We had planned our last stop in Montenegro to be Ulcinj with it's old fortress, but as we stuck our nose into it's small harbor it way too crowded with beachgoers and blaringly bad music. We were met though by two Policija in a black inflatable with kazillion HP outboards. They asked for our passports and, fortunately, we had the Zelenika Check-In document the folks at Bar gave back to us at Check-Out. No problemo and just a polite "Welcome to Ulcinj" (plus some black scuff marks on the hull we discovered later.) We ended up not staying, but anchoring instead off Luka Milena - more techno-music to lull us to sleep - not.

So, off to Albania the next morning, passing by beaches with "sand falling from the hill into the sea" and then checking in at Shengjin ~ no conviently placed sign to translate "Meredita", but that's "Good Morning"! The Harbormaster directed us to the commercial quay and said he'd be down soon with the Police to check us in and another guy pointed out where we could tie. The HM and Police arrived, we all shook hands and introduced ourselves and we invited them on board - nice guys, although the Policeman was a bit officious, but that was probably a language issue - the HM had perfect English. So after filling out the usual arrival forms and crew list, and putting up with the HM lighting up a cigarette, they charged us 40E total - no Agent fee. They said they'd send a guy down in a few minutes with our courtesy flag and he hit us up for 10E, with which we didn't argue.

Went into town - such as it was (the comment we'd heard about it being akin to Italy in the 1950's is probably accurate) and found the "fish transformation plant" mentioned in our guide (we wondered if maybe they were turning them into chickens or something!). It the ground floor of a three story building with a restaurant upstairs that the HM said was the best in town. The store was closed though, although the owner came along and offered to open up - we politely told him we'd rather stop in the morning as, actually, we couldn't quite get past the off-putting odors permeating the place, the dog droppings virtually everywhere and the general shabbiness.

Anyway, after a short walk we went back on board and anchored out - next morning we decided to continue on our way rather than tackle the transformed fish. Heading down the coast we anchored off Capo Pali - good protection off a little military harbor surrounded by the ubiquitous Albanian concrete bunkers. A uniformed guard blew his whistle at us from shore for us to move further away, which we did and then spent a calm night. Note the photo with the three bunkers ... a very common scene and perhaps the most striking visual aspect of cruising Albanian waters. We read there are more than 500,000 abandoned bunkers located along the coastline!

Cruiser's notes: Give emails from other cruisers describing different check-in experiences and fees in Albania this season, we can only conclude that procedures and charges vary port to port and, possibly with the passing of a few months' time. We'd been advised to expect mandatory use agent's and fees of 55-60 euros. Our 2010-2011 "777" cruising guide suggests the same but with additional 10 euro per person visitors' taxes, 4 euro lighthouse levy and 25-50 euro tax on navigation. In Shengjin our total check-in fee was 40 euro plus 10 euro for an Albanian courtesy flag (bring you own). When we emailed the "Italian Marina Orikum" asking about berthing and customs clearance we had a prompt return email that there was no need to check-in at Vlore, no additional customs' fees in Orikum and 50 euro/night Med-moored to at a dock with electricity and water. (see blog notes for more comments re: marina and SSCA.org for information about the new cruising station we organized with two very welcoming live-aboards). In terms of our recommendations for cruising the Albanian coast, our experience was a mixed bag and certainly influenced by some high winds and stretches of coastline with limited anchorages for protection from the usual N-NW summer winds, but is one we're glad we tried.