FIRST STOP – DUBROVNIK, CROATIA!
May the 4th be with you!
It was May 4th 2024, when we headed to ACI Marina Dubrovnik in Croatia for our first two week sailing flotilla. How would we like being on a yacht for two weeks, we wondered? We were about to find out….
DAY 1 – ACI MARINA, DUBROVNIK, CROATIA
As usual, we had a plan. After our stay in Cavtat (see our blog on Cavtat), we had to drop our hire car back at Dubrovnik airport but instead of taking the car back in the morning, our plan was to drop off our bags and provisions for the boat at the marina first, so off we headed to our new favorite store, Kaufland.
As we were not sure when our boat would be ready, we didn’t want to buy too much fresh food. The guy at the marina had advised us against leaving butter melting whilst we took the car back to the airport. However, after checking out the availability and price of the supermarket on the marina, we got the butter! In fact, we bought everything we could possibly want for the first few days!
After a quick traipse around Kaufland, Janine popped into Lidl and stocked up on more fresh food including 3 cheese lasagna and some frozen cheese pastries. The heaviest and largest frozen things she could find to act as an ice pack! Little did we know we’d have the last laugh and be feasting whilst others starved.
After dropping all our bags and provisions back at the Dream Yacht Charter base, we headed back over the mountain, stopping again at Lidl for some chocolate and back to the airport.
We dropped off our car at the Avia parking area. Try as he could, the guy from Avia couldn’t find a mark or scratch on the car. He did joke that he couldn’t find a single thing to charge us for. We think although he said he was joking, he was a little disappointed!
We’d book a taxi through croatia-taxi.hr for around €50 return to the Marina and back to the airport 2 weeks later. After a quick phone call to the driver to let him know we were early, he arrived and took us back to the marina to start the next part of our holidays.
As we’d done all the paperwork in the morning, we could head straight to our boat, Balavoine, a 35 foot Dufour Grand Large. Although from 2017, she looked good on the photos….
Our Flotilla Holiday was booked through Seafarer Sailing Holidays who use various companies to charter yachts for their holidays. We would have presumed they’d know the condition of the boats they’re using, but apparently not!
At first glance Balavoine was as pretty as a picture, modern lines, sleek, clean and tidy. Unfortunately, our opinion soon changed. She was badly neglected.
Unperturbed, we settled in, unpacked, made the beds, doubling up the mattresses to try to make the 3 inch mattresses marginally more comfortable, and finally meet our other flotilla ‘mates’ and lead crew.
Earlier, the charter company had warned us that there was only one other boat on our flotilla and that they hadn’t met the lead crew. We found this a little surprising as we had thought the lead crew would have been there a few days checking out the routes and places to go.
We also expected, as the name suggests, rather more boats on our ‘flotilla’!
After meeting ‘Jane’ as we’re going to call her, the ‘first mate/hostess’ and ‘Peter’, let’s call him, the skipper, and chatted briefly to the other boat crew, we wondered how this holiday would pan out……
Our ‘experienced’ lead crew were in fact clueless about the area! Neither had sailed Croatia previously and it was Peters first time as a skipper and Janes first time working for a sailing company!
They both seemed great people, so we gave them the benefit of the doubt and hoped they’d done lots of homework and planning……
As there was no plan to have a get together this evening, we got the oven on and cooked our pastries! How glad we were for our forward thinking!
Sitting on deck, we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner. I think our neighbours were jealous! They hadn’t bought any food, just wine and vodka, and that was how the holiday went….
DAY 2 – KOLOCEP, CROATIA
Next morning we woke up to sunshine. Our morning briefing was being held in a bar on the marina so after a quick breakfast, we made our way there. As usual we were last. Not because we were late but because everyone else had arrived early to order breakfast!
We were given basic details of where we would be spending the evening and so off we headed into the unknown!
Tonight, we were heading to Kolocep. There wasn’t much wind so after a slow sail around the island, we headed to our planned overnight stop.
This is where it all started to go wrong. Peter had decided we would stop in a bay used mainly by local fishermen and ferries. We discovered this information on Navily, a great app that people recommended we use. It stated that there isn’t really a place for sailing boats!
