Dick Tracey Saves the Day

Porto Palermos, Albania

Saranda Harbour - on a busy day

We left Saranda quite early even though we only had a few miles to cover to Palermos.  The Saranda harbour milieu was up to usual standard with ferries and hydrofoils coming and going; a small cruise ship about to dock and reckless pedlos darting between them all.  

Free of the inner harbour we started to relax – a mistake of course!  A lone distance swimmer (with a dark blue bathing cap, doh!) hadn’t noticed he was on a collision course with WJ3.  GS saw him at the last minute, swore like a trooper and quickly adjusted a course away from this suicidal idiot.  He was quite likely blinded afterwards by her red-eyed, laser stare.  

So, our conversation to Palermos thereafter, turned to considering the delights of Albanian prison foods and leniency in visiting hours for seniors.  How this swimmer missed becoming fish food in our prop, a cruise ship’s prop or under a hydrofoil’s fin is anyone’s guess.  It might have been a bit gory if a pedlo had got him though!  

Sitting Ducks?  Porto Palermos

Our trip up the coast was less eventful.  The weather was mild, seas calm with very little boat traffic, even fishing boats.  We motored in quite close to shore as the water is clear, clean and deep; the mountains overhead just seem to tumble into the seas.  

Palermos is one of the few “storm refuges” along the coast and we had our sights set on visiting Ali Pasha’s castle positioned on a small promontory in the middle of the bay.  A motor boat was leaving as we arrived and another yacht was tied to a rather formidable, if not neglected, pier.  A nice young man from the taverna took our lines and helped us settle in.  The small beach near the pier was well established, if not remote, with a variety of mobile homes, beach huts and even a café.  A few small tinnies flitted round.  It seemed like a nice place to spend a few days.

At this point of course, our day continued a pear shaped, downhill track.  We were aware that a military base was to the north…..  The Italians had not long set sail before we heard the unmistakable roar of a diesel engine.  Sure enough, the Coast Guard paid us a visit.  We were advised the pier was military property (even though the area is designated part of tourism & culture) and we were to leave now.  Had we not had engine problems, we might not have been given permission to stay.  We left very early next morning though….

Meanwhile, we had a pleasant swim, helped another couple of boats to tie alongside, took our dinner at the little restaurant up the hill (with very nice local foods) and most certainly visited Ali Pasha’s little fort.  Just on dusk, we watched the Dick Tracy team return to base with nary a glance in our direction.

 

View of the small "resort".  Most of the derelict buildings
were stuffed to the gunnels with fodder for local goats

Ali Pasha Tepelena (1740-1822), the “Lion of Yannina*” is one of local history’s curious characters who managed, under the Ottoman Sultan’s nose, to carve out an independent  territory for himself that covered most of Albania and western Greece.  At once a heroic rebel, a gifted & fearless general and an ambitious despot, he had a passionate yet brutal flair for controlling his Christian subjects yet attacking with impunity the Ottoman supporters with whom he aligned himself as necessary. 

His brutality is legendary, reinforced by writings of Lord Byron, who visited him in his “splendid court” in 1809.  The cells of Ali Pasha’s torture chambers must still ring with the screams of tormented souls.  Not that he was alone in inflicting cruel punishments – in context historically it did seem rather de rigueur.  And of course, the cruising Motley's could always recommend harbour swimming, on a busy day, as an alternate option.

Ali Pasha's main forts/castles/residences were Tepelena, Gjirokastra and Ioannina. Read more about Ali Pasha in Wiki /on the net.)

* Yannina is Ioannina in Greece