Relaxing at last!! Fun in the sun.....

Ghai sas.....

Hope everyone is well. No excusee for not blogging sooner other than laziness. We have to actually walk about 500m to get internet access at the moment which is such hard work!

Here's my tips for the week:

Travel tip: Everything you ever heard about Italian drivers is true! Do not drive in Italy (especially the South West coast unless you are heavily insured and have a valium infusion in situ!

Boating tip: To remove stains from teak deckwork / tables etc (especially good for red wine stains!) you will need some lighter fluid (I used Zippo) and carpet stain remover (I used a spray can of Vanish). First pour the lighter fluid onto the stain, then spray on carpet stuff. You have to be patient. Leave to dry (may take a while) then agitate gently with soft scrubber and clean water. Rinse copiously with clean water. Works a treat! Thanks Sarah!

Our news: We are in Platarius on the mainland coast of Greece across from the southern tip of Corfu and are finally managing to relax. I have actually managed to get Craig to sit and do nothing for a while and we have been settled here for four nights now after spending tow nights in Gouvia marina after returning from Italy where we had a very full and interesting holiday for a week.

We stayed in a little rustic B & B in the village of Laureana Cilento near Agropoli on the South west coast. "Blu di Prussia" is owned by an Italian artist (Domenico Palombo, or Meno for short (hope we've spelled that correctly!) who lives in residence with his lovely daughter Marta and his wife Teresa. We know Teresa through a mutual friend in Brisbane and the invitation to visit them in the land of Pompei and the Amalfi coast was too good to resis.

Getting the ferry across to Bari in Italy was a story all by itself. We had to first ferry to Igoumenitsa on the Greek mainland from Corfu and then wait for the "Superfast II" to leave at midnight. We had booked 'Air seats' which are kind of like those you would get on an aircraft only even more uncomfortable. 'Deck seats' meant that you had to hang around in the bars and on the deck all night and being an old lady, I didn't fancy that! Turned out, after the lights went out that everyone on the deck came in to the air seats area anyway and I came back from a visit to the bar to find a chunky Asian gentleman spooning up to Craig! He hadn't even noticed.

We arrived in Bari, Italy around 08.30 local time and picked up our hire car. We realised pretty quickly that the road rules are a little different than what we are used to. We had accident in a tunnel when a van crossed on to our side of the road and we had to swerve to avoid it, just clipping the kerb and the wall of the tunnel. Every day we were there we saw at least one accident and most cars had dents in them somewhere. The southern Italians also don't seem to believe in toilet seats (bit of useful trivia for you there.... pack your own if you are planning to vist!). Blu di Prussia had lovely toilets however, so you are safe there!!

On the way to Laureana Cilento we visited a fantastic place called Matera which had been recommended to us by Teresa. We were driving through the very average looking new town wondering what the big fuss was about when we were suddenly treated to the marvellous spectacle of the old town. There has been habitation in this area since the neolithic era with houses and churches being hewn into solid rock. Many still survive and have been added to over the centuries. We spent a lovely few hours pottering around and apart from a particularly grumpy Italian tourist (who continually complained during a guided tour) we were in heaven!

We arrived in Laureana Cilento in the early evening and were treated to a lovely rustic Italian meal which seemed to go on for ever. With full bellies and a few glasses of house red under our belts we collapsed in a heap and slept soundly till midday the next day. It was nice to sleep in a bed that didn't move for a change! All the rooms in Blu di Prussia are furnished with antiques and Meno's paintings and it's a bit like living in an art gallery / museum. Have a look at their website for some photos.... http://www.bludiprussiacafe.it/. There is a lovely little piazza outside and the views from the village are out of this world.

We did the tourist thing over the next few days visiting Agropoli. Paestum, some local caves at Castelevita, Pompei and, of course, the Amalfi coast. Each is a blog in itself, but I don't have the space here so will try to post some photos soon.

