Croatia to Montenegro

Sunset on the Adriatic sea

Having dropped off the guests in Corfu and cast off whilst the rear lights of their vans were driving off the jetty we motored off towards our next commitment, in Trogir, Croatia. The laundry was running full on in preparation and luckily we had calm seas so the housekeeping could keep on going prepping the staterooms.

Open seas on Adriatic

Passerby, m/v Venezia

M/v Venezia is a 2004 built ro/ro ferry and has a history of 37 port state inspections which she has always passed. She has been through the hands of many owners and also had many names too. Her flag has been either Italian or Cypriotic. 

Names:-

Venezia since 01/12/2019, Ciudad De Cadiz since 01/05/2019, Albayzin since 01/03/2010, Maria Grazia On since 01/05/2007, Golfo Degli Angeli since 01/01/2004

Owners:-

Grimaldi Group Spa since 13/12/2019, Compania Trasmediterranea SA 19/01/2016, Moby Spa 05/2011, Levantina Trasportu Srl 20/09/2004 

The first Croatian outpost, Otok Susac

The first Croatian outpost, Otok Susac

The next morning we were passing into Croatian territorial waters as we passed Otok Susac, on top of the island was perched a large building, a lighthouse with a building that could hold a  small garrison, perhaps a remnant of Yugoslavian times. As we steamed closer to Trogir, more traffic came, mostly leisure boats and local ferries from the Jadrolinija company.

Trogir approaches

m/y Lauren L in Trogir

Trogir was quite busy and marina was nearly full of larger yachts on their few berths they had for our size. We slot in between 2 yachts of which the other was a slightly longer classic Feadship Victory. She's a 1983 Dutch build from 1983, looked to be very solid and has about the same gross tonnage as we do but is 5m longer with an length overall at 55m.

In Trogir marina by night, Feadship Victory beside us

Trogir marina

First in the program was taking on provisions after tying up. Two vans appeared with provisions and the usual line circus started to load all onboard. Then had to get rid of all packaging and boxes, the vans waited and took most of it back. Then shortly after we had guests arriving, it was a very close turnover. As it was already getting late it was agreed to stay the night and then sail on in the morning. I managed a walk in Trogir old town that was quite crowded. Had a cup of ice cream and walked back onboard as the next morning we'd be motoring again.

Trogir waterfront

Trogir castle

Trogir, ice cream parlour

Trogir waterfront

Trogir waterfront

Trogir

m/v la Belle de l'Adriatique

She's a 2007 built Belgian flagged cruise ship with ownership in Luxembourg. Equasis documents that she's got 31 inspections on file and looks like she's kept in a good condition as most of the inspections had zero findings. She's 110m long, DWT 455 and GT 2995, she takes 195 passengers and operate with 47 crew. She seems to operate summers in the Med and winters in Asia. Her owning company was Belle de L'Adriatique since inception, and then following a sale Edvima since 12/11/2019. She's got an interestingly low profile, almost river ship type of design.

Local tourboats off Pakleni

Then next morning we set off for Pakleni islands, near the Carpe Diem resort. We spent there a couple of days switching anchorage from bay to bay. The guests tendered into Hvar as the bay has a 1000EUR/night anchorage fee and berthing is nearly 3000EUR/night there. It was a bit iffy some nights as the weather was not too good, had some very picturesque lightshows from nightly lightning storms with torrential rain. Later I saw that the surroundings of Hvar had been inundated and flooded too.

Mosaique anchored off Pakleni island

Thunderstorms one night at Pakleni

Hvar town

Hvar castle in background

Then it was time to sail for Korcula, there I went a bit past the town and anchored close to the islands to avoid the strong breeze that blows in the afternoons. We had some swimming done and watersports and settled down for the night. Next morning we had some strong "bura" (local northerly fall winds) coming up so I weighed anchor and set course for Dubrovnik. We left in the nick of time it seems as we later had fall winds coming down the mountains to the tune of nearly 40 knots in gusts. As we motored down the coast the weather got better and once arriving into Dubrovnik we had very little breeze left. There in Gruz I had to drop anchors and anchor stern to the stone wall with local tourist boats.

