On the run

On the run

Pirates in Greece, fleeing to Albania and finally towards Italy -  18th July to the 27th July

It was a nervous departure from Galaxidi back out into the Gulf and only after a few hours we took an anchorage spot in the dark ready for an early start the following morning. 

Fi - taking the early morning shift - little bit sleepy!

Passing under the huge suspension bridge and coming out into the more open Ionian Sea calmed the nerves and allowed us to enjoy having those sails back up.

Fi with everything under control.

'three to port, one to starboard!'

The gulf of Corinth suspension bridge, passed two weeks late but......

with success! (mast under bridge)

Nevertheless, the feeling that officials and Port police were watching out for us popping into a marina kept us on our toes and so we sailed and motored when flat calm, through the magnificent Ionian Islands overnight.  It was so sad to not be able to go ashore to Kefalonia, Ithaca or Zakynthos; the islands I have dreamed of returning to since I visited with my family 17 years ago.  Those crystal blue beaches and soaring cliffs will have to wait for another day I’m afraid.  Sailing quickly passed them was almost torturous until we arrived in the beautiful fingers of Meganisi!

sunset crusing

JG

fi reading up on the situation

Whilst in the sheltered, crowded, tree-lined anchorage of one finger, (with rat and wasp traps erected), our trip took a turn.  In order to sort out some paper-work and confirm things with the owner we had a small chance to explore a tiny bit of the island on foot in order to find internet.  Some Ozzies tried to pull up our anchor at one stage but thankfully refrained from doing so after some encouraging steering advice, our Maltese neighbours served some delicious wine, whilst expressing the necessity of air-con on-board a yacht (?($#*%@), (never mind the water maker and real shower!) and the anchor pulling in a near 15m of depth went surprisingly smoothly at 5am. 

Originally we’d planned to cross to Italy although with increasing suspicions regarding the lifeline of the engine, alternator and gearbox and with more serious issues to put right we changed the plan and made way north through the Lefkas canal,

early morning passage of through the Lefkas canal

onwards to Corfu, through (although my foot never touched the island) for a windy, wavy night (more anchor nerves) and finally made a leisurely exit from Greek waters (breath!) into...... Albanian.

anchor chain

head sail furler in corfu

the last flight of the Greek flag...... :0(

Declaring innocence!..... freedom flag upon entering Albanian waters.

freedom!

Welcomed warmly on the peer by a young Albanian lady we set RC alongside the quay in Sarande as the only sailing boat.... only two other motor boats there. 

Alongside in Sarande - Albania

 Having had several warnings to steer clear of Albania we were on alert and feeling slightly apprehensive when crossing into her waters.  Contrary to this however, the people were delightful and super helpful.  Although slightly costly, the paper-work was almost a doddle and with a shore-pass in hand we were able to take time to explore the funny little, slightly shabby city of Sarande.

A total mixture of styles awaited us; modern internet and gaming cafes, to old markets with grumpy ladies (when you didn’t have the Leke to buy their honey... eeek!), modern beach-side buildings next to rubble sites all being appreciated by the many Albanians, and few foreigners on holiday in the sunshine.  The food was just the same as in Greece, except the Tzataziki... they served us a massive pile of yogurt with a cucumber and tomato on top with a swish of olive oil – grrrrr to that - Looks aren’t everything!

Albanian Tzatiki..... one thing they should leave to the Greeks!

JG enjoying the relaxed palm-tree shore side.

A new flag - ALBANIAN!

Some of the not so lux places.

Oh yes - DODGUMS!!!

BEST FUN IN AGEEEEESSSS!

fi sleeping on deck to keep an eye of those fenders during the nights swell..... lovely morning though!

Crane-giraffe

 RC moved, JG and fi Y'ing it?

JG and Fi - time to leave Albania walking....?

Leaving was slightly trickier but finally the message got across that we wanted to leave VERY early in the morning and so needed a stamp in our passports when the office was open! 

And so to our ‘crossing’.  With our maximum speed of 3.5knots (using the engine that is) we headed away from the sunrise and continued west towards the heel of that famous Italian boot.  The high land of Albania’s coast refused to leave our sky line (I guess our speed wasn’t helping the mission) even when the sails were hoisted.  With wind in our favour we managed a few hours of really enjoyable sailing before it turned to force us upwind just touching the 3knot mark at times....... Trying to save engine hours (and our clutch) we painfully continued at these speeds getting the occasional lift and gust to help us on the way. 

JG taking us from Albanian waters to the West at sunrise

Fifi unhappy with whats ahead!

The skies were cloudier than we’d had on the entire trip and so it was no surprise to see rainy patches forming in front of us.  Preparing ourselves we hit the squall under a reefed main but still got the shock and knock from the full force of the med-style wind. 

UT-OH!

Fi happy to be back in the sunshine (eating the last of the (now-soggy) chocci biscuit cake

Thankfully within half an hour of battling to windward (the wind jumped a full 180 in about 2seconds – seriously impressive!) and getting a proper soaking we reappeared on the other side fully bracing ourselves for the next squall that looked to be approaching..... but no, nothing for the rest of the night.  Back to our 3hours on and 3hours off we bobbed along through the night, gaining sight of the flat land ahead and a few very happy jumping dolphins just before sunset.  The night sky was impressive when the clouds parted and the soft orange glow that grew as we neared Italy comforted the journey.

Our last sunset on the water.... :0(

With breezes coming from all directions we feared the last 9nm might take far long than we might like but thankfully we got closer to the entrance to Brindisi and dodged the morning ferries as we approached the marina...... THE marina where our worries and nerves were to be left behind! :0) 

This is a soggy Fi writing in the land of rain!

over