Makarma's log

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.

13th May - Bugs on Board (by Leighton)

Cathy hates spiders on the boat. These are a few very small spiders and I don't mind them. After all they do catch mosquitos and I enjoy sitting in the cockpit while reading a book, pausing occasionally to watch them (a bit like fishermen mending their nets) cleaning and repairing their webs in amongst the various bits of rope and safety gear on the back of the boat. Any bug that can produce a material stronger than steel at room temperature and do so out of its backside on a diet of bugs, has got to demand some admiration. After I complained about the indiscrimate destruction of webs and flicking of the residents into the sea to become fish food - Cathy did conceed a bit of ground, "...they can all be put in a box and taken ashore if you want to save them!". Its not like we live in a haunted house. My crew of tiny spiders produce delicate small cobwebs that are full of diamonds in the morning dew and occasionally a dead mosquito. I like that.

Since I mention mosquitos - Unfortunately Mozzies like the same type of climate as us humans so when the weather is at its best the they are about. I am certain these little beasts are the source of many vampire tales: They come out at night, fly through the sky, suck your blood while you sleep and return to their hiding places before sunrise. We have recently had to deploy additional defenses (see picture below) and although it is a bit like something out of "Sleeping Beauty", but we haven't had a bite in the last two nights.

Mini-Ants - we both draw the line at ants. We are not sure where they have come from or where they might live on the boat. Like the spiders they are tiny - (unfortunately the spiders don't seem to do ants) and even though we bump them off when we see them, the odd ant keeps reappearing so we think there might be a small colony somewhere on board. We keep looking out for an anthill to appear on deck - nothing so far.

Dragon Flies - While we are doing bugs we might as well cover the 'mystery of the dragon flies'. Several times we have been visited by colourful dragon Flies - the same kind you can see buzzing around the water plants along any river bank in the UK. The mystery is that each time we were visited by dragon flies we were far out at sea - some 80-100 miles from land! After a rest an hour or so, they would take off and continue their journey - from and to where a mystery.

Now for our "Bug of the Month" competition:

Answers on a postcard please. Not sure where it is now (might still be on the boat somewhere? In a spiders stomach? - we can be hopeful ) but it is certainly not in our book, "The Natural History of The Mediterranean". A complete mystery - and I have never seen a bug like it. New species perhaps? However we did see this thing in the water earlier in the day, there might be a connection...?

10th May, Sivota Mourtos

Heading north from Preveza, we stopped at Parga on the mainland after a delightful close reach in light winds for 30 miles.

Here we are parked next door to a semi-submerged ferryboat. The quay is a dumping ground for old nets, an underwater wreck and assorted debris. The wrecks have been there for years apparently.

It’s a real shame the harbour is such a dumping ground as the town itself is a jewel. It sits in a beautiful double horseshoe bay which is guarded by a fine Venetian fort on the promontory above.

We took advantage of a rare cloudy day to go for a long walk in the hills above Lakka on Paxos where we spent a few days at anchor last week. Ancient olive trees grow on stone terraces which were built to stop the soil from erosion. They date from the Middle Ages when the Venetians planted the trees so that the Paxiotes could pay their taxes in olive oil.

We came across a secluded church with this ornate bronze bell hung in an olive tree.

The next day was warm enough for our first swim. Leighton collects stones from the beach. Lakka's water is a glorious turquoise.

Plataria on the mainland opposite Corfu felt very exposed when we arrived in a strong sea breeze one afternoon, as the seawall and quay are barely two feet high. Our kedge dragged in the night to put us alongside. We’ve abandoned our plans to leave the boat here and explore Albania by car as 1) the berth isn’t secure – contrary to the pilot and 2) there have been reports of rioting in Tirana.

Leighton takes a break from fixing a leak in the toilet pump with Harry Potter here in Sivota Mourtos.

We did our first stern-to on the quay here with the help of 15 knots of wind blowing us on. It worked scarily well although we ran out of chain – and we have 60 metres of the stuff – some ten feet from the quay. Never mind -we’ve been using the dinghy to ferry us across the gap ever since.

