Freya & Us

We enjoyed our time in Sarande but it was time to move on, so together with Miss Chips and Sea Dreams, we cast off heading north to see more of Albania. Our first stop was a small bay about 20 nautical miles away, Porto Palermo. This was a beautiful spot dominated by one of Ali Pasha's castles on a spit of land that divides the bay into two. We looked at anchoring in the NW corner of the bay but the steepness of the seabed made this feel very dodgy to us. Sea Dreams gave it a go, taking a line ashore but after the wind changed they had to move. They went and anchored in front of the military base in the NE corner where the depths were better, but anchoring officially forbidden. They were hailed by a soldier later in the evening, but after some pantomime gestures from ship to shore they were allowed to stay for the night.

We headed to the middle of the bay to the fisherman's quay near the castle. Mooring to this was a challenge. First it was very high, about 3m over the waterline, secondly it was built on piers with large gaps between them and finally there were very few things to tie on to. We had to ensure Freya was tight and central against a pier, otherwise she could get caught in the gap between the quay and water. Lorraine's driving was up to the job and I managed to secure a single line from our midships cleat on to a bit of exposed concrete reinforcement bar - the quay wasn't in great condition. One line was obviously not enough and we needed to get on to the quay to secure some more lines. Switching on my Spiderman powers I climbed up the concrete face of the quay and with a bit of improvisation managed to secure Freya into position. We rigged one of our fenders, Lorraine's favourite spotty one, as a step ladder and we were all set. Miss Chips also declined to anchor and wisely decided to raft against us rather go through the same rigmarole. We spent a quiet evening on board but did walk out to the castle where we sat on the battlements putting the world to rights as the sun went down - lovely.

Unfortunately it wasn't to last. We knew that the bay was subject to katabatic winds, winds that blow down from mountains as the air above them cools at night, and they blew through at up to 35 knots from sundown to well after dawn. It was ok but it certainly wasn't our most relaxing night. As we were leaving in the morning, the wind was blowing us off the quay, which even with the aid of the spotty fender meant we both had to call on our inner super heroes to get ashore and release our lines. Lorraine, her super strength to pull the boat closer to the quay and me, my inner Superman to leap the 2-3ft gap between the boat and quay, but we managed it and headed off to our next stop Marina di Orikum.

It was long 45 NM sail/motor from Palermo to Orikum and while the seas were OK, the wind was slight and in the wrong direction for most of the time. We did manage some close hauled motor sailing for bits of it with Freya speeding along at 7 kts but most of the trip was motor sailing with just the main at a more modest 5.5 kts. The Albanian coast on our starboard side was stunning and while Lorraine was on watch she did spot a few dolphins in the distance. The highlight of the passage was crossing into the Adriatic from the Ionian Sea. A few miles south of Kep I Gjuheezees, where we were turned east to Vlore bay, we saw a distinct line in the sea stretching from the coast of Albania to the western horizon towards Italy. The waters of the Adriatic Sea ahead of us were a brilliant turquoise while the waters of the Ionian were a dark and deep blue. Quite amazing.

Marina di Orikum at the southern end of the bay of Vlore is Albania's first and currently only marina. It is Italian run and is a haven of peace and normality after our other stops in Albania. It was so good to get a good nights sleep in flat calm water securely moored stern-to against a floating pontoon. Absolute bliss after the last few nights. The marina is a 15 minute walk from the small town of Orikum, which is unremarkable but pleasant enough. I think it comes alive in the summer as its the gateway to walking and other outdoor activities in the nearby national park. It had some shops and one open taverna that satisfied our immediate needs.

The next day, with Miss Chips and Sea Dreams we visited Vlore, catching the bus from the road outside the marina as this was 15km away and a bit far to walk. Vlore is a large town and we think will be lovely when finished. There is a building boom happening with what we think are holiday apartments going up all along the road and the seafront is being smartened up with pedestrian paving and palm trees. Anyway, it kept us amused for the day which finished with a meal in the taverna in Orikum.

The link to our map seems to be stopping people leaving comments on the blog, so I've removed it from these posts for now. I will be keeping it up to date so simply go to one of the special map only posts and click the link there to see it