Ionian to the Aegean
Posted at 6:32 PM, Jun. 20, 2008
We have now arrived in the Aegean and currently anchored in the bay off the town of Poros on the island of the same name. We arrived here yesterday afternoon (Thursday 19th) and anchored in Russian bay, an enclosed bay with a sandy beach, a couple of miles off from the town of Poros. The weather is noticeably warmer (into the mid 30’s) as is the water (around 25/26).
From Missalonghi we had an early start for the 55 mile sail to Itea with a building westerly up to 25 knots directly behind us that meant mainsail up only. But still quick sailing at 8.5 – 9.5 knots. Only gybed once and caught the right side of the shift to the northwest so straight on into Itea. Got into port, tied up alongside, in yet another incomplete marina with no services and only about 5 or 6 other yachts there. Then found everything was shut on a Monday afternoon so the jobs we hoped to get ticked off didn’t happen. This place seems to be the home of unhelpful Greeks!
The Gulf of Corinth is around 100 miles long, maybe 10 miles wide in the widest part and very mountainous along both sides although there is more cultivation and greenery on the southern side. We passed under the impressive Rion/Andirrion bridge 35 miles into the gulf that was completed in the last year or two at a cost of EUR630 million. The Pilot says call them up on channel 11 which we did and got the ok to pass under the main span – it is near Patras, the third largest city in Greece and there is a fair bit of shipping about and also large ferries coming in from Italy. Other than a few ferries and the bridges at the eastern end over the Corinth Canal it is the only crossing.
The centre span of the Rion/Andirrion bridge
On Tuesday 17th June we caught the bus at Itea for the 16k uphill ride into the mountains and the second most visited archaeological site (after the Acropolis at Athens) in Greece, namely Delphi. This tourist focused town is adjacent to the original site of Delphi which we learnt was regarded as the centre of the world and where people from all over came to seek advice from Apollo – and left treasures that were stored in many repositories near the temple. The French commenced excavations in 1892 and an impressive museum houses the many finds! The walk around the site itself, set high in the mountains, was justification for a litre of beer later. It was a hard days walk in the mid 30’s. Fortunately still a bit early in the season and not overly populated by tourists – only about a 2 ride from Athens.
Amphitheatre at Delphi with the columns of the Temple of Apollo to the left.
From the town of Delphi it was possible to look down to Itea far below and across thousands of acres of olive trees. A worthwhile exercise but not one we need to repeat.
We had arranged to meet Heather, daughter Linda and daughter Millie at Corinth on Wednesday the 19th so another early start saw us motoring the 40 miles across to Corinth and pulled into the commercial wharf 5 minutes after they arrived from Athens on the bus. The marina at Corinth is full of local fishing boats so we went alongside the commercial wharf. The depth was marginal at 2.9 metres showing when we tied up, against our draft of 2.8 metres so the bottom was mud or our depth reading is generous – I must check our instruments again!
After a quick stop at Corinth we motored over to the canal entrance about a mile away and fortunately scored an almost immediate passage through the canal only waiting a few minutes. It is possible to wait for up to 3 hours so we were pleased to get though without delay. The canal is 3.2 miles long, 81 feet wide and 23 feet deep. At the highest point it cuts through 250 feet of limestone. It was started by Emperor Nero with 6000 Jews and finished by the Greeks in 1893. A pretty impressive passage, saved us a couple of hundred miles sail around the Peloponnisos and cost us Eur259 for the privilege.
Millie on the foredeck as we transit the Corinth canal
Once through the canal we were into the Aegean Sea, bit of breeze so we set sail and went another 25 odd miles to the Peloponnisos town of Korfos. Very enclosed bay where we anchored off, as it was too shallow to go astern onto the town quay that was dominated by tavernas. Few other yachts about but pretty quiet overall.
Thursday 19th we went ashore and Pam bought 6 fish from the local fishing fleet (throwaways by NZ standards) for Eur20s. Korfos is a good sheltered anchorage but really nothing more than a stop off point when exiting or entering the canal. Followed this exercise up with a quiet sail across to Poros where we anchored in Russian Bay, swam, BBQ’d with only 3 other boats for company.
The town of Poros looking to
Today Friday 20th we went stern to on the town quay, found the waterman and got a fill up – Eur7 for 300 litres. Water is rationed here as they had no rain over the winter at all. Explored the delightful town and had lunch ashore before leaving the quay as the wind came up to anchor off. Weather has got very hot so lots of swimming and drinking. A shopkeeper ashore told us that Poros that the New York Times had voted Poros one of the three best places to visit in the world - it is nice but maybe not that good!
We were thinking of going down to the island of Idhra (Hydra) tomorrow but apparently there is a big festival there over the weekend to celebrate some Turkish/Greek war (in which case they must have plenty of parties each year). It seems that there may be a space shortage for boats in the harbour. So whether we go there or pass by and go on to Spetsai remains to be seen.
Cheers
Keith