Through the Gulf of Corinth

We’ve just finished passing through the Gulf of Corinth and the Corinth Canal and are now in Aigina just south of Athens. The Gulf is amazing - brilliant blue, warm waters surrounded by huge mountains, many of which were still snowcapped in May.

We passed through the Rian bridge which is said to be the longest cable suspension bridge in the world. It’s certainly impressive and very beautiful! Despite the magnificent bridge, a car ferry still operates underneath it.

Our first stop was a little medieval town called Navpaktos. It has little windy streets and stems behing a tiny gem of a medieval harbour all nestling under a huge Venetian castle. The visitors quay is very silted up but a kindly fisherman waved us into a good spot right under the taverna. We got ‘reminded’ to see the port police and after ½ hour searching and another ½ hour filling in paperwork, we were legal for the princely sum of €7. Unfortunately, the rookie policewoman forgot to stamp our cruising permit – but hopefully no problem as we have the receipt.
We spent the morning exploring the castle (totally free, no “don’t do this” signs and no safety railings). What a refreshing change from the UK! L discovered an underground cistern down a hole which I crawled into to take photographs. Unfortunately, I knocked a switch and started a pump. Tried to set it back but no idea where it was supposed to be so hopeufully it didn’t all explode after we left.
Next stop was a small port called Galaxidhi. It’s a nice little place in its own right – the town quay is now finished to a very high standard. A very nice chap called Angelos helped us in, gave us info, arranged a hire car next day for us to get to Delfi - all for a modest tip. Excellent value and an absolute pleasure to talk to. We stayed for 2 days in Galaxidhi while we visited Delfi with Sally and Arnie Chestnut – two lovely Canadians we met while in Argostolli.

Delfi was the center (the navel) of the ancient world and despite 2000 years of organised looting starting with the emperor Hadrian, then Nero, then Constantine and continuing through the Turks to the French and British – it is still a truly impressive place. The setting is stunning, perched high on mount Parnassos between two huge rocks. Very well worth a visit if you are passing.


We continued on up the mountain after Delfi and eventually, after meeting a couple of flocks of goats on the road,

ended up above the snow line at the ski centre where we had a snowball fight!
























We took the long way back and stumbled upon a local celebration with street races, Greek fighters in costume and closed roads.












After the long slog from Siracusa, we decided to spend a few days at anchor in some
tiny, uninhabited islands called the Alkionidhes near the end of the Gulf. The
anchorage is excellent and thoroughly sheltered, overlooked by an abandoned monastery and thousands of nesting seagulls. The gulls made fascinating, if quarrelsome neighbours who reacted very negatively to any attempt to explore the islands on foot. The wild flowers on the island were wonderful!
As we left Galaxidhi, Angelos had given us a present of a huge bag of fish which I turned into Bouillebaise on the Monday night and invited Sally and Arnie. It tasted good but was far too bony – I’ll do it differently next time. S & N invited us over for a great birthday meal on the Sunday night and we shared a movie on Tuesday night. And now we’ve left and passed through the canal, leaving them to carry on doing chores for a couple of days. This is a strange life we’ve chosen – it’s much easier than normal to strike up friendships – but after a few days, you go your separate ways again, hoping to meet up sometime.

It took 3 hours to get to the canal from the islands, we waited 1½ hours for the canal to open then after a further 2 hours transiting, mooring, doing paperwork and paying we were on our way to Aigina on the Aegean side of Greece. The canal is very impressive and obviously takes a great deal of work to maintain. Nevertheless, it is incredibly expensive. It cost us €134 for 3 miles which compares to €180 to cross 1000miles of France on the VNF system.
After a gentle and uneventful sail & motor for 4 hours we arrived at Aigina and will probably stay here a day then hop though Idra to the Cyclades and Santorini.