Plocica Island

Plocica Island

Korcula town

Sunset off Korcula

Stern to in Gruz marina, Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik port was quite lively with boats coming and going all the time. I had time to go ashore for a coffee and a breather and then it was back onboard as Agents told me that evening may bring strong winds. They didn't but still had to standby just in case. Guests enjoyed the old town of Dubrovnik and in the morning we cast off to shift to the Q-dock for clearance, all guests had to march 50m to the immigration and show their mug as we were sailing for Montenegro.

Dubrovnik tour boat

Stern to in Dubrovnik

Stern to in Dubrovnik

Grebeni lighthouse off Dubrovnik

m/y Waverunner

Charterworld gives the following write up on her: m/y Waverunner is a 41.1-meter luxury sport motor yacht custom-built by the renowned American shipyard Palmer Johnson in 2007. Recognized for its striking, aggressive profile and high-performance capabilities, it belongs to the popular Palmer Johnson 135 semi-custom series.

Key Specifications

Designers: The yacht features distinct sporty naval architecture and sleek, modern interior design by the famous Italian design studio Nuvolari Lenard. 

Performance: Powered by twin 3,650 hp MTU diesel engines, it achieves an impressive maximum speed of 33 to 35 knots and a fast cruising speed of 27 knots.

Build: Constructed with a lightweight aluminum hull and superstructure, keeping its gross tonnage at 309 GT. It has a beam of 8.4 meters and a shallow draft of 1.8 meters, making it perfect for shallow island waters.

Guests: Accommodates up to 12 charter guests across 5 cabins. Layout consists of a full-beam Master suite with a private lounge area, plus four versatile guest cabins (two doubles and two twins with additional Pullman berths). 

Crew: Operates with a professional team of 7 to 8 crew members to manage high-end luxury charter service.

Highlights: The boat features expansive deck space optimized for sunbathing, a foredeck Jacuzzi, a spacious main salon styled in light wood, and a wide swim platform.

Yes, sure she is high end but with a crew of 8 it is hardly an easy task of taking care of 12 guests, not to mention if you're at anchor or something out of a port 24/7. I also saw her chase tender coming at me earlier so if the crew has to manage that one too, it means it is one crew less from the mother boat crew.

Arriving Montenegro, Ponta Ostro fort 

Having completed our immigration formalities we headed out and down the coast towards Montenegro. We were sternly told that we can't pass south of the Daksa Island, I guess too much local traffic as it seemed inundated with small craft. As we left Dubrovnik behind us the traffic lessened and we only saw small local fishermen and meeting traffic. I also spotted some very large fish jumping about so no doubt the leisure fishermen were after the same catch.

Arriving Montenegro, O. Mamula fort

Old submarine bunkers in the mountain

Old submarine on land

Then we came into Montenegrian waters and passed the old submarine bunkers from Yugoslavian times, I could see small boats going in for a gander so it seemed pretty open now and submarines all gone apart from the one hulk ashore. There was also a sunken vessel on the shore side as well, probably an old naval ship.

Sunken vessel off the bunker

Heading for Tivat

When I had passed the village of Zelenika and marina Portonovi we headed over the bay towards Tivat. The weather was reasonable and we made speed as per the limits, 10kts. When we got closer we made radio contact and were confirmed the earlier informed berth location of A16 on pier 1. As I came closer I recognised the famous yacht Pelorus was moored in there too, seemingly for the long haul as she was literally stitched in her berth with every thread out that she had plus the anchors down. It can be quite rough there in the winter.

Church and Monastery of our Lady of Mercy

m/y Pelorus

M/Y Pelorus is a 115-meter luxury superyacht built by the German shipyard Lürssen and delivered in 2003. Currently listed for sale through major brokers like Burgess with an asking price of €160,000,000.

Design & Build

Exterior Designer: Tim Heywood. Interior: Terence Disdale.

Shipyard: Lürssen, Germany, Steel hull with an aluminum superstructure.

Refits: Major updates in 2008 and 2017, followed by refit completed in 2025.

Specifications

Length/ beam / tonnage: 115 meters / 17.2 meters / 5,403 GT.

Engines: Twin Wärtsilä 12V26 diesel engines generating roughly 5,300 hp each.