One of the highlights of the trip was driving along the Amalfi coast. At one point we had to reverse and tuck in both rear view mirrors to let a bus past on a bend. I went into a chemist shop and asked if I could get some valium without a prescription, however the answer was no and I had to suffer! We reached Positano in need of a stiff drink and found a parking space eventually right at the top of the hill. As we were walking down towards the beach Craig asked a lady directions. This lovely breath of fresh air turned out to be Michelle from Carlton and we ended up spending the rest of the day with her. Michelle spends 3 months of the year in Positano and became our informal tour guide and turned out to know practically everyone in town. She is also a (self confessed) Goddess of Elimination and decided that I needed my negative energy purged (due to all the dramas we have been having which we were telling her about). I was given a napkin containing salt and told to face north at an opportune time and throw the salt over both shoulders. I did this later on in the afternoon while we were walking along a lovely beach path and so far I haven't broken more elbows. Thank you Michelle!.

In the evening we got the local bus up the colossal hill (thank you Michelle!). I have never seen so many bodies packed into a small space but the views were spectacular. We dined at the top of the hill and had the best anti pasto which didn't leave any room for pizza. The first Italian game of the world cup was on and the place was buzzing. What a great night!

On the way back to Laureana Cilento we got a bit lost and arrived back at the B & B at 04.30hrs.

Meno has his studio in Blu di Prussia and it was lovely to watch his current painting developing every day. What talent!

The area is alive with history and Pompei was amazing. Much bigger than we expected. We swam at some lovely beaches around Agropoli and ate far too much food. We treated ourselves to a pizza with french fries and frankfurt sausages on top just because we felt we should try it. Worst food we have had on our trip so far!

We had a lovely car trip back to Bari for the return home as there was hardly any traffic on the roads. We stayed in Bari overnight and in the morning after having massive hassles finding the car rental office, dumped the car at the airport. They weren't worried about the damage at all and merely said that it happens all the time! Surprise, surprise.....

The ferry back to Igoumenitsa was a day time trip and far more civilised. We watched the crew cram scores of semi trailers on the the garage decks with most ending up about one foot apart.

We missed the last ferry to Corfu as we were late leaving, however found a nice hotel near the port and overnighted in Igoumenitsa catching the ferry back to Gouvia and our lovely girl Shirley Valentine the next morning.

We laid low for a few days as we were exhausted and it has been nice to relax here in Platarius moored to the town quay for 3 euros a night. It is great entertainment watching the charter fleets preparing to leave. I don't think I've heard anyone say "all hands on deck" for centuries! Some of the crews get very excited....

Anyway, enough from us for the moment. We are hoping to catch up with some friends (Sandy and Maree on Freedom) who are on their way from Croatia, via Italy (not Albania!) in the next few days and will then decide where to go from here. Weather is now settling and we expect light winds for the next week or so. But as you know, things can change. I have more salt available if needed!! Will try not to leave it so long before being in touch again.

Take care.

xx

Craig & Lesley (Shirley Valentine)

Never a dull moment / It's all Greek to me!

Hi everyone....
Well, we have now been in Corfu in the Ionian islands of Greece for nearly 3 weeks now, the land of taramosalata, ouzo and not being able to put your dunny paper down the toilet (not quite sure what that is about yet!).
The sun started to shine (in true Shirley Valentine fashion) the moment we arrived in Greece and has not stopped since apart from the occassional thunder storm. Thermals and ski jackets seems sooooo long ago and I am actually thinking of packing them up until we need them again.
We are getting around in swimmers and shorts and t-shirts all the time now (unfortunately so are a lot of very obese men in the marina. DT's certainly don't look good on some people!).
We are still in Gouvia marina waiting for my arm to heal. We had Anna, Craig's youngest, with us for a week as she waits for her registration to come through for work in England. We managed to get out and about for a few nights while she was here as we had an extra pair of hands and spent some lovely evenings on the island of Paxos (Lakka and Mongonissi) and had a lovely lunch time swim at Emerald Bay on Anti Paxos. Also had a night on the mainland at Platarias. We got charged 3 euros!! What a rip off! :-)) So much cheaper than Croatia.
We continue to meet lovely, special people. In Mongonissi we met a lovely family from Wales who were on one of the flotilla boats and have now met quite a few other Aussie and Scottish crews! So good to see the lion rampant flying on boats and Craig and I take turns at which one of our 'unofficial' flags gets put up first on our port flag halyard while we are at anchor.
We also continue to have the usual equipment break downs that happen on boats. We had problems with the holding tank, which refused to empty (don't laugh Stephen!!). We had to pump it out and Craig actually got in the water to clear the pipe which was fairly solid with crunchy stuff. Seems to be OK at the moment, however we are gathering all the info that we can to stop it happening again. Not a pleasant job! Poor Anna just missed out on a trip on another boat so gave us a hand to fix it. She was a real trooper!
Our outboard motor for the dinghy was also damaged during the storms off Albania which we discovered when we went to use it last week and it wouldn't turn off. Once again a trip to our favourite maintenance man has solved our problem and a new part has been ordered.
As the title of this blog suggests, we continue to have fun and games. The marina has been abuzz with activity over the last few days as there is some sort of yacht regatta happening soon. There is testosterone everywhere (and some people that you don't mind seeing in DT's!). There have been TV cameras up and down the pontoons almost constantly filming all the super yachts.
The other excitement was a fire on a boat 3 berths down from us last night. Craig had gone up town and I was on the boat alone when I smelled burning. I looked out to see smoke pouring out of a hatch and a couple of guys running around the boat. I tried to help where I could and loaned them a fire extinguisher, hoses etc. The boat on the other side pulled away from the pontoon and I was beginning to think that I should do the same. Craig was nowhere to be seen and then appeared sauntering up the pontoon. Three fire engines arrived and soon the fire was under control. I spoke to the poor owner this morning who told me that there had been more damage done by the water that was poured in (they had been at dinner when the fire started!) than by the fire itself, however he did appreciate that people were only trying to save his boat. I felt so sorry for them!!
Anyway, I am being hassled by Craig as usual. We are taking this window of opportunity to pop over to the West coast of Italy where we know some people near Salerno and have to leave soon to get the ferry to Bari where we will then hire a car and drive to the B & B. Shirley will be safe and sound in the marina here and we might as well do something while I am out of action. I will be in touch soon and hopefully will be able to get some pictures up. We will be back on board on the 20th of June and will then be heading south.

