So - what boating next

[Hardmy]

Alternatively, you could maybe base your boat in Croatia for the summer months, anywhere between Split & Zadar, with their regular summer flights could work well, and then over-winter in Montenegro. Ok, winter weather might be hit & miss, but Podgorica has cheap twice-weekly direct winter flights by Ryan Air from Stansted. Also twice-weekly via Charleroi from Manchester, which could provide an extra choice of length of stay. Additionally from late March, Easyjet fly Manchester, and I think Gatwick, direct to Tivat, about 10 minutes from Porto Montenegro.
J.

Another alternative, would be to move to the Bari-Brindisi region for the winter. Plenty of cheap flights all year and several good yards. Then inland Apulia is really beautiful, and there is the Italian cuisine! BTW - crossing the Adriatic is only 100NM...

I would like to post some pics of Apulia, but I must have lost them together with my previous phone. Only a souvenir from Monopoli. People sunbathing on a 06.12.2014!

 

[BartW]

Alternatively, you could maybe base your boat in Croatia for the summer months, anywhere between Split & Zadar, with their regular summer flights could work well, and then over-winter in Montenegro. Ok, winter weather might be hit & miss, but Podgorica has cheap twice-weekly direct winter flights by Ryan Air from Stansted. Also twice-weekly via Charleroi from Manchester, which could provide an extra choice of length of stay. Additionally from late March, Easyjet fly Manchester, and I think Gatwick, direct to Tivat, about 10 minutes from Porto Montenegro.
J.

Porto Montenegro is at 25 Nm from Dubrovnic, which is imo one of the most exiting cruising areas in Croatia.
(Marina's in or around Dubrovnic are crap)
another beautiful region for hanging around is the Trogir Sibenic region,
this is at one day navigation from Dubrovnic. all the islands in between; Mljet, Korcula, Brac, Hvar are worth a visit !

for flying to Porto Montenegro, I use:
in summer: ditect flights to Tivat (10 minutes from port)
in winter:
- To Podgorica (Ryanair) 1h30min from port (rent car or taxi)
- To Dubrovnic 1h 15min from port
- To Belgrade and connection flight to Tivat.

 

[Hurricane]

Lots of good ideas here.
Croatia seems to be a place that mustn't be missed out.

I hadn't thought of the culinary factor either and Deleted User's advice on this matter has always been good.

 

[BartW]

this is the porto in Tivat Montenegro,
the sharp eye observer can find Blue Angel

this is around the korner,
Perast, at 3 miles from Tivat,
picture is taken last weekend
(scuse poor quality)

some more pics from this place, taken from the internet

at the far end of this pic you can see the snow on the mountains (>2000m alt.)

at the end of the bay is Kotor (7nm from Tivat)

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Sounds absolutely divine Mike except the last thing I want to eat when I am away from work is bloody chips!

Well I don't get chips at home ever so when I go on holiday I eat chips!

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Alternatively, you could maybe base your boat in Croatia for the summer months, anywhere between Split & Zadar, with their regular summer flights could work well, and then over-winter in Montenegro. Ok, winter weather might be hit & miss, but Podgorica has cheap twice-weekly direct winter flights by Ryan Air from Stansted. Also twice-weekly via Charleroi from Manchester, which could provide an extra choice of length of stay. Additionally from late March, Easyjet fly Manchester, and I think Gatwick, direct to Tivat, about 10 minutes from Porto Montenegro.
J.

I didnt realise that Easyjet were flying to Tivat now. Thats a big plus for Porto Montenegro. FWIW we used to move our boat to Monfalcone in Italy for the winter. Not really a cruising area and it can be bloody chilly in winter but there's a lot of boat maintenance expertise in the area and there are regular flights all year round to the nearby Friuli Venezia Giulia airport (Trieste in Ryanairspeak) or Venice Marco Polo airport is about 1hr 30mins drive away

One downside of Croatia I found was that there was a lack of boat maintenance expertise there and getting routine tasks done was often frustrating and buying spare parts locally was an issue. I used to try to get everything done in Italy over the winter and then cross fingers that nothing major happened during the summer

 

[Hardmy]

You are really lucky Bart, being able to use the boat during the winter. Very jalous. What temperature did you have? Is there heating on your boat?

I was playing with the idea to put mine back in the water for a couple of days but is too much a lottery weather wise...

