Just before dawn, Sea Cloud sailed from the Adriatic and into the outer Bay of Kotor. After embarking the pilot, the ship entered the narrows and passed into the stunning fjord-like inner bay just as the sunrise was striking the tops of the surrounding mountains. Turning to starboard, Captain Komakin brought the ship to the very end of the bay where the old walled City of Kotor is located. Here, Sea Cloud came alongside.
Once we received clearance into Montenegro, we disembarked to meet our coaches and two memorable guides, Stefan and Vasko. Along the shoreline road, we returned down the bay to the town of Perast where we first embarked local tender boats to take us out to Our Lady of the Rocks. This tiny island, originally just a rocky reef, was the site where Catholic Montenegrens believe a miraculous icon washed up. Over the course of centuries, local sailors and fishermen would take rocks and drop them at the site, building up the small island, allowing the picturesque church to be built that now houses the icon. Returning to Perast, we visited the Church of St. Nikola and the Maritime Museum located in an old captain’s mansion.
Later in the morning, we drove to Kotor and proceeded on a walking tour of the atmospheric old town, stopping to see the squares, the Cathedral of St. Tryphon and the Serbian Orthodox church. Guests then had time at leisure to enjoy. While some sat at a café to sample the local beer, others elected to climb the nearly one thousand steps behind the city to reach the crumbling fortress that crowns the city walls. In the mid-afternoon, after a lunch on board, many guests re-boarded our coaches to ascend an unforgettable series of switchbacks, up and over the rim of the mountains around the bay, to arrive at the village of Njegusi. Here, we enjoyed a taste of the local cheese and the smoked ham for which the village is famous in Montenegro. We returned down the hair-raising road to arrive to Sea Cloud just in time for sailing.
In the evening light, guests cruised down the “fjord” enjoying a champagne and local oysters party on the Spanker Deck. Afterwards, an on-deck barbeque dinner was served, followed by a rousing performance of the famed Sea Cloud Sea Shanty Singers, singing salty songs of the sea with plenty of audience participation.
