19th May - Albania without the paperwork

Ftelias, Greece/Albania border

Ftelias is all of 5 miles from Corfu town but it may as well be on a different planet. The border between Albania and Greece bisects the entrance of the bay, so for a short while we are in Albanian waters without having to do all the tedious formalities to check the boat into the country. There are no border posts or military presence here. As we go past a fish farm a man working there calls out ‘bravo!’, and waves encouragingly towards the narrow dogleg inlet ahead of us to indicate there’s plenty of water. We suppose they don’t get many yotties in here as this is border territory offlimits to yachts. We take the gamble that since there's a general strike on in Greece, the coastguard won't come and move us on.














We find ourselves in a wonderfully sheltered creek with trees growing down to the water’s edge, to be greeted by the sound of birdsong, the inevitable goat bells and the disgruntled barking of a smallholder’s guard dogs.

It is a peaceful rural place and it’s warm and sunny today - a perfect antidote to the last five days of unseasonally strong winds and torrential rain. Last night was our first unbroken night’s sleep since last Thursday.

Here we are anchored below the Venetian old fortress in Corfu town with yet another rainstorm approaching. A 145 foot superyacht ‘Larisa’ is moored at the NAOK sailing club next to us. The yacht club marinero proudly boasted that Roman Abramovich is a member of the club, and it was here the meeting took place between the Russian aluminium oligarch and Peter Mandelson that caused such a stink a year or so ago.







We sat out the worst of the weather at anchor in protected Valtou bay on the mainland which is a real wildlife haven. Our sightings included a small flock of glossy ibis; a Hermann’s tortoise which hissed at Leighton when he picked it up; some European pond terrapins; one Montpelier snake, one unidentified brown snake and a skink. We also saw two large ladder snakes squashed on the road, so now we’re a bit cautious when going for walks along goat paths in the scrub.