 

[BartW]

You are really lucky Bart, being able to use the boat during the winter. Very jalous. What temperature did you have? Is there heating on your boat?
I was playing with the idea to put mine back in the water for a couple of days but is too much a lottery weather wise...

I was stucked with a engine rebuild the last two winters,
so yes indeed I feel really happy with that again
you need some luck with the weather, because it can be Sunny, but can aswell be windy and rainy,
and when northern wind it's very cold !!!
Last weekend we had lunch in T-shirt in the cockpit,
when in the sun and no wind temp feels like +20°C (in reality something like 16°C )
but at evening it become rather cold, down to 8 or even 6°C

we have a reversing airco / heating system in the boat which works very well.
otherwise I couldn't convince swmbo to join me during winter visits

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Btw thanks to Hardmy and BartW for some fabulous pics on this thread

 

[Hurricane]

Thanks Bart
That marina at Tivat look nice.

 

[stillwaters]

I was stucked with a engine rebuild the last two winters,
so yes indeed I feel really happy with that again
you need some luck with the weather, because it can be Sunny, but can aswell be windy and rainy,
and when northern wind it's very cold !!!
Last weekend we had lunch in T-shirt in the cockpit,
when in the sun and no wind temp feels like +20°C (in reality something like 16°C )
but at evening it become rather cold, down to 8 or even 6°C

we have a reversing airco / heating system in the boat which works very well.
otherwise I couldn't convince swmbo to join me during winter visits

Nice pics to look at, thanks, just as storm Barbara has announced her arrival here. Pleased to see that you had good weather there in December, certainly makes up for the torrential rain in November when we were there. I noticed that there seems to be quite a varied network of service agents around Porto Montenegro, plus of course there is also the nearby Navar yard, and I wondered if you had found them to be any good for maintenance or upgrade work, or does Italy make more sense?
J.

 

[MapisM]

this is the porto in Tivat Montenegro,
the sharp eye observer can find Blue Angel

That's easy, with the BA unmistakable and timeless lines! :encouragement:
Nice placement btw, I guess you can enjoy some great sunsets from both the f/b and the cockpit!

Out of curiosity, what is the 5th boat from the main dock, with the blue hull?
An Amel, possibly? She surely looks a proper small ship, anywyay.

 

[John100156]

I know what you mean Mike, I was only saying to Lorraine in November that we may move away from SCM next year and I had targeted Croatia, but I must say Montenegro looks really enticing; I love the idea of a short hop over to Italy too and a slow cruise up to the lagoon in Venice.

I expect Greece and Turkey would also be great for cruising, but I do wonder with the latter how stable it might be, I see it as a risk, albeit I am sure those that are berthed there may be able to allay any fears. We have been there several times, I can speak some Turkish and know their numbering system well, probably better than Spanish, having had a close friend growing up that was Turkish, many years ago. My experience was of a fairly strict Muslim Turkish family, once they accept you, they were immensely warm, friendly and hospitable. I ate many meals with them. As I recall, it really amused them that I took a typical UK size cup of their Turkish coffee, complete with sludge in the bottom. Even so, I would have some reservations in the current climate berthing there.

Anyway, I will continue to watch this thread with great interest.

 

[BartW]

. I noticed that there seems to be quite a varied network of service agents around Porto Montenegro, plus of course there is also the nearby Navar yard, and I wondered if you had found them to be any good for maintenance or upgrade work, or does Italy make more sense?
J.

yes there are plenty of service co's, not all of them are good, as I'm advised from my neighbour captains ( local's)
but some of them are highly respected,
Prento my engine service co is one of the best respected co's.
Ilko"s father worked all his live on fishing boat engines, long before Porte Montenegro existed, gradually Ilko took over the business,

about the yards, 2 years ago I visited the Navar yard and Marina Zelenica,
the latter was not only much cheaper, but the people where much more easy going when I asked them about doing work myself on the boat in their yard.
Also the communication with M. Zelenika, was much more easy and pleasant.
So since then we had 2 times lift out for anti fouling etc.. in Marina Zelenika, and I am really pleased with the work they did,
actually equally good or better than I ever had in France and Italy...
Asc for Anna, and mention you've been advised by the captain of Bleu Angel, I'm sure they will threat you well !

