The Heikell cruising guide accurately predicted the start of the south-bound current in the Straits of Messina. Fortunately, it started at 0530, which was also sunrise. We had a quick trip through the straits dodging the ferries running over to Sicily. We sailed to Rochelle Ionica on the south coast of Italy. There are few anchorages and harbors on the south coast so most boats move around it quickly. We then sailed overnight to Santa Maria di Leuca, which is on the very tip and heel of Italy arriving about sunrise. We spent a day in Leuca seeing the town, buying food, and checking out of Italy.
The next day we made a short run up to Otranto, which has a small anchorage in the harbor to get ready to cross the Adriatic to Montenegro. We left Otranto around 1000 and had light air to start but by sunset the wind had filled in and it was blowing 18 to 20 by midnight. We had to reef the sails because we were going too fast and were going to arrive before sunrise. I did not want to enter the Bay of Kotor at night. The Bay of Kotor is Europe’s southern most fjord. It is spectacular. It is hard to get a perspective on how large the bay is. The Venetians built the walled town of Kotor, which looks a little like a town from Lord of the Rings. Montenegro, which was part of the former Yugoslavia, became independent in 2006. The country was in the news this week because of a threat made by the Russian prime minister about Montenegro joining NATO last month. Reportedly Russian politicians and oligarchs own 50% of the real estate here. We are heading to Dubrovnik, Croatia tomorrow.
Cayuse 
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