Raffaellesco Spring ‘25
Huntington Beach, CA Winter ’24-‘25
It was a mild winter in HB, two rainstorms and some fog,
otherwise sunny and temperate. We did a lot of work on Rascal; bottom paint, replaced
the dripless packing and various other chores from the never-ending list. Aside
from the trip to the Marina Shipyard for bottom paint, we only did one cruise
with Shoreline Yacht Club. It was a fun weekend in Alamitos Bay visiting Seal
Beach Yacht Club and Cerritos Bahia Yacht Club.
We enjoyed our annual trip to Sun Valley to see our friends Marcia and Claudia, such great hosts. Friends Frank and Patty came as well to round out our group. The snow was plentiful with fresh light powder every day.
Plenty of social gatherings with the holidays and New Years events. There were plenty of yacht club events between BWCC and SYC. All the while Raffaellesco was being pummeled by high winds (35-45 knots), rain and cold (not freezing) in Montenegro. Between the Marina and our boat maintenance guys we felt confident that Raffaellesco was in good hands. We had some minor work done; repaired a chip in the fiberglass (sustained when an adjacent boats mooring chain dinged us during a wild storm in Santo Stefano, Italy), and polishing out some scratches in the stainless-steel stanchions (sustained in a close encounter in Naples, Italy).
March 5, 2025 - Huntington Beach, USA
Up early and ready to go by 0745. The homestead was in good
order and well secured. Our friend Inez picked us up for the short ride to
Orange County airport. She seems to enjoy driving us to and from the airport,
she says that this way she is the last person we see before leaving and the
first person we see on our arrival home.
The airport was quiet, we only had two bags to check, and
the Sky Priority line was empty. TSA Pre security check and we were at the gate
early. Time for a cappuccino and a latte. The plane departed on time for the
short flight to Salt Lake City. There was just enough time to take a walk in
the concourse and take in the snow-covered mountains to the east. Our flight to
Paris was on time and comfortable, we loved the premium seats, meals and
cocktail service and the movies. We managed a few academy award nominees, Real
Pain, Sing Sing, Maria and Email Perez. A couple of naps and we were landing in
Paris. There was a beautiful sunrise and orange sky as we crossed the English
Channel at 25,000 feet.
March 6, 2025 – Paris, France
Charles DeGale Airport is chaotic and confusing, but with
vigilance we found our gate with minutes to spare. From here it was a short hop
to Barcelona that went by quickly with another nap. At the Barcelona airport we
gathered our two bags and thanked the luggage gods for getting our bags there
with us. The original plan was to take Suzette back to IMO for another eye check-up
during our 24-hour layover in Barcelona, but the appointment had to be
cancelled at the last minute, the doctor was in a conference that day. Passing
through the airport there was a Duty-Free shop that caught Suzette’s eye, a
whole Iberica Jamone to be precise. She confirmed that we could take it to
Montenegro with us, now she was on a mission to buy it in the morning on our
way out.
We walked to the hotel in the airport, Sleep and Fly, to
drop our bags and maybe go into the city. Unfortunately, it started to rain,
and it was cold, so we went for lunch in the airport instead. Back at the Sleep
& Fly we were fading and succumbed to a nap. Another meal from the airport
for dinner, this time it was more of a picnic that we had back at the hotel,
bread, cheese, jamone, apple and some wine, a favorite Spanish meal. We did not
last long and managed to sleep until 0900 the next morning.
March 7, 2025 – Barcelona, Spain
We enjoyed the hotel breakfast before making our way to our
next flight. There are a limited number of flights to Dubrovnik and Montenegro.
This and the desire to visit IMO for a check up is what precipitated the 24-hour
layover. Suzette decided to pass on the whole jamone and went for some
prepackaged slices, Arbequina Spanish olive oil and a wheel of Manchego cheese.
We flew on Vueling Airlines, a discount Spanish airline that we have used
multiple times now. They flew us to Dubrovnik where we had a car pick us up and
drive the last 100 km to our Marina. We arrived earlier than expected, 1600. It
was a beautiful day, sunny, warm and still. We checked into the Lazure Hotel at
the Marina, dumped our bags and walked down to see the boat.
Raffaellesco was freshly cleaned and the minor repairs
looked good. We climbed aboard and went below; she still has that new boat
smell. The interior was dry and clean considering we had not been on board for
nearly 4 months. We had not planned on working on the boat on this day, but we
were well rested, and the weather was perfect. Suzette set about wiping down
the interior and unpacking what was on the boat. I worked on the top side and
got all the lines back in place, put up the safety equipment and set up the
grill.