I have to say that on my quay is a equal number of captains that bring their boats to Navar, so they are probably good aswell, but their offer for a liftout and AF was MORE expensive than SOF, which is totally unrealistic in a country with much lower avarage salary's.
(Hourly rate for service on my engines is 35 euro)

the only thing that is lacking there is a serious structural (re-) builder,
there are a few small boat building co's around, (for small fishing or tourists taxi boat's) but none of them is experienced for doing serious rebuilding work on a Luxury Yacht.

 

[BartW]

That's easy, with the BA unmistakable and timeless lines! :encouragement:
Nice placement btw, I guess you can enjoy some great sunsets from both the f/b and the cockpit!

Out of curiosity, what is the 5th boat from the main dock, with the blue hull?
An Amel, possibly? She surely looks a proper small ship, anywyay.

nice position indeed,
for your reference, this is pontoon D.
The main dock, Quay 1, is the one with the palm threes.
the superyachts are on the right hand side of Quay1

I can't answer your question about that 5th boat, as the picture is 2,5 y old, (taken from PM website)
and this was not a resident boat,
but there is at least one Amels in PM.
and a few others that might be interesting for you ;-)

 

[MapisM]

but there is at least one Amels in PM.
and a few others that might be interesting for you ;-)

Well, I'm afraid Amels never built anything that I could remotely consider...
But if you are aware of any nice 55' or so boat (60' max) which is for sale in your area, I'm all ears!
Btw, that F590 was eventually sold on auction for 216k Eur (+VAT), would you believe that...?!?
Sometimes I think that there are folks who just assume that a repo boat is a bargain no matter what! :ambivalence:

 

[BartW]

Well, I'm afraid Amels never built anything that I could remotely consider...

I meant: interesting to look at
we all like to look at nice ships don't we

 

[MapisM]

LOL, yeah, I should have guessed that!
Btw, did you see the big wooden Canados, whose pic I posted in the "2016 boating pics" thread? That definitely falls in the "interesting to look at" category.
I could have titled that pic "a momentary glimpse of reason". That's when I decided NOT to buy her, needless to say!
But boys, was she tempting...!

 

[BartW]

LOL, yeah, I should have guessed that!
Btw, did you see the big wooden Canados, whose pic I posted in the "2016 boating pics" thread? That definitely falls in the "interesting to look at" category.
I could have titled that pic "a momentary glimpse of reason". That's when I decided NOT to buy her, needless to say!
But boys, was she tempting...!

for shure I it,
and in my imagination I saw your wink ;-)
a abolutely interesting ship
but if there is one but only one thing that I regret on BA,
it is the wooden structural parts, yes I know you told me.
thanks for posting that one, love it !

 

[stillwaters]

yes there are plenty of service co's, not all of them are good, as I'm advised from my neighbour captains ( local's)
but some of them are highly respected,
Prento my engine service co is one of the best respected co's.
Ilko"s father worked all his live on fishing boat engines, long before Porte Montenegro existed, gradually Ilko took over the business,

about the yards, 2 years ago I visited the Navar yard and Marina Zelenica,
the latter was not only much cheaper, but the people where much more easy going when I asked them about doing work myself on the boat in their yard.
Also the communication with M. Zelenika, was much more easy and pleasant.
So since then we had 2 times lift out for anti fouling etc.. in Marina Zelenika, and I am really pleased with the work they did,
actually equally good or better than I ever had in France and Italy...
Asc for Anna, and mention you've been advised by the captain of Bleu Angel, I'm sure they will threat you well !

I have to say that on my quay is a equal number of captains that bring their boats to Navar, so they are probably good aswell, but their offer for a liftout and AF was MORE expensive than SOF, which is totally unrealistic in a country with much lower avarage salary's.
(Hourly rate for service on my engines is 35 euro)

the only thing that is lacking there is a serious structural (re-) builder,
there are a few small boat building co's around, (for small fishing or tourists taxi boat's) but none of them is experienced for doing serious rebuilding work on a Luxury Yacht.

Thanks for that, that will be very helpful if our own plans for next year, moving our boating to the Adriatic work out.

As this thread about next year's boating plans seems an appropriate place, may I wish all on the forum not only a Happy Christmas, but also an enjoyable year ahead, whether on the water or not - though preferably on it, of course.:encouragement:
J.