After two hours circling in the bay, we were ready to head back to the marina we had left a few hours earlier! Peters lack of experience and knowledge was already showing and tomorrow we were heading to Montenegro.
We watched as the other boat moored up, and then within minutes moved off the dockside. What was going on? Big ferries were coming and going, and still, we had nowhere to stay.
Eventually, we were called on the radio to enter the ‘port’. A local guy told Peter that as long as we stayed behind a certain ‘line,’ the ferries wouldn’t hit us! We moored up behind the invisible line and waited…
We didn’t have to wait too long before a big ferry was heading straight towards us. Everything was crossed that we were behind the line. With a couple of meters spare the ferry ground to a halt. It was a squeaky bum moment to be fair!
Only one more ferry arrived that evening we’re glad to report. If there had been any more, I think the potential stress of being eaten by a ferry would have been too much!
Jane informed us that we would be having our ‘welcome party’ on the dockside. We duly made our way expecting a feast to be greeted by carrots, cheese on sticks, some dried meat, an awful ‘punch’ and a strange honey liquor, all set up on a green tarpaulin on a stall left by a trader.
In the past, these events have been great parties lasting hours, this lasted minutes! Having seen other Seafarer get togethers on social media, we felt disappointed. Jane also informed us that nothing was open in the bay. How glad we were to have provisioned well, unlike the other boat that went hungry.
We made our way back to the boat and lit the oven, lasagna it was!
After enjoying our dinner and with little else to do, we decided to have an early night. Tomorrow we were setting off early, around 07.30h for the trip to Montenegro.
DAY 3 – CROATIA TO MONTENEGRO
This morning, we were off early and on our way to the port at Dubrovnik to check out via the customs. This is where the cruise ships dock so it’s quite interesting sailing by and almost wishing you were on a cruise!
As we arrived at the dockside, men waited to help us tie up, but we received advice to avoid accepting their help since they demanded €20 to catch a line. Unfortunately, as Peter was a pretty slight guy, he got pushed and manhandled out of the way. Jane wasn’t much help either. After a bit of shouting, pushing and shoving we were secure.
As Alison was declared ‘skipper’ this week, she was in charge of paperwork, a good thing really as Janine isn’t interested in it!
CHECKING OUT OF DUBROVNIK CUSTOMS
The procedure to check out of Croatia goes as follows…..
Enter the building and up to the 1st floor to the Harbourmasters office. You need a crew list and a vignette to leave Croatia if you are a private charter. You will receive a stamped copy of this from this office.
Then back downstairs and go to customs. They will take a copy of your crew list and your vignette (if you have one). Lastly, through the police check area. They will ask for crew list, passports/id and boat papers. Now this should have been a pretty quick and easy procedure, but its neither. Peter and Jane had no idea of the process and allowed the guys to take our lines, which held them up for some time. Eventually we were on our way, without Peter and Jane!
Throttle down for a motor boat day straight to Zelenika, Montenegro. This is a nonstop motor from Croatia Customs to an arrival point in Montenegro. You can’t stop and have to be some way from the coast.
On arrival at the Harbourmasters office, Alison armed with all the same paperwork, headed with the other skippers to the office. It was a public holiday and there was nobody there. Half an hour later, a chap arrived.
We faced another long process, and they charged us €22 for a 1-week Montenegro cruising vignette. It was almost like a scene from ‘Allo Allo’ when the local policeman/customs officer wandered down the harbour wall, being very much in charge, to make sure we hadn’t picked up anyone en route. He didn’t look in the boat!
WELCOME TO MONTENEGRO!
We were in!! Welcome to Montenegro! After our long day, we headed into Marina Lazure, Herceg Novi. This is a very modern and luxurious marina.
Tonight was due to be our first group dinner and Jane had randomly picked a restaurant 15 minutes’ walk away. Bearing in mind we’d already been on the go since 07.30 and it was now 19.30, we weren’t sure if tonight was the night. However, as we were hungry, we said to let us know where it was.
After waiting quite some time and with no contact from the lead crew, we decided to head to the nearest restaurant, the Lazure Hotel and Restuarant. On the way, we bumped into Peter and Jane, who told us that the other crew had already installed themselves at the restaurant on the marina and that they would be joining them. We’ve no idea what happened to the booking at the restaurant 15 minutes way or even if it existed!
