Mike and Kathy's Cruising Adventure

Ah, Montenegro…

We made landfall in Bar on October 12th and headed for customs.  A half an hour later we were checked in with a one week cruising permit.  We headed around the corner to the AD Marina Bar, stopped by the fuel dock, and then were directed to a side-on berth. Luxury! We settled in for two nights of terra firma, restaurants, water, power, and free WiFi.  The WiFi was significant as our Greek phone data was used up and we didn’t plan to buy another SIM card until Croatia.  It was weird in Albania not being able to read the news every day, but on the bright side I wasn’t constantly confronted with the latest Trump boner.

Bar is a hopping little city.  Most spots we visit are almost entirely tourism dependent, but Bar felt like a real place where people live and work.  Once we had settled in we went for a walk and found a tasty pizza place for dinner. Bar is lousy with pizza places, I gather they get a lot of Italian tourists.

While investigating what to do in Bar, Mike happened across a real Amazing Race-style adventure, the Canyon Medjurecje day tour. It’s a six-hour canyoneering experience that includes repelling down waterfalls. I guarantee I will never go on the Amazing Race for fear of bungee jumping or sky diving, so I was into it!  Sadly, when Mike called to book it for the next day they said that the tours were suspended due to too much water in the canyon.  Next time…

Instead, the next day I went out to do some groceries and was delighted to find a gigantic supermarket, the Voli Hipermarket,  that felt like a Loblaws.  It was decadent to wander through wide aisles with a big cart, though I obviously couldn’t read any of the signage. Our mastery of the local language never got beyond “Thank you” (Hvala, in case you ever need to know).  I found all kinds of goodies, even curry paste–we’ve been searching for months to replace the tub Mike bought in Athens in April. One item we’re learning to live without is ice.  It is surprisingly hard to find these days.

Groceries completed, we went for another stroll, this time along the plaza on the waterfront. It took us past King Nicola‘s Palace and a bajillion more pizza places. I certainly will not starve in Montenegro.  Mike had a mission–he needed a bracket with which to mount zinc on the propellor–so we turned inland in search of a hardware store, passing this golden church on the way.

Mike was happy to lie low for the evening, but I got a bee in my bonnet to go see the old town, Stari Bar.  It was destroyed by war and earthquakes and is now being restored and is open for tourism.  We arrived just before dusk and immediately encountered this little guy.  I couldn’t resist petting him, and he was then motivated to be our teeny canine guide.  He followed us everywhere, up steps, down steps, over rubble, past cats–I swear I’d have smuggled him out in my purse if I weren’t overwhelmed by the thought of having a dog on a boat.  Also, unlike in Canada, I don’t get free vet services in Montenegro (thanks Dr. Mimi! Hey, don’t feel bad for her, I’m her unpaid IT person). I was somewhat heartened that I would even consider getting another dog as we both still miss Daisy, the perfect dog, so much.

I swear I was just about to go up and carry the puppy down these stairs, but then he came trotting down to join us.

 

We left Stari Bar in full darkness, the last tourists to leave.  Just before we reached the exit the puppy drifted off, so no tearful goodbyes were necessary.  What a merciful little guy.  We left the old town and turned left to walk down the cobblestone street and find a spot to eat dinner.  We settled on Konoba Kula and got some very tasty local food and wine.  The waitress talked Mike into ordering the stewed lamb. She tried to talk me into the veal, but I just couldn’t do it.  How many baby animals can one couple consume in a single meal?  I did not regret my decision, the chicken was excellent.

The next day we pushed off after lunch and only puttered three miles north before we dropped the anchor under the red cliffs in Sutomorski Zaliv.  Here Mike did his zinc installation, which went surprisingly well.  I think he was expecting a lot more underwater frustration, but he was done in no time.

The next morning we continued north.  We were planning to stop for lunch at Sveti Stefan, a 600 year old village that has been cleared out and remade into a luxury hotel.  Still not sure if this is cool or sad, but it’s certainly special. Unfortunately, there was quite a bit of swell around the island, so we didn’t feel comfortable anchoring and leaving Coral to fend for herself.  Onward and upward.

Our next destination was Budva, another hopping spot with a medieval old town.

As we headed toward the harbour we spotted what appeared to be a little red submarine.  Intrigued, I took a bunch of fuzzy, faraway photos, convinced it must be the toy of some billionaire.  Come to find out, it’s a tourist attraction that has popped up all through Montenegro and Croatia–the SemiSubmarine.  Not a real sub after all, but it looks like a pretty cool little excursion.  Would have been neat to take my mom on a ride like that as it’s surely the only way she would ever see what’s happening under the surface of the water (I tried to talk her into trying my full-face snorkel mask, but she wasn’t having it).

We anchored just outside the harbour and then headed to shore to explore and try and get a WiFi password from a network we could see from the boat.

The old town was bustling, lots of people and businesses and a fortress to explore.

The next morning we left to head into the magnificent Bay of Kotor.

Our intention was to go all the way to Kotor in the deepest part of the bay and then work our way back out, visiting some other towns, but we had such a magical time in Kotor, a UNESCO world heritage site, that we spent our last three nights in Montenegro anchored in the same spot.

When we arrived, there was a HUGE cruise ship in the harbour, The Royal Princess.  It soon became clear that she is a sister ship to The Love Boat (Pacific Princess) when she blew her horn upon departure: she has multiple horns that play the first few lines of  The Love Boat theme song, kind of a ship horn carillon.

There was only one other boat anchored in the bay, a catamaran called Nimrod.  Shortly after we got settled, Nimrod’s owners dinghied by on their way back from town, and so we met Sue and Chris, a delightful couple from the UK.  They are social creatures and hadn’t encountered many boats this off-season, so we became fast friends, starting with drinks on Coral later that evening. Sue brought over a really tasty bottle of bubbly that was part of her stockpile from Crete, and Chris brought one of the gigantic bottles of beer you find around here.  Sue and Chris were heading south en route to their winter berth in Italy, so having spent the summer in Croatia they were a fount of knowledge and tips for our cruising time there.  Very helpful!  They had also been in Kotor long enough to have a good lay of the land, so on their advice we decided that instead of hiking up the old town ramparts we would hike up the mountain across the bay to an old Austro-Hungarian fortification.  Sold! At the end of the evening they invited us over for dinner the next night, a feast of mussels that Chris harvested himself in the shallows of Kotor.  Sold again!