Take care everyone. Talk soon.
xx Lesley

Storms gathering off Albania!

Greek hospitality, hospital style!

After surviving 3 days at sea in storms I tripped in the marina and hurt my elbow. It didn't seem too bad at first, however about midnight I was decidedly uncomfortable and Craig, fed up with my whingeing, decided that we should let someone have a look at it.
We phoned a taxi who turned out to be a lovely local guy called Vassilus who drove at ambulance type speeds to the local hospital and gave us instructions on where to go. What a gentleman!
We wandered into the (very basic, tired looking) hospital and looked for the reception desk where we expected to fill out the usual reems of paperwork. Instead we found an old guy in white scrubs who disappeared behind a door and called out to someone. Very soon afterwards, a young man (quite cute, but very serious and harassed looking) in green scrubs, with the usual remnants of plastering materials approached us. We assumed he was the doctor.
His examination was brief and in a few sentences of very good English extracted the history of my fall. I wasn't even drunk!! He squeezed my shoulder, my wrist and then my elbow just to make sure that I was telling the truth and then scribbled something on a piece of paper and told us to take a seat to wait for an x-ray.
Within minutes a very good looking young lady in a white lab coat approached and apologised for keeping us waiting. Craig cheered up significantly at this stage! I was whisked into the x-ray room and had some plain films taken of my elbow. We were then scuttled back across to the 'doctor' who announced after a brief look at the x-rays (no viewing box by the way) that there did not appear to be anything broken, however he would put my arm in a cast for pain relief purposes and I should attend the fracture clinic on Thursday morning at 9.30 am. The back slab was applied in a practised manner with a nurse who did not appear to speak any English assisting. There was the usual obligatory mess on the floor of course!
Please recall that we did not fill in any paperwork, had no medical history taken and no base line observations. My name was written on the x-rays as 'Lesly Haty'. I was asked if I was on any medication and when I announced that I had reflux he scribbled something on another bit of paper and asked if I had ever had Ponstan and I should take the piece of paper (which I assumed was a prescription) to a pharmacy in the morning. I was told that if my fingers turned blue or black I should return to the hospital to have the cast removed or remove it myself!
I was then asked if I am allergic to anything and was stabbed in the left buttock with something in a syringe and we left. There was no charge and the whole process had taken around 25 minutes. We called a cab and waited, during which time I noticed a large lump about the size of a cricket ball developing in the afore mentioned left butt cheek! Ah well..... it did take my mind off the pain in my elbow.
We went to the pharmacy the following morning armed with passports, travel insurance documents and my 'prescription'. I had a box of ponstan handed to me and was charged about $3! My name wasn't put on anything and the 'prescription' was handed back to me.
On Thursday morning we arrived at the allocated time to attend the fracture clinic. We followed the small stream of people on crutches and with various limbs in slings to stand outside a door with Greek writing on it. We assumed we were in the right place! My lovely cheerful doctor from Tuesday night appeared and confirmed this was the case and told us to wait. There were no chairs, no coffee machines etc etc and there did not appear to be any semblance of an orderly queue that we British so love. Just this closed door with Greek writing. As one person came out, another one entered.
My lovely cheerful doctor (who I assume was a resident or registrar) had told us on Tuesday night that he had been working from 9am in the morning and would finish at 3am the following day and would have a few hours rest before he had to do surgery. He still looked as if he hadn't slept and had merely donned a white coat over the green scrubs. He seemed to be picking who should be seen next and a small child was ushered in with a shout of 'Ella' as we continued to wait. I was ushered in next and a poor guy who had been standing there longer than all of us continued to wait (fairly) patiently.
Behind the mysterious door there were 3 older gentlemen sitting behind 3 separate desks in a fairly small space. No idea what happened to patient confidentiality! I was just happy that I wasn't there to see a gynaecologist..... I assumed that the 'three' were the orthopaedic surgeons. I was led over to one of them who addressed me in fluent Greek and I stood in front of him feeling like a naughty schoolgirl. My young cheerful doctor interpreted for me. The big boss took a quick look at my x-ray (once again no viewing box) and there was a quick dialogue between them in Greek. I was asked if I still had any pain and being a wee jessie I had to admit that I did. The decision was make to leave the cast on and that I should return again on Tuesday to have it removed. The whole thing took about 60 seconds!!
I got bored with the back slab yesterday and took it off. My arm is still pretty stiff and sore but I declined the offer to return to the fracture clinic again. Couldn't stand the excitement! I'll just live with things the way they are I think..........
All in all an interesting experience!
More soon...
xx
Lesley (Shirley Valentine)

