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Portugal, Spain and Morocco.
We’d left Evanna the previous year (end 2007) in a
boat yard in Vigo, NW Spain. Fred came down in May to
give me a hand to get her ready for sea, and on 1st
June we slipped her into the water, the same day Carol
and Cheryl joined us from Paris.
In summer a high pressure system settles over the
Azores in the mid Atlantic. This causes a NW airflow,
known as the Portuguese Trades, to blow down the coast
of Portugal and southern Spain. Heading south, we had
a great sail for the entire 650 nm passage to the
straits of Gibraltar. Along the coast of Portugal we
put into many harbours including Viana do Castelo,
Peniche and Lisbon, spending a good amount of time
ashore visiting museums and art centres, and of course
the occasional local restaurant.
We put into Cueta, a small Spanish enclave on the
coast of Morocco opposite Gibraltar, and took a guided
tour to the Moroccan town of Tetouan. We were all
fascinated with the old city, its maze of tiny winding
streets and the many artisans still plying
centuries-old trades. We watched leather tanners, wood
workers, horseshoe and knife makers, and of course the
ubiquitous carpet sellers.
It was only a 15 mile trip across the straits to
Gibraltar; but a very cautious one because of the
enormous amount of shipping passing through this
narrow passage. As pre-arranged, we had a new furling
fitted to the mast, but also found time to climb up on
the rock to renew acquaintance with the apes, and
visit the British war-time installations. Fred and
Cheryl left us in Gibraltar.
The
Barbary Coast.
Algeria and Tunisia. Because the sailing directions
warned us that there might be problems in Algeria, a
reportedly strict Muslim country that has recently
been in some turmoil, Carol and I decided not to take
guests on this leg of the voyage, but to do it alone.
We went to the Algerian embassy in Paris and obtained
visas. The embassy staff were so helpful, and so
obviously keen to have tourists visit their country
that we felt considerably less apprehensive as we
sailed out of Gibraltar.
We put into the Algerian ports of Beni Saf and Bejaia.
In both ports, Evanna was the only yacht in the
harbour. A stream of officials came aboard, (customs,
police, immigration and health). They’d search the
ship, discover our bond stores, and then inevitably
start demanding bottles of whisky. A polite “no” was
usually sufficient, but on one occasion I had to say,
“if you’re asking me for a bribe, then I’ll be obliged
to call our ambassador, who will no doubt call your
minister of police”. That ended the matter. (If ever
you may need to use it, the lovely French expression
for a bribe is “un pot de vin”).
In each Algerian port they roped the ship off and
placed a guard for her protection. We thus felt fairly
secure in leaving her to go wandering about. Once we
were clear of officialdom, the people were delightful.
The French language is still very much in use, so we
were able to communicate freely. Beni Saf is a small
town, and we’d arrived on market day. The second port,
Bejaia is a large provincial city, teeming with people
and well stocked shops. We were surprised to find most
women in western dress, but the really big surprise
was at the first major intersection. There, in the
middle of the intersection stood a police woman,
complete with truncheon and gun! Carol said, “maybe
they are not such strict Muslims after all. Fancy
having a woman in such a position of authority”.
While strolling about the streets we stopped two young
men to ask directions. They said, “Hey! We’re not
doing anything today, and we have a car; we’ll drive
you around”. We spent a wonderful day with them. They
took us out to visit the lighthouse perched high on
the towering cliffs, we drank at a fountain said to be
the Fountain of Youth, (it hasn’t done much for me as
yet), and to some of the outer villages. They would
not take any money for their time, or even a
contribution to car fuel. They finally allowed us to
buy them lunch, so with a picnic we all set off again,
this time to the top of the mountain where we sat
munching sandwiches and chatting. Ahmed is a school
teacher, and Syd has a trucking business. We mentioned
the police woman we’d seen. They said women were in
the police, the customs, and even the army. We asked
what they thought about the strict Muslim regimes such
as Saudi Arabia and the Taliban. Syd turned to me and
said, “Look, I’m a devout Muslim, I pray 5 times a day
and go to the mosque on Friday, but there’s no way
that I’d want to live under Sharia law.” It would seem
that a moderation of extreme Muslim views, and
particularly the liberation of women will eventually
come about through countries such as Algeria.
Tunisia, Sicily, Greece.
Neil and Anne joined us in Bizerte, northern Tunisia.
As we had cruised around Tunisia a couple of years
previously and they’d spent the past 2 weeks touring
the country, we set off immediately for the sail
across to Sicily, and the port of Marsala. Carol and I
renewed acquaintance with our good friend Antonello, a
wine maker whom we’d met on a previous visit.
We spent a couple of very enjoyable weeks pottering
around the coast of Sicily, putting into several
ports, and cruising around the Eoli islands. In
Palermo we visited the art museum and the magnificent
archeological museum. The volcanic island of Stromboli
was rumbling and grumbling, and at night a faint glow
could be seen over the active crater. It was difficult
anchoring off Stromboli as the sea bed sloped down so
sharply, but the swimming was great in the clear
Mediterranean water. As we passed through the straits
of Messina, the famous whirlpool was not at its most
spectacular as we were on neap tides.
