Envoy is still in Dubrovnik Marina, Croatia.
I forgot to mention that in this area you see quite a few structures with bullet holes left over from what the locals call the "Homelands War".
Laurie points out what we believe are bullet holes in stone walls of an old shed
As we left the Gulf of Kotor we saw another Kiwi boat, Largo Star. Our friend Brooke Archbold knows these people well, and before we started our first cruise he suggested keeping a lookout for them. I remember thinking at that time the Med’s a very big place so that’s a long shot, but so far we’ve seen Largo Star once each year for the last three – in Turkey, Greece and now Montenegro, and I’m sure we’ll meet up with them in Croatia as they’re following us in a few days.
Croatia’s southern entry port of Cavtat is only about 25 miles north of Montenegro, and we were surprised to see several bird “work-ups” along the route, signifying fish activity – bait fish on the surface and larger fish cruising below. Although these work-ups are common home in New Zealand waters they’re rare in the Med.
Seabird "work-up" in Adriatic Sea
In Cavtat we used an agency, BWA Yachting, to organise our clearing-in, taking only about 30 minutes. The formalities seem less onerous here and when moving around there is no requirement to report to authorities. Only when visitors join or leave the vessel is there a requirement to submit a new crew list to the nearest harbourmaster.
Laurie on waterfront at Croatia port-of-entry Cavtat
We bought our Vignette (cruising permit) for Envoy and one for the tender, and these together with Sojourn Tax cost 2,885 Kuna (about NZ$640) for three months.
Adjacent to Cavtat is a great sheltered bay nearby called Uvala Tiha, from where we could see Dubrovnik just five miles away. Here we had our first experience of paying for a mooring. A small boat came out to us and the occupants told us very politely that we could either anchor or use one of their moorings, but in either case the cost was 140 Kuna (about NZ$31) for the night, or the same total cost for as long as we wanted to stay. This seemed reasonable enough and I checked out the mooring and found it to be OK.
While it took us a while to warm to Montenegro we liked Croatia immediately, and Cavtat is a very atmospheric village with mostly friendly and helpful people.
Communications are important to us, so the first day in Croatia we took a 45 minute bus trip to Dubrovnik to get a Croatian SIM card for the phone and a Mobile Broadband for internet access. The Broadband worked fine on my laptop and on the iPad, but not on Di’s computer. We were given the name of a computer service specialist, and he spent a free half hour trying to sort out the issue, concluding it’s the Microsoft Vista program in Di’s computer, and we ended up buying a separate USB which works fine.
We were able to leave Envoy on the mooring and visit Dubrovnik by bus. By now we’ve see more than our share of medieval walled-towns, but Dubrovnik is absolutely stunning – one of those must-see places, despite the crowds. The fortifications look formidable and the streets open up into beautiful courtyards. Narrow lanes with interesting tavernas and restaurants run off the main streets, and the place has a real “buzz’ about it.
Entrance to Dubrovnik's walled Old-Town
Dubrovnik has several squares ringed with stunning architecture
Dubrovnik's cobbled lanes drool with atmosphere
The next photo is here in error, and should be on the next posting. On the nearby island of Kolocep this is a defensive tower used in the Middle Ages as a refuge from marauding pirates. Pirates were a constant problem in those times throughout the Med
We stayed four nights in Cavtat and then headed off to the Elaphite Islands – but we didn’t get far – read about it in the next post!
TECHNICAL – nothing to report
I forgot to mention that in this area you see quite a few structures with bullet holes left over from what the locals call the "Homelands War".
Laurie points out what we believe are bullet holes in stone walls of an old shed
As we left the Gulf of Kotor we saw another Kiwi boat, Largo Star. Our friend Brooke Archbold knows these people well, and before we started our first cruise he suggested keeping a lookout for them. I remember thinking at that time the Med’s a very big place so that’s a long shot, but so far we’ve seen Largo Star once each year for the last three – in Turkey, Greece and now Montenegro, and I’m sure we’ll meet up with them in Croatia as they’re following us in a few days.
Croatia’s southern entry port of Cavtat is only about 25 miles north of Montenegro, and we were surprised to see several bird “work-ups” along the route, signifying fish activity – bait fish on the surface and larger fish cruising below. Although these work-ups are common home in New Zealand waters they’re rare in the Med.
Seabird "work-up" in Adriatic Sea
In Cavtat we used an agency, BWA Yachting, to organise our clearing-in, taking only about 30 minutes. The formalities seem less onerous here and when moving around there is no requirement to report to authorities. Only when visitors join or leave the vessel is there a requirement to submit a new crew list to the nearest harbourmaster.
Laurie on waterfront at Croatia port-of-entry Cavtat
We bought our Vignette (cruising permit) for Envoy and one for the tender, and these together with Sojourn Tax cost 2,885 Kuna (about NZ$640) for three months.
Adjacent to Cavtat is a great sheltered bay nearby called Uvala Tiha, from where we could see Dubrovnik just five miles away. Here we had our first experience of paying for a mooring. A small boat came out to us and the occupants told us very politely that we could either anchor or use one of their moorings, but in either case the cost was 140 Kuna (about NZ$31) for the night, or the same total cost for as long as we wanted to stay. This seemed reasonable enough and I checked out the mooring and found it to be OK.
While it took us a while to warm to Montenegro we liked Croatia immediately, and Cavtat is a very atmospheric village with mostly friendly and helpful people.
Communications are important to us, so the first day in Croatia we took a 45 minute bus trip to Dubrovnik to get a Croatian SIM card for the phone and a Mobile Broadband for internet access. The Broadband worked fine on my laptop and on the iPad, but not on Di’s computer. We were given the name of a computer service specialist, and he spent a free half hour trying to sort out the issue, concluding it’s the Microsoft Vista program in Di’s computer, and we ended up buying a separate USB which works fine.
We were able to leave Envoy on the mooring and visit Dubrovnik by bus. By now we’ve see more than our share of medieval walled-towns, but Dubrovnik is absolutely stunning – one of those must-see places, despite the crowds. The fortifications look formidable and the streets open up into beautiful courtyards. Narrow lanes with interesting tavernas and restaurants run off the main streets, and the place has a real “buzz’ about it.
Entrance to Dubrovnik's walled Old-Town
Dubrovnik has several squares ringed with stunning architecture
Dubrovnik's cobbled lanes drool with atmosphere
The next photo is here in error, and should be on the next posting. On the nearby island of Kolocep this is a defensive tower used in the Middle Ages as a refuge from marauding pirates. Pirates were a constant problem in those times throughout the Med
We stayed four nights in Cavtat and then headed off to the Elaphite Islands – but we didn’t get far – read about it in the next post!
TECHNICAL – nothing to report
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