29th April 2010 - Preveza

Many people have asked us if we’re affected by the Greek economic situation since the bailout is much in the news. Here’s the answer.

People are still out spending and the tavernas are full. Because many people are paid at least part of their salary in cash, they don’t seem to pay much tax. And public sector services like the port police appear to be heavily overstaffed. Small wonder the Greek government has run out of money. The big issue for us continues to be the exchange rate – and that’s the result of a weak pound and the state of the UK economy.

St George’s day is big around here with the farming community. They celebrate by racing stallions around the church outside Vonitsa to win a loaf of bread specially blessed by the priest. It has the mayhem of a drag race with little regard for safety.

The riders wear ordinary jeans and trainers, without a helmet. They talk on their mobile and smoke as they gallop. Afterwards on the quayside the sweating horses are tied to lampposts, benches or any other convenient hitching post to kick their heels while the riders drink a glass or two of ouzo. The horses lash out at anything that gets too close – a scooter, a baby buggy, a passerby.

The deck caulking is done – two weeks of strenuous work, aching muscles and filthy fingernails is finally over!

Here's Cathy hard at work.

We’re pleased with the result and glad to get it over before it gets too hot. Now we can leave Vonitsa and go sailing. We spend the first few days exploring the anchorages in the gulf of Amvrakia with some pleasant sailing. We have to move on twice when the wind shifts to put us on a lee shore. We fetch up in the tiny hamlet of Loutraki tucked in close to the shore beside some small traditional fishing boats. We’ve seen dolphins, turtles, pelicans and seabirds here.

17th April - Vonitsa Score: Virus 10 – Leighton 11 (after a week-long struggle)

First picnic on the beach - the view towards Kalamos

We are horrified to discover the reason why our PCs have been behaving mysteriously for a while – we’d put it down to just another annoying Microsoft glitch - is because they have both been infected with a thoroughly insidious virus. Because we haven’t manage to connect either PC to the internet yet (another long saga I won’t bore you with) Leighton is forced to spend several hours in a noisy internet cafe over the course of a week trying to work out how to zap the virus. At last, he’s beaten it. Because our memory sticks were infected as well, we haven’t been able to post anything up on the blog until now – hence the complete silence.

Serious Rummikub concentration - Frank is the champion!

Meantime, Cathy has been soldiering on with the deck. First we have to chisel out all the old caulking which has perished in the sun, clean out the seams and stick down any loose boards before applying new black caulking (the consistency of marmite) into the seams. The caulking sticks to absolutely everything apart from baby wipes, so as you can imagine it’s a messy business. Anyone who has been onboard will know there’s an awful lot of deck to do! We want to crack on with it while the conditions are right for the job. At the moment it’s not too hot, and apart from a light sprinkling of rain one evening, completely dry. Our hands and feet look like they’ve emerged from a tar pit, and our work clothes will have to be thrown away, but we are now almost finished. Another three days should do it, then we can start sailing – yippee!

It was very sad to say goodbye to our Dutch friends when they left this week to sail south to Patras. We have so enjoyed spending the last two months with them, and they have greatly enriched our stay here in Vonitsa. There’s now a huge space beside Makarma where their boat used to be - we will miss them a lot.

I’ve left the most important piece of news until last – Edd and Nat have got engaged! The date of the wedding is set for June 2011. Our heartfelt congratulations go to them both.

4th April – Easter Sunday, Vonitsa. Easter celebrations

Last night found us standing outside the Greek Orthodox church in Vonitsa carrying candles which we lit inside the church a moment before. The black robed priest has come outside to address the crowd through loudspeakers. Everyone is dressed in their finest clothes for the occasion. When the clock chimes midnight, the priest cries ‘Christos Anesti!’ and a roar goes up as everyone replies, ‘Christ is risen indeed!’ The bells ring out and fireworks explode into the sky. Thunderflashes go off under our feet. It is absolutely deafening. Later our candle makes it safely back to the boat still lit to bring us good luck for the coming year. Lighted candles can be seen flickering inside cars as people drive home.