A two day sail took us to the west coast of Greece
where we made land at the island of Zakinthos to begin
the northward journey. Greece was her usual beautiful
self and we spent a couple of weeks cruising up to,
and around Cephalonia, the island whose towns were so
tragically destroyed by the 1953earthquake. During the
day, we would anchor in a quiet cove for swimming, and
in the evening, either have dinner on deck or go
ashore to a local taverna. Neil and Anne left us at
the port of Lixori on Cephalonia.
While tied up in Lixori, one morning at about 7.00 we
were awoken by a rumbling noise and the boat began to
shake. It continued for about half a minute. We later
learned that there had been an earth quake of around
5 on the Richter scale. Fortunately it was centered
well offshore.
Greece to Albania.
Joe and Cheryl joined us at Lixori and we continued
the journey north, anchoring for lunchtime swims in
the lovely clear water, then searching for a sheltered
bay to anchor for the night. We visited Ithaca,
(Ulysses’ home island), then made our way on to Corfu,
from where it was a short passage across to Albania.
Once again, our sailing directions were very
discouraging about Albania, so we didn’t know what to
expect. In fact we were pleasantly surprised. The
country is relatively poor, and still recovering from
the Balkan wars, but the people were friendly and
helpful. The first port in Albania was Saranda where
we were obliged to engage a shipping agent. However,
for a surprisingly small fee, the agent arranged all
entry formalities, and even sightseeing tours and
restaurants.
There were several bays along the Albanian coast where
we anchored for the night before reaching the busy
port of Durres, where Joe and Cheryl left. Joe, who is
an engineer, was a big help on board, especially when
our hot water service decided to burst its seams!
Albania, Montenegro to Dubrovnik.
David and Annick came aboard in Durres. The warm sunny
days of the past 2 months continued as we headed north
towards Montenegro. As the Latin name suggests,
sinister-looking dark mountains reach right down to
the coast. However, there were many deep and beautiful
bays to anchor in. We followed the Kotorska inlet as
it wound inland through deep-sided valleys until at
the very end we came upon the medieval walled city of
Kotor.
There was no room in Dubrovnik’s tiny harbour, so we
tied up in the port of Gruz, a short bus ride from the
city. Much of Dubrovnik was tragically destroyed
during the Balkan war of the 1990’s. The Serbs had
their gun emplacements on the hills overlooking the
city and rained thousands of shells down before the
N.A.T.O. forces finally chased them away. Incredibly,
the Croats have completely re-built the city to
(almost) its former glory. The recent destruction is
barely noticeable until you look down from the
battlements and see the new tiles on the roofs.
Dubrovnik to Venice.
Fay, Jim and Jess joined us in Dubrovnik for the
cruise through the Croatian islands. So began an
enjoyable month of island hopping, and touring ashore.
The Venetians left many walled cities such as Hvar,
Rovinj, Korcula and Pula that we visited. While we
wandered around the narrow winding streets of these
well-preserved cities, we couldn’t help but wonder if
the Venetians were much like the German Hanseatic
League, who for several centuries set up armed
outposts in Norway. They’d buy the dried cod from the
Norwegian fisherman for a pittance, re-sell it at
enormous profit while keeping the population forever
in debt to them. The Venetians no doubt built these
fortified cities to protect their merchants and ships
from raiders, while they happily robbed the local
peasants of their produce. The demonstration of this
wealth we would later see in the opulent palaces of
Venice.
Two of the unforgettable highlights of this cruise
were the Blue Grotto of Vis, and the waterfalls at
Scradin. The grotto is located about 8 nm north of
Vis. We anchored in the cove and paddled the dingy
into the cave. The reflected sunlight from underneath
turned the water into a spectacular iridescent blue.
To see the waterfalls we moored at Sibernik and took a
bus and then a water taxi. The falls were magnificent.
Seven separate falls cascade down, and on the level
ground in between, water wheels and turbines are used
to power a variety of mills.
Everyone was looking forward to Venice. We sailed
through the northern entrance to the lagoon, and as we
rounded a bend in the channel the city opened up
before us. Berths are difficult to arrange, but we
were lucky to be given a spot right in the heart of
the city, almost opposite St Marco Square. We all
bought four-day passes for the water buses and then
buzzed around in them to take in as much as we could.
On the last evening we all took a twilight gondola
ride. (Advice: Never have a glass of wine before
getting into a gondola!)
Venice is a superb city with its water streets and
highways. But the water has become a problem. There is
now talk of closing the three lagoon entrances with
barrages to control the water level. This will of
course restrict shipping, especially the visiting
cruise ships, and the local merchants are not too
happy about it. However, when the city floods as it
has this autumn, and ground floor shops are inundated,
they tend to be a little more in favour of the idea.
Jim, Fay and Jess left us in Venice, then Carol and I
sailed Evanna back across to Novigrad on the Croatian
coast, where she is now hauled out for the winter. A
bus to Trieste, then the fast train to Paris saw us
once again installed in out flat.
Where to next year? We haven’t worked out an exact
itinerary as yet. We will need to do some work on the
ship next spring, then beginning in June we’ll head
south down the Adriatic, through Croatia, Montenegro,
Albania and Greece. There are many places we haven’t
seen, and other we’d like to re-visit. We’ll probably
head to southern Tunisia via Malta and arrange to
leave Evanna in Tunisia for the following winter. We’d
also like to one day visit Libya, but will need to do
a bit of research first. If you’d like to join us on
any part of the voyage, the PG rate is 125 euros per
person per day, sharing; 165 euros per day single.
This is a “share expense” rate, and is about one third
the normal charter fee.
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