Pilane Sculpture Park, set in a farmer’s field in the middle of the Swedish island of Tjorn, was voted among the top ten in Europe by the British newspaper The Guardian. The clear star at Pilane is Anna by Jaume Plensa. The huge head of a woman is visible from sea—we could see it from…
Tag Archives | Nordhavn
ENVOY CRUISING SOUTH FROM CORFU
ENVOY CRUISING SOUTH FROM CORFU
Envoy is now at stunning Kastos Island on the way to Mesolonghi to meet my brother Charles.
Back to late August we’ve cleared in to Greece at Corfu after our return from Albania and heading south we spend time in Petriti and Syvota – both extensively mentioned in previous blogs.
Enjoying cakes at one of our favourite bakeries – in Syvota (Mourtos)
Cruising west from Petriti you need to stay well clear to the north of a large sand spit, covered with shallow water and well marked on charts but with no buoyage. There’s a line of boats including us and several charter yachts keeping well clear of the spit and then I see a 45 ft sailing catamaran under motor veer out of line off to the south. At first I think maybe he has local knowledge and with his cat’s shallow draught may be OK. He’s well out of hailing distance when I see things go horribly wrong and the cat grounds. Fortunately the sea is very calm and I see the cat trying to get clear, but instead of trying to get out the way it came in the cat veers in another direction where it’s shallower still. There’s nothing we can do to assist as he’s several hundred metres away from water deep enough for Envoy to venture safely. In any case I’d be reluctant to put a tow line on a vessel over here, not knowing the insurance implications.
We cruise on to Loggos on Paxxos Island. This is a stunning village we’ve been to with our friends Frank and Marie when we all decided it was one of our favorite places with a quaint bakery selling croissants, plus several nice tavernas and restaurants and quirky shops.
Envoy anchored in Loggos with superyacht in background
Loggos’s stunning waterfront
Our favorite house in Loggos overlooks the anchorage
Then we head to Lakka Bay on Paxxos, surprisingly finding three Kiwi boats there. We get together with Richard and Janet from motorboat Matariki plus Jeremy and Chrissy from yacht Fernweh for drinks aboard Envoy and dinner ashore. We find out that Richard is about 80 years old and still enjoying his boating, having a yacht in the Bay of Islands that he originally sailed out to NZ from England.
Interesting charter vessel moored close to us at Lakka
I planned to do a genset oil and filter change the next day. I had my new spare Shell oil stored on the top deck in 20 litre plastic drums and when I went to fetch it found that the tops of both drums had split – presumably with the heat and u/v. In retrospect I should have covered them for protection. We’d had a little rain a few days before and I wasn’t going to risk using oil possibly contaminated with water so consigned these drums to the oil dump station where I looked with disgust as 40 litres of possibly perfectly good oil was poured in – about 170 Euros worth!
From Paxxos we cruise about six hours to Preveza on the mainland – another great anchorage where we’ve spent many comfortable nights.
Having dinner out at Preveza
Before it got dark we notice this bird’s nest of wiring on a nearby power pole
Here I buy some new 15W40 oil and change the generator’s oil and filter, a job which if properly organised takes about an hour using Envoy’s built-in oil change pump. On completion when I try to start the generator – nothing! Well obviously I think the problem must be connected to the oil change, but I can’t see how – did I dislodge a wire?. The generator provides our only source of AC power for refrigeration so we need it. We head to nearby Lefkada marina where we can connect to shorepower while the generator problem is solved. Sailand’s electrician – Velisaris knows Envoy well and comes aboard at 1800 hours, soon diagnoses the problem as the starter motor, removes it and takes it away for repair. He’s back at 1000 the next day and says the starter motor needed a good clean out of accumulated carbon dust and new brushes. I check our Envoy manual and find this starter motor should be serviced every five years. Lo and behold – it’s 5 years since our last service. While Velissaris is aboard I also get him to test the output of the Lugger’s alternator and this tests fine.