On arriving, we quickly spotted the foursome sitting at a table for …….4 Ohhh!!!
‘Shall we join you?’ we asked ‘It’s pretty chilly outside’
‘Why don’t you eat inside, no probs with us’ was the response.
Considering this was supposed to be a ‘group’ dinner, we weren’t expecting this welcome. Still dressed in our sailing scruff and Crocs (not Alison!), we asked a waiter to add a table. This was when we discovered that one member of the other crew, let’s call him ‘Richard’, or ‘Dick’ for short, hadn’t taken to us. Especially Janine.
Now, we had no idea why Dick didn’t like us. We hardly knew him, but suddenly an atmosphere started to develop that seemed to get worse throughout the holiday.Dick had 3 levels, mute Dick, argumentative Dick and drunk noisy Dick. None were particularly pleasant.
Within a few minutes, Peter and Jane arrived and had another table added. Peter didn’t talk much. He seemed to spend most of the evening on his phone. Jane was very friendly and we found out a bit about her and her life.
Considering we were in Montenegro and we were expecting the meal to be reasonable, there was very little on the menu under €20 and that included a burger which Janine ordered. Alison tried truffle mushroom risotto and a salad. It wasn’t a bad meal and the setting was beautiful. Just a shame about the company!
After all paying separately, we made our way back to the boats and to bed. We were all knackered!
DAY 4 – BUDVA, MONTENEGRO
After our morning briefing, brief being the operative word, we were free to get on our way to Dukely Marina in Budva.
Peter and Jane had very little local knowledge. No idea of bays to stop in for lunch, hazards on the way etc.
We were looking at Navily and Navionics sending Peter the information as he’d not heard of Navily! Now, we’ve only discovered Navily in the last 6 months but it’s almost a sailors bible with great advice on everything from great anchorages to what’s at each place.
Surely our ‘experienced’ skipper should be using all the tools necessary to help find the best places and safest routes, especially after our first nights disaster.
There was little wind today and even by the time we left, nearer lunchtime, it hadn’t picked up. Undeterred, we got on our way, raised our main sail, let the gib out and hoped for the best… we managed a measly 4 knots. Better than nothing but we weren’t going anywhere fast!
On arrival at Dukely Marina, we had discovered we had to follow a certain route in, thanks to Navionics. Our experienced skipper hadn’t informed us. Although a Marina, it’s more of a town harbour/marina, and we were pretty much open to the swell of the open bay. It’s in a great location for the beautiful town of Budva, so no complaints.
After a quick shower and change of clothes, we headed in to the town. We definitely found Budva to be one of the highlights of our trip and recommend it if you’re planning a boat trip to Montenegro, a holiday or a weekend break.
We enjoyed a lovely pizza at Pizzeria Samba, tucked away down one of the many narrow alleyways to be found in Budva. Often these narrow streets open out on to lovely squares, as this one did, with restaurants and bars and lots of people enjoying themselves.
Budva, one of the oldest towns on the Adriatic coast, once a sleepy fishing village has grown to be one of Montenegro’s tourism hotspots. Packed in summer with families and couples enjoying the lovely beaches, restaurants and bars that line the marina and the old town.
Believed to be over 2500 years old, there’s plenty to see for history buffs or beach lovers. Just off the coast is a beautiful island of Sveti Nikola with its own Hawaii Beach! Unfortunately, no one informed us about this island; otherwise, we would have made a detour.
After a lovely wander around the old town, discovering squares, sea views and great pizza, we headed back to our boat to enjoy a night cap on deck wrapped up in blankets!
DAY 5 – BIGOVA, MONTENEGRO
Today we were heading to a small bay called Bigova. As usual, the lead crew had little idea of the mooring situation, so we found out for ourselves and told them!
After a great sail most of the way, we had good wind so made the most of it whilst we could. We had read that restaurant Grispolis at Bigova owned the mooring buoys we were due to be using and that they wouldn’t allow us to anchor within this area. If we ate at the restaurant, it was free, but we didn’t plan to.
It was a fishy restaurant and with Alison not eating anything with a face, we decided we would be giving it a miss.
