Montenegro means I am nearing the end of my Adriatic adventure. I left Dubrovnik, and Croatia, mid-October as the days for long passages were long gone. All my hopes to sail down to the Bay of Kotor were dashed in calm conditions, and so I motored to Zelenica to book into Montenegro and motored on to Porto Montenegro marina in Tivat, arriving just as the sun was setting. Two days later, and again in calm conditions, I motored further into the bay stopping briefly to see the islands of Perast….Our Lady of the Rocks is in the photograph above, and then continued on to Kotor.
Kotor is lovely and has a stiff climb up to the fortress with magnificent views, but it was time to leave when another cruise ship arrived. So again in windless conditions I motored around to Herceg-Novi near to the entrance to the Bay of Kotor. I planned to stay a few more days than usual as strong wind and rain were forecast….and when it arrived it hit with a vengeance! And one of those amazing coincidences when friend Amanda was taking a short break in the area visited Herceg-Novi!
At last, some decent weather arrived for me to sail down to Bar, my last stop in Montenegro.
The deserted old town of Stari Bar was the highlight of this quick visit. Then, all prepared and the alarm set for 05:00 to leave for Albania, I was rudely awakened at 01:30 by 40kts of wind in the marina! So departure was postponed and a train trip to the Montenegro capital, Podgorica was organised. After the general expense of Croatia it was just the opposite in Montenegro, and the €2 it cost me on the 60 mile train journey to Podgorica wouldn’t have have bought me a coffee on a UK train!
Podgorica suffered bombing from German attacks as well as allied raids, and lost most of its heritage. Then much of the rebuilding occurred during the communist era. But it is now free to build the capital city that Montenegro deserves!
The wind whistled through Bar marina again but I was able to get away as the sun rose on 1 November, and have a very lively sail down to Albania.
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