Family visit to Idyllic Bay of Kotor

The Bay of Kotor really is an ideal place to welcome non-yachtie guests for a beautiful week of sightseeing, eating well and enjoying the stunning scenery.

My brother Pat, his wife Marie and their two adult children were the first guests of the season and we were so lucky with the weather. The month of May can be rainy, cool and very windy but we had glorious sunshine much of the time.

We stayed the first night in the anchorage at Sveti Marko, not far from Tivat but the next day decided to head for the ancient town of Kotor.

Pat steered all the way and kept a great course! That afternoon, after Jonathan had given dinghy driving lessons to the younger crew members – who also did very well – we went ashore to have a walk round the winding streets and laneways of this charming fortified town which dates back to Medieval times.

Four centuries of Venetian domination (1420 to 1797) have given the city the typical Venetian architecture, and at times, you catch yourself thinking you’ve been teleported to a Tuscan hilltop village!

Entering the main gate, the first building you see is the iconic clock tower. Built in 1602, it was damaged badly in an earthquake and was rebuilt in 1972.

Another important landmark is the centuries old Black Poplar tree. Planted in 1667 in the garden of what was then a monastery.

Outside the nearby cat museum’s entrance we saw some dear little kittens which I guess was appropriate. Kotor is well known for its many cats and locals view them as symbols of good luck, and the tourists love them!

On our wandering we also saw the Serbian Orthodox Church of St Nicholas and the much smaller and older church dedicated to St Luke which we were able to enter.

As evening fell we started the relay back to the boat (our dinghy can only hold four people so two trips are needed when we have multiple guests, and of course more trips if there is luggage.)

While we waited for Jonathan’s return we gazed at the impressive fortifications that rise up behind Kotor and which were glowing in the setting sun. I wished I had the strength and energy to walk up to the top of the hill as the view must surely be out of this world!

The following day however, we found the way to get the views without the hard work- the perfect solution – a cable car!

The newly opened facility is very reasonably priced and the ride was truly spectacular!

The photos don’t really do the views justice plus soon after arrival the clouds gathered on one side of the mountain obscuring our view! These did part so we had fabulous vistas all round before we went down the mountain again.

Our plan to sail to another bay were thwarted the next day as our portside engine which had been playing up over the past few days, and not starting straight away every time, decided to pack up just as we were leaving Kotor.

Jonathan tried steering on one engine – perfectly possible once you have got going but not so when you are trying to leave an anchorage, particularly when you are anchored close to other boats.

The cry “all hands” went up and the crew were given a fender each in case we got too close to the neighbouring boats at anchor. Thankfully Jonathan managed to grab a mooring that belonged to a local fisherman but he had to jump in the freezing water to secure it!

We were very fortunate that Sue and John had recommended Goran, the official Volvo main dealer in Montenegro, but also works on our engines – Yanmars – in an emergency. He was amazing and despite the following day being a Sunday, sent two of his workers to find the problem.

Ironically, the engine started fine next morning, but his guys found a loose relay switch which just needed tightening up!

Meanwhile, leaving Jonathan aboard, the rest of us headed to the bus station as we thought it would be good opportunity to take a trip to Herceg Novi. Unfortunately all the buses were cancelled until mid- afternoon due to the swim, run and bike race taking place in Kotor that day.

So we decided to spend another day exploring Kotor which in the end we were very pleased about as we saw many new places.

We entered by a different gate from our last visit – this time we went in via the Gurdić Gate, located at the southern end of town, and takes its name from the Gurdić Spring, which was a critical source of water for the town in Medieval times.

We encountered some lovely squares, fabulous shops, and wonderful ruins. We even went to the cat museum!

We also found the Catholic Cathedral of St Tryphon, patron and protector of the city, whose remains were brought from Constantinople (now Istanbul) to an earlier Church built on the same site in 809.

When we returned to the boat it had been repaired and we were able to leave. It was such a relief as the family were only here for a week and we had so much to pack in!

We had a very pleasant motor across our the inner bay to Morinjski Zaliv where are favourite restaurant in Montenegro (and in our Top 10 in the world!) – Ćatovića Mlini – is situated.

Once we had anchored we took the dinghy to the restaurant – to get there you follow a small inlet into a narrow and shallow stream, go under a low bridge and then find yourselves in a magical green haven.

You wander along towards what used to be a stone flour mill which has been in the same family (the Catovics) for 200 years and now serves as the restaurant‘s indoor dining room and kitchen.

The outside dining area is just gorgeous – surrounded by trees and bushes and looking out on to the gurgling mill stream – idyllic!

Pat and family agreed it was beautiful and we made the decision to book in for lunch the following day which we all thoroughly enjoyed.