After a great day sailing, we finally made our way to the bay, last as usual! After a couple of attempts to pick up the line attached to the mooring buoy, with the hindrance of Jane, our first mate and Peter the skipper, the restaurant owner got us securely tied up…Oooooeeeerrrrr Mrs!
We were asked if we would be eating in the restaurant, we answered no but our ‘friends’ would be! That was the last we heard from the restaurant luckily… a free night!
We had a lovely evening on deck eating the fresh pasta we’d brought with us watching the sun go down. We discovered that we prefer the peace of a bay to the noise of a marina. It really is a lovely experience bobbing around in a bay without the worry of your anchor dragging.
DAY 6 – PORTO MONTENEGRO, TIVAT
Today we had 16 NM to cover to get to the next marina, Porto Montenegro, Tivat. This is the showcase of marinas in Montenegro, and boy was it posh!
As we left Bigova, the sky was black, the sea was flat calm, and we had our waterproofs ready. We decided to motor towards our destination to see if the wind picked up later in the day and to try to outrun the rain. Neither happened! Luckily it only spitted with rain and we didn’t need our trousers but did succumb to our jackets.
Upon arriving at the Marina, the Capitainerie instructed us on where our berth was. We headed to our spot and were met by Peter and Jane who duly caught our lines and got us securely tied up. We have decided that the only benefit of a flotilla is having someone expecting us to make sure we actually arrive at our destination! I’m sure with a little more experience it’ll be just like driving a car!!!!!
Porto Montenegro is quite spectacular. Lined with designer boutiques and lovely bars and restaurants, one could almost compare it with Quinta do Lago! In fact, I think it’s probably got much better shops and restaurants all in one place than Quinta!
As we’d arrived early today, we decided it was a great opportunity to take a stroll, admire the boats, shops, and find a nice bar! We were overdue a cocktail! From the entrance to the Marina, we could see what looked to be the great bar. Off we headed….
It looked close! What we didn’t know was that you had to go on a little round trip to get to it! After our little detour, past more shops, we installed ourselves in very comfortable seats with lovely views and waited….and waited……and waited……DRRRRRRY! Could we get served, could we ‘ell! It wasn’t like it was busy but obviously, in Montenegro, time doesn’t equal money!
Tonight was to be another group meal, can’t say either of us were looking forward to eating with the ‘other’ boat but we decided to toe the line and join in. To be honest, the rest of the group were good-humoured on the whole but unfortunately, it only takes one person to spoil the fun.
Jane informed us that she had booked a restaurant a short walk away so in good time and after a nice shower, we started wandering towards the restaurant, Ponta Veranda. The restaurant was great, the food was good, although the service was very slow. It was definatelty one of our better meals. After a good evening of chatting and eating, we made our way back to our boats.
Tomorrow we were advised was to be a free sailing day.
DAY 7 – KOTOR, MONTENEGRO
Now when we learned that it was a free sailing day, we presumed that they meant we could do as we pleased during the day and then return to our mooring for the evening. Little did we know this wasn’t the case!
What it meant was that when we left in the morning we were on our own until the following evening! For the first time we had to find somewhere to stay overnight and get in on our own! Have I mentioned how inexperienced the lead crew were and how little idea they had of the local area?? Maybe just once….
Where should we go? That was the dilemma. With no help or advice from Peter or Jane, we decided the easiest option was to head directly to Kotor, our destination for the night after. We asked Jane to make us a reservation and set off into the unknown without knowing whether she had confirmed it.
After a great few hours sailing in the Bay of Kotor, we gingerly headed towards the Port admiring the cruise ships in the Bay and the beautiful scenery. We could do it!
Nervously, we made our way towards our berth for the next two nights, and two guys came to help us moor up. How easy had that been! All that panic for nothing. At least one thing we learned on this trip is that we don’t need the security of a flotilla anymore!
Kotor is beautiful and the Port we were in was right under the town walls. Within a couple of minutes walk we were at one of the old town gates.
We had decided we were going to try Konoba Roma, a restaurant we had chosen from good reviews. When we arrived it wasn’t busy, so we were a little unsure, but we needn’t have been.
Alison chose a pasta dish that was delicious, and Janine had Calamari for the first time in many years. Having had the best calamari ever in Genova, Italy many years ago, it didn’t beat that experience, but it was good. It is rather disturbing eating a complete little squid…head, tentacles and all especially when the tentacles sort of hang out the corner of your mouth. The vegetarian sitting opposite certainly didn’t appreciate it!
