We got away from Gouvia Marina by 1300 on Monday.  Only held up due to late laundry from the local laundry.  Expensive at 8 euros per machine!  The pilot books say laundrettes are few and far between in Croatia, so Sue decided it made sense to get a bag wash done before we left here.  To get is all dried en-route we turned Swagman into something that looked like a Chinese laundry down below as we sailed away.

Still around 43 degrees and no breeze as we first fuelled up and then motored slowly north along the east coast of Corfu.  The channel twix Corfu and Albania narrows to about a mile in width as you get towards the top of the island.  Albanian infrastructure you can easily see and investigate with binos looks pretty basic.  The towns / buildings level with the top end of Corfu were drab and uninteresting – the countryside rocky and barren.  Strange contrast to the lushness and wealth visible on Confu close on the other side.  No wonder so many Albanians smuggle themselves out.

All the feedback we’d got was to stay away from Albania.  For those who don’t know, it existed for decades under a Mao type communist government, and really did not wish to make any strangers welcome.  We hear it is still pretty lawless, although efforts are being made to improve the economy by stimulating inbound tourism.

One chap we first met last year and caught up with in Gouvia– Steve from Miranda – visited the principal port of Albania two years back.  He said the officials although a bit OTT, were friendly enough.  But due to the high risk of robbery of the few vistors they get, even in daylight hours, the harbourmasters wouldn’t let him out of the harbour confines!  And going anywhere after dark is apparently an absolute no-no.

Steve also reminded us that only a couple of years back, some cruiser anchored in a small cove on the Corfu north coast directly opposite Corfu was awoken by some guys trying to steal his dinghy at night.  Apparently they were from Albania - and they shot him.  Not sure if it was fatal or not – but it all gives strength to the idea of giving the place as wide a berth as possible and do the leg up to Croatia in one hit.

So as we came round the top of Corfu late arvo, we first headed west away from Albania, for a planned overnight stop at one of two small Greek islands set around 20 miles north west of Corfu.  Corfu and its lush little bays looked special as we left them behind.

Both these isolated islands are described as almost places ‘that time has forgot’.  But the pilot book says both have sheltered anchorages and at least one good fish restaurant apiece.

But as always we imporvised.  As we headed west and approached the first of them, and got out into the exposed waters above Corfu, a lovely south westerly breeze filled in from no-where.  Suddenly we were not only being cooled off nicely, but actually able to sail!

The breeze held as we reached towards the craggy lumps of Orthoni and Eirkoussa, and as we were sliding along so nicely, we decided we could not give up the chance to use as much of a southerly wind as we could to get as far north as possible.  Saves fuel.  So we simply sailed past both islands, pointed the boat at Dubrovnik 220 miles away, and kept going.

It was good to feel we were actually covering some ground in one longish leg.  Sorted out all the night stuff – torches, white flares, lifejackets etc, and settled into the routine of one on and one off.  Sue shot this of me posing on my shift.

Experienced a superb night sail under starry skies with the wind continuing until well after daybreak.  Even got visited by a pod of Dolphins – the first we’ve seen since leaving Turkey – and whooshed our way northward.  For the first time since last year, began to see traces of phospherence in the wake we left behind.

The wind kept in at between F4/5 through the night, and we rolled up the rumb line towards our destination at between 7 to 7.5 knots.  I’d laid a course to keep us just outside the Albanian territorial waters, and spent most of the night isolating (so we could avoid) any Albanian fishermen who work this part of the Adriatic.  All very exciting (in a childish sort of way).

We did see a few fishing boats, but had to give more attention to the multiple ferries and liners barrelling up, down and across this stretch of sea.  Busy.  And they are big.

Operated a 4 hour shift after supper.  And Sue cooked me bacon and eggs for breakfast after dawn.  Good sailing and good tucker. Paradise.

Dawn saw an overcast sky and both Italian and Croatian weather forecasts with a gale warning for the N. Adriatic.  Seems a severe low pressure systems hovering over Balearics and spinning into gales due to effect both sides of Italy.  If and when our gale arrives it will at least be from the south west – but suspect we’ll be up to Croatia and shelter before then.  If this bad weather system does not move on further east quickly, it could mean we have NW gales in Croatia a few days time.  Not really good forecast for us, as we want to continue going NW up the coast.  C’est la vie.

Currently bucking along about 30 miles out of Dubrovnic under overcast skys, can’t even see Montenegro on our starboard side as we slide by in in the haze.  Decided not to stop by in Montenegro due to reported differences twix authorities there and Croatia.  We've a stiff south easterly helping us to make 9 knots+, so expect ETA by 1900 this evening.  We aim to spent a few days in Dubrovnic to get our bearings so will probably use the marina once we’ve sorted customs etc.  Have to do that first in the port of Gruz before chugging onward and getting a berth.  I’ll let you know what it currently costs.

Take care all

JOHN