13 minute read
A FAMILY CRUISE FROM PREVEZA TO ATHENS
Mike and Helen Norris
(Mike and Helen are among Flying Fish’s most regular contributors, having contributed a dozen times over the past 13 years. Since 2017 their 37ft (11∙4m) cutter-rigged Countess ketch Island Drifter has been based in Greece. See https://oceancruisingclub.org/Flying-Fish-Archive for their previous articles This article covers the first half of their Spring 2024 circumnavigation of the Peloponnese ‘island’, which is separated from mainland Greece by the Corinth Canal. It also includes their cruise from Preveza in the Ionian to Athens in the Aegean, during which they were accompanied by their younger son Will and his family.)
We arrived in Aktio Boatyard, opposite Preveza on the west coast of mainland Greece, in mid April following a flight from Gatwick. And, after unloading our luggage and making the boat habitable for the night, broached a box of red wine we’d discovered on board.
Our objective was to circumnavigate the Peloponnese ‘island’, the first leg of which would take us to Athens via the Gulfs of Patras and Corinth and through the Corinth Canal. First, though, we spent a month servicing and renovating Island Drifter [ID]. After launching and a sea trial we were joined for the first leg of our ‘circumnavigation’ by our younger son Will, his wife Lesley and our granddaughter Emmy.
Will has windsurfed, sailed dinghies and crewed on ID during holidays in the Canaries, Caribbean and, together with Lesley, in Portugal. Even so, he would not describe himself as anything more than a good, competent crew. In the past two years they have, as a family, sailed with us in both the Aegean and Ionian Seas during summer half-terms and Emmy has begun to sail dinghies.
Preveza: We arranged for Will, Lesley and Emmy to be picked up by taxi at the airport and driven to Preveza, where we were moored stern-to at the town quay. The town was in the middle of celebrating Greek Orthodox Whitsun and, to our surprise, a temporary stage had been set up about 50m from the boat on which troupes of Greek dancers in traditional dress performed with accompanying bands – an excellent introduction to the forthcoming cruise!
After a welcome drink in the cockpit while enjoying the music and dancing, we took them on a tour of the more interesting areas of the old town before having supper at Ventura Taverna, situated at the crossroads of two tiny backstreets overhung with vines and bougainvillea.
Lefkas: Next morning Emmy helped us prepare for sea, casting off at 0715 in order to catch the 0900 opening of the floating bridge at the north end of the Levkas Canal. Her parents slept on! She helmed all the way down the narrow canal and into One Tree Bay, in which she’d enjoyed swimming last year. Her parents only woke up when we dropped anchor! We had a light brunch in the cockpit, a swim off the boat and also to the sandy beach where there was a ‘pop-up’ taverna.
Mitikas: In the early afternoon we weighed anchor and continued south to Mitikas, where we anchored behind the harbour’s protective wall. There we launched the dinghy and motored with Emmy over to see OCC Vice Commodore Phil Heaton and his wife Norma aboard their Ovni 395 Minnie B. They had already explored the small town and thoroughly recommended eating at Pharos Taverna, located on the point of Mitikas town spit.
The town of Mitikas, and in particular the family taverna in which we had supper, was like something out of the 1960s. We watched the father bring the catch from his boat and gut and clean the fish on the beach, then his wife cooked and their daughter served them. There was no menu or even discussion before a variety of starters were simply put in front of us, followed by a selection of grilled fish accompanied by chips.
After returning by dinghy to ID we prepared for sea. We weighed anchor at midnight to head south down the ‘Inland Sea’ which runs parallel with the mainland coast, standing two 3-hour watches until dawn.
The Gulfs of Patras and Corinth: On reaching the entrance to the Gulf of Patras we turned due east and were able to raise the main and genoa. We sailed steadily east in a light breeze until we approached the massive Rio-Antirrio suspension bridge – the largest cable-stayed bridge in the world. We’d been warned that the wind would funnel and change direction as we approached the bridge and the narrow entry to the Gulf of Corinth, and it did. We ended up motor-sailing into strong winds and a 2-knot current for the next hour.
We were within five miles of our intended destination of Trizonia island when we (in hindsight rather foolishly) made a fuel transfer from the boat’s main tank to its smaller day tank as we were concerned that the latter was getting low. Shortly afterwards the engine hiccupped and stopped – and refused to start. To keep ourselves off the shore and adjacent shallows we quickly hoisted a reefed mainsail and genoa and tacked south across the Gulf towards the north coast of the Peloponnese, with the intention of tacking back north to Trizonia island and then, if necessary, using the dinghy as a powerpack to help us into the harbour. Meanwhile Mike and Will changed the fuel filters, praying as never before, and were eventually rewarded by the engine restarting as we approached the entrance to Trizonia harbour.
Trizonia: Once in the small harbour of Trizonia we pulled alongside a rough concrete quay where our lines were taken by a French couple. The harbour was built and financed by the EU, but it has never been properly finished and neither has it been taken over by an independent management company. Result – no bureaucracy, harbour fees or electricity, although water was available ... and free! With no showers at the harbour, Lesley persuaded the manager of the apparently empty Hotel Dryma to allow her family to use the hotel showers.
There were no facilities in the village, not even a food shop, although there were several tavernas to cater for visiting tourists. Trizonia is the only inhabited island in the Gulf of Corinth, with 60 permanent residents who can travel to the nearby village of Glyfada on the mainland coast by a small ferry.
