Having said our goodbyes to Grantley and shed a few to tears. It was time for us to leave Athens and move towards the Ionian Islands.
We left Alimos Marina and our first task was to navigate our way through lots of tankers and cargo vessels. There were lots of these huge ships waiting to go into Piraeus Port. Some were anchored and some were moving. They are bloody huge!
Having got through them safely we were free to motor onwards.
Our next big challenge is the Corinth Canal, which we are booked to go through on Saturday morning.
With this in mind Jacques took us to a lovely little sheltered bay where we could anchor for the night and be close enough for our time slot in the canal the following day.
The bay was lovely, empty, quiet and very peaceful. We were joined later in the late afternoon by a fishing boat laying some nets, they said Hi, and let us know where their nets were.
The sunset in this bay was gorgeous and to make it even more fabulous a couple of dolphins appeared. 🧡😍
I was woken in the morning by the gentle sound of the fishing boat returning to collect its catch. Beautiful.
We left the bay and headed towards the Corinth Canal.
The first attempt to build a canal here was in 67 AD, the final attempt was in 1881 and it opened on 25th July 1893. The canal is 3.94 miles long and 24.6 meters wide with very steep sides.
Its construction is the reason for the Port of Piraeus in Athens becoming the most important trading post in the Mediterranean.
We had been given a time slot of 12pm and Tracey radioed in when we were 4 miles out, they then give you instructions and you make your way towards the entrance and wait until the traffic coming the other way has exited then you can go. We waited around 20 minutes. Then it was a Go!
It was an amazing experience to sail through such a narrow, steep canal. There are bridges across it and one of them is used as a bungee jumping site, someone jumped just after we passed!
I thought the whole experience was fantastic. What I hadn’t really considered was how difficult it is to steer Mossy Joe through the canal, there is wind and currents not to mention the potential damage if you hit the sides! Although it only took approx 30 minutes it was a stressful and hard 30 minutes for Jacques. He did an awesome job. 💙
You exit the canal into the Gulf of Patras. The wind died down and we traveled on exceptionally calm water.
With the calm sea, the haze, the snow capped mountains and the blue sky it was otherworldly and completely magical.
We all sat up on deck and Tracey opened a delicious bottle of Whispering Angel 😍🩷
We had just taken a sip when we spotted something shimmering in water a little way ahead, we couldn’t quite make out what it was, possibly fish? 🐟 but as we got closer we realised that it was a pod of around 20 dolphins!! 🐬🐬 OMG! They all began to play in our bow wave! It was so fantastic to watch them and because the sea was calm you could see them really clearly. They played around the boat for 10 minutes then suddenly they were gone. It was a truly wonderful.
As if that wasn’t enough we then spotted a large turtle in the water 😍again the calm sea offered great visibility. We also saw a couple more dolphins as we neared our next stop, Galaxidi.
We anchored out in the bay, as the town quay was full. The town looks beautiful.
We opted to go into town for a look around and some dinner which is great but this meant going in the dinghy!! This will be my first dinghy ride on this trip. I don’t have the best track record of getting in and out of small boats! Just to add some extra anxiety, last year when Hayley and I visited Tracey & Jacques our only dinghy trip ended with Hayley & Jacques in the water! 😬
I got in OK, good start, I also got out in town OK without embarrassing myself in front of the people watching! 👌
We enjoyed a delicious meal in a cute little Taverna by the quay. I finally managed to have some Pastitsio, a yummy Greek baked pasta dish. It was fab.
Then it was back in the dinghy, in the dark! I’m pleased to say I got in and out without incident! Happy Days. 😀
I have got to be honest and say that this day has been one of the highlights of my entire trip. Magical and exciting, everything just came together perfectly. A complete Joy. 💙
We were due to leave Galaxidi on Sunday and we did in fact try to leave.
Jacques said it was going to be windy but might be OK. So we left, but as soon as you come around the headland and were going up wind, it was bonkers! Blowing around 20 knots but with big bouncy waves 🌊!
This would have meant a 5 hour motor in unpleasant and unpredictable conditions, so the decision was made to go back to the safety of the bay. We are not in a hurry, so it made perfect sense to wait out the weather.
We stayed in Galaxidi for the next 2 nights due to the wind conditions. The choppy nature of the sea meant no more dinghy rides (shame 😉)
We left on Tuesday morning, the forecast said light winds. This was the case initially, but then the wind picked up and at some points it was up to 27 knots, windy but not too bouncy so a lot more comfortable. I sat up at the helm with Jacques, learning lots about wind, weather and sailing which is brilliant. 🤩
It’s been a fantastic few days, new experiences, new places and magical landscapes.
That’s all for now.
Have a great week.
Books Read.
Deceived by the Light. Damien Boyd. A crime novel. Good fun.
I also managed to watch the end of lasts years race across the world. It was so funny seeing them visit the places that I’ve visited, walking along the same streets! I’m also very happy that Alfie & Owen won. 🥇
Hereandthereclaire.com 