The next morning Mike was puttering up top on the bow when he saw the chain being jerked around.  He hollered for me to come and take a look, and there was a dolphin having a spa morning, scraping his back against our anchor chain.  I already posted the compilation video, but here is the link in case you missed it:  Kotor dolphin!  (I can’t believe it only has 64 views so far–this sucker is destined to go viral!  Maybe I’ll write a Bored Panda article about it.  I’d love to make some of that sweet sweet youTube money.)  Sue and Chris were watching from their boat and said that the dolphin had been going at it for ten minutes before we noticed what was happening.  They didn’t want to come over and alert us in case it scared him off, so they took some photos as proof in case we didn’t clue in.  How sad would I have been to miss that show?!?! Clearly all’s well that ends well and we watched the frolicking for over half and hour.  My only regret is that we didn’t catch him on video when he emerged from the water vertically, tail first.  That was some real circus stuff.

After the dolphin departed, we finished our breakfast and headed to shore for our hike to Fort Vrmac.   It was all switchbacks up the side of the mountain, luckily mostly shaded as it was a scorcher.

 

There was lots of clover growing, and we soon encountered the goats who love to feast on it, along with a couple shepherd doggies.  If a dog follows you home you get to keep it, right?

 

  

Two hot hours later we were at the summit with a view over the ridge overlooking Tivat.  Here is the picture to prove I climbed a mountain! No joke! There were more animals hanging out up on the ridge: some cows with fuzzy ears (who left very impressive stereotypical cow patties all over the place) and at least one chicken.

  

Chris and Sue are geocachers, so they knew that you could actually go snoop around in the old fort which is dark, dank, and creepy AF!  They warned us to bring a flashlight, which was a good thing as there are giant holes in the floor on the upper stories.  Yikes.  If anyone is plugged into the American Horror Story production team, this place could definitely inspire an entire season.

On the way back down the mountain we bumped into our old friends the goats.  They didn’t appear to have made much progress.

Quite a day so far communing with dolphins and climbing mountains.  To top it off we had an amazing dinner with Chris and Sue.  Saffron mussel soup with decadent garlic cheese bread, what a treat! I also got a tour of my first catamaran.  Another fun evening with our new friends inspired us to stay in Kotor for our final night in Montenegro.  This would allow us to go for another hike up the walls of the old city to the fortress halfway up the mountain, and also to spend a final night hanging with Chris and Sue.

Chris also had tips for the fortress hike:  we could skirt around to the side of the mountain and walk up switchbacks, climb through a window to get inside the walls, continue to the top of the Castle of San Giovanni, and then walk down the stairs that follow the walls.  As a bonus, we skirted the 3 Euro entry fee. It was a great tip as the switchback route was much easier than climbing all those stairs, and the stairs are quite narrow, so there is a lot of jockeying for position with the hundreds of other people doing the same hike.  Taking the stairs on the way down I was more than happy to step off to the side to let the poor folks ascending have the right-of-way.

Once we were safely at sea level again we wandered around the old city, stopping for pizza, bien sur.

Mike made a delicious pad thai for Chris and Sue, and we spent a final evening drinking and laughing, two of my favourite things.

The next morning we pulled up the anchor and headed north again, with a stop at the customs dock in Zelenika to check out of Montenegro. And  just like that, our magical week in Montengro was over.  We could have easily spent another week just in the Bay of Kotor, but we’re on a schedule now, so Croatia here we come!

 

A mere 3 1/2 hours after leaving Corfu we were at anchor in Sarande, Albania, greeted by no less than Queen Victoria.

Mike met our agent, Mr. Zholi, who took away our paperwork.  50 Euros and less than two hours later we were checked in to the country and free to head north.  We motored for four hours and set up camp in Palermos, or Porto Palermo.  The cruising guide states that there is an abandoned military base in the north end of the bay, and that you should not anchor there.  One cruiser reported being forced to move at gunpoint.  One guess where Mike headed to anchor!  Right in the middle of our procedure a man started walking toward us on shore, whistling sharply to get our attention.  We don’t speak any Albanian, but we got the gist and moved.  A few minutes later we were alongside a very high pier.  I pulled a muscle climbing up to tie the lines. What? No sympathy? We were greeted by a pack of barking dogs and a herd of goats.

We were a bit nervous about the water cooling off as we head north, but the bay was just too clear and enticing, so I dove in.  I’ve changed.  The only problem with crystal clear water is that you can see all the junk on the sea floor, but a few old tires weren’t about to dissuade me.  Mike was exhausted after our early morning and long day of motoring, but I couldn’t resist staying up to watch some Dancing with the Stars.  Shortly after 11pm we heard a boat pull alongside and hail us.  Okay, Mike heard it, I had my headphones on. At first we thought it was a fisherman whose spot we had stolen on the dock, but it was soon evident that they were officials checking our paperwork.  That’s a first!  After lots of paper shuffling, conferring in Albanian, and a couple phone calls, they established that all was in order and offered Mike smiles and a swig of hooch.  He politely declined and shuffled back to bed.

In the morning while I slept, Mike went for a walk hoping to explore the local castle.  It wasn’t open yet and there was a guard puppy, so that will have to wait until our next trip to Albania.  You never know.

We were on our way by 8:30 am.  When I asked Mike where we were going he directed me to the description in the cruising guide: “Ishulli i Sazanit–there is a small naval harbour on the NE side of this island, situated in the SE end of the bay of St. Nicolo. This is a prohibited area, and approaching within one mile of the island is forbidden.” Really?!?! Mike assured me that Mr. Zholi had obtained permission for us to spend the night, plus the cruising guide is at least six years out of date.  The Albania section is also prefaced with the disclaimer that the authors have never been to Albania.

