Chapter One: OUR SAIL IN NIDRI
We had been biding our time by sailing around in the Ambracian Gulf, but early one morning we motored out of Preveza’s channel and headed South. When we passed the last marker buoys we were presented with a North-Easterly Force 4, perfect for a sail on the genoa, and we stopped the engine. We kept an eye on the time though, as we didn’t want to miss the opening of the ferry bridge to the Lefkada Canal at 10.00am, but didn’t want to be there too early either.
When the wind increased we reefed, but still arrived about 10 minutes early. We took down the sail, then hung around outside near the castle along with another dozen or so boats. Peter held Cordelia in position (in 30 knots of wind!) and only made one circle to kill some time while Ingrid watched the entrance. As soon as she saw some mast movement near the bridge indicating it was open, we made our move.
We got through with time to spare and followed the other boats, overtaking a couple along the way. We also met oncoming traffic between the narrow marked channel, and 40 minutes of utter stress for Peter later we popped out on the other side. The wind was still strong, but as we turned towards Goat Bay it was on the nose, so we carried on motoring.
None of the anchorages we passed looked inviting, and the boats in Goat Bay were either leaving or bobbing up and down. We considered diverting to Nidri, but first we wanted to check out Varko which looked calmer, at least from a distance. When we got there Peter found a spot in clear water to drop the anchor in 8m. We had lunch, saw the waves building up outside, and decided to stay.
The conditions were still good enough to do some work after we’d eaten, and we managed to look after Cordelia’s underside. We cleaned off the tube worms and little limpets along her hull, rudder and propeller, and they came off in big clouds. The saddled bream swimming underneath her had a feast day as they greedily gobbled up what we discarded. A wipe with a cloth got rid of any slime and finished the job after a good hour’s work. Just in time as the wind and swell had built up from the South while we’d been grafting. The wind and waves eventually diminished when we went to bed, and we were looking forward to a good night’s sleep.
After a day of rest to sit out the conditions Peter pumped some air into Buddy and rowed us ashore at 9.15am. 5 minutes later we set off on our hike. A dirt track led up to a tarmacked road where we turned right. It took us up and down through the countryside, with bushes and trees on both sides that provided shade. Behind the greenery was wilderness, only interrupted by a few scattered houses and olive groves. Through some gaps we were gifted wonderful views over Palairos Bay. The temperature was comfortable, too, and a little breeze added to the pleasant ambience.
We picked up another track that was signposted “Yiannis” where it promised snacks and liquid refreshments. On closer inspection we discovered that all that was left of it was said sign, no Yiannis to be seen anywhere. We didn’t mind, as we were heading for St. George’s chapel that was down the same track.
We found it at the beach, and quite pretty it was, too. We had a little rest and a drink from our bottle, then retraced our steps all the way back to Varko. We’d done just over 8,000 of them over 4 miles with 140m up and down, and had enjoyed our excursion.
On the next morning at 10.20am the anchor came up from a very good holding, then we motored out of Varko in no wind. This theme continued as we crossed over to Nidri where we found a spot near the IBA pontoon and dropped our anchor.
We heard a “ping”, and it was a message from Nina at NKS saying that the mainsail we had ordered weeks ago had cleared Customs and had arrived – hurrah! She had already offered to collect it herself on Saturday and get it ready for Sunday morning (the day we needed to leave Nidri) had she not received it today, but now she would deliver it tomorrow, Saturday, around 12.00pm. Excellent news!
The sleep pattern that night repeated itself from the last time we’d been in this anchorage, i.e. neither of us had a good night. In the morning we went ashore to the bakery and the Kritikos supermarket to restock our larder. When we popped into the Market-In for pizzas Ingrid noticed they had roasted chickens. They weren’t quite ready, so we unloaded our purchases onto Cordelia first, pumped more air into Buddy, and returned. We were rowing back to Cordelia with the bird when Peter got a phone call from Nina telling us the sail was ready and would be delivered at 11.30am.
