11. 10th - 23rd September 2008 A visit to Zagreb and Montenegro

18th September 2008
We have had such a lot happening to us over the past 2 weeks it is hard to know what to write and what to leave out. However, there is one significant event I definitely want to tell everyone about and that is our visit to the wonderful Vego family in Zagreb.

It is hard to put into words how much we owe to Vego, Lana and their friends – because of them we have a much better understanding and an even bigger love of Croatia and the wonderful, fun people who live here. This week the Vego family welcomed us to their lovely apartment in the capital of this beautiful country, giving up their bed for us and making us feel like we were part of their family. Also, because of their contacts, Fay will fly from France to Dubrovnik by Dubrovnik Air charter next week so we can have a weekend with her.

We decided to make the 600 km journey from Dubrovnik to Zagreb by the 10 hour bus! This sounds mad but meant that we saw the interior of Croatia, a small part of Bosnia and most importantly saw the amazing contrast between the South / West and North / East when we crossed the Velebit mountains. As we came down from the new 6km tunnel at Otocag it was as if we had crossed a continent and ended up in Switzerland. The temperature had dropped to below 7C – a real shock to the system as we were dressed in shorts and sandals! Everyone else on the bus seemed better prepared than us and had their winter clothes on. We did feel a bit like the hicks from the sticks when we arrived in Zagreb. Have you ever seen Crocodile Dundee – Andy looked just like him, complete with the hat!

Lana was at the bus station to meet us and took us to the family home (literally as her Aunts family, cousins family and parents live in the same building, each on a separate floor, built by her mother’s Father) where she had prepared a very welcome pasta meal for us. There we met Eva, Lana’s younger sister and their dog Tonka who definitely had a Vego gene as she gave us a huge welcome too. Vego and his wife Gordana were still in Primosten so we did not see them this time.
Zagreb is a city in two halves – New Zagreb and Old Zagreb. The new is the residential and industrial part with building still going on. There are many large apartment blocks of varying ages – some communist built, some modern. The old is also divided into the areas that have been renovated, areas being renovated and those that are very neglected and awaiting renovation. It is a city of over 1 million people, many living on a very low income while prices are moving towards those expected in the rest of Europe. Traffic is not too bad (though horrendous by Croatian standards) and public transport worked very well for us – trams and buses came on time and connected – though Lana complained that the public transport system needs improving.

We spent two days exploring the old city – with and without guide – and feel like we really got to know the place. Zagreb is a grower. At first we were disappointed but as we discovered the vibrancy and determination of Zagreb to discard its communist cloak and re-expose its beauty, we began to feel a fondness and admiration for the city and its people.
A highlight of our stay had to be an invitation from Egor and his partner Kxennia to join them for dinner at a private dining club. This is a place you would never find as a tourist – having to ring a door bell in a darkened alleyway in the city centre and request to be let in. Up some dark stairs and enter a simple but modern pair of rooms and be greeted by all the friends we made in Split on the regatta – the only person missing was Vego himself. Also joining us were two girl friends of Lana – again lovely people. We also met Bruno who was the absent third co-owner of the Vego / Egor boat. The food was delicious – this really was the best meal we have eaten in Croatia (bar Garbin of course!) It seems that others recognise the quality of the food here as a picture of the Croatian prime minister eating there is on the wall! We were a noisy and late party – it was a really special evening.


21st September 2008

Montenegro is a big contrast to Croatia – it still has not shaken off the Communist mantel and with a population of only 700,000 it is hard to see how it can make it as a country. We are in Kotor where a vast array of conquerors are mindboggling! Turks, Venetians, Spanish, Russian, French, Austrian and Yugoslavia in varying orders and times. Now that Montenegro is independent they have rather just been left to get on with it. Kotor like Dubrovnik has suffered several devastating earthquakes the most recent of which was 1979. While Dubrovnik is completely rebuilt Kotor – also a UNESCO site – has not recovered.

Sailing to Kotor was an amazing experience. The Bora was blowing, gusting force 5-6. Kotor is way up a fiord, then through a narrow channel between mountains which opens out into the most amazing waterscape. In the channel the wind was such that even with the engine on full throttle we were making less than 4 knots. As we entered the sea lake we were bowled over by the view. Surrounded by mountains the lake is dotted with small ancient settlements and churches, Kotor is hidden from view. At the end of the lake and through another narrow passage and into yet another lake, the least promising place here is Kotor in the most hidden corner of the fiord.