It seemed that all the other tables had been booked, and we were lucky to secure the one unreserved spot. After our lovely dinner we had a wander around Kotor old city, it’s fantastic! We could describe is as ‘dans son jus’…sort of still raw, tidied up but not over modernised.
There are still bits that haven’t been restored, it’s far from perfect and we loved it. It wasn’t as cheap as we were expecting, although Croatia is more expensive.
Montenegro, in the tourist spots, is definitely not a budget destination. Little alleyways lead all over the place and you can climb the steps to the Fort overlooking the city and Bay. At 1350 steps to the top, it’s not for the faint hearted. They even charge you for the privilege! We obviously gave it a miss preferring to spend our money on ice cream! (that wasn’t cheap either)
There are cats, cats everywhere, lots of cats, Cats of Kotor in fact!
Over the years an organisation, Kotor Kitties, have been catching the street cats, neutering them and trying to help sick and injured cats, of which there are a lot. They welcome donations as there is no official program to care for the cats. There is an area where they are well provided for and in exchange for plastic bottles in a recycling bin, you get cat food to feed the street cats.
Cats in Kotor have become a symbol of luck and prosperity. They are fed and looked after by some of the shop keepers and restaurants to keep the mice, rats and snakes out of the town. The cats are now seen as an unofficial symbol of the City.
After enjoying a lovely meal, a wander, and ice cream, we headed back to our boat. Since the other boat also decided to follow us to Kotor and was in good form (drunk), we accepted their invitation to join them onboard for a great evening of fun and frivolity!
DAY 8 – REST DAY IN KOTOR
On waking the next day, we were back to being reasonably ignored by Dick. Just when we thought we’d had a great night, when the drink wore off, he was back to his usual self! There were glimpses of normalness. He offered to help with our sail cover but on the whole, he was best ignored. Such a shame as we do enjoy chatting to our fellow sailors and the rest of the boat crew were pleasant.
There had been strong winds during the night so we were thankful to be tied up in port. The Katabatic wind or Bora as its known locally, form when the air on the mountain slopes cool at night and slide down the mountains creating big gusts.
We decided today we would stay put, have a relaxing morning and go for a wander. That plan was scuppered when we discovered our ‘waste’ tank was full!
What now? The only ‘marina’ we’d visited with no facilities at all, not even a loo! After a nervous brisk walk to the town centre, we spotted the public WC’s, 50 cents! Out of the blue, a coach load of SE Asian tourists arrived and began thrusting 50 cent pieces at the attendant while Janine was waiting for her change. We were always under the opinion that SE Asian people were very polite and good mannered, well they obviously become demonic when they need the lav!
Janine was busting but was being pushed out of the way by the frenzied coach party, that was when Alison stepped in. Let’s just say Janine got to the loo just in time and a very rude lady was put in her place by Alison behind her in the queue!
After the WC saga, we decided to head back to the boat and have a leisurely breakfast onboard, tidy and clean up a little before heading out for a good walk and exploration of the city in the daylight. There are loads of shops, bars, restaurants, cats and people. It wasn’t as busy as Dubrovnik, but that probably depends on the season and visiting cruise ships.
There are lots of trips available both on water and land. Some boat trips take you to the underground bunkers used by the Navy ships during the wars.
There is also a cable car taking visitors to the top of a mountain overlooking the Bay. The journey takes 11 minutes and travels 4kms up to the Lovcen National Park at 1,348M altitude. A round trip costs €23 or single €13. There is a restaurant at the top station, hiking and biking routes and of course the fantastic vistas to enjoy.
This evening, we didn’t have a plan and decided to just choose a busy looking restaurant, Restaurant and Wine bar Cesare. It wasn’t the best choice! Although the food was good, the service was poor. Our plates were not cleared, and our drinks were not replenished. After we’d finished eating, we waited and waited to order more drinks but nobody bothered. Eventually with our empty plates still on the table and our glasses empty, we managed to summoned the waiter for the bill. After another ice cream, we wandered back to the boat and off to bed.
Kotor, we loved you!