So, we toodled into the harbour and were greeted by three very nice soldiers, the caretaker of the facility, and two beautiful dogs.  They explained that it was a military harbour and boats are not allowed to spend the night without special permission.  You don’t say.  They called their superior who said no, we could not spend the night.  The soldiers were very kind about the whole thing and very apologetic.  They told us we were free to stay in the harbour until 5 pm and explore the island and then we could anchor just outside.  We thanked them and said we would just head out now.  Very relieved that this information was all communicated with smiles and chit chat rather than guns.

We anchored in the bay and Mike decided that since we had a pretty long journey to get to our final Albanian port, Durres, it made sense to leave around midnight and do our first small passage.  He took an extended nap to prepare.  I, however, went about my day as usual, heading to bed around 10pm.  Mike woke me up at 11:50 to help him get underway and then I went back to bed.  An hour later I heard Mike put up the sails and turn off the engine  Ah, I thought, he is truly having fun now, sailing by moonlight.  He woke me up again at 4:30am to help him take the mainsail down. I enjoyed a little night time on the water, observed the lightning on the horizon, and then it was back to bed until morning. Hey, this passage making isn’t so bad!

At 8:30 the next morning we were alongside at the commercial port in Durres, greeted once again by a small pack of dogs: two female adults and two puppies.  One of the adults had a large abscess on a front paw. I wished Dr. Mimi were with us.  We’ve been pretty lucky in that most of the dogs and cats we’ve encountered have been in pretty good shape, but it sure tugs the heartstrings when you meet one that isn’t.

As we were trying to figure out how to make a call to our agent, the man himself, Captain Ninga, showed up at the boat.  He gave us some tips on how to spend our day in Durres and said he would be back at 7 am the next morning to check us out of Albania.

We ventured into Durres to check out the Roman amphitheatre and have lunch. Cheap!!! We spent 20 Euros while we were out, and that bought us: a pizza and glass of wine for me, a porky meal and small beer for Mike, a huge tip for the waiter, and then at the grocery store we got 6 cans of local beer, a box of dog biscuits, and then six beautiful oranges at a fruit store. Not bad! If you want to go on an inexpensive Mediterranean vacation I think Albania wins, hands down.

When we returned to the boat we got a visit from a port security guard. I assumed he wanted to check papers but no, he just wanted to shoot the breeze for an hour about Canada and Albania. I was hoping the dogs would come around later, especially Mama, but no luck.

In the morning Captain Ninga came by and took our passports to go check us out.  While we were waiting for him to return I saw Limpy and the two puppies rooting around in some garbage a few hundred feet away, so I started to walk over. As soon as Limpy heard my whistle she came bounding over and hoovered some dog biscuits. This of course attracted the puppies who were too little for whole biscuits but ate all of Limpy’s crumbs. Our agent returned with our passports, so all checked out we pushed off from the dock. Of course, as we were motoring away we saw Mama running down the quay, attracted by the commotion. We were too far away to throw her some biscuits, so I’m a little sad about that.

Just as we got out into open water we spied a hitchhiker on the jib sheets.

He worked his way around the boat exploring the mainsail cover, hanging out under the overturned dinghy on deck, hopping onto one of the winches in the cockpit, sitting on the dinghy engine, and even hopping onto my arm at one point. I shrieked, but it didn’t deter him too much as he eventually he got bold enough to move gradually down into the cabin. He started on top of the open port berth door, then onto the open window over the stove, into the port berth, and then the far corner of the salon behind my hanging bathrobe. He’s pretty entertaining and cute, but I’m afraid to think of all the places I’ll be finding bird poop for the next few days.

 

Mike finally opened the salon hatch and shooed him out, and soon after we spied our first Montenegro town on shore, he flew off.  I guess he’d reached his destination.

Bye Albania, you’re a funny place.  Very friendly people, great value for your money, lots of English spoken, but not really set up for cruisers as the above photo of our “berth” in Durres demonstrates.  We’re glad we spent a couple days there, though.  If I were more conscientious I’d send this blog post to the cruising guide folks now that we are people who have actually cruised in Albania!

This post is slightly ahead of where we are in the blog, but it’s too special to wait!  Check out our dolphin encounter last week!!!!  My only regret is that I didn’t get video of when he vertically reversed out of the water tail first.  Really.

DOLPHIN

First of all, here is a bonus shot of Thelma checking on the mainsail. Does she look happy with it?

I’m happy to report that the ladies made it back to Canada without incident, save a crying baby on the ten hour flight from Athens to Montreal. Then my poor Mom endured a six hour layover in Montreal before her connection to Fredericton. She had a day that was truly 24 hours long. Hope your trip to Greece was worth it, Mama!  Thelma and Sharon both referred to it many times as the “trip of a lifetime”, but I’m not 100% clear if that was because they had such a great time or just because it was so far to travel!

After the moms went on their way, Mike and I slept some more and then used the rental car to do a grocery run. Oh, and we spent 250 Euros on a new solenoid because the damn windlass failed again yesterday! I really hope that is the last anyone needs to hear about the windlass.

The next day we left Gouvia Marina and settled into our old spot in the bay south of the Old Fort in Corfu Town. We decided to stay put for a days so I could get at least four coats of varnish on the port side toerail. Duty calls.

We enjoyed our time camped out with a few forays into town for food and sightseeing. First we hit Pane e Souvlaki. The souvlaki was truly delicious, grilled over an open flame, but it was dark meat. Normally that would mean I gave my whole meal to Mike, but it was so tasty I ate it anyway. Mike had a great falafel sandwich and we both got some crispy fresh-cut fries.

A couple days later we decided to try lunch at a Mexican restaurant that Mike found online. Turned out they weren’t open for lunch, so we decided to try Pane e Souvlaki’s sister restaurant, Pane e Psaraki. This place was a smidge fancier and more expensive (fish-centric), but their WiFi was screaming fast so it was worth the extra money. My grilled squid was so pretty I had to take a picture.

What you don’t see is that right after this photo was taken I sawed into it and the plate was covered in ink! I should have taken a picture of that too, but I was too busy trying to eat my squid before it was covered in blackness.