We were now in a rush to pick up the new mainsail at the IBA pontoon. We returned to Cordelia, and while Peter was then off again to take delivery Ingrid prepared Cordelia for departure. After a little wait Peter returned with the sail and battens, we stowed them away, got Buddy up to the foredeck, finished clearing up, and weighed anchor at 12.15pm.
We motored up North in no wind under a cloudy sky, spotted a handful of dolphins, and an hour later we dropped the hook in the clear water at Lefkas Channel South. It was lovely and quiet there, it started to clear out, and we could observe the traffic in and out of the channel. We relaxed with a swim and a shower off Cordelia’s stern, then enjoyed our chicken dinner and were soon off to bed.
Chapter Two: – LAST DAYS IN GREECE
There must have been big fish in the anchorage as we could both hear their loud splashes in the night. It was this sound plus the buzz of the mosquitos that kept waking up Ingrid, and she was ready to get up before the alarm went off at 6.45am. Peter was also already out of bed, so we had some orange juice and prepared for departure.
At 7.15am the anchor came up, and we entered the Lefkas Canal. Ingrid hand-steered all the way, following the marker buoys and the line of boats who all headed North.
We made the 8.00am opening and were welcomed by an East-North-East Force 4 wind on the other side. We set both sails and had about 1½ hours of great sailing with speeds of around 7 knots. When the wind turned and eventually settled for North-West it lost its power, so we had to engage the engine and motorsailed.
We were pointing towards Two Rocks Bay and noticed three other boats going in that direction. When we were close enough we could see ten boats anchored there already, and with the area being reduced by an enforced 200m-off-the-beach rule for anchoring and with more boats to come, we decided to carry on. We arrived at Ormos Skoulikis just after 1.00pm, dropped the anchor in 9m in sand, and were settled in by 1.15pm. Ingrid jumped into the lovely cooling clear water to check on the anchor, then showered off Cordelia’s stern.
After lunch we relaxed with crosswords, music, a doze (Peter), and a look around. The little beach on the shore accommodated some parasols with the corresponding sun worshippers spread out around them. There was also the occasional swimming and snorkelling, and one lonely kayak paddled under the cliffs. The rocks had some holes in them which were occupied temporarily by modern-day troglodytes. When the sun set they all drove off in their cars, and it was only us, two distant catamarans and a stern-to motorboat in a nearby inlet that were left.
At 7.00am the next morning it was light enough to prepare for departure, and at 7.20am the anchor came up. In the anchorage we had been sheltered from a North-Easterly Force 4, and Peter was worried that it’d be a lot windier outside and that we would have to pound our way up North for five hours, but it turned out to be the opposite.
The wind blew a Force 2-3, then disappeared altogether. We motored along as the sun rose and brought a lovely day with blue sky. In the calm sea a lonesome dolphin swam past in search of his breakfast. It was quite a peaceful setting, there were not too many boats around, and it was only near Sívota when it got busier with most of the vessels crossing to Paxos. When we reached the channel at Igoumenítsa we waited for three ferries to clear it before we motored into the bay. We turned to port at the last red marker buoy to find shelter from the predicted arriving wet and windy weather, and the anchor bit on the second attempt as we dropped in 3.7m.
The clouds built up during the night, and when Ingrid woke up at 6.00am she could see lightning over Corfu. It was still rumbling there after breakfast but did not reach us. Then the sky darkened and the hills behind Igoumenítsa disappeared in the fog. Peter put our electronics into the oven when the first drops of rain fell. Lightning and thunder followed closely and lingered around for a couple of hours before the thunderstorm moved on. Cordelia got a decent rinse but otherwise escaped unscathed.
By the time we had our afternoon tea it was clearing out, and when we had dinner the sky was blue again. We were still carefully monitoring the weather though, hoping that the earlier storm had killed the forecast strong wind.
It was not too bad the next morning, so we pumped air into Buddy, filled petrol into the outboard engine and assembled the tender. It was 9.20am and we were ready to go ashore.
