Nidri...Back to the very start

We left Mesolongion later than planned but we did manage to get the boat all nicely scrubbed up and by 11:45 on the 25th we were out of there. 

Two big differences this year. We have arrived back in the Ionian Sea much later than two years ago. It is way hotter which has a daily effect on the wind and it is high season so lots more charter boats and much livelier harbours.

As we entered the Ionian from the Gulf of Patras the wind started to rise and directly at us... Hmmmm 30 miles of this again! No way. 

We persevered but the waves they got bigger and we simply were not about to put ourselves and the boat through another slamming so we changed course for Frikas on Ithaka, one of our top 10 stops from season one. 


Up went all the sail we have, we pointed as high as we could and started enjoying the ride. The wind grew. Frikas started to look iffi. Kioni a little further south maybe? The wind grew. Vathi then, the safest harbour in Greece. 

So many boats had the same idea but with full sails we screeched through them at 9-10 knots looking the ducks nuts.

Here is the post on Vathi if you're interested: http://thesummeramy.blogspot.gr/2014/06/frikes-to-varthi-ithaca.html                                               



The big difference this year is the place was absolutely humming and so many charter boats, none prepared to chance a cross wing Med Mooring so plenty of room on the quay for us. No sooner had we moored and in they came realising it was not that hard. The wall was full in minutes.

A fun night in a familiar restaurant and an early start, take two for Nidri.




9:10 on the 26th we cast off and left and calm seas and arrived in Nidri before the daily wind got up. We had got in touch with Effi and Christos of the Iris hotel and arranged mooring on their jetty with a view to taking advantage of their superb facilities. 

The photo says it all.

William and Summer spotted bait balls near the jetty and grabbed their nets. Before long they had caught quite a few, seen here in their little red bucket. 

What to do with them? "How about we play Uno and the loser gets to swallow one of these live!" says Summer. "Yeah!" says Will, neither even considering they may lose... You have just got to watch this Youtube Video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C7IAuSVR-E

Just one night in Nidri, dinner at George's and it was time to get to Levkas, the place we'd spent 6 weeks at, waiting for our boat papers to arrive from Canberra.We would not be staying long.

Here is the original Nidri post. It was our very first independent sail and Med Moor some 4000 miles and roughly 160 moorings ago!
http://thesummeramy.blogspot.gr/2014/05/carol-anne-joins-us-for-first.html

Navpaktos - Not to be missed

10:25 on the 23^rd June we cast off, once again with enthusiastic assistance and made the short 14 mile trip on glassy seas to Navpaktos. 

This is one of Europe’s oldest and best preserved ports and forts, a place where the Turks refitted their fleet in 1571 for the battle of Lapanto. Up against the league of Catholic states, financed by the Pope the Turks got their butts handed to them, lost their navel superiority in the Med and it halted their westward annexation of Europe. 

Lapanto was the last European navel battle fought entirely between galleys before the arrival of steam engines.

End of history lesson, the really important part is that this port is tiny, can accommodate two yachts or one catamaran or you anchor outside. 

On arrival we noted an anchored yacht and took this to mean the Inn was full but we went in for a look anyway. 

Tiny! The entrance is just wide enough for us to squeeze through, the port just big enough for us to pirouette but there it was… 

A spot just big enough to accommodate the Summer Amy! Wooohooo. Talk about prime position, but do not screw up the mooring… Surrounded by restaurants, we were the entertainment but give us an audience and hey, we’ve got this!

A brilliant meal in the number 3 rated restaurant on Trip Adviser, earlyish night for a very early morning climb to the top of the fort. It is a long way up and not to be attempted in the heat of the day.

Great views of the town, the harbour and the Gulf from up there and a good look at the Rion Bridge. We had thought about staying another day given we'd jagged the king parking spot, but having done that, the meal and the fort there was no real need to stay and so at 10:15 on the 24th we cast off and headed for Mesolongion.

En Route we passed beneath the Rion Bridge. This is the longest cable suspension bridge on the planet. 2,252 meters long with three navigable channels each 560 meters wide.

Mesolongion Marina sits three miles inland and is accessed via a dredged canal along which are fisherman's shacks on stilts (Pelades) with long jetties. Most of these have been converted into holiday houses with a very leisurely feel about the place.

The marina is big, quite new and very hot. We slime lined on a quay with power and water and first thing up was the aircon!

A long dusty slog from town, but I would recommend this as a good place to winter a boat. It is very reasonably priced, has good facilities and geographically a great place to access any part of Greece the following season.

