Recent Accomplishments

The last couple of weeks have been productive. We’ve accomplished the following:

1. Getting Sabática back in the water
2. Getting a working water maker
3. Collecting our daughter, Laura
4. Receiving new replacement cushions
5. Re-entering the (EU) Schengen area
6. Parked where Sabática has never parked before

I’ll elaborate and tell you about our most recent escapades…

Getting Sabática back in the water

It only took three nights and four days for NAVAR Yacht Services in Tivat to complete all the work needed for Sabática. (They were very on the ball and trustworthy, and we would highly recommend them!) Given we had just experienced crazy hot weather recently – where all you wanted to do was either swim or sleep – staying in an air conditioned AirBnB in Tivat was such a treat, especially since it was also my birthday. 🙂 We were able to rejuvenate with the break, and I finally got to get a haircut (a simple pleasure!) and have some yummy meals. 

I will not lie – I acclimated back to land fairly quickly. I wanted to stay in that cool, comfortable apartment and call it quits on the boat. Until… we got back on the boat. Once I was sitting back in my bow seat, looking out at the beautiful water, I was ready to be back out there. This boating lifestyle is definitely not for everyone. I wouldn’t call it mainstream, but I’ve never felt very mainstream. For all its aches and pains, living on the water provides a peace and calm like nothing else I’ve experienced. It’s also a way to see the world like no other. This time, we rode on Sabática while she was being carried in the travel lift back into the water. A little bizarre. After we tested the various systems in the water and made minor fixes to avoid leaks, off we went. 

Getting a working water maker

Now that we had a through hull (hole) in our hull, our water maker could finally take in sea water, desalinate it, purify it, and fill our water tank. It took a couple of days to get the system working fully, but then we did a little jig. Without using much power, the water maker can generate 32 liters (8.5 gallons) of water per hour. Finally! Finally we can really live off the grid – We have an awesomely solid anchor so we can park at will; we generate plenty of solar energy to power everything we need on the boat; we can wash our clothes; and now we can make our own water. The only thing we really need to go ashore for is to get food, and we pull up to a dock when we need fuel. Not bad!

With our new-felt freedom, we took off further into the Bay of Kotor and anchored for several days until it was time to collect Laura.  We said extra “thank yous” to our anchor, Gertie, as she held us through our first katabatic winds – strong winds that typically build in the evening and flow downhill as denser air races down to lower density air. In the morning after said winds began, I awoke to the engines on at 6:30am. That is never a good sign. We had been blown quite close to shore, but Gertie was still holding. Conor was simply being a great Skippy and was ready to move if needed. There was another American sailboat that had started to drift in the anchorage. It was obvious that its anchor had slipped and it was heading into another boat. The second boat had owners awake and on deck to fend off the impending American boat. The same could not be said for the Americans. Conor even honked his horn to help try and wake up the apparently sleeping owners. Long story short, the drifting American boat nearly made its way all the way to shore, about 600 meters (2,000 feet) from its original spot. Locals jumped in and moved dinghies such that they could secure this drifting boat to a mooring ball. No owners in sight, even after the boat was boarded by others. Who would leave their boat in a deep anchorage with potentially high winds and go ashore for the night?? Strangely, that boat stayed near shore for several days, and we never learned the whereabouts of the owners or what happened. 

Despite common enough katabatic winds, I still contend that the Bay of Kotor is my favorite spot that we have experienced – its natural beauty is so far unparalleled. Maybe that’s because I just love the dramatic green mountains that drop down to the very blue sea in a full 360 degree view. 

Collecting our daughter, Laura

Laura was another visitor who had booked tickets to meet us in Greece. Fortunately, she was able to reroute her flights without much trouble in and out of Dubrovnik, Croatia. So, we made our way to the nice marina near Herceg-Novi (still in Montenegro). It’s only about 45 minutes from the Dubrovnik airport, so we rented a car, crossed our fingers and the immigration border, and collected Laura without incident. (See reason for concern later.)

It was very fun to see Montenegro fresh through Laura’s (artistic) eyes as we retraced some steps and showed her some of our favorite places – Marina Lazure (near Herceg-Novi), Morinjski Zaliv anchorage (where the American boat nearly went aground), Kotor (where I finally climbed the mountain to the old fortress), Solila anchorage (where we had hoped to see dolphins again, but saw rainbows instead), and finally the grand Porto Montenegro in Tivat (where we got to show Laura the amazing Black Pearl). I think it’s fair to say that Laura loved all of it as she is a water and nature gal. She also thought the view into the luxury lifestyle in Porto Montenegro was very interesting!

Receiving new replacement cushions

Our final collection in Montenegro was of our great, new foredeck cushions. If you recall, three of them blew away in some strong winds we encountered in Albania, so our foredeck was looking pretty bare. Fortunately, the loss happened only about a week before we arrived in Montenegro, where we had the original cushions made a year ago. So, we called up our friends at MarinArt to see if they could make us some new and improved replacements in the short time we were to be there. This time, instead of leather material, we chose a more Sunbrella type outdoor fabric that would be water resistent and not so hot in the sun. MarinArt completely delivered! They also secured these new cushions in three different ways, so there’s no way they should blow away again. We’ve already tested them in 30+ knot winds! 🙂

Re-entering the (EU) Schengen area

If you’ve read my most recent posts, you know that we’ve struggled this summer with immigration issues. Namely, that Greece would not let me enter. We will have a much longer post dedicated to the “Schengen Shuffle” and what that entails for non-EU citizens another time, but suffice it to say for now that Conor has been contacting and re-contacting the EU Commission (to get clarification on our understanding of the laws), the Croatian Embassy in Ireland (to make sure we could enter Croatia), and the Greek Embassy in Ireland (to see what they could do about former Greek officials denying his rights as an EU citizen). The EU Commission confirmed that we are understanding the laws correctly – as Conor’s spouse, I have the same rights that he does to travel freely in the EU and Schengen area as long as I’m with him. The Croatian Embassy confirmed they follow the same rules. The Greeks are still disagreeing. Still a work in progress…

Now, you may have noticed I already mentioned that Conor and I crossed the border into Croatia to collect Laura at the airport. The police at the border crossings did not bat an eyelid – yay! We have also just recently sailed from Montenegro to Dubrovnik, Croatia. When we checked in, the police officials there did not give us any difficulty at all. Double yay! So, it’s a relief we can finish out our current season with a nice amount of time in Croatia. We’ve just introduced Laura to the stunning city of Dubrovnik. She was well impressed! 

Parked where Sabática has never parked before

We cannot stress enough what a game changer our anchor is. Last year when we first sailed to Dubrovnik, it was one of our very first stops after we left our home port of Tivat. As Conor pulled into the ACI marina in heavy winds, he was dodging and marveling at the brave boats anchored out in the narrow enough Dubrovnik river. How could they ever do that? Well, this year we’re doing it! Revisiting Montenegro and Croatia, we’re reminded how windy this area is, between sporadic boras and katabatics. But, our anchor is holding, Skippy remains vigilant, and we are getting used to and feeling confident holding in strong winds. It’s definitely a different experience this year not having to rely on being docked in marinas all the time. Growth experience and freedom!

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* Thanks to Laura for her great photos!

If you’d like to learn more about Montenegro and Dubrovnik, check out my detailed posts from last summer: Dubrovnik, Porto Montenegro, Tivat