While we’d been preparing the wind had used the time to build up, and now it was gusting 20 knots. We had a bit of a fetch and white water and reckoned we’d be soaked by the time we’d make landfall. We therefore agreed to postpone our outing till we’d had a cup of coffee and biscuits. They were long finished, but the wind showed no signs of easing, so at 11.00am we stowed the outboard and Buddy back on board and cleared everything away. We had lunch and were busy with admin work when the gusts abated and the waves calmed down. Peter was keen to exercise his legs, so out came the pump and Buddy was launched and filled with air. We mounted the outboard, loaded our rucksacks, locked everything up, and were finally underway at 1.30pm.
We found a little beach where we left Buddy, then stepped up to the pavement / cycle path behind it and turned right. At first we followed it along the road, but then it split off to the right and carried on along the seafront. It was a lovely walk with pine and birch trees interspersed with patches of reeds lining the way. From time to time we passed narrow beaches and (mainly closed) tavernas. When we made it to the outskirts of Igoumenítsa we turned off left for the Masoútis supermarket, then carried on to the fishing harbour. The little boats in there were shaking in the swell, and we agreed we were better off in the anchorage, and headed back.
At 4.00pm we were reunited with Cordelia, and after a cup of tea and biscuits we heaved Buddy and the outboard back on deck and stowed them in preparation for next day’s departure.
We had another chilly night with the hum of a generator from a nearby campsite. Ingrid woke up at 6.40am, and we upped anchor at 7.30am. We waited for three ferries to clear the channel, then followed them out. We got the “morning” North-Easterly wind from the land and were able to motorsail on the genoa for about an hour. When it died off we reverted to the engine alone to manoeuvre us safely through the ferry traffic. We made it to Corfu without any incidents, and at 10.45am the anchor had set behind the harbour.
We launched Buddy, packed Cordelia’s and our documents, and motored over to the quay. We crossed the road at the BP petrol station, and found the office of JP Yachting in the building next to it. Peter had WhatsApped Johnny who acted as our agent to help us check out of Greece, as we’d had enough of their bureaucracy and arguments on how to interpret their laws. Johnny himself was not aware of the rules for travelling with an EU spouse, so Peter sent him a copy of the relevant document in Greek to show to the authorities (if needed), and Johnny took a copy of our marriage certificate.
While Johnny went off to deal with the relevant offices for the check-out procedure we bought 20l of diesel from the station, then motored Buddy round the corner and up a little creek to a ramshackle pontoon made of tires, pallets and window shutters. We found a place to tie him on and get ashore and walked to Lidl for provisions. We also got two large ice-creams which we consumed on Buddy before we returned to Cordelia.
We offloaded, then headed back to the agency who’d notified us that all was done. Johnny mentioned that the lady at Immigration was new and wasn’t sure how things worked, so he’d told her to just process it as she would with any other. We picked up our passports (no stamps as everything’s on the electronic EES), paid, and had now successfully checked out of Greece without having to deal with the authorities ourselves. What a relief! We were free to leave Greece to wherever we wanted to go, but stayed another cold and noisy night with swell shaking Cordelia from all sides. It obviously didn’t help that she sat under the flight path and next to a busy road. Finally the airplanes had all landed or taken off, and the wannabe racers had gone home to their mummies, and we got some sleep.
Ingrid who had slept on deck was up early though, with very cold feet, so crawled into Peter’s bed for ½ hour to warm them up, and after breakfast we prepared for departure. We left Corfu just after 8.00am and motored northwards on our course towards Saranda in Albania.
Chapter Three: GLIMPSES OF ALBANIA
We got a little wind for about five minutes, long enough to unfurl the genoa and immediately put it away again. The wind then increased to a Force 4 and was on the nose, which slowed us down as we motored through the strait. Once we were through we picked up a current and made up for lost time, reaching speeds of over 7 knots. A ferry doing twice our speed overtook us as we were passing a little island with a lighthouse on it. This was proof enough for us that we had left Greece and were now in Albania, and Peter duly changed the courtesy flag. We got a message from our agent at Saranda Summer Tours asking us to inform the harbour master on VHF11 of our arrival, and soon found a space in about 14m for our anchor.