Dubrovnik to Corfu (via Albania) Part 2

Cala spera.......
Sorry to keep you all on tenterhooks, but you may have heard that I have my right arm in a cast after a fall in the marina! After an (amusing) trip to the fracture clinic yesterday it appears that nothing is broken (thank you wind Gods!) but have to keep the cast on till Tuesday. I will blog on my Greek hospital experience later as I think my medical associates will find it interesting.
Anyway....... back to Albania. When I left you last we had made the decision to head back to Vlore in Albania. I must admit that I wasn't particularly pleasant to live with for this leg of the trip! We had about 18 nms to go to get into Vlore and anxiety of entering Albania, our lack of ability to contact anyone and fatigue were taking their toll. But my stoic, heroic Craig kept on valiantly and soon we were making 7 knots back to land.
We reached the entrance to the bay just after 6.30pm. We were still unable to reach the port authorities, the marina or the other boats in our convoy and doubt started to creep in that there may be something wrong with our VHF radio.
The customs check in was miles away from the marina and eventually (sick to death of my whingeing, my (stoic, heroic) Craig decided to head straight for the marina and to hell with checking in to Albania (or words to that effect)!!
We arrived in the marina around 8pm and were rewarded with the beautiful sight of the crews from both Lady Olivia and Broke Aweigh standing on the pontoon!!! I don't think I have ever been so happy to see anyone in my life apart from the time that I lost my 2 year old son at Southbank on Australia day. After mutual hugs, kisses and tears (me, of course!) we settled down and decided to tell our stories over dinner.
Kate and Andrew had arrived in Vlore around lunchtime as they had pulled the pin after the first storm. They had checked into the country properly at a cost of 55 euros and apart from an official disappearing with their passports for an hour, which had cuased a few nervous moments, had had little trouble. The crew from Broke Aweigh hadn't checked in to the country and when we quizzed the marina guy he told us that the other 'English boat" hadn't checked in either but as long as we were gone by 7am things woukd be ok! He pocketed our 22 euros (cash) and photocopied our ships papers and returned them to us. The marina was almost empty and looked pretty desolate. Kate told me that the third loo along had a seat and toilet paper so I should use that one.
The crew of Broke Aweigh invited us out to dine with them at a restaurant they had been told about just up the road and although we technically shouldn't have stepped ashore, the lure of a decent meal was too tempting so we pulled down the quarantine flag on Shirley Valentine and headed off into the rainy night, smelly armpits and all.
We found them at a reasonable looking restaurant up the road and gratefully sat down and peeled off our sopping wet weather gear. The waiter spoke a little English, however there did not appear to be a menu or price list. We were offered chicken, fish or carne and after ordering, the food (and a few bottles of local wine) came thick and fast. Grilled chicken, greasy chips and Greek salad have never tasted so good!
Over dinner we learned Broke Aweigh's story. After the last text message we had received from them, they had decided against going into Vlore the first time around and we had almost mirrored each others movements all day. They had arrived in the marina about 1 hour before us. They had had some engine trouble and it had cut out altogether at one point. It had started again but now it kept dropping its revs on and off. They had also broken a shackle on their back stay during the trip. Poor Sue had had an even worse trip than me!
Towards the end of the evening, after feeding the restuarant cat the left over chicken, the boys got talking to a French couple in wet weather gear at the next table to us. He was a retired French naval captain and was a bit of a character! Soon we were all getting resounding 'cheek' kisses (including the men) and Craig will forever regret not telling him that he was probably the only French naval captain to kiss someone called 'Hardy'..........
We paid the bill and headed back out into the rain. We must have looked a sorry sight, as next thing we knew we were being bundled into the restaurant owners mercedes benz (all 5 of us with me sitting on Craig's knee) and were whisked back to the marina! Not sure if we had been ripped off and he was feeling a little guilty, however I prefer to think that he was just a really nice bloke!