DAY 9 – STRADIOTI ISLAND, MONTENEGRO
We left Kotor and headed out into the bay towards our next destination of Stradioti Island.
Today we had a good sail and enjoyed the gentle breezes taking us first North then West and finally Southeast towards the Island and our overnight anchorage.
Sailing in the Bay of Kotor really is beautiful. It’s quite a large bay, in fact lots of large basins all linked by narrow canals with so much to see en route. The mountains surrounding the bay are spectacular, little villages line the coast and the winds and sea are great for sailing with enough wind to just potter along enjoying the scenery.
After a great day, we arrived at our overnight spot and discovered, as usual, we were last to arrive. Tonight we were having our ‘beach party’ at anchor on our boat!
‘Kevin’, our new flotilla skipper, had replaced ‘Peter’ who had a commitment for the second week. Kevin seemed a lot more experienced, we had great hopes! The plan was to reverse towards the already anchored boats dropping our anchor and forming a starfish stern to. The idea was fantastic, the execution good, the result mmmmmmm, interesting!
As the wind was increasing, the swell growing and the boats all bobbing around randomly, it wasn’t long before the starfish broke up! Alison had bravely crossed the dodgy plank to collect food and delivered it to Janine who had decided to remain in the safety of our boat!
Now if the weather had been better, the sea warmer and the company great, we’d have had a great night and wouldn’t have minded ending up soaked from the failing planks, but as none of the above was happening, neither was the party! As we untied the boats, we soon floated back to our natural anchor spot, away from the others. A beach party it hadn’t been, a new experience it had!
Tonight was to be our first ever night spent at anchor, it was truly magnificent. Luckily, we didn’t have any problems and a peaceful sleep was had by us both. As much as we love being safe in a marina with lots of facilities, this is how sailing should be, bobbing about in a bay away from noise and people! Although the rain and wind had spoilt our ‘party’, we went to bed happy.
DAY 10 – HERCIG NOVI, Montenegro
Following a great night of relative seclusion, we awoke to a beautiful sunny day. After enjoying our breakfast on deck and watching the other boat battle with their anchor for 2 hours we set off for Herceg Novi, our last stop before heading back to Croatia tomorrow.
As the other boat had been equipped with a less-than-adequate anchor, a kedge was also dropped. I guess they should have anticipated getting tangled up, but obviously, they didn’t. We decided to leave them to it and get underway.
What a great day! As we didn’t have far to go today, we hoisted the sail as soon as we cleared the channel linking the two basins and sailed back and forth across the bay all day. In the distance towards the shore, Janine spotted activity in the water. Could it be dolphins?
Quickly, we brought in the jib and motor sailed as quick as we could to the spotting sight. How lucky were we?
For a good half hour, we watched a pod of dolphins playing right by us. It almost feels like a privilege when you get to see these magnificent creatures so close and in their natural habitat. I don’t think anything will beat our sightings in Algarve on a couple of occasions, but this was pretty special. All too soon they headed off out towards the open seas, what a wonderful time we’d had.
Tonight, we were staying in the port at Herceg Novi ready for our early departure in the morning and the sail back to Croatia. We got safely moored up and headed to the little promenade to do some shopping for supplies and get something to eat.
The tourist spots in Montenegro are expensive! It’s certainly not the cheap country we expected. The larger supermarkets seemed reasonable, but the convenience stores made France and the UK seem cheap!
The main town of Herceg Novi sits high above the Port where we were staying and although it’s probably worth the climb up hill, we didn’t bother. Instead, we took a lovely walk along the prom finding a little take away hut selling pizza and crepes! We ordered a Nutella crepe each and sat and watched the world go by.
Back to the boat for our last evening in Montenegro. As we had plenty of pasta, we decided to cook and eat on the boat tonight before an early night ready for our 7am departure for Dubrovnik.
We LOVED Montenegro. We will definitely return and visit by car all the places we went and more. The people seem a little stern faced compared to Croatia, but everyone is polite. The sailing was great, so much to see just in the Bay of Kotor but Budva was well worth visiting too.
DAY 11 – BYE BYE MONTENEGRO…..HELLO LOPUD ISLAND
We were up early and quickly on our way back to the customs to check out of Montenegro. The weather forecast was not great, the sky was heavy and the wind blowing. Kevin suggested motor sailing with just the jib once we got out of the bay.