Cruising speed of 18 knots; top speed of 20 knots, range 6,000' at 16 knots.

Accommodations & Amenities

Accommodates up to 24 guests across 12 cabins, crew: up to 47

Equipped with two separate helicopter pads, top-deck lido with two swimming pools, a large hot tub, a sea-level swim platform, and dedicated wellness facilities.

Prominent History

The yacht is famous for its high-profile ownership history. It was originally commissioned for a Saudi businessman, but was quickly acquired by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. It was later owned by American media mogul David Geffen, and its subsequent ownership has included middle eastern clients and international investor Sam Li.

m/y Kalizma in Porto Montenegro

As I passed Pelorus I had another surprise and saw my old command Kalizma also in port, our berth was allocated next to her. I heaved to and swung around, backed into my berth, gave out headlines and sternlines and that was it. I saw the current skipper on Kalizma, Neeraj, and said hello to him, I had briefly met him last summer when I was on Leona and I had dinner with Capt Saini so he had trouble recognizing me but eventually he did. I also then met my old deckhand Kamlesh a.k.a. Raja Ram that had worked with me back in 2008. Capt Saini himself was on leave so Capt Neeraj invited me for dinner and a chat so I did go later in evening for a few hours to enjoy a fresh curry and roti, felt like old times but still not like Richie's tamil style cooking.

Next to my old command, m/y Kalizma

m/y Luminosity

M/y Luminosity (Project FB272) is a world-renowned 107.6-meter (353-foot) superyacht built by the Italian shipyard Benetti Yachts. Delivered in 2020, it is recognized as a technologically advanced and environmentally conscious ships in the world, functioning as the largest diesel-electric hybrid yacht afloat.

Length / Beam / tonnage: 107.6 meters / 17-meter beam/ 5,844 GT

Twin 2,200 kW electric Azipods driven by six 1,000 kW diesel generators backed by a 3-MW battery bank. Top speed of 16 knots, with a range of over 8,000' at 10 knots. Built to Passenger Yacht Code (PYC) standards, accommodating up to 27 guests in 12 cabins, serviced by 37 crew.

The exterior features over 800 square meters of high-performance glass wrapping around the main decks, including spectacular 3-meter-tall floor-to-ceiling windows that maximize natural light.

The hybrid battery technology allows for up to 12 hours of autonomous, silent, and emission-free operation at anchor or navigating through sensitive marine sanctuaries. 

There is also plenty more of info online about her, e.g. large and spacious tender bays. Seems she's a solid build but as documented across yachting forums, she's been arrested there for some time already by the Montenegrian Gov't due to Ukraine - Russo war sanctions and as such has no caretaking crew onboard so she's falling apart when there is no maintenance. There also seems to be a backlog of port dues unpaid so I doubt she's moving anywhere in a while. It's a pity as the original Owner as I understand did not have the opportunity to step onboard and she has not been used for even a day.

Some spliff burners or forest fires on the mountains?

The next day it was time to disembark the guests and prepare to move to the fuel dock to take bunkers, we were already pretty light so better safe than sorry. The agent surprised me that the fuel dock was clear much earlier than expected so I quickly made ready and moved to the fuel docks that were at other end of the marina. next to the arrested Luminosity. Said and done, my Engineer had hoses connected, checklists complete and the bunkering underway in no time, by 2.30pm we had our 45000liters of diesel in the tanks and once the final clearance papers were done we were on our way. 

Luminosity next to fuel dock

The wind was pushing us against the jetty so I thought that I back out. The wind conveniently abated a bit so I got the bow off the jetty with the weak bowthruster and then I kicked the stern out and went astern with port engine. She was much heavier now but she started moving astern steadily. At the corner of the jetty was a floating pontoon that poked out a bit, I had to keep clear of that corner and eventually it all went well. I cleared the jetty with a good margin and once the bow was also passing the corner I kicked ahead with starboard engine to get the stern to turn faster to starboard and away from the Tivat beach and Plaza Ponta. I did a flying 180 degree turn and ended up heading for Noviport and so I adjusted speed to 10 knots and we were off to Cavtat in Croatia for our next assignment...

Leaving the Montenegrin mountains behind