The kids soon found a wifi cafe and it wasn't long before the owner was at the boat offering a free return ride into town that evening as long as we ate at his restaurant. 

Given the heat we were easy prey and I have to say, fortunately so. Good meal and no hot dusty walk.

Trizonia... First impressions count!

We had entered the Gulf of Corinth with the perception that we were in some kind of hurry. There was this feeling that for in order for this season to start we needed to get to Albania. New waters, new food, new language and new currency. We are already a month in and we are still a while away from that ‘start’ point and this is because there is just too much not to be missed on the way.

Galaxidhi was one such place and Trizonia came highly recommended so at 10:10 on the 22^nd July off we popped. A short trip, only 20 miles, Trizonia is an island that Aristotle Onassis once tried to buy. A huge marina on a very calm day we arrived and the dock filled with helpers taking lines and getting us alongside. All good so far….

Once we were set, the kids headed off on their bikes and we cracked the rose’. We noticed a sunken boat a wharf away that we resolved to snorkel over. It is large and apparently only sank six years ago when rain filled the hull over time and the bilge pump must have failed… what a waste! 

This is Al standing on the mast. The rest of the boat lies underwater along the wharf in the background. A pretty big boat.

Fully intact but already a haven for sea life, it made a very interesting pastime for the kids… and that means all of us.

As the day cooled we wondered into town and the first impressions were not good. 

Derelict boats tied up and abandoned for years lined the wharves. 

The town dump had taken the place of the playground and basketball court and it stank.

A little further and some half arsed paving began but improved as we neared the entrance to the town square. 

Past that entrance we entered an entirely different world. 

Considering that a major part of the island’s business comes from the boating community, you’d think they’d improve that first impression. 

A place that could easily be a wintering venue or at least a three day stay becomes a one night stay at most.

And so the next morning it was on to Navpactos, highly recommended and "not to be missed"

The all time biggest pounding to Galaxidhi. Heaven by another name.

It was indeed a sleepless night. The wind gusting up to 30 knots off the sloping hills in front of us and an anchor so deep we could not see how well it was set. By the morning I gave the crew the options… Two more days here or we confront this wind in the open gulf for 32 miles to get to Galaxidhi which read like heaven compared to where we were.

Not knowing quite what we were in for, the consensus was to take it on… OMG! I can quite categorically say that neither we nor the boat have experienced anything like it.

By the time we got within viewing distance of our destination we were head on into 35 knot winds and the very ugly high frequency waves that knock up in the Med. So, it was climb a steep oncoming wave and bang, into the next one' again and again for 6 solid hours. Sal, the kids and I huddled behind a removable plastic windscreen on the helm and due to lack of room, Al hunkered down in his cabin listening to the torture we were putting the boat through. It will not happen again.

I’m not sure of the extent of unseen structural damage, but the trampolines at the front of the boat need repair and ultimately replacement. BOAT (Break Out Another Thousand)

So anxious was I to end the agony that as we turned into what I thought was our haven, waiting for the town of Galaxidhi to appear as we rounded the bend, there was no sign of it. Rod Heikel (Author of THE Book) had got the previous destination so wrong that we felt he’d never been anywhere near the place. We moored, got the book out and sure enough, I was one inlet short.. 

When Galaxidhi finally appeared it was everything we wished for. A beautiful, protected little hamlet and a spot, all be it a squeeze, on the wall… Problem was we were to attempt the mooring is a 15 knot cross wind.

Anchor down, in we went. I kept her high with the view of letting the wind push us down adjacent to the slot, then drive her in.. All went well till Sal warned that I was very close to our new neighbour’s anchor chain. 

I thought I still had some space to play with until GRRRRRRRRRRRR. Prop on metal anchor chain.. not a great sound. OK, out we go for second attempt and GRRRRRRRRR went our other neighbour's anchor chain.

What was really surprising was that both neighbours recognised the level of difficulty, were unperturbed by the fact that we were shoehorning ourselves in between them and were very friendly and accommodating. Second time and in as originally planned. Help with the lines, the water and the power came from near and far, but when Al went to plug in our power plug, the entire wharf went down? 

Still nobody complained until 'he' arrived from three boats away. A rotund Pom in desperate need of a man bra thought it was way more important for Al to admit that he caused the problem than actually working on the solution like everybody else. Al tried to explain that we hadn’t even plugged in yet, that the prob…. Bellow, bellow bellowing on went this knob attempting but failing to solicit support. Al kept his cool. Greg did not. It was awkward for the next couple of days. Fortunately we remained friends with everybody else.