A couple days later we tried the Mexican spot again, this time for dinner. Success! La Tabernita provided some tasty food, if not completely authentic. The highlight was the La Tabernita special spicy margarita. The waiter warned me it is a very very spicy drink. He was correct! It hurt my mouth so so much, but was so tasty I had a second one for dessert! Mike stuck to the wine, with a couple sips of my marg for good measure. Again, the food wasn’t very authentic, but our chili nachos and my giant carnitas taco were all very tasty. We will see you again, La Tabernita.

After talking with David, it sounded like we were going to have to get back to Athens for mid-October to meet a guy who was going to assess Coral to start getting her ready to sell in the EU.  We wanted to take the long-cut around the Peloponnese instead of the Corinth Canal, so it was time to hit the road and head south.  Our first stop was our old spot off of Mourtos on the mainland (site of the dramatic 2am thunderstorm with the moms). We found a great spot to anchor with a nice sandy bottom.

The next day we headed over to Paxos again, but this time we went to Lakka on the northeast tip. It’s a cute little town with a gorgeous bay–crystal clear water and sandy bottom. I’m sad we didn’t bring the moms here–it is spectacular. David and CM said they haven’t checked it out yet because it is always so busy in the summer, and I can see why. Even in mid-September there were forty or so pleasure boats hanging around. In the same conversation David also said he was considering shipping Coral to Florida as she would be easier to sell there.  Being built in Maine would have more cachet in the US than in Europe. Hmmm, stay tuned…

We went ashore for a tasty meal that was not affected in the least by the 45 minute power outage. I ordered chicken curry risotto. Risotto? Not so much, but it was a good chicken curry with rice. Mike had some of the amazing pork you could see roasting on a spit in the window (a very effective way to get people in the door).

The next night was calling for winds that were not great for our spot in Lakka, so we continued south and went back to the dock in Gaios. I got some _serious_ downloading done, a thousand thank yous to Alex’s Place!  I also demanded a little alone time while we were there (does a person ever need to spend 24/7 with another person, no matter how much you like them?) and spent it at the Blue Grotto having a pizza diavolo. Oh. My. God. It was one of the tastiest pizzas I have ever had. No WiFi at the restaurant. I’d like to say I read my book (same book for six months now, though in my defense it is a very long book), but I didn’t bring it with me, so I crushed candy instead.  Then I did groceries where I spied these two guarding the store.

We stayed in Gaios for two nights and then headed back over to the mainland. A little excitement as we were exploring Ormos Valtou just north of Parga: Mike wanted to explore the bay with the mainsail up (me not so much). We jibed and when the main snapped over, the clew of the sail popped off the boom. Oops, sorry Leisurefurl. We dropped the anchor and then dropped the mainsail onto the deck. Mike bundled it up with a rope and then we proceeded south in search of more shelter to deal with the situation. An hour later we were anchored in Ormos Ayiou Ioannou. It’s a beautiful double bay with a gaggle of pipefish and a freshwater spring welling up from the sea floor. You can tell where the spring is by the eddy on the surface. The next morning we reinstalled the mail sail and Mike did some dinghy patching.

Next stop–Preveza. It’s on the mainland just over the causeway from Lefkas Town and the home of three popular marinas where folks leave their boats for the winter.  We anchored in the bay near town and then dinghied over to Cleopatra Marina to replenish our varnish, thinner, and sandpaper, along with a new circuit breaker for the windlass and a rail clamp–dare to dream!

The next morning Mike did some groceries and we headed deeper into the giant bay, the Gulf of Amvrakia. It’s the home of the National Park of Amvrakikos Wetlands, and it has the wildlife to prove it. As we departed Preveza we saw a seal swimming by and a whole flock of herons hanging out on top of the fish farm.

We stopped in Koronisia for a super lunch at a sleepy harbourfront restaurant (calamari and fries, bien sur), with lots of cats politely hoping for scraps. I couldn’t resist feeding them, and as I was tossing some squid to a cat, it reached up and pricked my finger with a claw. How bad is cat scratch fever?

After lunch he headed around a bunch of small islands to the back side of Koronisia to anchor for the night. Mike did a little kiting investigation but it didn’t look too promising. We did see a lone dolphin hanging around at dusk. Where are your friends, buddy?

In the morning we proceeded on to Vonitsa. We left Coral at anchor and went to visit the castle on the hill above town.

During our stroll we saw two little tortoises.  I never would have seen them, but Mike heard the rustling both times and busted them. (They were complemented later by the big turtle that swam by Coral in the bay).

As we descended back into town we met these two guys–they were very excited to see us, but not a single bark came out of their mouths. Very impressive.

Later that afternoon Mike was getting fidgety, so we went back to land and walked across the causeway to a park with a nice forest and running trail. No, of course I didn’t run, but we were lapped by a couple of runners several times during our stroll, so I gather that’s mostly what it’s used for.

By this time we had heard back from David and it’s a sure thing that Coral is Florida bound!  We have to deliver her to northern Italy for the end of November, so the next day when we left the gulf we turned north again.

We explored this adorable little bay, but it was tight quarters, so we continued a smidge north to Two Rock Bay.

Two Rock Bay did not disappoint.  Gorgeous clear water with an interesting sea bottom, schools of pipefish and hundreds of other adorable little fish that followed us around like puppies as we snorkeled.  The two types we see a lot are Saddled Sea Bream and Mediterranean Damselfish.  Speaking of fish, I saw one of these guys back in Lakka.  By far the most colourful fish of the entire trip. We enjoyed the bay so much that we stayed for two nights.  Mike used the down day to go up the mast and change the anchor light.

Then it was back over to Paxos.  We took a peek at Mongonisi on the southeast coast, but decided to go back to the dock in Gaios so we could top up our water and feast on some more WiFi from Alex’s Place and some more pizza from Blue Grotto.  Soooo good!  I also went out for groceries and cannot believe I missed this sign on my two previous trips to the store: uh, yes, I would definitely like to use your shopping troll!