We slept very soundly that night and awoke the next morning feeling a little hungover but refreshed and ready to set off. The weather had improved and although still overcast the rain had stopped. Lady Olivia had left a little earlier than the rest of us as they had gone to bed at a sensible hour and hadn't had any Albanian wine!!
We were now on about a quarter of a tank of fuel and had been advised not to refuel in Vlore as there was 'something wrong with the filter' and we would have been almost guarnteed dirty diesel. This was just a tad disappointing as this had been the main reason for pulling in there. Broke Aweigh had spare fuel on board but were (understandably!) reluctant to part with it. We decided to make the rest of the trip together, keeping in sight of one another and Terry loaned us his hand held VHF radio so that we could keep in touch. The decision was that if we ran out of fuel they would give us their spare and if their engine spluttered and died we would tow them.
We fled Albania before the 7am bewitching hour and for the first few hours got the promised winds from the north and were able to sail. Broke Aweigh challenged us to a race, which was just what the doctor ordered to get our minds off things and we had great fun battling it out down the Albanian coast. The result was announced as a 'gentleman's draw' however I am not a gentleman and I say that I won ! :-))
As the winds died off we reluctantly turned on our engines as we wanted to reach Corfu sometime this century. The highlight of the trip for us was the company of a pod of four dolphins who hitched a ride in our bow wake for about 10 to 15 minutes. Sublime!!
As we neared Corfu, Broke Aweigh radioed to suggest that we head into Kassiopi on the north eastern corner of the island for the night as it was getting late and we all showered and titivated ourselves up whilst still under way for a meal ashore on our arrival.
In Kassiopi, Craig and I had to do our first ever true 'med mooring' which involves dropping the anchor 3 to 4 boat lengths from the quay and reversing on it, then tying stern ropes to the quay. Luckily it worked first time and we didn't disgrace ourselves. We did have the advantage of having the crew from Broke Aweigh there to take our lines though! We had a lovely meal ashore and a great nights sleep.
In the morning I was determined to have an English breakfast which we found in a little cafe up town. I know I sound shallow and should be in Benidorm, however I devoured every drop of fried egg with gusto!
Craig was anxious to get to Gouvia marina to check into the country properly and so we decanted Broke Aweigh's spare fuel into our tank and headed off. We reckon we had reached Kassiopi with about 5 litres to spare.......
When we arrived at Gouvia marina we found both Lady Olivia and Karma Waters (who had set off from Dubrovnik the day before us). The latter had also encountered the storms but were able to keep going to Corfu. After more fond greetings we settled in.
After licking our wounds and resting for a few days we are now recovering. Craig only managed to book us into the country on Tuesday and we can officially stay for 6 months.
There was something wrong with our VHF radio and we were able to isolate a faulty connection at the base of the mast. This has now been repaired and we are also going to buy our very own hand held before setting off again. Broke Aweigh have had their engine repaired and have set off southwards. We have booked into the marina here for a month to give us a bit of a breather and plan to go on a road trip round the island for a few days while my wing heals. When I can sail again we will do day trips or over nighters using the marina as a base. Craig's daughter Anna is hopefully joining us for a week next Tuesday and it will be lovely to have her on board.
Well, that's all for now. I have to say that the massive positive out of all of this for me is the reinforcement of the fact that the majority of 'yachties' are thoroughly decent people and I am so glad to have made the acquaintance and had the support and company of the crews from Broke Aweigh, Lady Olivia and Karma Waters during this leg of our trip. Hope to catch up with you all somewhere on our travels!
To our families..... we are both safe and well. If you think about it like this, I got through 3 gruelling days at sea without as much as a bruise, then trip in the marina and end up in a cast! Just goes to prove that being on land is much, much more dangerous! :-))
xxxx
Lesley

