town is out for a walk. During the afternoon it was very quiet but by night Bar comes alive.

Yesterday we left Bar and sailed northwest for a swim in Uvala Canj and then lunch. It was a beautiful spot for a swim and Mercier makes it easy to get off and on the boat. The water is very deep, so has a beautiful warm float on top of a very chilly pond of water.

Frosty’s towel must have blown off the rail and you could see it so clearly, he thought he would just be able to swim down and grab it. He realised once he hit the cold water and was no closer that it was 9 metres below us. That towel is Frosty’s gift to Montenegro.

After lunch we sailed a few more miles to the most photographed island in Montenegro, Sveti Stefan. Financed in the 15th Century by reclaiming loot from pirates, a family was able to buy the island, fortify it and build a church. In 1952, the whole island was converted to a luxury hotel. No cajoling could tempt James into leaving the boat, but the resort does look historic and luxurious at the same time.

We anchored off nearer to the swallow’s island and had a lovely barbeque. Along the way near U Canj, we came across two different rock formations abutting each other, this is a visual record between the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary. (Crne, Weissert, et all)

Red rock meets gray rock = Triassic meets Jurassic

Finally, to John and Jenni, so sorry to hear about your bingle, glad you are safe and sound in Italy. Recuperate quickly, enjoy being pampered and then enjoy Italy.

Playmates in Malta

Nice calm start to the day- a leaking bilge can turn your day upside down.

Travelling is wonderful. Even the problems you encounter are part of the journey. In Malta, you meet some some great Boating Technicians. The Beneteau dealers here provide excellent service. If you have Dock and Go issues, ZF in Malta are the only dealers we have found to diagnose the problem and quickly get parts in to repair and get us up and running. We can highly recommend Malta if you need boat repairs and supplies. They are qualified, helpful and personable; they speak English, which is a wonderful aid to communication for we language poor only-English speaking Aussies.

When your friends visit, you can put them to work, Frosty and Louise arrived on Tuesday after 38 hours of travelling. Let us pamper you: a shower, a bit of fruit and an icy cold mineral water. Next we had out them walking on the boardwalk to wake them up and absorb the sunshine. Lunch overlooking Valetta Harbour and then back to the boat to get their feet up and adjust to the time difference.

On Thursday, there was no more molly coddling. A leak sprung up and let 300 litres of fresh water into the bilge. Frosty and James had to get to work, drain the bilge and then determine where the leak was. It was like a methodical engineering process, otherwise known in Aussie as “productive men’s shed session”. Amazingly, no advice was given, calm reigned and the leak was found (in the foot pump), fixed and hurrahs went up all round. We keep checking to see that there was just one leak, but all systems go. Thanks Frosty, welcome to your holiday.

Thursday afternoon, we were free to go to Mdina and did some sightseeing.

Frosty & Louise in Mdina — Frosty & Louise at Mdina Gates

Time to relax after fixing the leak, in Upper Barraka Gardens

Now that the Feast in Valletta is over, down come the decorations — Now that the Feast in Valletta is over, down come the Saints

We then heard our friends from C’est La Vie were back and when we returned they were parked right next us. We got together and compared notes about where we had each been between our last visit. They loved Ragusa, so it’s now on our bucket list for the next trip.

Ed Earl, you were on our mind and there were a few times during the day we celebrated for you. Glad you had a wonderful birthday.

Category: Friendship

Porto Montenegro throws a Party

Montenegro

Playmates in Malta

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