Wednesday 11 May – It would take four hours from Corfu to Losinj. Leaving Corfu was straightforward; we found the reporting point and flew towards the Albanian coast. Immediately up from Corfu this was a barren, mountainous peninsula, devoid of roads or hills. It was also suitably grey and murky.
Tirana control kept us offshore and tried to palm us off to Brindisi (in Italy). Brindisi sent us back to Tirana. We had a borrowed MOD map of Albania dating from the 1990s; the Jeppesen maps don’t cover Albania or Montenegro, leaving us with a big gap.
In the end Tirana directed us first to Podgorica and then (passed over to the Montenegrins) to Dubrovnik. This kept us offshore and away from any coastal views. But given the weather I don’t think we missed much.
Talking to Dubrovnik we asked to take the recommended VFR route around the Croatian islands. Initially this was offshore but ADRIA1 would take us along the islands of Mjet, then to Korcula and across to Hvar. From Hvar the sun appeared and the rest of the day was blue skies and bright views as we moved from reporting point to reporting point.
We routed off the mainland along offshore islands set in tropical blue seas. The creamy coral-coloured islands were barren but for terracotta towns and yachting flotillas.
Kim’s landing onto Losinj won the daily award.