Kotor

Kotor Bay is more like two bays connected by a strait.  On the other side of the strait is the old town of Kotor.  The medieval town of Kotor is a Unesco World Heritage site, as is all of the Kotor Bay region.  At first glance you can't help but think why did they build the town all the way in this corner of the bay when the first section of the bay appears more habitable?  But then you remember the need for safety and realize how on this side they control the Strait.

But just in case invaders did get through the strait the city was heavily fortified.  You have to look closely but you can see the ancient walls going all the way up the mountain.  There are about three miles of preserved city walls still standing.  Once you let your eye wander away from the medieval city itself you begin to see the walls hidden in the surrounding landscape.  Really impressive!  If you look closely behind the palm tree in the picture you will see an old church on the hill and then if you look closer you will see the walls going up the mountain.  At the very top you will see an ancient fortress.  The walls blend in to the landscape so well they are easy to miss.

 

Sadly, the cruise ships have found this lovely piece of ancient history.  We have seen up to two cruise ships anchored in the bay at once.  Somehow they get all those people off the cruise ship and over to Kotor, which then becomes a teeming mass of humans.  

The Marina we were staying at was just across from Kotor, a ten minute taxi ride away.  Marina Kordic is primarily for locals but they do have a couple of spots for transients.  The only problem was you were on the outside wall with no protection.  We stayed a couple of days and got our chores done.  Unfortunately, when we were ready to go the weather forecast was for bura winds (strong NE winds).  The whole portion of the bay is ringed by very high mountains.  As the wind funnels down the mountain it picks up speed and there can be very significant wind gusts.  We had a discussion amongst ourselves first and then with the gal who owns the marina, said she thought we would be safe there.  So... we thought we would stay until the bura winds calmed down.

 

That night however we experienced about 20 knot winds (it was forecast to be greater than 30 knots the next day) and got a little preview of what it would be like at Marina Kordic.  It was unbelievable!  We were getting three to four foot waves in the bay and being jerked around like a slingshot.  By morning the decision was made we would seek shelter elsewhere.  Maja is such a nice person we hated to tell her we could not stay but we would be insane if we did.  There is a new marina near the airport on the other side of the bay (the less mountainous side) that supposedly is fairly secure in all winds.  So we made reservations there and took off.

The bura winds were still another day off so we had time to find a nice secure place to ride it out.  We had a plan and a couple of backup plans as well!  Hopefully, this will be our last experience with the bura winds and we can settle in to some nice sailing and nice anchorages.  Fingers crossed!