It was getting dark, 1800, so we decided to go grocery shopping. There are plenty of good stores close by, wagon in tow we walked to the store. Stocking the boat is a bit of a challenge because you need everything. After perusing two different grocery stores our wagon was full. I was hungry and did not want the restaurants to close before we could eat, so we stashed the full wagon in the hotel room and went to dinner at the hotel restaurant on the waterfront. I was surprised that we were not the only guests. After a delicious dinner we rallied and brought the wagon down to the boat to unload and stow the food. Feeling very satisfied with our progress on recommissioning the boat it was back to the hotel. We grabbed a couple glasses of wine to take up to our room to wind down and settle in for a comfortable sleep. The rooms here are amazing, spacious and well appointed with a very a comfortable bed. The hotel occupies what once was a hospital built in the 18th century, but you would never know, it is beautifully renovated, the only giveaways are the exposed beams in the ceiling and the beautiful stone walls of the exterior.
March 8, 2025 – Marina Lazure, Montenegro
A cool crisp morning as we watch the sun come up and reveal
a clear blue sky morning. We enjoyed our beautiful hotel room, Suzette taking a
bath in the oversized free standing tub, me luxuriating in the king sized bed
reading. My friend Dan recommended a book to me, Reading the Glass A Captain’s
View of Weather, Water, and Life on Ships by Elliot Rappaport. For me it is a
great read, interesting sailing adventures with weather lessons woven into the
stories. Sort of sneaking in an education when you are not looking.
By 0800 we are checked out and, on the boat, luggage and all. Suzette continued her efforts below while I started putting the canvas back on the bimini and dodger. Not wanting to miss the hotel breakfast buffet we took a break at about 1000. We took our bikes as we planned to ride over to the Port Authority after breakfast. The spread on the buffet is incredible, espresso bar, breads and cakes, fruits and cheeses, salads and meats, eggs any way you like, and it goes on from there.
Replete, but not stuffed, we headed to the Port Authority,
about a 15-minute bike ride. When we arrived the Port Captain had just finished
checking in a huge motor yacht that we could see moored at the Customs quay. He
waves us in, and I present our papers. He finds that we are already in the system,
so the process is expedited. We were procuring our cruising vignette for our
remaining time in Montenegro. We payed our 90 euros, and we are good for a
month, hopefully we will clear out of Montenegro sooner than that, but we are
prepared for eventualities…weather.
Across the street is a sporting goods store where we found a
new nap sack to replace one that was shredded on the last trip. This is a
pretty complete sports store, most any sport, even skiing. Next door is a huge
market, an excellent opportunity to continue our provisioning. The last stop in
this little shopping center is a beautiful vegetable stand filled with fresh
fruits and vegetables. We did not consider whether they were local or imports
at the time. We later discovered that there are many small farms in Montenegro,
but they do not produce enough to sell to the grocery chains. We were
encouraged to buy local to support these farms, we will try harder now to seek
out the local produce. Evidently many of their crops and milk go to waste for
lack of a distribution network. Sounds like they need to form a coop and get
some representation.
Fully loaded we peddled back to the boat satisfied with our
purchases and very happy to have our cruising permit in hand. On the dock we
met a couple from San Francisco who are cruising on their catamaran Ola. Steve
and Karen spend most of their time on their boat, but winter was spent skiing in
Europe. Sadly, they were disappointed in the amount of snow on the mountains.
The climate change has drastically limited the snow that falls in the Alps and Europe
and resorts are closing permanently. They are do it yourselfers like us, I am
sure we will become good friends.
Back to work on the boat. By the end of the day, I had the
bimini and dodger up and the solar panels redeployed and running. Suzette had things
stowed and in good order below. The dock was busy with other sailors preparing
their boats for departure, this is the marina life in the spring, though
technically it is still winter. Last chore of the day was to put up the jib and
rig it, with no wind this went quickly and without any issues,
We settled in for our first meal on the boat, a hardy salad, and some trip planning. The goal is to get to Corfu by April 1, it is only 200 miles south, but the weather is not looking good for the next week or so, high winds and rain. Plan A was to head 35 mile south to Bar, Montenegro and check out of the country there. Then we would cross the Adriatic 110 miles SW to Brindisi, Italy to check into the EU, we had a great experience with and agent there on our last check in. Then we would head 35 miles south to Otranto, Italy, a great jumping off point for Corfu, Greece. The trip to Corfu is about 75 miles SE back across the narrowest part of the Adriatic. We would then check into Greece for cruising permits and tourist taxes, but there would be no need for Customs and Immigration.