By now the Bora was mounting and we were too late for a space on the town quay – already full of super-yachts and charter boats. In the end we decided to squeeze between two British super-yachts on the quay designed for liners. We were very relieved to be somewhere safe – using Seven Sins and Helios as windbreaks. But why were they all here? All we could see were abandoned and broken buildings including a government block and a hotel on the lakes edge. The place smelt of sewage and the streets were littered. Then we walked to the base of the mountain just metres from the boat and found a gateway. We walked through the gate and entered an amazing ancient city – completely hidden from the water. It was like a sc-fi movie / a Mad Max moment. The wall we walked through not only surrounds the city but takes in half the mountain as well. We climbed up 250mts following this ancient wall. We still do not know why it was built like this – a complete mystery as it seems just pure bloody minded rather than strategic, though this was obviously the plan as the wall has arrow slits at very regular intervals.

The wall is a health and safety hazard – EC regulations would not allow the public on it. What will Kotor do when Montenegro gains accession in the rumoured 2 years time. We talked to the man in charge of the town quay in Hercig Novi, our first port of call in this impoverished country. He said things were better under the communists and he was a worried man for the future for his children. When we explored the town, also affected by the earthquake and not yet rebuilt in places, we could understand his point of view. How can a country of 700,000 raise enough taxes to support the infra-structure of such a large area? How can it make the town beautiful again? They are hoping to pull themselves up on the back of Dubrovnik, just 30 nautical miles away and have spent money improving the town quay for visiting yachts but the town still feels Russian with Russian text everywhere.

As I said, a lot has happened in the past two weeks. We visited Hvar town, the St. Tropez of Croatia (apparently) then Korcula after Hvar – having had a 9 knot sail downwind there – and arrived on a festival day. Korcula is beautiful and the entertainment was fantastic. We had the most wonderful walk in the National Park of Mljet Island. We have been to Dubrovnik too – one of the most amazing cities we have seen but so much more to describe that in this blog entry at least I have to leave them out!

23rd September 2008
Two nights ago Andy and I had a heated discussion about how we were going to meet more people. We often anchor and eat aboard most nights so can be isolated from the residents of the places we visit. We decided that as winter approaches and the number of tourists diminish, we would start going alongside or stern too on the town quays.
Thus it was that we were looking to moor alongside in Risan, Montenegro. It was hard to decide where to go as it all looked very shallow and there is a shortage of good charts for the area but after surveying the quay we moored in front of a cafe in the only deep spot on the town front. After dinner on board we went for a polite drink in the empty cafe before having a wander around the small town / village and returning to Deep Blue at about 10 pm.
There seem a lot more cars here than we have seen in rural Croatia and swarms of teenagers and young people. In this settlement there seemed to be groups of car owning young men who were roaring around the town. Despite this we were soon asleep.

At around 2.30 am we had a visitor. Well this was what we had hoped for – but to be honest we would have preferred that they visited during the day. However, when we got up to greet them they very rudely left. We checked the cockpit – nothing missing – so under the illusion that now they knew we were aboard they would leave us alone we tried to go back to sleep. Ten minutes later someone came aboard again. I yelled out “Hey” and Andy leapt out of bed and into the cockpit with his very powerful torch! Again our visitor had gone. We decided we needed to keep watch. I went below while Andy did the watching.

There was a guy in a car with a broken exhaust who kept driving past the boat. Andy decided to make him aware we were watching him and he shone the powerful torch at the car next time he drove past. The driver stopped and came over. This was the scary bit for me though Andy had been very keen to talk to the locals. I could hear the discussion. Young man shouting in a Russian sounding language, Andy talking back in English. Neither could understand the other and things sounded heated. Not the conversation Andy had envisaged. Andy was wielding the very powerful torch and hiding behind the boom. Young man backed off and returned to car.

At this point we decided discretion is the better form of valour and cast off the boat to anchor in the bay – thus hopefully discouraging further boarding parties. It worked as when the young man returned later we were gone and we had 4 hours of unbroken sleep. We are fairly certain that the guy was stoned (or stupid) and possibly interested in our outboard motor which is locked onto the stern rail of Deep Blue. I must emphasise that this was a very isolated incident and does not reflect the rest of our experiences here.