At last a good forecast to leave Montenegro and sail to Corfu. Apart from a few computer problems with the Montenegro Border Police checking out was not too difficult. We set off south from Bar in a calm sea with a few clouds in the sky. Within no time the clouds coalesced to form huge black masses and the rain could be seen all around. Pat even spotted two waterspouts in the distance snaking down from the biblical black sky. What happened to the good forecast? At last we too got the rain, heavy tropical downpours that dampened everything including the spirit.
Currents are said to be slight in the Adriatic but we seemed to have at least one knot against us and the wind against us which lengthened our voyage. Later in the afternoon the sky cleared and the sea gradually lessened. We no longer shipped green waves over the bow. As darkness came we had to motor through an ever lessening wind and sea. Our passage had to keep us outside the 12 mile limit of Albanian waters so as not to be escorted in by an Albanian gunboat and outside some old residual mined areas off the coast. In the later part of the trip Albania and Corfu are only 3 miles apart so you come close to the mountainous Albanian scenery where thick snow could still be seen on the tops of the mountains.
Our 170 mile planned trip turned into a logged 210 miles before we arrived in Corfu. The sky had become grey again but warm as we berthed at Gouvia just north of Corfu town.
The port authority at Gouvia could not check us in as we had come from a non EU country so we were directed to the main town to the tax office, followed by the port authority then Immigration then customs. With consummate Greek efficiency, and much walking about town, over a 4 hour period we seemed no further forward.
We were told offices were closed when they were not and we had to persevere. At last we returned to Gouvia with a promise that presenting all the papers we had accumulated and our receipts for 45 euros paid, would result in the issue of a cruising permit the next day. Unfortunately they omitted to correctly stamp the form and we spent another hour listening to officials berating one another on the phone before the young lady in Gouvia finally issued our DEKPA.
The weather has now settled to perfect hot days, our cruising permit is valid for a least a year so we can now legally cruise Greece.