The next day it was back to Mourtos for our fourth visit.  I guess we are creatures of habit.  A little drama on the crossing back to the mainland:  a lone dolphin sighting, a giant military ship sighting, and after Mike soaked one of the dock lines and squeezed out the water he tossed it in a pile on the deck, turned his back and when he turned again it had snaked off the deck and was long gone.  Oops.  It was kind of funny until we replaced it and realized how much a dock line costs (over 100 Euros).

The next morning it was back to Corfu.  Pretty sure this is our final Corfu visit (never say never–when we left the last time I thought it was our last visit), so we anchored south of the Old Fort again and gawked at our neighbour–The Maltese Falcon!  You should totally click on the link and check this sucker out.  She left early the next morning before we could take a photo, but there is no shortage of photos online of this giant sailboat.

For dinner we headed back to La Tabernita for another delightful meal.  When I ordered my spicy margarita the waiter said no, it was too spicy.  I assured him that I had been to the restaurant before and had consumed not one, but two of them, to which the bartender laughed and said “Oh, YOU’RE the one!”  I asked what makes it so spicy, and he has Scotch bonnet peppers stewing in his simple syrup.  That would explain it. One benefit is that I sip my marg a lot slower than usual, but enjoy it twice as much.  Must mention this to Les when I get back to Ottawa. (Mike just pointed out the obvious–Les will not be interested in selling fewer margaritas!)

We’re on a schedule now, so it was back to Gouvia for one night to replenish supplies, get an oil change, fill up with diesel, drop off laundry, buy foul weather gear, and redo the bolts that connect the boomvang to the mast. We spent our final night in Greece in Kammeno Bay, just outside Gouvia, and treated ourselves to a couple drinks at the fancy resort in the north end of the bay.

Finally, on the morning of October 9th, we hauled up our anchor and headed to the commercial port in Corfu.  We left very early, which meant I enjoyed my first and last Greek sunrise (Mike has seen hundreds).

We tied up to the dock and Mike headed in to check out of Greece, just over six months after our arrival.  A lone seal playing in the harbour was our final sight of note. I’m going to miss this place.  I’ll be lobbying to come back and buy our own boat, but will have to tread lightly or Thelma may have me silenced permanently.

Albania, here we come!

 

 

Did I mention the jumping fish in Ormos Valtou?  The place was lousy with them!  Escapees from the adjacent fish farm, perhaps?  That’s some Darwinism for you.  We departed our quiet bay for points south, Platarias harbour to be precise.  After a lovely lunch in town, Mike decided to try kiting in this big, beautiful bay.  The first attempt was not very successful, wind wasn’t quite strong enough, but on the second try he went like gangbusters!  Thelma was delighted to witness her boy on the water.

 

Bellies full, fridge full, and diesel tanks full, the next day we continued south to Mourtos, also on the mainland.  It’s the launching point to explore the Sivota Islands.  We did some actual sailing on this leg and our crew were stellar!  No tears and no sickness–a success!

We anchored in a narrow channel between an island and the mainland. Mike and I went ashore for a walk and a drink at the beach resort and met this guy hanging out.

The next day we went for a little jaunt *cough* dealt with holding tanks *cough* and then returned and tied back in the same channel we had been in the previous night.  Nice clear water for swimming, tiny pipefish swimming around.  Apparently they hang out vertically in the weeds to disguise themselves.  Also saw some weird, mangy-looking clams.

Next stop–Gaios, Paxos!  We made Thelma wear a life jacket because she was scampering all over the boat like an old salt.  An old salt who can’t swim, that is.

  

We went to the dock in Gaios so the ladies could disembark and explore the adorable little town at their leisure.  Ma bought me a nice terrycloth bathrobe–very cosy to wrap up in after swimming now that the air is cooling a bit.  Thanks Mama!

Ma and I went for pizza for lunch and Mike and Thelma walked to the beach to go swimming.  Mom also found a bookstore to replenish her stash–no one reads more than my mother!  Mom was too full to join us for supper, so Mike, Thelma and I went to Pan and Theo, just across from our spot at the dock.  Part of my master plan was to get their WiFi password, but the signal was too weak in the restaurant to get anything done, let alone on the boat.  Foiled again.  Dinner was tasty, though, and Thelma tried her first moussaka.  She seemed more enamoured with Mike’s baked eggplant, truth be told.

The next day it was back to Mourtos to tie back again. Most of these movement decisions are based on the wind and weather forecast.  Mike is addicted to WindyTV, and rightly so.  We were closer to the resort in Mourtos, so it was back to the bar to have a drink and get the WiFi password.  Ran into some old friends.

When we set the anchor Mike and I were not completely satisfied with it, but we planned to revisit it later.  Oops, forgot to do that.  Flash forward to 2am–thunderstorms and wind set in, Mike went up top to watch the show, checked the anchor, it wasn’t holding, so we ended up abandoning our spot and anchoring out in the channel.  The moms were aflutter, and my poor mom banged her mouth on the woodwork while she was digging out a raincoat to offer me.  Ouch!  The last thing I said to Ma before going up to work on the anchor issue was “Don’t let Thelma come up here”!”  To her credit, she tried, but Thelma couldn’t resist and popped up offering to help.  Second try with the anchor worked, and we returned to bed sopping wet, but feeling more secure.

Heading north, we returned to Ormos Valtou, though the second bay in, last time we were in the third bay.  This bay is huge and there were only a couple other boats, which was surprising since the bay is so sheltered.  We enjoyed our solitude, and Thelma watched a swimmer she swore must be an Olympian.

The next morning we returned to Corfu and anchored in the bay just south of the Old Fort.

 

Mike decided to hang back and nap, so he dropped me and the moms off at the yacht club under the Old Fort.  This dinghy ride was the first time I saw my mom blanche–fast and bumpy!  She was a trouper, though, and found her happy place on the floor of the dinghy.

We walked through the local park and proceeded to explore Corfu Town, a beautiful spot with French and Venetian influences. The old town of the city is a UNESCO world heritage site.

