Position N40 20 341 E019 28 385

We had better luck heading north although the wind headed us all the way but fortunately there was not much of it. We left before it got light to make sure we could enter Albania in the day light. I was slightly nervous as this coast was mined until recently although the pilot book is reassuring…. “ Minefields, extending up to 20 miles off the Albanian coast, were considered a hazard after the Second World War and throughout Albania’s period of self-imposed isolation. Although minefields are no longer considered a danger to surface navigation, anchoring in the defined areas is potentially dangerous.”

Leaving Othoni island

It looks a bit foreboding in the photo but was a lovely place. Motoring up the Albanian coast for 40nm was pretty dull but some interesting geology.

Going into Albania the only marina is in Orikum which is at the south of a large inlet/bay.

In the photo of Minka’s chartplotter Minka is the black blob slightly to the left of centre. From her extends her track line which is more or less pointing at the marina in the south of the bay. The grey sections on the chart appear to be uncharted with only a few spot depths showing. The next picture shows the headland we went round and the island to the north.

The sea was amazingly flat with no wind at all. The headland to the right has some fortifications on it which I am guessing were gun emplacements.

You can also just make out what I think is a concrete command post or watch tower on top of the hill.

The southerly coast of the inlet is unspoilt while the north coast has a lot of industrial plants and blocks of flats.

You may just be able to see some dome shaped concrete structures, there are three to the lower left side of the picture. These are Albanian pillboxes which suit the name much better than the ones built in Kent and Sussex for our Home Guard to procreate in.

The marina is ok but pretty shallow and looks very much as if they have run out of money.

What a surprise, Minka has got in the picture. You can’t moor to her port as it is too shallow. I had a lot of fun backing in as when the wind wasn’t catching her nose the mud/sand was swinging her round on her keel. The castellated structures behind are apartments with shops or restaurant premises below. They are all empty except for one which has a large table tennis table in it for the locals to play on. The outlook the other way is good.

There are a few  incomplete and stalled developments including this hotel complex

I am going to get my bike out now and explore.