Having dinner in Lefkada’s main square with yachtsmen friends Mike and Keith
We leave Lefkada and head south through the canal stopping at Ormos Varko for two nights. This is a remote, peaceful anchorage well sheltered from prevailing northerlies and without annoying speed boats roaring around. One night we’re on the fringes of an electrical storm, but apart from a few brief squalls up to 20 knots have no problem and see the main front pass away well to our east.
Then it’s further south to Ormos Dessimou. This is a bit busier with many campers ashore and some small boats coming in and out.
Tavernas on O. Dessimou’s tranquil shore
Next posting – unexploded WW2 hand grenade found in our anchorage
Marstrand
Construction of Carlsten Fortress began in 1658 to protect the town of Marstrand, an important ice-free Swedish shipping port. Denmark besieged and overpowered the fortress twice, in 1677 and 1719, but both times it was returned to Sweden following negotiations and treaties. The fort was also used as a prison and eventually was decommissioned in…
Donso
Donso, a small Swedish island about 13 miles west of Gothenburg, has a long history in the shipping industry, particularly the tanker business. Sten A. Olsson, the founder of the Stena business group, was born there and a dozen shipping companies currently are located at or owned by people living on Donso. The biennial Donso…
Maritiman
Gothenburg’s Maritiman is the largest floating ship museum in the world, comprising 20 historical craft ranging from small tubgoats to the 144 ft (44m) Danish diesel electric submarine Nordkaparen and the 398ft (121m) HMS Smaland, a Swedish Halland-class destroyer. On our sixth and final day in the city, we completed a few boat chores in…
Historic Gothenburg
Soon after Gothenburg was founded in 1621, Sweden built Alvsborg Fortress at the mouth of the Gota Alv river to protect the newly-founded city and Sweden’s only access to the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Closer to the city, the fortress Skansen Kronan was built to help protect Gothenburg from Danish attack. And within…
Gothenburg Arrival
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and has been an important ice-free port since its founding in 1621. Today the city of nearly a half-million is the largest port in the Nordic countries, supports two universities, is the world-wide headquarters of the car manufacturer Volvo and the bearing and seal producer SKF, and is…
ENVOY IN ALBANIA
Envoy is now anchored at beautiful Cephalonia, Greece.
Fingers crossed we seem to have sorted out our photo issue now.
Envoy anchored on the Albania/Greek border in Ftlelia Bay
Fingers crossed we seem to have sorted out our photo issue now.
I meant to mention that although Envoy has two aircons – a forward unit cooling the two sleeping cabins and an amidships unit cooling the pilothouse and saloon – we only use these to provide an AC load for the generator as to use them properly we’d obviously have to close all the portholes, doors and windows – something Di and I don’t like to do. Also to use the aircons we need AC power which means being on shore power or running the generator or running the Lugger with the inverter.
While we’re in Gouvia marina waiting for the epirb situation to be resolved it’s hot – like up to 37d. It’s generally hotter in marinas as there’s less wind than at anchor and large expanses of concretes that soak up and then radiate the heat. Larry and Catherine are having a bit of difficulty sleeping in the heat and suggest we run the forward aircon all night. So we close the portholes and do this, finding after about an hour or so the temperature drops about 5dC and more importantly the humidity drops considerably. So this is a useful experiment and we find the slight hum of the aircon working on shore power not a problem, though we wouldn’t do it at anchor as we’d have to run the generator all night.
We have already spent a few days in Albania with Chris earlier in the season but now need to spend another few days there to avoid over-staying our allowed 90 days in Greece. On our three previous trips we’ve stayed at Sarande so this time decide to cruise a few miles north and south of Sarande. To do this our agent, Jelga, needs to file a cruise intinerary with the Port Police. At the Sarande dock is a very traditional Arab dhow about 120 feet long with its crew all decked out in traditional long white robes and turbans. Jelga tells us it’s owned by an Emarati princess and when the dhow arrived the authorities laid a long red carpet from the dock to the Customs hall.
There’s very few boats anchored here, but one is a NZ yacht called Sparrow. We meet her owners Peter and Dash and enjoy a great dinner ashore together costing a ridiculously low 19 Euros per couple.