Any port in a storm!! Dubrovnik to Corfu (via Albania)

Well...... I have a story to tell, so please make yourselves a cup of coffee, or an alcoholic beverage of your choice and settle in.
The last time we spoke, we were preparing to leave Dubrovnik. We had prepared the boat, had water, provisions, had deflated the rubber ducky and stowed it...... all but fuel and as we had missed the fuel berth for the day would have to fill up at 7am on the morning of departure.
I hadn't slept well the night before departure due to a mixture of nerves, excitement and creaking mooring lines and we almost delayed our departure but decided to crack on as the plan was for me to sleep as much as I could after we had checcked out of Croatia. Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men........
Karma Waters (the Australian boat from Rosslyn Bay) had left the day before planning to anchor out for the night and then check out early the following morning at Dubrovnik, however they had found favourable winds and had kept going on the journey south and were therefore a good 12 hours ahead of the rest of the fleet.
When we awoke (an hour late as I had confused the time difference and had set the clock for 7am instead of 6am!), Broke Aweigh had already left as they were planning to check out at Cavtat. We went round to the fuel berth and filled up our taks before heading off to the customs quay at Dubrovnik. When we reached our first destination we Lady Olivia tied up to the quay. Andrew came running down the quay to tell us that they were (literally) on the wrong side of the fence and had been ordered to move.
We tied up at the big nasty stone quay on bollards that were big enough and far enough apart to hold the titanic with just a bow a stern line. We were still using our old, horribly thick mooring lines which had been supplied with the boat which necessitated us having a bowline at each end of the lines, one attached to the boat and an enormous loop round each of the bollard ashore (I HATE BOWLINES ON MOORING LINES!).

Craig invited Lady Olivia to come and raft up and this was done uneventfully enough. Andrew and Craig went ashore to carry out the formalities and I joined Kate on board Lady Olivia for a coffee. We were keeping a close eye on the lines as the swell and occassional gusts were pushing our noses on to the quay.

Andrew arrived back with 15 to 20 minutes, however Craig was delayed as we had some VAT stuff to do. We peacefully sitting watching the world go by when I realised that our stern line had come adrift at the Shirley Valentine end! Did I mention that I hate bowlines on mooring ropes!

We sprung into action Andrew turned on his engine and started to push Shirley's stern back on to the quay. Thank goodness he was there!!

About the same time, a surly customs office came down the quay who we assumed had come to help us....... instead he was there to tell us to move as the ferry was coming in! He reluctantly threw us our line (which we reattached properly!) and continued to insist that we leave. I (I like to think) quietly and calmly told him that my husband was still inside and if he could go and see what was holding him up we could be on our way. He declined this request politely and continued to insist that Lady Olivia leave immediately. The gallant Andrew (my hero of the moment) refused to leave me alone, but under continuous bombardment from the lovely customs man, had to leave and they set off down the bay. When the ferry came in it missed me by about 3 feet!

Craig sauntered back to the boat about 20 minutes later, totally oblivious to the event of the last half hour. By this time, I had started to sort out proper slip lines and we were able to cast off uneventfully from the titanic sized bollards and set off south with chests heaving (mine!).

The weather forecast look good for the trip with light northerly winds swinging from east to west which were perfect for us. I must mention at this point that 4 individual skippers and crews (one with a meterological background) had examined a plethora of different weather forecast sites and had drawn that same conclusion..... the wind gods were smiling on us.

