Ithika to Delphi

The trip so far

M: Our first port of call was Abelike bay on Meganisi. This was a favourite stop on our last trip and was familiar ground for our first night. We felt a bit smug as our land lines found the known loops in the rocks and had a lovely quiet settled night with fantastic stellar panorama. I braved the sea for a morning swim but it was cold enough to make me gasp .. a far cry from the balmy temperatures we have known here.

Unfortunately a big blue catamaran ‘ True Love’ had anchored right in front of us, over our anchor, so we had a late start and then gently puttered off to Ithika and Port Kioni. We motored for about an hour then sailed most of the way.
Instead of the bustling and hustling for berthing space we had experienced before, we had a choice spot on the harbour wall. Peace before the flotillas get going. The cafes and restaurants were deserted , but the village is as lovely as we remember.

Fat cat in the way - again.

The following morning was really the start of the adventure since we planned to head south into unknown territory towards Patras. Early night for an early morning start was called for, but on rising at 7 am, lo and behold who was anchored in front of us but bleeding True Love.

Engine on, we stood on deck hoping someone might appear … but it took a bit of aggressive revving before a head appeared from downstairs. Fortunately the skipper recognised that we would T bone him on on exit unless he moved, and pleasantly moved out of the way for us to leave.

We faced a calm sea and little wind as we left Kioni and motored south for an hour or so until a lovely south east breeze picked up and allowed us to sail close hauled to the entry of the Gulf of Patras. We were surprised to find that we needed long trousers and woollies on, unheard of for us in these parts.
As predicted the winds veered round to the W and built so by the time we arrived at Patras we were on a  run with 20 knots of wind up the chuff. Identifying the topography of the entrance to Patras is not easy. Rod Heikel’s account led us through a small gap in the low breakwater into the Yacht Marina.
It was Armageddon in there. Many of the pontoons were broken with bits hanging into the water, yachts were berthed in completely chaotic disorder and great piles of rocks scattered through the channels like deliberate booby traps. I had read some time ago that it had been damaged by a storm and repaired, but not so. We saw a potential gap and gently wended our way in, only to find a rusty pole sticking out and a ghastly rock in the middle of the space . Yikes. We left and called in to the harbour master on channel 13.

Patras Commercial Harbour

He directed us to the main commercial port where there was an area reserved for visiting yachts, scenically arranged beside the tugs. By now the on shore wind was pretty tasty and  and there was no one on land to help us. By the time we had picked up the lazy line, our bow had gently blown towards the harbour and we lay alongside. Not exactly what we had planned, but we were well fendered and no damage done. We then used the lazy lines to pull us off the harbour wall, front and aft, so that we were not rubbing against the wall.

Smart town, smart people

It seemed a pretty forlorn place, next to a disused warehouse. We did not have high hopes of the town but strolled in to have a look around in the evening.
We were suddenly transported into a smart and busy city centre with glamorous locals doing the evening volta. Marble streets and pedestrianised roads were full of bustling crowds , music, bars and restaurants. We sat in a trendy bar with our somewhat salty hair and crumpled sailing gear, looking a bit out of place as two old sea dogs amongst the elegant glitterati. The beer was good, we didn’t care about the slightly askance looks.

We awoke to a gentle breeze and carefully negotiated our way off the harbour after settling the rather eye watering fee of 47 euros to the harbour master. This included ‘one night free’ but to be honest we felt another night beside the tugs was worth foregoing. We were keen to make the most of the wind and weather to get on our journey into the Gulf of Corinth .

Rion Bridge

Surely not

C.  On leaving Patras the first obstacle is the Rion bridge which at 2.5km is the longest wire suspension bridge in the world. To pass under it you have to call the Rion Traffic control and request permission. You are quizzed on height and length and then given instructions as to which span to go under in the form "leave 3 to the left, one to the right" which you repeat back to the controller. It is a very impressive structure,

New and old technologies

For the first hour we motored. It was predicted that we would have a W wind for most of the trip and on schedule an hour later the breeze arrived,

For several hours we bowled along under Genoa only. We had planned a short trip of about 20 miles but as we were getting along so nicely decided to carry on to our plan B destination Galaxidhi a further 25 miles down the N side of the Gulf of Corinth.

Downhill sleigh ride

An hour or so later the wind slowly started to build until about 10 miles from our destination we had a following wind gusting up to the high 30's on the anenometer plus our ground speed of about 7 knots.  The following sea was also beginning to build with a nasty short wavelength coming in sets of 3 and breaking under the hull. The wavelength was about the same as our boat length so the next one was picking up the stern before the prow was let down by the last one - strange. There were a few near broaches so we progressively reduced sail until we had about a third of the Genoa out and we were still  doing 7 knots.

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An exhilarating ride, a bit like the Bristol Channel though and not what we were expecting. Woolly hats and snowy peaks on the distant mountains!

Galaxidhi Approaches

A bit tight

Our destination was a left turn into a deep gulf that should have been a lot more sheltered than the main channel and although the sea state improved significantly there were really violent gusts coming down off the mountains.
The pilotage into Galaxidhi is tricky. The bearings for transit that are usually given on charts and pilot books usually have a  fair amount of latitude but this is tight, really tight. A couple of tens of metres on either side of the transit is underwater danger and with 30 knot squalls hitting the boat it was a bit nerve wracking. Do not attempt at night , the chart plotter was vital.
However all was well and we got into the harbour and managed to berth safely. Wheew. Well a bit of a wall touch.

Galaxidhi

Galaxidhi is pleasant little town with a long history. However our main reason for coming here is to visit Delphi, the centre of the world. So we will do that tomorrow.