We readied Buddy, motored to the yellow steps at Immigration, and met up with our agent Jelja who took us through the building. Our passports were processed immediately and we were now officially welcomed into Albania. The whole process had taken about 15 minutes – we couldn’t believe how easy it had been!
We motored back to Cordelia, took down the “Q” flag and put up the anchor ball just as it started to rain. Thunder and lightning followed, and we had a very wet afternoon. We took it easy down below with the hatches well battened and even hid under the covers for a while. We had it very cosy on Cordelia!
The rain eventually moved on, and after Peter had drained the remnants of it out of Buddy on the next morning we motored to the quay at the police station, then set off for our walk. It was still wet in places from yesterday’s downpour and there were clouds about, so we’d donned our trainers and packed waterproofs.
At first we walked along the seafront with its bars, cafés and eateries, then we turned inland and plodded up some very steep single-track roads. We took a couple of shortcuts on rocky paths that gained height quickly, but after a third and rather treacherous one we decided to stick to roads before we’d come to any harm. It meant we had to lose height which we then had to add to the remaining distance. After a 300m ascent we finally reached our goal, which was the castle above Saranda. There was not much to see other than a turret we could climb up to, and a wall. It did feature a nice-looking restaurant and souvenir shop, none of which were of interest to us, though.
Clouds were gathering in the mountains, so we stopped looking at the views over Saranda and the Strait of Corfu, and marched briskly back down. On our way to Buddy we were waved through Immigration by using the magic words “private yacht”, then got back to Cordelia. The clouds looked ominous, so we stowed Buddy on the foredeck straight away before we recovered with a cup of tea.
Rather than to rain we were treated to sunshine as the clouds dissipated in the afternoon. We sat on deck and watched the cruise ship leave that had arrived in the morning. The wind was up and down, reaching 30 knots, and did nothing for Peter’s nerves as Cordelia was bouncing in the swell of ferries, speedboats, day trippers, pirate ships, excursion boats and jetskis.
The wind eased off in the evening, but returned with gusts during the night. Peter got up to check as he was concerned about dragging, and by doing so he woke up Ingrid. He generously shared his thoughts with her. Then, when we got a longer period of calm, he fell asleep again while Ingrid was wide awake worrying and listening for any unusual noises. After a considerable time with nothing happening she finally also succumbed to sleep.
When the conditions improved we upped anchor at 8.25am and with no reply from Saranda Port Control to Ingrid’s call we left anyway. We started off with a North-Easterly Force 4 that soon turned East, and we sailed along gently on the genoa. We approached the Strait of Corfu when the wind died, and after trying to motorsail at first we soon furled away the genoa. Peter motored us around the peninsula and in a wide circle took us through the red and green marker buoys. He also watched for the depth under Cordelia’s keel as he slowly motored us through the Butrintit Canal. We’d passed the ruins of the Ali Pasha castle and the old Custom’s house, then dropped the hook in 5.8m in a bend in the canal at 10.40am.
Next, we prepared Buddy and motored ashore. We dragged him up a tiny narrow beach and Ingrid tied him on to a tree branch. A dirt track led steeply up the hill and joined the main road. We followed them both all the way up and down again, and ended up at Butrint, a UNESCO heritage site.
We paid our entrance fee to gain admission, then found ourselves walking amidst the Roman ruins of villas, baths, an agora, and an amphitheatre. We carried on to a palace, and continued along the city wall past a water gate to a large Byzantine Basilica. We also saw the “Lion Gate”, a land gate, before we made it to the (closed) museum which was housed in a tower-like building on the top of the site. There were other ruins around, too, but we were ready to head home.
The road back up to the track was a bit of a trudge, but from there it was all downhill. While we’d been out the current in the canal had turned and had brought in higher water. Buddy was sitting in it, looking pleased with himself. Only the painter tied to the branch had stopped him from floating away, as the little beach had disappeared under the flood. We got him back to Cordelia, pumped air into him, and set off to the Ali Pasha castle at the entrance of this beautiful wetland.