Galaxidi: The wind was forecast to change direction and increase, and when it did we left Trizonia and ran south-southeast, poled out, for five hours towards our next destination, Galaxidi harbour. It was the best sail we had had to date on this circumnavigation! On arrival we had a few problems – including briefly running aground – while reversing in a strong wind into the only available space on the quay, coincidentally next to the French family we’d met in Trizonia.
Delphi: Early next morning we hired a car and set off for Delphi, an interesting 20-mile drive inland. Delphi is acknowledged to be one of the most beautiful classical sites in Greece. The Ancients regarded it as the centre of the then known world and its spectacular site amidst ravines, rocky bluffs and sheer cliffs on the slope of Mount Parnassus contributes to its air of mystery. It takes its name from Apollo Delphinius where the god, in the shape of a dolphin, was worshipped. Coincidentally, when we left Galaxidi the next day we saw our only dolphins of the cruise!
A visit to Delphi involves steep climbs on ancient marble slabs, but is rewarded by everchanging views and monumental treasures. Its Architectural Museum contains amazing statues in incredibly good condition, mainly excavated by French archaeologists in the late 1800s.
On returning to Galaxidi we had a late lunch in the ‘Memories of the Port’ taverna on the quay owned by Kostas, a personable and proactive owner/waiter. It was one of the best meals we had and Kostas made it a great experience. Mike and Will finished off with free shots of Tsipouro, though Will subsequently confessed that he’d rather drink meths!*
* Methylated spirits, usually called denatured alcohol in the United States.
Corinth: From Galaxidi we sailed some 50 miles to the Corinth Yacht Harbour, adjacent to the entrance to the Corinth Canal. We were just able to squeeze into an alongside space on the outer concrete quay, albeit with almost no water under the keel. Then we explored the town, where Helen and Emmy found the enormous statue of Pegasus, symbol of the Corinthians.
The Corinth Canal: We had booked and paid online for a transit time of 0700 to pass through the canal, so we did not have to pull in to pay at the control tower which until recently was mandatory for all vessels. Instead we waited outside the entrance until called forward on VHF, promptly on the hour. From the outer entrance we could see the high bridges and, as we approached the narrow gap between the canal’s outer walls, the hydraulic submersible road bridge was lowered and we received the green light to proceed.
The transit was memorable. The sheer limestone cliffs through which the canal was cut rise up to 79m from the water – more than three times the width of the canal itself. It is over 3 miles long and crossed by road and rail bridges which limit the height of a boat’s mast to 52m –not exactly a problem for ID!
The Ancients used to drag their ships across the isthmus. The present canal, which divides the Peloponnese ‘island’ from mainland Greece, was started by a French company in 1882 and finished by the Greeks 11 years later. It suffered serious damage during the Second World War and did not reopen until 1948. It was closed again in 2021 following a landslide, reopened from June to October 2022, was closed again over the winter for further work and finally reopened fully in June 2023. We saw clear evidence that a great deal of effort is being put into repairing and improving the Canal’s sheer cliff walls.
The Aegean Sea and Athens: Once through the canal we had some 30 miles of sailing along the south coast of Salamina Island and through a plethora of anchored and moving commercial vessels to Piraeus Sailing Club’s marina in Athens.
The club does not normally accept visitors – indeed it can be very difficult and expensive to get a berth in any of the seven marinas in Piraeus, the port area of Athens. Fortunately, having been there back in 2018, we were able to book a reasonablypriced berth for three nights on one of the Club’s pontoons inside the well-protected circular harbour of Mikrolimano. The Piraeus Sailing Club is an active sailing and social club for all ages, boasts two bronze medallists from recent Olympics and is home to the Dragon in which the ex-King won gold at the Rome Olympics in 1960.
A friend of Will’s who has worked in Athens recommended that we visit the lively centre of the city at night and in particular eat at Taverna Saita. So, on our first evening in Athens, although we were all quite tired we took a very reasonably priced Uber into the centre. It was well worth it – the streets were buzzing and the taverna was great. We’d come to Athens principally to visit the Acropolis (fort) and Parthenon (temple), both of which Emmy had learnt about at school. Since the sites get extremely crowded and baking hot we’d booked a threehour guided tour for 8am, which meant an early start from the marina. The tour was well worth the cost and Nik, our guide, was knowledgeable and took time to explain everything clearly to Emmy, the only child in the party of twenty.
Sunday 2nd June was Will and Lesley’s 12th Wedding Anniversary. We celebrated by having brunch on the balcony of one of the marina restaurants, washed down with a bottle of Moët which Will had secretly ordered in advance. Afterwards Will called an Uber to take them to the airport, where they boarded on time only to be advised that the flight would be delayed for an hour. While they waited the pilot invited some of the passengers up to the flight deck, including Emmy who loved the experience.
The Saronic Gulf: Next morning we sailed for four hours to an anchorage outside Salamina town, the capital of Salamina Island, where we met up with our friends Rolf and Roz (R&R) who keep their yacht in the marina there. We stayed for three days in the well-protected anchorage before sailing in company with them to Poros Island at the southern entrance to the Saronic Gulf. We stayed there on anchor for a further couple of days, before bidding farewell to R&R and continuing our ‘circumnavigation’ of the Peloponnese ‘island’.