Next day we start cruising north and anchor at a very sheltered bay east of Cape Kiephali. Here it’s very remote, accessed only by a dirt road. There’s a couple of houses ashore and a fish farm taking up some of the bay’s space. At dusk we see two guys ashore dressed in military style clothing acting rather suspiciously. Dusk turns to dark and they are still there – doing what? We find it slightly scary so lock our doors during the night for the first time ever.
Envoy anchored near Cape Kiepheli, Albania
Envoy anchored near Cape Kiepheli, Albania
Next day we cruise further north to anchor off Qeparo Beach, east of Palermo Headland. Here is also very sheltered and there’s a few tavernas ashore, one of which we visit for a cold and cheap Albanian beer. The barman speaks no English but we all manage OK. At both of these anchorages we are the only boat.
Grotto near our Qeparo Beach anchorage
Grotto near our Qeparo Beach anchorage
Peter and Dash meanwhile have cruised past us to go alongside the wharf at Palermo Bay. This is a disused military wharf and very rough with lots of protrusions and no proper bollards. Although it’s only a couple of miles from where we were last night Peter says they got winds gusting 40 knots whereas we had none. The main attraction at Palermo Bay is Ali Pasha’s castle, which we’ve already seen so we move on to anchor in Himare Bay.
Ali Pasha’s castle viewed from the sea
Tucked in close at the north end of the bay close to a wharf there’s reasonable shelter from the prevailing northerlies, although a bit of residual swell finds its way here. The village is quite atmospheric, even if a little run-down and the locals are mostly quite friendly – even the local Port Police who visit us to check on our ship’s papers. The main issue here is small boats moving at high speed very close. We take a taxi to Himare’s ancient Kastro high in the hills for some spectacular views of the coast.
View from Himare’s Kastro
View from Himare’s Kastro
Himare is the last sheltered anchorage for many miles heading north so after two nights here we head back south again
Envoy anchored in Himare Bay
There are some very run-down apartments in Himare
On the way, passing Sarande we notice our dinghy is missing – my fault as I was the one who secured it (not very well). We haven’t cruised far so backtrack about two miles to find it drifting near a rocky shore. It’stoo risky to take Envoy that close to a lee shore so we anchor off about 50 metres and I swim over to the dinghy which by now is very close to rocks. I manage to climb onto the rocks, push the dinghy away, climb in and start it. I get a few metres away from the rocks and the engine stops – the painter is still dragging in the choppy water and has wound around the prop. I jump back into the water, manage to free the prop quite easily, get back into the dinghy and motor over to Envoy. A good ending to a silly mistake.
Laurie rescuing our drifting dinghy
Laurie rescuing our drifting dinghy
The only really nice anchorage we found to the south of Sarande is Ftelia Bay, which is very remote and perfectly sheltered from all wind directions except southerly. Again we are the sole boat here and one side of the bay is Albanian while the other is Greek. Some years back it was a military zone and cruisers weren’t allowed to anchor here but it’s all much more relaxed these days. There’s no tavernas or facilities here but Ftlelia would rank among one of the nicest anchorages we’ve found.
Envoy anchored on the Albania/Greek border in Ftlelia Bay
Old fisherman’s cottage on Greek side of Ftlelia Bay
So we clear-out of Albania and head back to Corfu’s Gouvia marina to clear-in to Greece for the last time. The cost is 60 Euros for both clearing in and out, compared to 150 Euros to clear in and the same to clear out of Greece.
Bohus Fortress
Construction of Bohus Fortress, ten miles upriver from Gothenburg, began in 1308 by King Hakon V Magnusson of Norway to defend Norway’s southernmost border. Bohus was considered one of the biggest and strongest in the Nordic region—it survived 14 sieges and was never captured. After passing through the flight of locks at Trollhattan, we continued…
Trollhattan
We knew there was a lot to see and do in and around Trollhattan, but despite allocating four nights, we ended up staying an extra two. From a fabulous berth in the park setting of intimate Spikon Gasthamn, we viewed the Trollhattan Falls and the Gota Alv river, visited the Saab Museum, made a day…