The promised winds were blowing as we left Dubrovnik and we hoisted the sails, however within a few nautical miles it had swung round 'onto our nose' and we reluctantly revved up our Volvo Pentax and drops the sails.

The first day of our journey passed fairly uneventfully and we both tried to get as much sleep as possible. We had a hearty lunch and settled into a kind of routine with our watches. I was trying to let Craig get as much rest as possible as it was important to me to have him rested if things went pear shaped.

As it grew dark, I still felt fairly alert and Craig went down below for a sleep around midnight. I have never been totally in charge of a boat before during the night and was a little nervous. I donned my life jacket and safety line even though it was fairly calm.

After a while I started to relax and even to get a little bored. The darkness and rolling seas were soothing and it was a bit difficult to stay alert. I brightened up a little when we lost our depth sounder readings, however found out later that this was because the water was too deep to get a reading. Not what we are used to in Moreton Bay! The boat was on auto pilot, under motor and all I had to do was keep an eye out for approaching boats on the radar and try to stay alert. I played exciting games like seeing how many times I could pleat my safety line on its connection part from different parts of the cockpit. Kate told me later that she had been dancing around in the cockpit singing Abba songs while Andrew snored below! What hadn't I thought of that?

I was soon abruptly woken from my reverie by a dolphin jumping out of the water right next to the boat and shortly after that the radar started to light up like a christmas tree with lots of flashing purple freckles on it. I sussed out that this meant I may be approaching some things of significance and started to pay attention. Craig had seen one boat on his watch so I wasn't expecting company, however I was soon overtaken by a massive ocean liner and was then in the thick of a fishing fleet. This kept me awake for a few hours......

I was planning to wake Craig around 4am however he woke shortly before that and I sent below to rest. I watched a couple of episodes of two and a half men (which I love but I think may send any intelligent person to sleep!) and then settled in for a snooze.

Around 6am, Craig woke me from the deepest sleep I had had in days to tell me that there was a storm approaching and that I should probably get up. At this point we were about 30 nautical miles (nms) off the Albanian coast. We had been advised to steer well clear of this coastline as it is apparently regularly patrolled by Albanian police vessels so we were basically following a straight line to Corfu.

Albania is described in our pilot guides as 'a sad and desperate country trying to shake off the shackles of communism'. You are adviseed to contact your embassy before travelling there, to make sure you do the right thing by the 'thorough' but 'fair' officials, to make sure you don't need medical assistance as it is poor to non-existant, not to have ANY dental treatment, not to drink the water or milk, to wash any fruit or vegetables before use, that hepatitis and AIDS are rife, not to get in to an altercation with anyone as gun carrying is common and you will probably come off worst etc etc. You get the picture..... this did not sound like a sunny, happy place for a holiday.

We managed to almost skirt around the edge of the first storm by heading out to sea, however still copped around 30 to 35 knot winds and the sea was whipped up into a confused 2 to 3 metre swell.

I have to interject at this pint to say that I think sailors (with all due respect of course) are a little like fishermen in some regards..... you know; the one that got away gets bigger and bigger every time the story is told. In my humble experience, it is actually quite difficult to tell the actual height of a wave, particularly in a sloppy swell. If you are in 12 metre waves (which sound horrendous, I concede!), as long as they are smooth, rolling waves you apparently just ride up one side of the wave and surf down the other, trying desparately to stop your boat turning side on to the waves. In short, choppy waves of any significant height, you crash down off the top of one wave and bury your nose into the next one which covers the boat in salt water. This is what was happening to poor Shirley, but she valiantly chugged on. Craig and I were hand steering at this point in an effort to reduce the impact.

We have lost track now as to how many storms we went through and when, however we have agreed that we think we went through at least one more before coming abreast of Vlore in Albania around lunch time. We carried on for another hour or so before deciding to take our chances in Albania.

As we poked our nose into the channel, the winds dropped off and turned around to the north east as had been promised by the wind gods. We decided (wisely or not), with this turn of events to keep heading south and retraced our steps towards Corfu. We even got our sails up again briefly, however once again we were soon slamming into head winds.

Around this time, we received a text message from Broke Aweigh to say that they were heading into Vlore due to engine trouble and were relieved that at least one boat we know of was safe. We tried to return the text however our Croatian mobile had run out of credit and our Australian mobile wouldn't work. Maybe 3G don't have a reciprocal agreement with Albania yet!