Thelma thought the hanging laundry was charming, but Mother was unimpressed as she sees that at home every day.

We stopped for lunch along the Liston, which was built to mimic the Rue de Rivoli in Paris. This is my fave photo of the trip!

The ladies completed their vacation shopping and I bought a lovely mother-of-pearl ring to serve as an interim wedding ring.  My actual ring is buried in a box in Ontario, but it’s funny how after years of not wearing it because of my painting business now my hand feels naked without my new ring.  I am NOT wearing it all the time, though–sailing + ring = missing finger!

The next morning we returned to our starting point at Gouvia Marina.  We rented a car for the next morning’s 5am trip to the airport and did some groceries.  Mike and I had planned on taking the ladies out for a big final dinner, but they were all played out, so we ate leftovers and had an early night.

The next morning I got up to say my farewells and sent Mike off to chauffeur them to the airport and make sure they got on their flight to Athens.  Here is Mama leaving the boat looking adorbs in her traveling outfit–hope Father Gilbert liked his hat!!

The boat felt pretty empty after two weeks of mom time.  We sure enjoyed the visit!

I had a whirlwind trip back to Canada for Ma and Pa’s 50th wedding anniversary party.  Apologies to those I did not visit with, I wasn’t in any one spot for very long.  We’ll be home for a couple weeks over Christmas and will do some proper socializing.

I boarded my bus to Athens early August 14th and waved to Coral with a tear in my eye as the bus passed by.

The bus ride was tolerable as the young couple sitting next to me in the back row got off after an hour, so the following four hours I had room to stretch.  Upon arrival in Athens I checked into the lovely Athens Cypria Hotel.  With an Acropolis view from my room I was feeling pretty worldly.

Perusing Google Maps for a place to eat lunch close by, I stumbled on the delightful Taqueria Maya.  Tasty carnitas and a great margarita–so good I went back for dinner!  I wandered around for awhile, but didn’t do any serious touristing.  I did stop by the Hellenic Parliament to see the soldiers with the funny shoes and funny walk (no disrespect meant to the Greek folks).  A better photo of one of these guys will appear later.

    

The next morning I embarked on my own little odyssey back to Canada.  We flew over Greenland!  If I were an evil Bond villain I would leave my enemies on a fjord in Greenland.  Bleak stuff.

Canada was a whirlwind of activity: shopping for things we can’t get in Greece (paint can openers, tack cloths, peanut butter), setting up Mimi’s new work computer (seriously, can anyone recommend a good IT crew in New Brunswick for this girl?), paying bills, fighting with the City of Ottawa parking ombudsman (doing my best to get you fired, Eric), and feting Ma and Pa.

Before I knew it, it was time to return to Greece with our moms in tow.  Thelma and I left from Ottawa and met Mom in Toronto.  Toward the end of a loooong flight over the ocean we saw a brilliant earth-curving sunrise.

 

We landed in Athens at 9:30am and hopped on the subway to the Plaka district and our hotel, the freaking adorable 360 Degrees Hotel.   Everything was so clean with retro cool splashes, but a perfect modern bathroom.  Highly recommended!  We had a triple room that suited us perfectly, and the rooftop restaurant and bar has unparalleled views of the Acropolis at night.  Staff was beyond helpful and kind. I guess I should transcribe these raves to TripAdvisor.

In a vain attempt to fend off jetlag, we went for lunch and a wander.  We ate at a classic taverna:  club sandwich for Ma, stuffed tomatoes for Thelma, and, as always, chicken souvlaki for me.  I shared it with this kitty.

We debated climbing the hill to see the Acropolis, but it was so hot we decided it looked lovely from afar and stayed on flat-ish ground.

Hot and tired, we retired to the hotel for catnaps.  The ladies decreed that they were in for the night, but I had some more shoe shopping to do, so I left them to enjoy the A/C.  I revisited my taco place, bought some shoes and a nice small leather backpack, and when I returned to the hotel was shocked to hear from the guy at the desk that they had gone out!  I accused him of teasing me, but he assured me that they had really gone out.  I went for a drink at the rooftop bar and when I returned to the room they were back.  Apparently as the evening cooled off and Monastiraki Square started to fill up with people, they worried they were missing something and went out for ice cream.

The next morning we were out the door by 6:15 to catch our train to the airport.  At 6:20 our first disaster struck–Mom had an incident stepping on the down escalator.  I heard her hollering from above and looked up to see her shoes descending on their own.  She took a nice chunk out of her hand, but we managed to bandage her up and didn’t even miss our train.  I guess Nana was right to be scared of escalators.

We got to the airport with tons of time to spare and settled into our gate area with coffees and snacks.  Mom and Thelma both had little walkarounds, and I perused the excellent bookstore, leaving with my own copy of The Corfu Trilogy, which Mike is currently really enjoying.

Our gate changed shortly before boarding and we headed to the new gate.  The flight was soon called and folks lined up and started boarding.  I like to wait and get on last as I have nothing to stow up above.  When the plane was half boarded, Thelma stood up and said she was going for another little walkaround.  I processed this and then said “You realize our flight is in the middle of boarding?” Needless to say, no, she did not realize this.  She had a good laugh imagining us getting off the plane in Corfu without her, Mike wondering where the hell she was, her still wandering the concourse of Athens airport.  Close one.

Mike awaited us in Corfu with a tiny rental car–Thelma’s dreams from the past five months finally came true and mother and son were reunited!  Sorry I don’t have video of that precious moment.

We popped into Coral so the moms could get the lay of the land, had lunch at the marina, and then took a little drive across the island to Palaiokastritsa, a small beach town with a monastery.

We drove up to the monastery, but Thelma, Mike and I had a drink at the tavern next door while Ma checked out the monks.  Apparently eight monks still live there, but needless to say they were not out greeting tourists.  Back to the boat for a little dip in the marina pool.  They have great amenities at the marina.  They’d better for 70 Euro/night!

The next morning Mike took the rental car back and we spent a quiet afternoon recovering from our travels.  Mom and Thelma relaxed on Coral while Mike and I hit the pool again.  That night we went to a marina restaurant for a tasty dinner and hit the hay early.

