“Last times”, the trials of shopping at anchor and Sunday for sale

We were anchored in the shelter of a small island called Sveti Marko (also known as Stradioti) in Montenegro’s beautiful Bay of Kotor. Nearby Sue and John on Catabella were also enjoying this glorious spot.

It was business as usual but sadly, not for long. After three great years of travelling together our buddy boating was about to come to an end. Both couples had decided to “swallow the anchor”, or “hang up our oilskins” – in other words, to call it a day, but no sooner had the advert for Catabella appeared, than she was snapped up by buyers who had been looking for that exact style of boat and with the precise year of manufacture.

So everything in this blog will probably be about the last time we did this or that or the other thing together, as in a blink of an eye, contracts were exchanged and Sue and John were packing up their worldly goods ready to vacate their beloved floating home!

We didn’t realise that drinks aboard Catabella with new sailing friends from Australia, Kathy and Neal from S/V Priscilla, and John Sears and his guest from S/V Minnow, would be the last time Sue and John would host us.

Hopefully our return trip to the very nice restaurant Vino Santo, (where we had been previously for John’s birthday) wouldn’t be the last time we go with Sue and John. On this occasion Kathy and Neal plus their friends Andy and April from S/V French Maid and our pals we met in Didim in Turkey, Rachel and Steve and their delightful twin girls, were also there, and we had a lovely evening.

As we were expecting guests – my brother Pat and his wife Marie and their two adult children – we had quite a bit of shopping to do.

Shopping when living on a boat is a very different experience to the normal shopping trip from a land-based situation. First of all you can’t just pop out when you feel like it – if the sea is a bit rough or it’s raining you have to wait until conditions change or your purchases (and you) will probably get wet and soggy.

Secondly, the shops could be quite a long dinghy ride away so you have to be prepared for a the trip – either by smothering yourself in sunblock so you don’t get burnt or wrapping up well from the cold and occasional splashes.

When you arrive at the land you will have to try and find somewhere to tie the dinghy up that is secure and where it is possible to get out! After clambering onto dry land there will always be a bit of a hike to the shops and often one that has one or two obstacles. For example, from our current anchorage, we motor for about 10-15 minutes across open water and then tie up at a small stone jetty. Nearby, there is a swan sitting on her eggs who fluffs her feathers and stretches her wings as we walk gingerly past her.

Then we have to walk down a narrow and brambly path with an open concrete drain next to it. So you have the twin challenge of not getting snagged on the thorny bushes and avoiding falling into the drain.

Once we are at the end of this passage there is a road with no pavement that we have to walk along and on our last shopping expedition we narrowly missed getting bowled over by a car when the driver was looking at his mobile phone.

Finally, we make it to the shop and then the interesting challenge of finding where the items on our shopping list are on display. Quite often we are disappointed – who would think tinned tomatoes, coconut milk, big boxes of teabags, marmalade, tonic water or muesli (to name but a few) would be impossible to find? When we do see these (and other things) for sale we buy in bulk. Of course then we have to haul multiple tins and packages back to the dinghy. No popping them into the car boot and driving home!

Thankfully there are always plenty of fresh vegetables so we eat well but sometimes we long for a jar of Branston pickle or mango chutney or something else we can’t buy in the Mediterranean area.

Of course, I always buy more than I should and consequently we trudge back to the dinghy pulling the granny shopping trolley behind and weighed down by bulging bags.

One of the enjoyable aspects of this particular anchorage is the bird song which goes on all day and much of the night. The songs are as sweet and tuneful as I’ve ever heard so when someone told me they were nightingales I wasn’t surprised. Such a melodic sound!

We also have a herd of goats that walk around the edge of the very overgrown island (it was once a Club Med resort!) and it’s always lovely to hear them baa-ing away and hear their little hooves clip clopping on the shore.

Soon after Sue and John accepted the offer on Catabella we decided to allow the new local Multihull Solutions agent Fabian Courtaux, to list Sunday. She was already listed with Yannis, our Greek agent in Athens who we had used to find Sunday, but as we are going to be in Montenegro for a little while, due to the need to limit our days in the Schengen area and not exceed our 90-day allowance by the end of the season, we decided to list Sunday with Fabian as well.

His lovely wife, Victoria was coming to photograph Sunday so we had some serious spring cleaning to do and we had to put away all the accumulated and motley “stuff” that was scattered throughout the cabins. As I had only just arrived back from Australia via the Netherlands you can imagine how much “stuff” was lying around.

You can see the results here: 2008 Lagoon 420 – Sunday – Multihull Solutions. She looks good doesn’t she?!

From our anchorage you can see the newly built cable car run (when the clouds aren’t hiding it!). We decided as we gazed at it one evening that taking a ride on the cable car would be a terrific thing to do with our guests when they arrived.

Before their arrival we had one more “last time” event with Sue and John – a trip to the anchorage at Risan where we had been before with John when Sue was visiting family.

It was a lovely motor to the anchorage which lies in the inner part of The Bay of Kotor at the opposite end to the ancient town of Kotor – and on arrival Sue and John got their sails up for one last time.

The day had come when Sue and John had to return Lazure Marina for the buyer’s survey on Catabella and for them to take off their boxes ready for storage on land. We too had to get moving as my brother and family were arriving in Montenegro the following day.

Sue and John left at the crack of dawn to be at the marina on time to meet the surveyor while we had a more leisurely trip after a sleep in and breakfast.

We anchored outside Lazure Marina in quite deep water but as there were no other boats we were able to put plenty of chain out.

Jonathan dropped me off at Lazure Marina and as I walked past the hotel and round the corner I spotted Pat and family walking up the laneway. Such brilliant timing!

We gradually loaded them and the luggage on board and once everyone and everything was accounted for we took off to go back to the gorgeous anchorage at Sveti Marko where we spent a very pleasant evening.