Thursday 31 August 2017 – Sarande, Albania

Well, we made it to Albania and have actually found WIFI!

We had rather a delay in starting.  The plan was to leave at about 9am and get to Sarande at midday.  However, the agent we contacted told us that there would be no berth available on the quay until 7:00pm (which is equivalent to 8pm in Greece) because a cruise ship was in the harbour.  He did say we could anchor in the harbour and wait, so we saw no reason to hurry.  We decided to delay our departure and go to a café to find WIFI and post the blog from yesterday.  That too was scuppered because electricity was cut off to the whole marina to do repairs.  So just as Richard was about to connect to the WIFI, all connection was lost due to the lack of electricity.

We did take it easy and left at about 11am.  The sky was clear blue and the wind was very light.  We learned from our previous mistakes and tested everything we could  before we left.  Windlass working, bow thruster working, engine starting and going.  The only thing we couldn’t check was the log, because we have to be under way to see if it registers our speed.  So of course as soon as we got under way we found that it wasn’t working.  Usually this means the little wheel that goes around is fouled.   We thought that would be odd as it was not in the water for the last 6 weeks but Richard tried to clean it any way.  That made no difference.  However putting it in running water did make it work, so clearly there was nothing wrong with the unit and it wasn’t an electrical problem.  I had noticed yesterday that our rudders had grown a lot of weed and there was a fair amount of weed on the waterline.  So we assume that weed has grown on the hull by the log and that is causing the problem.  Richard had a go trying to clear it by poking the handle of the loo brush down it, but that didn’t work.  It looks like a dive job.  So we will have to rely on GPS to calculate how far we go.  Nuisance. 

After going into the wind for about an hour we turned a corner and decided that even with only 5 knots of wind we would sail as we were in no rush.  So we actually sailed all the way here.  Most of the time the wind was only a force 2 or 3, but we were going along at over two knots, and we only had 15 miles to go in all and no urgency until 7pm.  At lunch time the wind went right behind us and Richard put up the whisker pole to gull wing the boat. As we approached the coast of Albania, would you believe it, the wind suddenly blew up from the west.  Just as Richard went forward to put up the Albanian courtesy flag it got up to 17 knots! We were suddenly doing 6 knots and Richard was forward without a harness.  He scared me to death, but returned just fine.  One of the disappointing features of our trip to Corfu from Leros was that we only had one good sail.  We are hoping for better sailing up the Adriatic.  But at least we had a sail today!

We arrived in Sarande at 3pm, Albanian time.  We were instructed where to anchor to wait for a berth.  We found the place and managed to anchor well in 5 meters of water.  We were worried that it wouldn’t get shallow enough as it started at 30 meters, but it was fine.  The only problem was that it was rather lumpy.  I spent the afternoon reading a book, which I finished, but had to stop a few times feeling a bit woozy. 

At 7pm we called up the agent on the radio and he told us to come along.  We finally found him and wound up on a very nice alongside berth with water and electricity included.  Unlike one of the blogs we read we are not the only private yacht in the harbour.  In fact there are 7 boats moored on the quay.

You must use an agent to sign in to Albania.  The agent we have used was one recommended by the Cruising Association.  But it was still with a bit of trepidation that we handed over our passports and boat papers to him to check us in.  But all was well, he returned within the hour with all the documents.  He tells us we get nothing to show we booked in, but it is on record.  There are no stamps in our passports, which is a bit of a disappointment. 

But all seems fine.  We have just had a simple meal in a restaurant across from the port recommended by the agent.  Tomorrow we will go to the Roman Archeological sight recommended by all the books.  So far Albania seems fine.