We secured him onto a pontoon, then walked over to the ruins. Turned out, Ali Pasha had nothing to do with the building of it, but it was destroyed when he arrived, rendering it useless to him. After a look around we returned to Cordelia for a well-earned cup of tea, then we both had a shower, and stowed away Buddy.
What a peaceful idyllic night we’d had! Ingrid had slept on deck with a sleeping bag to the sound of the cooing, chirping and squawking of a plethora of birds under a starlit sky. Two fishing boats went past in the morning to spread out their nets, and the men were beating the mirror-like water to scare the fish into them. We were in no hurry to leave this scenery, but as we were all prepared at 8.25am Peter pulled the anchor out of the mud.
Once again, he carefully navigated through the canal, making sure we had water under the keel and Cordelia wouldn’t run aground. We never saw less than 5.7m depth, so all was well.
Out in the strait there were only a few ripples on the water, and no wind. We motored all the way to Saranda and made good use of the following current. Along the way we encountered several other vessels travelling to and from Corfu, though they kept their distance. At 10.10am the anchor was set in 12m, slightly closer to the beach as on the previous occasion.
After a bit of a rest we prepared Buddy and made it ashore. Peter had checked for sights in the town, and we went to see the remains of ancient Onchesmos (the old name of Saranda). They consisted of a 2,000 year old Roman pillar on the beach that was left over from the old harbour, the local park where the homeless lived, and the derelict foundations of a Christian basilica and earlier synagogue that had the mosaics removed.
We didn’t hang around and carried on to the Alfa supermarket for liquids. The prices were comparable to the ones in Greece, some of the goods were even more expensive. We then treated ourselves to a soft ice-cream before we returned to Cordelia for tea.
As expected, the night was noisy and Ingrid’s sleep on deck was interrupted. Peter went back to bed after breakfast, then we started our checks on Cordelia. We cleaned out the strainer, topped up the engine oil, inspected the alternator belt, wiped the engine sump and soaked up the water in the bilges. We found time for relaxation, then Peter prepared the mainsail and stackpack. Later in the afternoon we motored to the yellow steps to meet our agent Jelja who dealt with our check-out. We were back on board just after 4.00pm, dismantled Buddy and tied him in front of the mast, stowed away all his paraphernalia and rigged the superjib. We had an early dinner, cleared up, and got ready to weigh anchor at 6.00pm.
We left in a Westerly Force 2 which increased to a Force 4-5 as soon as we were out of the anchorage. Unfortunately this was exactly from the direction we were travelling into, and with the wind on the nose and the waves smashing onto Cordelia’s bow we struggled to make 5 knots under engine. The sun went down about an hour into our journey, but the lights of Saranda followed us, and the ones illuminating the restaurant up at the “castle” were still visible from 34NM away!
The moon rose from behind the Albanian mountains at 8.30pm(ish), changed its colour from near red to a mellow yellow, and followed us all the way. It seemed to take forever to clear Corfu and its two adjacent islands, but once we did we lost the tourist boats and only encountered the odd commercial vessel. The wind eased and we finally began to make some speed just before midnight.
At midnight the wind changed to a Northerly Force 3, and we hoisted the main and genoa. We tried to sail, but gave up pretty quickly as the genoa could not hold its shape in the waves and decreasing wind strength. The engine came back on for a motorsail with both sails, but by 1.00am we only had a Northerly Force 2 which was not enough for the genoa. We continued with the main and engine, a configuration we kept for the rest of the night.
Nothing much was happening, so Peter had a lie-down on the settee and snoozed for 40 minutes. Ingrid stayed on watch on deck, but when Peter returned to the cockpit she dozed off in short stints from time to time. We were both snug and cosy under a blanket as we progressed. We were compensated for the bouncy conditions on the water with a lovely sunrise at 6.45am, and at 7.00am it was light enough to turn off the navigation lights. Ingrid called Otranto Coast Guard to inform them of our arrival, and we were cleared to anchor in the harbour area. We had made it to Italy!