Quickly we realised we were in for a bumpy ride, and 7 hours of it! It was quite fun in the bay as we motored out to the open seas but once we got out of the bay, the swell increased and with a tail wind, our jib out, we were off…..
Luckily we left the black clouds and rain behind and quickly the blue sky was ahead. The swell was something we hadn’t experienced previously, not to this extent anyway.
The other boats quickly left us behind and with our self tacking jib doing its own thing, we made swift progress, hitting 9.6 knots surfing a wave. Exhilarating? Maybe. Exhausting? Definitely.
After 7h of hanging on to the wheel, we could finally turn towards Dubrovnik port and the customs building. I have never wanted to be on the cruise ship docked alongside more in my life!
We were windswept and exhausted, and we still had to go back out to our overnight stay. After checking back in to Croatia, pretty much the same experience as checking out, the guys trying to grab the lines off Alison for the assistance payment, and the paperwork checks, we were on our way to Lopud Island where we were going to be staying on a mooring bouy.
We didn’t want to go out again, we were knackered, but Kevin assured us we didn’t have to go back out to sea and could stay behind the island and be sheltered. He was right. Soon we were arriving at a beautiful bay with a magnificent hotel to welcome us…. should we? We asked each other and laughed…we didn’t!
Jane arranged for us to eat at one of the restaurants, and before we knew it, a tender picked us up to take us to dinner.
The restaurant was right on the edge of the water with fantastic views of the islands, sea and sunset. The food was unremarkable, however. The burger wasn’t homemade, almost certainly frozen and for the prices, poor value. I guess location is more important than quality. Maybe in the low season they use frozen produce as client numbers are unpredictable, but we wouldn’t go back.
The one benefit of eating there was the overnight buoy was free and the ‘taxi’ from the restaurant to ferry us back and forth. As we were leaving the restaurant, the ‘other’ boat crew invited the lead crew to their boat. It was suggested that the crew went to find more alcohol whilst we waited for them…
‘Piss off’ was the polite response to that! Before they knew it, we had raced to the tender to be dropped off first leaving the others to do as they pleased.
That evening, we decided that since the weather was not improving, we would head to Slano the next day and make a plan from there depending on the wind.
A storm was brewing with high winds and bobbing around at anchor wasn’t appealing to most although Janine quite fancied it in theory! Luckily, the bay was pretty sheltered from the winds and a peaceful night was had.
DAY 12 – ACI Marina Slano, Croatia
Today was the short hop in high winds to ACI Marina Slano. The marina is ideally located in a sheltered bay and although the wind did blow us about a bit, we were safe on our mooring.
It’s a new marina with small pool, good facilities, a bar restaurant and an easy walk in to the small town. As we had potentially two nights stuck here due to the weather, we asked Kev if he’d help us with some mooring practice the next day. Of course, was the reply, nothing better to do.
As we’d arrived before lunch today, we had plenty of time to explore before a planned afternoon siesta. No such chance of a siesta…. Jane decided to play drum and bass and couldn’t hear me asking for a little peace over the racket!
We did discover the local 5-star hotel, The Admiral Grand, advertising spa days so that was to be the option if we were stuck for 2 nights following our training with Kev. (which didn’t happen)!
After a good meal at one of the two local restaurants, Restaurant Maestral, we headed back to the boat only to discover Jane and Kev onboard ‘the other’ boat getting hammered and playing loud music.
As usual, we were sandwiched between the lead crew boat and ‘them’ so not a lot we could do about it. Such a shame people don’t have respect for others, not just us but other people enjoying a peaceful small marina. As Janine always packs ear plugs, annoyed, we went to bed!
DAY 13 – SUN, SEA and COCKTAILS!
We didn’t hear from the lead crew today except to ask if we would be requiring a place in the taxi to a destination discussed previously…not discussed with us! We replied, no thanks and proceeded to plan our day as it seemed we were staying for two nights.
After a peaceful breakfast and morning, we headed to the hotel, paid our €15 each and found our sunbeds on the beach. It wasn’t the warmest day, but we had a lovely afternoon sipping Pina Coladas and swimming in the pool and sea at Hotel Admiral Grand.