With the weather only offering small windows for passages we
need to consider some shorter hops, not to mention the fact that the Admiral is
not found of 100 plus mile runs across the open sea. Plan B is a bit more
complicated. We will proceed to Bar and check out as planned. From there we
head south about 50 miles to Durres, Albania and check in to Albania. This will
require an agent as they do not get many private yachts stopping there. From
Durres we would head another 50 miles south to Vlore, Albania to check out of
the country. Hopefully the agent we used before will be able to help with our
check out. From Kotor, Montenegro to Vlore the coast tucks in and seems to be
protected from the high winds out at sea, maybe safer and more comfortable.
From Vlore we would continue 70 miles south to Corfu where we would check back
into Greece and the EU. Thus making the trip shorter by 20 or 30 miles and more
coastal so we can take advantage of the small weather windows. This is much
more complicated with the formalities, but safer and the Admiral will be happy.
March 9, 2025 – Marina Lazure, Montenegro
Another gorgeous day. Today I worked through the systems,
engine, instruments, winches, water and electricity. By noon the boat was ready
to go. If it were not for the need to check out tomorrow and to pay our boat
maintenance guys we might have left for Bar today. Instead, we went for a bike
ride into the old town of Herceg Novi.
The bike path along the bay is beautiful. As we entered the city,
we saw crowds and heard loud music, a festival? It turned out to be a race.
Herceg is perched on a steep hill running up from the Bay of Kotor. There is a
street that winds its way up to the main road in a series of S turns. There is
an annual race down the road that has been occurring for nearly 60 years. The
vehicle is a 3 wheeled affair where the wheels are not unlike a skateboard, except
that they are made of steel, very noisy on the asphalt paving. 2 wheels on the
back and one on the front of a small rectangle of wood, some as small as 1’ wide
x 1.5’ long to as large as 2’ wide x 3’ long. The front wheel is attached to a
cross bar that the driver uses to to steer. The driver sits back on the board,
feet extended in front of the cart and attempts to race down this hill
negotiating hair pin turns all the way. Fortunately, they have hay bales and
tires stack along the course so that when they crash, and they do, no one gets
hurt. We walked the course that was lined with people. The bars that overlooked
the course were overflowing with patrons and the music was blaring, it was one
big party. If that is not enough, after the single drivers raced, they then had
doubles race, two men on a cart. I say men as I saw no women driving, proving
once again how much smarter women are then men…
We walked the town along the waterfront and enjoyed the sights and people watching. We were accosted by a young man from Bosnia, I guess we stood out as Americans. Could it be because I was the only guy wearing shorts? He started off by telling us that he lived in Montenegro and wanted to live in the United States. He wants to enter legally and become a citizen. We advised that this might be difficult under the current administration. He was confident that he would be successful, and he likes Trump very much. He also liked Putin and was happy to see Putin and Trump collaborating. He went on in many directions before we had to extricate ourselves and move on.
It was Sunday so we relaxed on the boat in the sunshine.
Suzette made a pizza crust that we put out in the sun to rise, it is pizza Sunday
after all. We could not find tomato paste for our sauce, but they had pizza ketchup
in a foil pouch that turned out to be very tasty. We enjoyed our pizza with the
last bottle of our favorite Italian wine and relaxed for the night.
March 10, 2025 – Lazure Marina, Montenegro
The weather was scheduled to roll in today, high wind by 1000
and rain by 1300. The sky was overcast when we awoke so we decided that we
should finish provisioning so we could hide out on board for the next 4 or 5
days. The winds were predicted to gust up to 35-45 knots and the rain would be
continuous, but not torrential. We walked up to the little town by the marina
and stopped in 4 different stores before returning to the boat ahead of the
rain.
We stopped at the Marina office to extend our stay.
Originally this was planned to be our last day, and we were ready to go, but… We
extended our stay to March 19. The ladies in the office are very helpful,
friendly and fluent in English. I was fun to talk with them as we seek to learn
more about Montenegro. The wind did not pick up until late in the evening and
the rain started about 1600, just as our maintenance guys arrived to get paid.
They did a fabulous job, and I was happy to give them a generous tip, though
they did try to refuse, we insisted. I guess it is American thing, this
tipping.
Suzette had soup stock brewing, the cabin was warm and
smelled delicious as the weather got ugly outside. We were able to find the
ingredients for our favorite cocktail, a Black Manhattan, everything except the
cherries. We bought a jar of sour cherries, drained off the juice into a pan
and simmered it with sugar. The sweet juice was returned to the cherries in the
jar and viola, as good as the Luxardo Cherries at home. Black Manhattans tonight.
The wind howled overnight, the lines strained, and the boat moved around a bit,
we were happy to be secured to a dock in what had become a familiar place.
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