Wednesday 6 September 2017 – Shengjin (Albania)

Things did not go to plan.  We were woken up at 7am by knocking on our hull from the boat in front.  Our line was over theirs and they couldn’t leave.  So we had to hastily put some clothing on to go up, by which time they had come aboard and sorted the lines out themselves!

As we were already up we decided to get dressed.  We even managed showers using the hot water left over from yesterday.  As I said yesterday our plan was to go in Tirana by bus for the day, but to do so we had to know we didn’t need to move the boat to accommodate a container ship.  Our agent was going to make enquiries.  So he turned up at 9am and said there was a problem.  A ship was coming to moor in the space we were occupying, but there was a problem and they weren’t sure if they would come in.  However, they would not know for a few hours.  In the meantime we could stay where we were or wait a few hours for another ship to leave.  The last alternative to stay in the harbour was to move now to the pier the cruise liner had been on.  However our agent advised against that because it was very exposed to the swell coming in to the harbour and we would find it uncomfortable and perhaps dangerous for the boat.

The upshot of this was that our plans to go out for the day were scuppered, so really we thought we might just as well leave and go to Shengjin, the last port of entry in Albania.  So at 9:45 we set out.  The sea was a bit lumpy and it was quite cool, but the passage was fine.  We had eaten breakfast, so that wasn’t a problem.  We skipped lunch and just had some ginger biscuits under way.  There was some wind and it was behind us, so Richard put the Genoa up.  However, as we had 35 miles to cover and a late start, we really had to motor to keep up a speed of 5-6 knots.

We made it to Shenglin in fairly good time at about 4pm.  This is yet another port with no real facilities for yachts.  It has cargo boats and fishing boats.  We had a heck of a time trying to find the entrance to the harbour and scared the Harbour Master by going the wrong way to start.  But finally with a bit of help on the radio we found our agent who was waiting on a large dredger sort of vessel to which he helped us raft out.  Not a perfect spot particularly as I am unwilled to try to climb on and off that large vessel to get off the boat.  But we have food on board and so just have a quiet evening. 

The advantage of this harbour is that it is so much closer to Montenegro, where we will set out for in the morning.  That at least spares me a 12-18 hour passage.


Albania has been interesting in an odd way.  However, the lack of mooring facilities means that opportunities to explore the country are very limited.  It is also expensive because you must clear customs in each port and that has to be done through an agent, who makes a standard charge of 50 Euros.  All the agents have been very helpful and will do lots for you other than just the basic paper work, but nonetheless it is a bit galling.

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