I repaired the tramps, Al Googled a possible supplier of new ones and wouldn’t you know, the manufacturer was at the Olympic Marina in Lavrio where the boat spent the winter! 

We ordered them and had to wait a few days for their arrival. Fortunately, this is a lovely place to wait and there is Delphi just up the road, one of the most important historic sites in Greece. So the school term started with an excursion….

To get there, we hired the only thing available, an 8 seater van. Drove through the biggest and most maintained olive grove we have ever seen, literally the entire flood plain wall to wall olive trees. It's that flat dull green area in this shot....

Then up, and up we wound our way to Delphi the town which resembles an alpine ski village and instantly became a planned refreshment stop on the way home. 

We’d left our arrival until 5:00pm to avoid the 30 or so tourist buses and the heat which gave us just enough time to do the museum before it closed at 5:30… fluke or what? And a couple of hours to take in Delphi. Perfect.

High on the slopes of an impressive gorge cut over the ions by the River Pleitus and backed by two giant rocky cliffs, Phaedriades and Nauplia. This is where the Greeks worshiped the God of Apollo and the most important Oracle of Delphi was founded in 800BC. Want any further information…. Google it.

From the road we checked out the museum. The artifacts here are impressive and in most cases elaborate gifts from the known world all vying for favourable prophecies from the Oracle.

Then we climbed the sacred way....


Through the commercial district, 

....past the treasuries, 

onto the Temple of Apollo, 

and the amphitheater where the Wilkinson children did it again... 

Somehow they found their way around the back and as they descended the stairs into a no go zone a frantic whistling from security could be heard... 

and on to the top where the athletics stadium perches. 

A running track, 185 meters long backed by 25 rows of seating with a view to die for and still in amazing condition. 


Delphi has been excavated by the French over the past 100 years or so and started with nothing visible, everything covered by dirt. How does that happen? How does something so important, so impressive just simply disappear?

Other activities to while away the time… swimming, walking, cycling, paddle boarding, eating and drinking.... and my all time favourite job. Changing the non-return valve on a toilet!

Oh, and using small people to get into tiny spaces to fix stuff.

The new Trampolines arrived and were not quite as expected... they are going to take some time to stretch to fit and when they do, they're going to be very very tight!

The Corinth Canal

It was to be a big day. Not because it was the Corinth but from Perdika to the eastern end of the canal was 28 miles. No idea how long we would wait before we got waved through, then another 26 miles to our planned anchorage in the Gulf of Corinth. 10:40am we scored the eggs, milk, water and left.

I made the drastic error of welcoming Al to the Ionian Sea, by which I meant the nearly always nil wind 'Motorterranean'. It had been that way coming over from Poseidon's Temple the day before where we'd seen dolphins for the first time this season and it was like glass all the way to the canal.

So, to get you oriented.... 

The Peloponnese is the large claw like land mass below the little red marker. By virtue of the canal, it is now deemed an island. On our way out, season one we sailed around the bottom, the canal saves us 180 miles at a cost of 230 Euro.
The white line traces our journey from Poseidon's Temple to Perdika. Then on to the canal and up to our evenings anchorage on the northern side of the Gulf. From there to Galaxidhi, a most beautiful town where we now find ourselves.

The Canal was completed in 1893. It is 3.2 Miles long and 25 Meters wide (just over twice the width of our boat). The limestone walls rise to a height of 79 meters above sea level at their highest point. We were to radio the tower an hour out and were then instructed to call again at 30 minutes out, then one mile out. All the while trying to decipher the traffic levels and from which end of the canal so as to get an idea of how long we would wait.




We moored alongside at 3:45pm paid our money and waited. One other yacht going in our direction, but something big coming from the other end. it was hot. The kids decided to have a swim. Bad idea, ended by a sharp radio message from the tower. "Too late, they're wet now sorry!"

Photos Courtesy Al Reid



An ominous easterly started to build which threatened push us through the canal. So much easier to control a boat going into the wind... The pilot boat appeared towing a large tanker just small enough to get through. 

No sooner had they passed and we were instructed to get going. We followed the other yacht in and being a yacht and taking the tail wind into account, I dropped us back a bit and we just enjoyed the moment. 












It is a really cool place to experience and every bit as enjoyable as we'd imagined. Some Aussies saw us from a road bridge 52 meters above us and we got the Ozi Ozi Ozi Oi Oi Oi. The bridge is open for bungee jumping but not on that day. Would have made a great shot.

