The weather gods made our decision for us. We had intended to stay in Corfu another day and wander round the old town a bit but the weather in the Adriatic is not looking very good for quite a few days. There was one suitable weather window - leave immediately. So we did.
We had a really good dinner in Corfu town the night before we left. The chef at “To Mike” (Mike) is trying to bring international cuisine to Corfu as a counterpoint to the more traditional Greek and Italian “faster food” that many restaurants offer. The result was really delicious - salmon tartare as an appetizer for example. We also used the services of our regular taxi driver. As we return places here more often we come to know towns, marinas and people. The familiarity is surprisingly impactful.
But back to the weather. With Pam and Brian last year (at almost exactly the same time) we made the trip from Corfu to Brindisi in two legs stopping in the middle at the island of Erikoussa where we found a wonderful restaurant owned and run by a lager-the-life Italian who sat on his deck and drank (our) wine with us while dinner was being prepared. We had hoped to do the same again but the window was not open long enough for this.
So a straight shot of about112 miles. Boats don’t go very vast (despite what it feels like some days) so 120 miles equates to about 20 hours of sailing. To be safe, it’s best to have two people on deck or at least on watch at all times. You can try to stay awake for all this time but it’s risky particularly as you get more tired towards the end. So we have one person on watch all the time and the other snoozing in the cockpit or close by below. We split the night into 90-minute chunks and made a pretty straightforward crossing arriving in Brindisi about 10:00am.
On the right-hand side for most of the crossing is Albania. We know that a lot of you have been waiting for this moment but we also know that a lot of you don’t know that you’ve been waiting for this moment. Most Americans couldn’t place Albania on a map. (But then there are studies that show that Americans would be hard pressed to place countries like Switzerland on a map also. So maybe Albanians shouldn’t feel too badly). But Albania, to the extent that it has any reputation at a all, does not have a very good one. A Montenegrin we met last year called it “the Cuba of the Mediterranean” and I don’t think he meant that in a good way. (If there is indeed a good way to mean that). Albania was always the most secretive and closed Communist country in the Balkan region. Even today, it is still necessary to obtain permission to sail within one mile of the coast. Not at all sure why. So the photo is from quite a bit farther off than that.
One more positive thing to remark is that it has been a good year for dolphins so far. We had a couple of close encounters on this trip and all in all we’ve had more than half a dozen extended interludes with these fun creatures who really seem to love playing with boats.
We parked in Brindisi very well (about time, Colin) and snugged the boat in tight in anticipation of a few days of strong winds. When we change countries (even within the EU) we often like to use the services of an agent who clears any customs, immigration or port authority issues on our behalf. We used JLT/BWA this time, meeting up again with the people who helped us last year.
Brindisi is in Puglia in the southeast of Italy. This is not one the main regions for foreign tourists to visit although lots of Italians like to come here. But we have been surprised by the characterful old hill-towns and villages that are scattered throughout the olive groves that cover a lot of the land here. As we are going to be here for a few days, we have rented a car to explore inland. More of this in the next blog.