Athens & Poros Island

The 'toys locker'

We all enjoyed taking in the crowded city sights from Zea Marina in Piraeus.  Piraeus Port is the major port of Athens and is the largest passenger port in Europe and third largest in the world. While in Zea Marina we strolled along the quay to view the luxury yachts of the very rich that lined the marina - some were effectively small (and not so small) ships. Whilst we admired the superyachts,and the associated toys,we did not feel envious of the paid crew and were happy to return to our comparatively smalil 49ft home. Our stopover had also been planned for some spares to be delivered from Spain and the UK - however despite best laid log plans they failed to arrive even with one month's lead time. The challenges of cruising with no fixed address! 

The highlight of our Athens stopover was visiting the Acropolis and and the Parthenon. Athens is one of the world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning 3,400 years, and is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization. The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a massive rocky hill that dominates the cityscape. We were surprised at the size of the Acropolis and learned it covered a surface area of approx 3 hectares. The day we visited was incredibly hot and and crowded which curbed our enthusiasm and energy for spending another day to visit other tourist sites. We later learned we had unfortunately arrived on a 'free day' hence the crowds were even larger than usual. 
   

Enjoying the view

Departing Athens we enjoyed four hours sailing in near perfect conditions to Aigina Island which (initially) was an excellent introduction to sailing for Maree and Colin who were able to sit out the back of the boat and enjoy the sun. Unfortunately the wind increased as we approached the island and we bypassed the town quay and headed to an anchorage. As we are learning the forecasts are rarely accurate and we had an uncomfortable night at anchor as the wind changed direction. It was an early departure around the island to get some rest before sailing across to Poros Island.

Local fishing boats at the town quay

Poros Island was delightful, with our first night spent in a peaceful anchorage before moving to the town quay which has the benefits of being berthed close to the centre of the town to enjoy the local ambiance. While there we hired bikes and completed a circumnavigation of the hilly island (about 10kms), spent time walking through town through the back alley's and buying some supplies in the local chandlery. The town quay's are social places to meet other yachties, share stories about different anchorages and swap weather information - this seems to be a form of male bonding. Watching other yachts berth is a constant source of entertainment and opportunity to learn (often) from other's mistakes.  

 
After several days on Poros Is we departed to start cruising around the Cyclades area.  Below are some photos from Poros Is.

Local Yacht Chandlers

 

 

Looking W from Poros Is to the mainland

Departing Poros Is and heading E to Kithnos

 

 

Cornith Canal Transit

Entrance to the Canal

After sailing the English Channel, Bay of Biscay, Atlantic Coast, and Ionian Sea we were on our final leg to cross into the Agean Sea. The shortest route from Sicily to the Agean Sea is via the Cornith Canal. With the canal closed on Tuesday's for maintenance, a 50% surcharge added for transiting on a Sunday and an extra 25% if you conduct a night transit we needed to plan our arrival at the canal entrance carefully. The extra costs were a good incentive to ensure we had our timings right!


Sabbaticus is #3 in the convoy

The Canal  is one of  of the most expensive canals per mile in the world - costing E270 (NZ$410) to transit the 3.2 miles.  The canal is only 25mtrs wide with a maximum permitted draught of 6.5mtrs and a maximum air height of 52mtrs. The impressive limestone walls rise to 79mtrs above sea level. There are two hydraulic bridges across the canal near each end. These bridges are lowered down onto the water with traffic lights indicating when you can enter into the canal. For yachts transiting the canal they may have to wait up to three hours for a commercial ship before entering the canal. Thankfully we only had a 30 minute wait before a container ship arrived for us to join a small convoy of three yachts following the ship through the canal.



For those interested in the history of the canal the following is an excerpt from The Greek Water Pilot Guide which advises the ancient Greek's used to drag ships across the isthmus on a paved road. At various times the Greek and Roman rulers worked out schemes for a canal but Nero was the only one to start digging. Using 6,000 Jews, he didn't even get to the rock before insurrections in Gaul diverted his energies. The present canal was started by the French and finished by the Greeks in 1893. It was enlarged after damage suffered during WWII and now comprises three bridges, a railway bridge and two road bridges.   

Greek Orthodox Church in Aigina

After transiting the canal we were now finally in the Agean Sea and had a couple of nights anchored off Aigina Island. While sailing to Aigina we observerd huge amounts of plastic materials and rubbish in the water - the most we had ever seen with our fishing line repeatedely snagging plastic bags. With a couple of days to spare and clear, clean water John cleaned the 'boot strap' (the waterline down to about 45cm of the boat). During this task John checked our anchor only to discover it was only half dug into the sand - not good when we were close to shore and the harbour breakwater!  After pulling up the anchor we then moved another 150mtrs and dug ourselves firmly into the sand this time.  During our time at anchor we enjoyed watching the continuous flow of ferries from Athens (20mins by ferry) the hydrofoil's were great to watch as their speed increased.

The holiday finally begins...

