Vlores and Duress - Albania in the raw

The only yacht marina in Albania read well, but as we entered the Gulf of Vlores it was obvious that this marina was a very long way from anywhere, stuck in the very most southern corner of a very large gulf. A small marina with great facilities, we were moored next to a deteriorating wooded hulk half filled with fresh rain water and a mozzie breeding ground as a result. Fortunately, power is included in the price to stay, so aircon on and boat closed... no mozzies could get in.

We had met two couples from the Gold Coast on a Lagoon 450, the next one up from ours. The parallels with these guys are amazing right down to where they ski.... Big White. They also enjoy a tipple with good food, so despite the isolated situation we did manage to find a very good restaurant and had a big night with them. This has only happened three times in three seasons which we have found both surprising and disappointing.

This is a shot of their boat as we screeched past them. We never did come up with a reason why Summer Amy is so much faster with same engine revs, same sails etc but by the time we arrived in Duress, they had disappeared over the horizon behind us providing Al with plenty of humorous ammunition that evening....Go the Summer Amy!

In the morning we booked a cab to take us to Appollonia, another one of those must see ruins from 800BC. Kids excited, not, off we went without breakfast, straight into bumper to bumper traffic for two and a half hours. No aircon, Summer on my lap, narrow coast road so no way to even turn around!
We finally arrived, went straight to the restaurant and pigged out.


A well used well...




The cab driver was booked for the entire day to take us to wherever we wanted to go for 50 Euro. Poor guy had to wait three hours in a place that should have taken half an hour.





The ruins were ok. Still got the imagination going and the kids were content to catch grass hoppers, crickets and lizards.

Rather than explore the city of Vlores, the return trip was simply to find a supermarket for resupply while we had a taxi to cart it all to the boat.

That evening everybody went out while I caught some shut eye before the 1:30am board meeting. The winds the following day for our trip to Duress looked ominous so we decided that we would set sail right after the board meeting at around 4:30am, everybody resolving to make it an early night. Ah, yeah right...! When I woke at 1:00am nobody was home! It's what happens when we hook up with another bunch of Aussies. Board meeting ended at 4:15 but I could not locate the port policeman to release us until 5:00 so at least they got a little more sleep. At 5:15am on the 8th of August we cast off and headed for Duress 60 miles away in a growing NE wind.

Duress is a port used by coal freighters, ferries and cargo ships and the docks are designed for that purpose. Definitely not for pleasure boats.

After a epic sail, the wind big but in a good direction we averaged over 8 knots nearly all the way. We contacted Arben Ninga, an agent recommended by Akim from Sarrande'. He was on hand to direct us into a space where we would not need to move to make way for arriving ships.

It was quite a spot.

The center of attention for the dock workers, it all felt a little insecure but after discussing security with Arben and having a long chat in Italian with some dock workers about the differences in wages and living standards between Australia and Albania it was decided that this place was quite safe and that if we moved to Albania we could "live like kings".

We had low expectations for what we'd find outside the docks, but as has been the case in Albania, we were blown away. An endless promenade with the now very familiar carnies for kids. Sal discovered a Venetian Castle right on main street that had been converted into the coolest of rooftop bars and internal night club. After indulging the kids in their carnie activity, the castle was a great place for a spritza and a surprisingly good play list. 

This is how you reach the rooftop. Via the original stone staircase...

It is a feature of his part of the world, rather than preserve the ruin as a ruin, they make very good use of them while maintaining the ancient feel of the places. This is the night club inside the castle..

Pizza on the pavement, we could have been in Paris. An early night for an early start for a 56 mile sail to Montenegro in the morning. At 6:05am we cast off at exactly the same time as the other Aussies and motored into a beautiful windless sunrise. Bye bye Albania, hello Montenegro.