Gospa od Skrpjela (Our Lady of the Rocks)

Topaz had already left for Croatia, but Juventa and CaMaLa were in Risan. We hadn’t been to that part of the Bay of Kotor yet, so off we went. There wasn’t much wind, but we were able to set the jib and make 3 knots. As we passed Our Lady of the Rocks (a church on a tiny island in the middle of the bay), we realized that there was a wedding going on. They were in the midst of photos, and we were going to be part of the background – good thing we were looking shipshape!

The Risan farmers market

Risan is an ancient town, that people don’t know much about, and very few remains exist because of a devastating earthquake centuries ago during which most of the town slid into the sea. Remnants of a Roman villa, with beautiful tile work, is one of the few pieces of history that remain. The villa was walled off to create the Mosaic Museum.

Magnificent mosaic floors of the villa

After the ruins we walked through a local park and explored one of the churches.

Risan also has one of the best Sunday markets we’ve experienced. (Good thing, as stores are closed on Sundays.). I stocked up on lots of produce, and splurged on their local prosciutto, which is sliced to order. I was excited to pick up cranberries, which I later discovered had pits/seeds that made cooking a sauce a very labor intensive process!

Greece was calling to George, so we had a final movie night onboard Juventa, and then headed back to Kalyra, where we tested out our new chain in 30 knot gusts from the katabatic winds that race down the mountain every night (no surprise, anchor held).

Unfortunately, our luck ran out with the toilet the following morning. Instead of a leisurely day ashore, Trip was hunched over the toilet dissembling everything he had put back together in the boat yard. It was a long, hot, smelly job, but such is boat life some days….