We tried to raise anyone we could think of on the VHF radio, however we seemed to have no effective way of contacting the outside world. The squalls were now bringing rain and life was decidedly uncomfortable. Craig was resting on the cockpit floor at one point as I wasn't game to let him out of my sight. The diesel fumes started to get to him and he looked a little green for a while. At one point we buried the nose so efficiently into a wave that water poured half way up the dodger and into the cabin.

It is about this point that I stopped caring about the fact that I had not fed my fish in Happy Aquarium that day and whether not logging in for a few days would mean the loss of acquiring the much promised female mate for my maturing frog. One also stops caring if you have exceedingly levels of body odour, showering becomes a hazy memory as does other formerly important hygiene. We were existing on muesli bars and nuts as we really couldn't stomach much else and couldn't be bothered preparing a proper meal in the swell.

About 24 nms from Corfu (which we couldn't see at this point through the clouds), Craig informed me that he was worried about fuel consumption. We were down to about one third of a tank and were currently doing 3 knots of headway at 2,600 rpms. Even if we had put the sails up Corfu was still hours and hours away. With yet another nasty looking storm approaching, we decided to head back to Vlore (again).

End of part one for now as we have to go into town for a mobile phone.... watch this space!!

xx

Lesley

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

G'day.....
We are sitting in the ACI marina at Dubrovnik waiting for suitable weather to make a transit to Corfu in Greece (about a minimum of 30 hours all going well). The winds are still howling today, however things are looking good for tomorrow, so we plan to leave at sparrows fart in the morning. Got to check out of Croatia before we leave which we can do at Gruz 24 hours a day, so that looks like the best option. We heard yesterday that the police were looking for some people who had stayed past their 90 day visa limit, so we definately want to leave the country before we outstay our welcome. We will have to come back to this part of the world next year as we have really rushed the southern part of the country.
We headed down here on Friday of last week from Mljet as the weather didn't look too great for our planned trip down on Saturday. We had the best sail that we have had so far on the trip and finally remembered what our sails are for. Only had to motor for the last few nautical miles to get up to the marina. Whoo Hoo! Hopefully there will be more of this to come.
We are now meeting 'live aboards' thick and fast and have had some great social connections here. We have met a couple from Brisbane (John and Jenny from Faraway) who are in the process of buying a boat here, Kate and Andrew from Lady Olivia (from Pommy land, but don't hold that against them), and another Aussie couple from Rockhampton (Ray and Kim from Karma Waters) who we have been hearing about for weeks but have kept missing. Coincidentally they are heading to Corfu tomorrow as well, so we will have someone else to keep in radio contact with during the journey.
As you can probably gather, yachties don't seem to worry about surnames. It is all about your boat and we refer to people as ' so and so, from (insert boat name)....
Apparently we shared a pontoon with the actor Ralph Feinnes for a few nights. He was, of course, on a massive, very impressive looking gin palace. Craig passed him on the pontoon, but I didn't have the pleasure. The paparazzi were crawling all over the place just before we arrived. Mark Veduka (the Croatian soccer / football player who was the captain of the 'soccaroos' for a while) also has a house and a boat here.
Keith and Sue and their lovely friend Terry arrived back in Croatia on Sunday and we have been discussing the trip. I am both excited and nervous at the same time as this is the longest non stop trip that I will ever have done. Craig, of course, is nonchalant about it all as he has sailed longer trips up the Queensland coast. We will spend today provisioning, refuelling etc so that we can head off at first light.
We had a quick look round Dubrovnik yesterday and it is an absolutely stunning place. There is a town wall which you can walk around which surrounds the old city and a gorgeous piazza type arrangement in the middle. It would be so good if we could understand Croatian, then we might have some idea what we are looking at, but it is all very cute anyway (and looks pretty impressive age wise). There is an old pharmacy museum took which tweaked my interest however it was closed when we went to go in, so something else to do 'next time'.
Anyway, gotta go and do the washing.... It's a hard life. Craig is doing boy stuff getting the boat in tip top condition to head off. Hopefully this will be our last night in a marina for a while as we believe mooring costs are a lot cheaper in Greece. OMG, another steep learning curve, but I can do it (I think!!).
Take care everyone and will talk soon......
xx
Lesley (from Shirley Valentine) :-))