Navigational pants

The little shack that was the office of the pontoon we were berthed on was inhabited by a bunch of swarthy older chaps. It is hard to tell age out here as everyone has weathered a bit but of interest they had a big poster of Josip Broz Tito in his best Hollywood pose, finger to lip Dr No style.

We had a pleasant stay in Bar. The people were all very friendly, especially the Harbour master, Police and Customs were efficient and helpful.
It is a commercial port but obviously does a fair bit of trade for locals on holiday. There is a Riva with some stylish cafes and restaurants. There was a nice relaxed atmosphere with a lot of promenading going on, however less about stuff strutting and more of young couples with their kids, being taught how to promenade properly.

Jings

The only architectural feature we found was the most humongous brand new Orthodox church/cathedral with brand new frescos, indeed not yet complete. I thought the days of churches spending vast amounts of cash on real estate were over but clearly not here.
It is interesting to note that there are clear national physiognomies still evident in this region. In Croatia there is a marked preponderance of really tall men and women, we were definitely on the Hobbit side. It was also noticeable that people were a bit un-smiley when first contact is made although subsequently became very helpful and friendly.
In Montenegro people are more normal in terms of dimension. They also seem a bit more jovial and engaging on first contact. I think they are only just really starting their tourist industry so tourists are a bit more of a novelty and they are trying to encourage them. Perhaps a few more decades of exposure to tourism with all its warts will reduce their affable disposition. I hope not. I liked Montenegro.

So 2am, I had not really slept because of the huge celebrations going on until midnight. I am not sure what it was all about but the locals had got properly dressed up, multiple photo sessions for the girls in front of the sunset and on with the party. A huge PA system in the town square blasted out local rock bands to uproarious cheering from the assembled throng.

Dawn over Montenegro

Just what I wanted before a long passage.
We set off without incident and headed directly for Brindisi 100 miles away. The route is a bit right of South and the initial wind direction was on the nose again. However it was also a bit lumpy with a large North westerly swell and quartering sea. It was then that the stern navigation light suddenly failed. Fortunately the cunningly acquired blow up solar powered replacement one came into play (Ebay £1 from China). I then noticed that the port hand (red) navigation light had also failed. just before we left, Toni's crew had replaced all the old bulbs with new LED ones and wonder if there is an issue here. This was a more difficult problem to solve. However M. came up with the ingenious placement of a head torch inside a pair of red pants and tying them to the port side of the boat. I did not know she possessed such a racy item but I am pleased she did. I think...bit like the red petticoats in the Railway children.
The wind swung round to the predicted NW but stuck annoyingly at 10-12 knots i.e. not enough for us to sail at sufficient pace to reach landfall by dusk. So we motor-sailed for the next 60 miles and made good time. I went for a nap and awoke to find us sailing along nicely. M. had magicked up a nice sailing breeze and we were skipping along at 6.5 knots on a broad reach. There was still quite a big quartering sea but it was much more comfortable sailing than motoring.

Castella del mare

Brindisi inner harbour

We carried on uneventfully and sailed into Brindisi. the outer harbour is a huge industrial area with chimneys and oil depots with a vast expanse of flat water inside a mile long concrete mole. The inner harbour is however delightful with a very picturesque waterfront. We pulled up alongside the concrete harbour wall. This needs the fenders to be very low to avoid damage. We had been forewarned of this from the cruiserswiki  website but the French boat next to us had made a nasty mess of their dark blue Gelcoat. They had a crew of four and had sailed from Rome. They were due to set off at 2am in the opposite direction back to Bar. I gave them a briefing about Bar but by this time the wind had piped up to 25knts Northerly and I have to say I did not fancy their journey.

I made friends with a couple of local gents who had helped M. with the ropes. Actually they had watched and advised in loud and gesticulating Italian. I managed to work out where the Police and Customs lived and headed for them with the paperwork.
The security guard was very helpful and I found the Polizia Fronteria office. The building seemed empty but eventually I found a buzzer to press below a CCTV camera. After a few minutes the response came "We are not here, go away."
It was now 19.00 on a Saturday evening and the European Cup final was about to start so I suppose that was not unreasonable. I will try again tomorrow.

Betty's Sweet Selection

In the meantime we voted to eat ashore at Betty's Ristorante and Pizzeria 20 feet from the boat. They had that added advantage of having a large TV set with the football about to be shown.
It was a thoroughly entertaining evening with every character from Italian cinematic history portrayed by the staff and clientele in loud and volatile exuberance.
The comedy continued with Loris Karius handing, literally, the game to Real.

P.S. I have just published a post called electric soup out of order, it should have been published on 24/5.

C.