Hi Everyone,

 

One of the tick boxes on my ‘wish’ list was to sail through the Corfu channel --between the North east tip of Corfu and Albania.

 

As a young girl in the late 1970’s I was lucky to be able to go on a school cruise aboard the S.S Uganda. The ship was later used as a hospital ship in the Falklands war.

 

It was November and we boarded the ship in Venice, which bowled me over; we then sailed to Korcula in the former Yugoslavia and then headed south, the Captain sailing us through the Corfu channel.

I remember leaning on the starboard (right) railing of the aft deck. Other pupils around me were playing quoits and generally throwing them over board--- much to everyone’s amusement !!

I must have had the ‘wonderlust’ then as I wasn’t interested in the mayhem around me.

 

The Captain made a great ‘speech’ announcement as we sailed through the narrow two mile channel between Corfu and Albania. I remember him commenting upon the barren mountains of Communist Albania to our port (left) side and how little we knew about it as a country. The foreboding, un-populated mountains looking equally mysterious, cloaked in an aura of privacy.

 

He then described the contrast of Corfu, just two miles away, politically different, becoming a holiday destination with its lush vegetation on the east coast--- I now know due to being protected from the North west prevailing winds--- whilst Albania being exposed.

 

I leaned on the railing looking out at the beautiful coastline. At that time there was little development of any kind other than small dwellings.  The bays in the channel looked so beautiful, one or two of them where a square/ rectangular shape as if cut out by hand, although natural--- and just with the odd house and rare boat anchored.

 

The light illuminated the shoreline and reflected off the shallow turquoise waters and the slopes were covered with lush vegetation and cypress trees. I remember this as if a photograph.

I thought to myself, ‘this is the most beautiful place I have ever seen and one day I want to come back here’.

 

There were opportunities in the 1980’s  but by that time the 18-30 club scene had hit the ‘touristy’ Corfu and I couldn’t bear to come back and see it possibly trashed.

So the years went by, but now, with our own boat it seemed like the time to try.

 

Of course the bays on the channel have now become lovely tourist destinations from Kassiopi, Kououra on the north tip , south to Ayos Stefanos, Kalami and Agni where our dear friends Andrew and Trish stayed for a holiday a few years ago--- it is still lovely.

The bays now have villas, apartments, small hotels and like us many more yachts anchored in the bays.

Albania has a huge town with high rise blocks of flats a few miles north of the narrow channel and now looks like many other developed towns and cities.

 

So from the sea does the Corfu Channel look as beautiful as ever--- after 35 years ?----- yes.

We have now been lucky enough to see more beautiful beaches and shorelines in the Caribbean but still an older ‘girl’ remembers the promise she made to herself as a child as she looked in awe at the visual picture, the quality of light, sights and scents and committed it to memory----- and she is not disappointed.

 

Love to all

 

Tina and Tony x x x

 

Photos of the channel and bays........