We wandered back passing the others in the bar but as they didn’t ‘see’ us, or us them, we got ready and went out to dinner at the other restaurant, Kolarin. Out of the two, we preferred Maestral but both were nice.
‘Shall we pop back to the hotel for a cheeky cocktail’ we discussed for about 2 seconds.
Off course we did! Manky boat and manky neighbours or cocktails in a 5 star hotel bar on comfortable sofas???? Bit of a no brainer really!
Two cocktails each, Espresso Martinis for Janine and Negronis for Alison, how we enjoyed our bit of luxury!
As midnight approached, we decided to head back to the hovel and our neighbours, all was quiet. We snook onboard and headed to bed. We had contemplated ‘squatting’ overnight on our leather sofas at the hotel but thought the barman may have evicted us!
DAY 14 – BACK TO BASE
As we hadn’t seen the lead crew since we arrived at Slano two days previously, we didn’t really have much of an idea of a plan or departure time. Before we knew it, they were off, and we left behind! They had radioed to say they would pop by our boat to check in and let us know but they didn’t bother.
After a leisurely breakfast, we departed Slano to head back to ACI Marina Dubrovnik. It had been a pleasant stay regardless of our fellow sailors.
On arrival back to the marina, our first stop was to fuel up. This was included in the price of our holiday and Kev and Jane were there as advised to meet us and fuel up. The fuel pontoon at the marina was a little complicated, very shallow water to queue in and a very narrow turning circle before you’re aground in mud.
Alison did a great job, as usual, of keeping us safe and getting us on to the fuel dock. Alison is very good at manoeuvring in marinas and tight spaces whereas Janine only wants to go forward at speed, preferably heeling and squealing in equal measures! Good job we complement each other!
Kev boarded our boat as the marina is pretty tightly packed with charter boats and after a few minutes, we were safely home after our two-week adventure.
Tonight was to be the final get together in one of the Marina restaurants, but we had already decided we’d pop in for a drink and let them get on with it. Our taxi was booked for 6 am the following morning and we had to pack and tidy up.
We discussed our thoughts with Kev, told the technician from Dream Yacht Charters about the issues with the boat and headed to the restaurant.
We didn’t stay long. ‘Dick’ decided to cause an argument within a few minutes of our arrival, so we bid our farewells and left!
Our last dinner onboard was very enjoyable as we were far from the other boats! After packing and sorting, we left loads of supplies on the deck for Jane and went to bed.
We didn’t hear or see anyone after that!
The next morning, our taxi arrived on time, and we headed back to the airport to catch our flight home to Toulouse. We were happy but exhausted.
SUMMARY
Weather: Variable but to be expected in early May in Croatia
Charter Company: Dream Yacht Charter. Probably wouldn’t choose them again. Boat not well looked after and accused of breaking a hatch which we reported cracked on the second day. Other faults not repaired when reported before we set off.
Holiday Company: Seafarer Sailing Holidays. Will NOT use again and do NOT recommend. The lead crew inexperienced, poor social events, tired boat, and following our feedback to Seafarer, we were accused by them of damaging the boat and our issues not resolved. The MD disagreed with almost everything we said. POOR customer service, POOR company.
Lead Crew: ‘Peter and Jane’ although great people were not up to the job. We told them Seafarer had really thrown them under the bus (or boat) ‘Kevin’ although far more experienced and competent unfortunately knew the other boat from their previous holidays and as they were the ‘party’ boat, we got a little neglected. Our second week with Kev, could have been fantastic, unfortunately, as soon as we arrived in Slano, he seemed to go on holiday!
Croatia: Beautiful, we love Croatia
Montenegro: Absolutely worth visiting by sea or land.
Airline: Volotea, fantastic as usual
Taxi: Croatia-taxi.hr – we can’t fault them
Overall, we had a great holiday, albeit, not as we expected a flotilla should be compared to our other experiences with different companies. Maybe it was just bad luck, but we wouldn’t risk another holiday with Seafarer.
The best thing is we’ve booked a boat in Split called ‘POLLUX’ to go back to Croatia in mid-October 2024 independently of a flotilla…..watch this space!
Janine booked the boat purely on the name……POLLUX! Will sound great on the radio when Alison, our radio operator, announces our arrival……