Then "Summer Amy, Summer Amy, full speed, full speed" came over the radio as we noticed in our revelry just how far we'd dropped back from the leading yacht and realised there may well be a whole slew of boats waiting for us at the other end.... oooops. Two disciplinary radio calls in one day.... bloody typical!

If you would like to take the trip yourselves, Al did a time lapse video on his GoPro and you'll find that here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFtRghZQq-E

Do not wipe your screen, the blury bit was a little sun screen covered finger that adjusted the camera angle at the start....

We exited the canal into a strong westerly wind. It was strong easterly when we entered?? Now we had to punch into it until we turned north, put up all the sail we've got and headed for our night anchorage Ioannou. As it turned out and contrary to the description, a thoroughly unpronounceable and forgettable bay. It was 7:30pm we had to anchor in 30 meters depth, (don't like more than 10) and the wind howled all night meaning little or no sleep for anybody.

Poseidon's Temple and journey to the Corinth Canal

I had spent over a month in Lavrio including the three weeks on the hard at Olympic Marina at the end of last season, so I was pretty pleased to finally wave it farewell. 

Sal and I also spent some time at the Greco Hotel which looks across the bay at Poseidon’s Temple and at the time resolved that we would anchor in that bay as our first stop…. We hadn’t included two weeks in the Cyclades in those plans, but what the hell?

The winds had finally got a better grip on themselves but still gave us a powerful sail to the Bay with the promise of subsiding altogether the following day.

There were quite a few vessels in the bay on arrival, but having such a shallow draft allowed us to pick the best spot right up close to a beach and completely out of the wind but we did have to put out a stern anchor to avoid being pushed onto the beach by incoming swell from passing ferries if the wind stopped altogether.

As a reminder, the temple was the last glimpse of civilisation to departing seafarers and the first welcoming sight of it on their way home. 

I'd love to have seen this in its day. These photos do little to evoke the feelings experienced of actually being here.

It was also the story of how the Aegean Sea got its name: Aegeus, father of Theseus who flung himself into the sea when he believed his son had been killed in Crete. In short his son forgot to change his sails from black to white on his return to show he had not been killed in Crete. When his father saw the black sails returning, he topped himself.

They do a great job of lighting it up at night, this view is from the taverna deck. 

Sunrise. Nil wind as promised. Absolutely bucket list perfect. 

At 11:30am on the 14th July, we pulled up the anchors and made for Perdika on Aigina Island which would put us within shooting distance of the Corinth Canal.

It sounded as if we would have great difficulty getting in, but on arrival we were ushered into a tight little corner opposite the restaurant we were now obliged to eat at. This turned out to be fortuitous because the supermarket was all but empty and due to a power failure, there was no water for boats to be had. 

The restaurant provided us with their hose and for a dozen eggs, two liters of milk and 400 liters of water, 9 Euro. 

At 10:40am, probably later than planned we cast off and headed for our next big bucket list item..... which, I'm afraid, you'll need to wait for..... Carol-Ann!

Vourkari on Kea - nice!

Sunday the 8th at 8:30 we pulled up the anchor and headed due north directly into the wind and swell. Vourkari the destination an hour and a half of very confused seas into a well protected bay.

This is a town with a beautifully appointed town wall and plenty of room when we arrived. This was because it was a Sunday and the charter boats had not yet left Lavrio.

The bottom is grassy so it did take three goes for the anchor to bite and each time we dropped it further and further out. This meant lots of work for the 'anchor bitch' and a stiff shoulder in the morning.

We had planned to stay just one night, but once again, such a nice place we gave it two good nights. The Zeus Caffeine Bar on the roof of this restaurant not 10 paces from the boat knocking out an excellent play list with service to match had us bopping in the balm till well after 2:00am.









Having decided to stay another day, we took a cab to the nearby town of Ioulida. Amazing. Very steep winding road to the mountain peak. No vehicles permitted once you arrive at the gates, mainly because there is simply no room for them.

This must have been pirate protection positioning way back when but so quaint so vibrant but a little difficult to understand why?

Sal's late Dad would have been celebrating his 81st birthday had he not popped his socks so Sal lit a candle in his honour in what must be the world's smallest church and of course this day was cause/excuse for celebration that evening...

At 8:30 on the 10th June we cast off and as we reeled in our anchor we were dragged through and around anchored yachts that had arrived late the previous evening having no idea just how far out we had dropped our anchor. Hairy to say the least, but two engines will always make you look good to those watching this large catamaran heading straight toward them knowing they had caused this little problem by anchoring where they had...

We were finally headed back to Lavrio after spending two totally unplanned weeks  sailing in the Cyclades.