In the morning we indulged in our last full showers for awhile, topped up the water tanks, and pulled out of our berth.  Ma and Thelma did great!

We headed south for a three hour motor, anchoring in Voukari for the night.  We got some swell from the boats beetling in and out of the harbour, but again, the ladies were troopers!  Mike and I went for a swim in the crystal clear water and then we all assumes our natural positions:  Thelma and Mike playing Scrabble, Mom in a lawnchair on the bow reading, and me reading the news on the internet but not allowed to speak the name Tr**p out loud.  Very frustrating in this day and age.

The next morning showed some wind coming our way in the forecast, so we headed over to the mainland to a sheltered bay just north of Igoumenitsa, Ormos Valtou.  Dinner was a Kathy and Mike classic, pasta with tomato sauce and fried dry salami.  Mike went for a solo late night swim, but the rest of us weren’t too tempted by the murky water in the bay.  Ma and Mike were both stung by wasps that got caught in their clothing.  I think she may be a smidge allergic, that sting site seems to be getting worse, not better.  Stay tuned…

Thelma woke up to the site of naked Germans swimming next door.  Quite an Ionian initiation, but we all need to suffer through it at some point.  Mike took the ladies for a short walk on shore–they were very brave in the dinghy!

The afternoon proved warm enough that we all went for a swim–you heard me, all of us!  I don’t have evidence of Thelma’s dip, but I made mom stay in the water so I could snap a pic.  Someone lost money in that betting pool!

We capped the afternoon with Mike and Thelma playing Scrabble, Mom reading, and me blogging.  I see a pattern here.  The excitement was that Thelma also got stung by a wasp.  Five months of Greek wasps on board and no stings, now three in three days!  Stay tuned, who knows what will happen next!

How quiet you ask? Well, I’ve done my only reading of 2017, a book about the Greek sovereign debt crisis. THAT’S how quiet. If you’re keen to be enlightened/disheartened about the state of European economic policy, then this will do the trick:

The week has also been quiet enough that I’m doing some sanding and varnishing. Ugh.

My steady neighbours for the week have been this unusual classic,

and this sleek baby blue catamaran named “Slim”, which has a pretty cute terrier puppy on board.

Also a small school of young needlefish seem to have taken up residence in Coral’s shadow. Perhaps my dubious hunting skills are common knowledge by now in the fish world.

My crew arrives in just a few days! Time to get these treads shined up and back on the swim ladder…

Well, it’s just me and Coral for a week until Kathy and the Moms arrive. This morning I  drove in solo to the Gouvia marina to visit the helpful guys at Keriacoulis Sailing, and in the calm conditions parked Coral without a problem. Lovin’ that bow thruster. The Keriacoulis lads resolved the problem I’d been having with one of Coral’s septic tanks. An important fix, as you can imagine. I’ll spare you the details, but €250 was money very well spent.

And with that expense paid, I hightailed it back out to the anchorage (10 minutes away) to avoid paying €70 a night. With our speedy dinghy, there’s really no sacrifice, as the marina cafes, pool, cricket and croquet ground, and grocery store are minutes away. Well, they were, until a small forest fire smoked me out of the anchorage! Tiny Corfiot waterbombers seem to have it almost out now, but I’ve moved a couple of miles upwind for the night and will enjoy a little change of scene. That means a different skiboat pulling a different set of laughing kids on bouncy tubes.

But just til sundown, and then the bay will be serene. Unless I practice the harmonica.

And breaking news… a big bomber is now working the fire, and the afternoon breeze is thankfully easing. Hope that bodes well for beautiful Corfu.

 

Yup, borders are being crossed in a flurry of international travel. Kathy travelled many thousands of miles and is back in Canada to celebrate her folks’ 50 wedding anniversary. I travelled 15 miles to Albania to refresh Coral’s customs exemption within the EU by spending one afternoon in a non-EU country. Ahh, sweet bureaucracy!

But to backtrack a smidge, as Kath left from Lefkas (fittingly) several days ago, and I’ve been assisted by Coral’s gracious owners who have helped me sail to Corfu and navigate this whole Albania caper. We’ve been sailing Coral and her big sister, Dulcinea, side by side, which has been great fun. We anchored outside the busy and charming town of Gaios, Paxos, and then begged a spot at the dock of the Corfu Sailing Club in the lee of the incredible Corfu fortress.

A bit surreal, as I’ve known the word “Corfu” since childhood, but only learned where it actually is just last year. Part of Greece, you say? Huh. And quite a gem it is, as attested to by all the cruise ships. Through the crowds the town is still a charming maze of cafe and icecream dotted streets and squares, with palaces and fortresses hinting at past glories.

And soon Dulcinea will retire to a cradle til next season, my helpers will return to Canada, and I  will await Kathy’s return in a week or so.

And. She’s. Bringing. Our. Moms.

We left for Zakynthos bright and early last Saturday (Mike motored over while I slept). My wakeup call was “We’ll be at the Blue Grotto in twenty minutes” “What’s the Blue Grotto?” “You’ll see”.  Of course it was a magical intro to Zakynthos’s crazy, rugged coastline.

 

We continued around the north shore and ducked into a small bay to check things out.  This photo may appear to be just some rocks on the bottom of the sea, but in fact it is a photo of giant boulders 60 feet under the surface of crystal clear water.  Magical!

Continuing around the northwest corner we visited the spot that was the impetus for our trip to the island: Navagio Beach or Shipwreck Beach.  I saw it on some Buzzfeed list (probably) a few months ago and it has been on my radar ever since.  It is a popular basejumping spot, but we didn’t see any nutbars jumping off the cliff taking selfies.  The beach is stunning, but absolutely lousy with people, and since you can’t get there by car, the tour boats are constantly bombing in and out, honking their horns to warn swimmers that they are about to be run over as the boats all back right up to the beach.  The crazy tourists are climbing all over the giant, rusty shipwreck, hope they’ve had a recent tetanus shot. Mike and I showed up at around 10am.  We anchored off the beach, had some breakfast, went for a couple swims, took some photos and then at around noon, once we had seen the sun light up a chunk of the beach, we continued south.

