Sea Change

Cruising on our Catamaran, Murihiku, in the Mediterranean

Vessel Name: Murihiku
Vessel Make/Model: Lagoon Catamaran 380S2
Crew: Deborah and Ange
About: From New Zealand, possibly suffering midlife crises, cruising for several months then home to replenish the kitty.
20 June 2014 | Slano, Croatia
11 June 2014 | Bar, Montenegro
18 September 2013 | Lastavo
18 September 2013 | Lastavo
16 August 2013 | Montenegro
16 August 2013 | Albania
16 August 2013
17 July 2013 | London, Devon, Rome, now Nidri
12 July 2013 | Abelike Bay, Meganisi
21 September 2012 | Athens
18 September 2012
31 August 2012 | Milazzo, Sicily
23 August 2012 | Abelike bay, Meganisi
18 August 2012 | Gaieos
13 August 2012 | Corfu town
10 August 2012 | Corfu, Greece
09 August 2012 | Santa Maria di Leuca
30 July 2012 | Straits of Messina
29 July 2012 | Milazzo, Sicily
Recent Blog Posts
20 June 2014 | Slano, Croatia

Back on Murihiku

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11 June 2014 | Bar, Montenegro

New Zealand to Montenegro

New Zealand to Bar, Montenegro, May and June 2014

18 September 2013 | Lastavo

Croatia

We had an easier trip into Croatia and dutifully tied up at the Cavtat customs wharf. Our crew, Jenny, Vicky, Anne, Angela and Kate had now reached top form as they were due to depart the next day, and were complimented again by the person taking the ropes on shore. They were all confined to the boat [...]

18 September 2013 | Lastavo

Croatia

We had an easier trip into Croatia and dutifully tied up at the Cavtat customs wharf. Our crew, Jenny, Vicky, Anne, Angela and Kate had now reached top form as they were due to depart the next day, and were complimented again by the person taking the ropes on shore. They were all confined to the boat [...]

16 August 2013 | Montenegro

Montenegro (and mountains)

August 11 - 16 Montenegro

16 August 2013 | Albania

Transiting Albania

August 1 - 10 Albania

Transiting Albania

16 August 2013 | Albania
Deborah and Ange
August 1 - 10 Albania

Our new crew arrived, fresh from New Zealand winter (Jenny, Anne, Vicky and Gaylene), and from Fiji (Karen). It's a lovely part of hosting friends to see them relax, and for their worlds to shrink for a while into the daily routines of life on a boat, including gossipy reporting of interactions with locals and neighbouring boats.

We had a night in Corfu, a reasonably painless trip with all of us trundling through Greek customs and harbour police to exit the country, a last dip in San Stefano, then off to Albania.

The crossing was rough, and we were pleased to arrive in Sarande. The distance across is only 7 nautical miles, but the differences between the places extraordinary. The Albanian coast is dry and dotted with very small two person bunkers. Agim, our Sarande agent, met us and showed us where to berth, and took our paperwork to the various authorities and back to us (a relief to have someone else do it).

Through Agim we arranged a visit to Butrint, a very well preserved Unesco World Heritage Site about an hour from Sarande. We had an air-conditioned van (bliss) and a well informed guide (Luis), and spent the morning there. Butrint dates back 2500 years and the site covered 20 hectares. It was founded by exiles fleeing the fall of Troy, and been occupied by various nations over the centuries, including Greeks, flourished as a naval base, then a Roman Christian Centre, Normans, Ottomans, then finally Butrint lay abandoned. Excavation continues, and it was fascinating to imagine the different lives there. My favourite was the "Friends of the Nymphs" well that had been donated to the city by a wealthy landlady.

Our next visit was to the "Blue Eye" spring, a bit of a lurching trip over winding roads, but well worth the effort. Lovely to see there was a green interior after the arid coast. The spring was freezing cold, a bit like Wai Piupiu springs back home, although we were able to bathe in this one (Ange the only one going for the full immersion). There were a few restaurants downriver of the spring where we lunched and quizzed Luis about life in Albania.

From Sarande we travelled a long day to Orikum. Coming into the broad harbour area, our crew spotted an improbable sight - an Italian on his back on a pink lilo, 4 miles out from shore, in a vigorous 25 knot wind. He clearly was in trouble, and actually lost his lilo as he started to paddle towards us. The lilio reared on it end and was quite a spectacle as it soared across the bay. Good practice for our man overboard skills, we pulled him, where he dripped rather sheepishly as we carried on to Orikum where he went off in his togs to try and get back to his family. He was definitely going to have the togs togs togs undies experience. We most likely saved his life, but we suspect his story will be he came on board to help translate for us. The most worrying this was we called Channel 16, emergency channel, to say we had picked him up, in case they were in the process of launching a rescue, but there was no answer (concerning in itself).

Orikum was the only marina in Albania, jointly owned with an Italian company, but still not that flash. Great to have showers though, and we had a good poke through the local town, as well as a dingying to swim with local holidaymakers on the sea shore - beautiful location, the hills looked a bit like Central Otago.

Our final Albanian stop was Durres, a bigger city towards the north. We were parked alongside massive ships, and had to move the boat a few times as different ships came into unload their cargo. It was a hard place to stay - very noisy and industrial. On our last night we had a ship unloading with cranes 50 metres away at the same time as a local nightclub pounded music at us until around 5am. Interesting to see a city however, and we did manage to find some well priced leather goods from Italy. Albanians had been forbidden for some years from owning boats, first by the communists, then by the current regime as part of an EU deal to stop illegal emigration. It meant that the seas were eerily empty and the dock hands had no clue about rope handling. The agent in Durres we had arranged by email leapt out of the way in fright when a rope was thrown to him then tied it in a knot a 5 year old sea scout would have been ashamed of.

It was painful to see a country in the state we found Albania. It has had a series of challenges in the past decades - including occupation by Hitler, Mussolini, a dictatorship, communism, and now a faltering democracy. Everywhere there are buildings that have stopped halfway, the legacy of enthusiastic entrepreneurs who ignored building codes in favour of speed, or went bust after half the foundations were up. Roads are in disrepair, the infrastructure is chaotic, we didn't see evidence of schools, and the citizens seem underfed and low-spirited, even though many we saw were on vacation. Very aware as customers of the impact of spending our money in one place or another on the retailer. We are lucky to live where we do.

Leaving Albania and travelling to Bar, Montenegro was a gruelling trip, with wind, waves and current all pulling us in different directions and making for a choppy sea and some unwell crew. Customs initially directed us in to the main harbour which was an enormous empty oasis of flat calm which allowed us to take a breath and our stomachs to settle. Clearly though we were in the wrong place and we were soon directed out again into the wind and have to go into the marina entrance side on to the waves with crew carefully watching the waves. It was great to arrive and to finally surf into our marina, and to have witnesses, Angela and Kate, coming via Rome laden with kilos of parma ham, cheeses and salamis.
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