Montenegro....shhh don't tell anyone!

Montenegro has been home to SV Inelsamo and her Chaotic crew for the last three months. And, we have loved it. What a visually stunning country. Magnificent mountains everywhere you look with clear blue lakes and rivers, a beautiful coastline with fabulous little bays and beaches, and an interesting assortment of architecture from the ancient and old to the new and interesting. The cities of Kotor, Herceg Novi, Podgorica, Budva and the list goes on, have a wealth of history and culture to explore and enjoy. There is something about anchoring for a couple of weeks in the bay next to an ancient city such as Kotor and being able to just wander in through the narrow cobblestoned streets of an old walled city whenever we’ve wanted without feeling like a tourist! And of course, the Montenegrin people have been incredibly welcoming and friendly. Nothing is really any trouble and those that touched our lives were keen to help out wherever possible.

We originally came to Montenegro for the construction and installation of our new solar system and its support arch, so we thought we’d be here only perhaps a month. However, with so many folk returning to their boats after two years of Covid sailing

hiatus, the demand for services at the boat yard was high. We were patient and prepared to wait, enabling us to explore Montenegro as best we could. Certainly, three months was longer than anticipated but we are very happy with the end result on the solar and the arch. And we don’t regret our time there at all. Of course, we are now self-sufficient and can live off grid as far as is practicable in this crazy world. Thank you Navar Yacht Services for breathing new possibilities into our sailing life.

What we were reminded of is that many of the people we were meeting and working with on this project who were our age, grew up in a country constantly in a state of civil unrest and or war. It is perhaps the reason why nothing is too hard for them and they seemed chilled, but it did remind us both how lucky we are in Australia that we have not experienced this kind of life and the impact of living with a dictatorship and with extreme nationalism.

Sailing here was easy. Clearing in and out with the authorities was straightforward and not to bureaucratic. The few marinas we used were excellent particularly Porto Novi and Lustica Bay. Their facilities were outstanding. All our anchorages were lovely and we were often the only boat with hook down so it felt totally wild and free. Funnily enough, when we did come across other boats, it was often other Australians or NZ folk which made it fun with lots of stories shared and experiences and lessons learned passed on.

We also got to catch up with some new friends made in Sicily who anchored up beside us and then there are new friends made along the way. A big shout out to Andrew and Nhe of Northstar and Iain and Kate off of the Intrepid Bear. Thoroughly enjoyed their company and conversation and a thankyou to Iain for his deck top bagpipe serenade at sunset.

Now…..SV Inelsamo is making her way south through the Adriatic to Albania where we will spend a couple of weeks before moving onto Greece.

Happy sailing!