We had sort of planned to return to Shipwreck Beach for the night when it would be empty and super cool, but alas as we brought up the anchor the windlass misbehaved.  Again.  I shouldn’t complain, we’ve had two months of reliable service from it.  Mike’s diagnosis is that the up button got stuck, which ultimately caused the main breaker in the boat to blow and stink up the joint.  Luckily we had a spare fuse, but we have been unable to replace our spare so far, or the windlass button for that matter. And so we delicately tread on the windlass button with a safety system in place that consists of a winch handle and a giant mallet.  Don’t ask.

The whole west coastline of Zakynthos consists of crazy cliffs and caves, it was a pretty special day.

   

We stopped for the night in Ormos Keri on the south coast of the island.  Most of this bay is protected breeding ground for loggerhead turtles, but the beaches are full of hotels and drunk tourists (or “lager louts” as the cruising guide refers to them), so I fear the turtles may be losing that battle. Also not good for the turtles, we woke up to find a mini rusty oil slick surrounding Coral.  Yuck.

The next morning we started our journey north again with plans to meet Dulcinea the next day. We anchored just off the coast south of Poros, Kefalonia.  We aren’t used to braving a night without a bay protecting us on most sides, but it was a very quiet night and the unorthodox anchor spot meant we had only one neighbour.  Next stop, Kioni, Ithaca!

We arrived in Kioni shortly after Dulcinea and snuggled right in next to her for the night, both of us tied back to the shore right next to an adorable local swimming hole.

Hmmm, let’s zoom in on Mike…

I am tickled to announce that Ducinea’s guests were interested in my ukulele progress, so we had a little singalong!  Some Johnny Cash, George Jones, Elvis Costello, Kenny Rogers and more!  I have never been that person who breaks out the guitar at a party, mostly because I can’t play the guitar, but it was fun to be the uke girl, albeit with my handdrawn chord chart and my phone showing me what to play for each song.  All in good time…  God love Judith, she was quite offended that the other boats didn’t applaud us when we were done.

The next day Mike went on a little hike with Robert and Judith and then stretched it out with CM.

 

The next day we didn’t stray too far, popping down the coast for a return to Vathi.  Mike has a hockey buddy, Bow, who was doing a cycling/cruising trip on this kind-of pirate ship with his family and after studying their itinerary we decided to surprise them in Vathi.  Apparently we can’t read itineraries because the boat never showed up.  But you know who did show up?  Dulcinea!  Also this guy, spewing fumes…

We collected some other friends of David and CM’s from a neighbouring boat, Lars and Lena from Sweden, and all headed over for before dinner drinks which lasted until 9pm.  Very Greek timing, but I felt bad for the starving Canadians who had to wait for us to leave to get their dinner.  We didn’t feel bad enough to leave before 9, clearly. Mike and I went to shore and had some pretty darn good pizza.  Not Italian style, a Canadian style pepperoni pizza.

The next day we joined Dulcie in a bay just south of Vathi, Ormos Filiatro, for a nice swim in clear water. (Vathi bay was pretty murky.  I did not indulge this visit).  She was anchored and it was a quiet day so we just tied up to her.

 

After lunch we hit the water again and not five minutes after leaving the bay spotted… a pirate ship in the distance!  Mike radioed the captain and asked him to alert Bow, and sure enough when we passed by there was the whole family and then some out to greet us!  Two ships passing in the afternoon.

We rendezvoused with Dulcinea again on the dock in Sami for a final night of town debauchery together.  Calamari, Greek salad and pizza were ordered from local restaurants and Tom and Julia delivered it all–we need some boat kids for Coral! Then we all went out for ice cream. Good times.

The next day we all headed back to Ormos Filiatro for the night.  We tied back next to a giant motor yacht which was subsequently joined by two others.  A couple of tenders delivered multiple families for a rousing afternoon on water toys of all shapes and sizes.  Happily, all the boats left for the night, though we did enjoy the music for the afternoon. We joined Dulcinea on the other side of the bay for a drink with the new guests, Heather, Malcolm and Megan, and then retired to Coral.  The next day while I went for a snorkel (spotted a lone jellyfish and a lone starfish), Mike and Megan took Tom out wakeboarding.  The kid is a natural!

Next stop, Port Leone, Kalamos, a town that was deserted when their water supply became compromised.  It’s a lovely spot and we tied back next to a boat full of beautiful Italian party boys–no complaints here! We swam to shore to explore a bit.  There is a church that is still maintained, but that’s about it.  There appears to be a taverna, but it was closed.  If you’re not open on a Friday night in August, when are you open?  No worries, a giant luxury yacht backed in across the bay and kept us entertained until the wee hours with VERY loud music.  They also managed to break one of the rocks they tied back to, the sound of which gave both me and Mike a near panic attack.

In the morning we continued on to Sivota, Lefkas for a possible final night with Dulcinea, but the forecast was for screaming wind and the harbour was pretty full, so we continued north for a return to Vlikho.  From what David relayed the next day we did the right thing–lots of dragging anchors and screaming yachties.  Vlikho was pretty populated, but the bay is so big that no one got too close.  Except the jellyfish!  They seem to have tripled in size and density since our last visit!  Clearly they don’t sting, there were kids waterskiing, but oh man I would never get in that water.

We pacified ourselves with a lunch at Seaside where I ordered the exact same thing as last time, chicken risotto.

That brings us to today!  We had a very windy, splashy motor up the canal to Lefkas Town and managed to get onto the town dock, albeit a little askew.  I blame the wind.  Tomorrow I head home for Ma and Pa’s 50th wedding anniversary and Mike will be left on his own to pine.  I’m sure that’s how he’ll spend most of his time.   I look forward to following the blog from afar!

(For those of you wondering about the status of the backgammon tournament, after 232 games Kathy leads by two but is still very cranky that she has been backgammoned but has only gammoned Mike.  I will play another ten thousand games if that’s what it takes!)