Budva - Our first ding with another yacht.

Only 16 miles away so a leisurely start at 10:00am on the 11th August we motor sailed for a couple of hours and anchored for lunch at Sveti Stefan.

This is a lump of land on the end of a sand spit where the residents were asked to vacate so it could be transformed into a very exclusive award winning hotel starting at 1500 Euro a night. The Book recommended a stop here saying there was "particularly clear and clean water for swimming."

We dropped the anchor and the kids were overboard in no time... They were also back on the boat in no time complaining about the filthy smelly water. An hour for lunch and we resumed or journey not a little disappointed with the place we'd heard so much about.

Budva harbour and marina are a combined affair and it bustles with very large and very expensive motor yachts. We'd tried to make radio contact with no joy so we just headed for a spot that looked like ours. Mr Wavy Arms was soon on hand telling me to go to channel 8, then telling me where we could park.

Pontoon 'F' Dukly Marina. A spot we are not likely to forget in a hurry..

We got slime lined on and nicely set when we heard the sound of panic. Raced out on deck to see this 70ft motor yacht heading a little too fast and at a strange angle for the gap between ours and the next boat. There was no way to stop what happened next...

He hit us at the angle right in the middle of the port side and rode up our safety lines to the back of our boat. He then seemed to reverse and come at us a second time. 

They were Italian so I was able to unload in both languages.

It turned out that as he was coming in, the cable between his controls and the inverter that directs energy to engines and gives forward, reverse and sideways motion with the bow thruster broke. The poor sod had no control at all. Luckily on his way in his propeller caught the mooring rope of the other yacht which stopped his engine, stopped him from doing further damage to us or hitting and climbing  the wharf.

Three dingies, a diver and about 10 staff were on the pontoon in no time. They helped him in and within minutes he was on our boat with all the necessary documents and was appropriately apologetic.

We were to report to the Harbour Master's Office the following day to sort an incident report. So with that, his insurance details and boat certificate I should be able to claim through his insurance and avoid the excess.

The damage will not stop us but it is annoying. The stantions, the poles that hold the safety cables up and the ones that form a gate for when moored alongside were badly bent and will need replacement. The huge rigging screws that attach the shrouds (those cables that hold up the mast) to the hull were also bent. I'm estimating $2500 - $5000 to fix.

Cost to stay in the Marina? 315 Euro for two nights!

Budva is a very beautiful walled city and Montenegro is beginning to show off. Dramatic topography and everything is so well preserved and still in full use. 


These should give you some idea...