Orthodox Easter is Greece’s big holiday. In the run-up to today, rows of lamb carcases have been hanging in the butcher’s, and the candles that bring good luck are for sale everywhere – many of them elaborately decorated with Barbie dolls, footballers and coloured charms. Vonitsa has filled up with local holidaymakers. Today family and friends get together to eat roast lamb and kokoretsi, a long sausage made of the animal’s entrails and innards, which is cooked over a charcoal brazier in the garden or out on the street. Everyone exchanges ‘Kalo Paskha!’ greetings and red eggs. We enjoy a huge lamb lunch in a taverna overlooking the bay before staggering back home to sleep it off.

After our launch, we sailed the 7 miles to Vonitsa from Aktio on a gloriously sunny day. Mo Fay-Jenkins, who’s sailed single handed across the Atlantic came along for the ride.

We are tied up on the quay alongside Frank and Anneke’s Victory 40, Panteleimon. Vonitsa harbour is sheltered and the little agricultural town is delightful. We are getting to know our way around well. One day we joined Mo and her husband Paul on their junk rigged Fay40, Ti-Gitu for a sail around the gulf.

On another day a brisk afternoon breeze gave us a fantastic sail in Pantaleimon.

Spring is truly here in the Ionian. The fields are a vibrant green and dotted with colourful wildflowers. The almond, cherry and apple trees are in blossom, the trees are now in leaf and the house martins are nesting under the eaves in town. The orange and lemon trees are laden with fruit. Fresh local strawberries are starting to appear in the shops. The bad news is the weather has warmed up enough now for us to tackle the daunting job of recaulking the deck.

Anneke valiantly trying the kokoretsi (lamb's entrail sausage) grilling on Easter Sunday - verdict - thumbs down!

Thursday 18th March – Aktio. To Hell and back – we’re working on the boat!

We aren’t sorry to leave the coldest winter in UK for many years for spring in Greece. However it’s always hard to say goodbye to the family and to our many friends who’ve given us hospitality and support (especially Laura) while we’ve been back home. We enjoyed our three month stay in Devon, but we’re keen to get back to living on the boat.

Towards the end of February we flew from Bristol to Bergamo, then took the train to Venice, where we met up with our Dutch friends Frank and Anneke, who drove down from Holland in a 30 year old Volvo. Their boat is also at Aktio in the next door boatyard.

Although Venice is in the grip of freezing fog, we spend a magical two days taking in the sights and smells of the city, muffled up against the cold. The sun comes out as the Anek ferry bound for Igoumenitsa sails out of the Venice lagoon, and we have a last glimpse of St Mark’s from the deck before the ship sets out down the Adriatic. It’s a comfortable overnight passage and in the morning we can observe close up some of the coastline of Albania that we may explore later in Makarma.

The usual round of boatwork in the yard begins. We start to put some of the Greek we’ve learned over the winter to good use getting around and sourcing materials. We’ve installed our new DSC VHF radio and Nutlink fanbelt; insulated the fridge with aerogel; the kitchen’s had a makeover; the hatches have new mozzie boards, and the usual servicing, painting, antifouling etc. gets done. Sometimes it seems like we’re pushing a river uphill because anything new invariably has teething problems. But overall we’re pleased with progress.

Cathy has joined a group of writers contributing to a new English language magazine, The Ionian – www.theionian.com. Her first article is an interview with Tiger, a 9 year girl who has only ever lived afloat.

Here's editor Babara Molin with the first issue!

Every Sunday we down tools to have a day off with Frank and Anneke and we drive somewhere inland in their elderly car. Highlights are a visit to the hilltop town of Kassiopi (abandoned when its inhabitants were forcibly relocated to Nicopolis by the emperor Octavian) and the gorge in the Acheron river (reputed to be where Charon ferried souls to the underworld) that is known as the Gates of Hell!