 |
| Cavtat, Croatia |
We left Brindisi 5 days ago but it already seems like months. We spent 4 days at the Lega Navale Marina waiting for agreeable weather. I have almost given up trying to sail anywhere, so I was only hoping not to have to motor into headwinds for the 115 miles to Croatia. In fact, we got just that despite a forecast that should have had us sailing. I shouldn't complain since we never got hit by a tornado or anything close to it. I can report, though, that all is well (for now) with the engine on the boat.
Once over, we arrived in Cavtat at 0630 to check in. We were prepared. We had read on Noonsite and in various cruising guides that a whole raft of documents are required: passports, boat registration, competency card, radio licences, insurance, pet passports, etc., and had read that the officials that we would have to deal with were rude and bureaucratic. We also read that only one boat was allowed on the Customs dock at a time, which we hoped meant that we could dock along the wall.
The reality was that it is essentially a free-for-all at the Customs dock and you have to Med moor, i.e. drop and anchor and either drive in or back in to the wall and tie off to the bollards. Most boats here in the Med have gangways to make it easy to step off your boat onto the dock. We don't. We have to drive in and climb over our pulpit, stepping on our anchor, in order to disembark because we can't climb through our stern owing to all the gear that we have back there. We do have a stern anchor, a Fortress FX-37 on 40 feet of chain and 1/2 rope. It was our first time we tried it and it worked out well, but I am glad that we didn't have to back in because that might not have worked out so well.
Once we had successfully moored, I steeled myself for my run-in with the surly officials. One first has to meet with the Border Police. They asked me for our passports and boat registration - that's all. Then they sent me off to the Harbour Master's office, who also wanted to see the registration and insurance - that's all. There I paid the cruising fees (2300 kunas for one year), received a sticker and crew list and it was back to the Border Police to get my passports back and some other official paperwork. Before that last step happened, I told them that I had a shotgun on board and the smiles turned to frowns. What I had read stated that unrestricted firearms would be dealt with by sealing the gun locker for the duration of the stay in the country. Every country I have been in I have declared our weapon and in all cases my gun registration was checked and I was told not to take it out of the locker. That is except in Bermuda, where they held the gun, the shells and our flare gun for the duration of our visit there. The reality is that one cannot enter Croatia with firearms and we were refused entry, albeit very politely and regrets for by now I was chums with the Border Police. They told me it would be necessary to check into another country to prove that we had left Croatian territorial waters before we could return. Montenegro is only 20 miles away, so off we went with a promise that I made to dispatch the gun into the sea before I returned.
Montenegro cost 60 euros for a week's cruising permit, so we decided to hang around and take in a bit of the spectacular scenery. Incidently, customs wanted to see our passports, boat registration, insurance and competency certificate. Fortunately, Maggie had kept my Humber College Skipper Certificate and that was accepted despite the customs official barely looking at it. I was told that one could obtain a Competency Certificate in Canada but I don't know where and doubt it is a requirement. I did point out that I had managed to sail the boat from Canada to Montenegro which might indicate some level of competence, but that didn't seem to impress her.
We spent 3 nights in the fjord, the second a sleepless one facing gusty katabatic winds racing down from the surrounding mile-high mountains. The Rocna performed beautifully. The 777 Cruising Guide that we are using does not adequately deal with anchorages in the fjord. We just picked cozy spots and dropped the hook in about 40 feet of water. The holding was good in mud. Everywhere along the shore during the day, people are out sunning themselves on docks and walls, swimming, or lounging under shade trees at the water's edge. It is a beautiful vacation area, and I highly recommend a visit.
This morning we returned to Croatia and it was another free-for-all at the customs dock. We were twice turned away from the dock after dropping the stern anchor because we were on the other side of the "fence". Each unmooring means I have to pull up the anchor and chain by hand while Maggie fends us off from the neighbouring boat. The third time was a charm, assurances about the shot gun were given, paper work signed and stamped, anchor weighed, a short trip to the anchorage and here we lie.
I have taken to calling our journey to Croatia this summer our Grail Quest because there have been so many times that it seemed we would never get here. Starting with being windbound in Spain and engine troubles along the way, hiding from the Schengen police and then being refused entry at the very last leg of the journey, it has taken us two months longer to get here than we planned and a lot more money than we cared to spend. But we finally made it.
I hope it will be worth it.
Branko
 |
| It's lookn' pretty good! |
 |
| Mmmm Croatian meat and beer - for you Elsie |
5 comments:
Post a Comment