It was a short sail of 15NM across to Athens. Just as we dropped the sails John noticed a couple waving frantically at us from the marina breakwater. It was fantastic to see Maree and Colin (John's sister and brother-in-law) through the binocular's. After 3,700NM we had finally arrived in Athens on time and are ready to enjoy a holiday cruising with Maree and Colin for the next six weeks through the Greek Islands.

Below are some additional photos from of the Cornith Canal and our time on the Island of Aigina.

Sicily to Greece

The trip from Sicily to Greece was our last big passage for the next few months.  While we had hoped for some wind the forecast was not favourable for the next 10 days, and waiting a couple of weeks at anchor was not an option as we needed to be in Athens to meet family. The passage was easy as we motored for 50hrs and only sailed for 8hrs. While it was frustrating to motor at least nothing broke enroute and our trusty Yanmar engine chugged on. As we raised the Greek flag a pod of dolphins paid us a visit which we took as a 'local welcome'. About 60NM offshore we were visited by two sparrows for many hours as they rested, however during Leanne's watch one of them sat down beside her and died.Thankfully John was able to perform the appropriate sea burial during his watch. Another bright coloured bird joined us for several hours sitting on the aft
seat with and kept an eye on us. 

After 2.5 days and 220NM we finally arrived on the island of Zakinthos in Greece. This was a picturesque bay with a local town quay for yachts, taverna's, bakery and mini-market. We decided to anchor out to enjoy the privacy (allowing us to shower on the swim platform) and solitude. During one walk we unfortunately confirmed there are snakes in Greece.  

Local fishing boat at Zakinthos

Several days later we moved oto Patras, the third largest city in Greece, which was a port of entry and chance to clear customs. While this process was relatively easy it extended to five hours of Leanne's day as she waited for the personnel shift change to obtain the necessary transit log and stamps from Customs and the Port Police. Patras Marina was in the heart of the city, a bit smelly and noisy with the waterfront bars packed until the early hours of the morning with students. There was little civic pride evident with rubbish on the streets, overgrown weeds, broken pavements and buildings in dire need of repair. This was all part of the atmosphere that was relaxed with locals who were willing to assist.

With our jobs completed and the main tourist sites visited two days later we were departing Patras. The highlight on this short trip was passing under the Rion-Andirrioni suspension bridge to enter the Gulf of Cornith. The bridge was completed in 2004 and is the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world at 2.25 miles long with an air height of 45mtrs. Next stop was a picturesque bay at Trizonia. This bay was a small fishing hamlet which was lush and green covered in vines and olives - a peaceful place to rest for a night. It was then onto Itea where we moored alongside the town quay and saw our first NZ yacht!

 

The stopover in Itea was solely to visit Delphi which is acknowledged as one of the most spectacular and beautiful classical sites in Greece set admist the ravines, rocky bluffs and sheer cliffs of Mt Parnassos. Delphi was regarded in as the religious and spiritual centre of the ancient Greek world and is best known for the oracle at the sanctuary that was dedicated to the god Apollo. It was during Apollo's time, starting in 586 BC, that athletes from all over the Greek world competed in the Pythian Games - a precursor of the Modern Olympics.

Our social lives are improving now that we are into the cruising areas. We are enjoying the multi-national community of sailing and meeting other liveaboard couples, hearing their stories and learning from their experiences while sharing meals out or drinks onboard.  One inspirational Brit couple were still sailing in their 70's. We also are learning to avoid being next to French boats who seem to come into all areas at high speed and little regard to others.  Our last French 'neighbour' hit our bow anchor on departure - just as well our anchor was bigger than his and did not sustain any damage as he hit his sides and stern into the concrete wall on departure.

Below are some photos from our anchorage in Zakinthos and Delphi.

Now we have the Cornith Canal to look forward to.

Sardinia to Palermo, Sicily

Entry to Palermo Marina

This passage of 215NM from Sardinia to Sicily started out perfectly with good wind and relatively flat seas - we should have realised this was too good to be true for the entire trip. The wind then started to build and increased to gusts of 35kts (not forecasted) on the nose!  Not comfortable at all and required us to put up the storm sail with the main reefed for the next 24hrs. Needlessly to say this was the hardest passage since we left Gib and our friend, the chucka bucket, was put to good use again. On arrival Leanne had to 'negotiate' via sign language for a berth as there was none to be had (all the advertised 24hrs marina staff appeared to be at siesta or would not answer radio or phone - not unusual ). Ultimately we put the boat in an impossibly tight berth stern to - just what you need at the end of an exhausting two day passage.

Siesta for all locals...

We enjoyed three days in Palermo on the west coast of Sicily (the largest island in the Med). Sicily has a population of five million; Palermo is approx 650,000 and is considered to be the most conquered city in the world. With history dating back to the 8th century and numerous museum's, palaces, castles and church's the sheer quantity, size and detail of the architecture was impressive. During WWII Palermo suffered heavy bombing which is still evident today in the buildings. The scenery is breathtaking with rugged hills, centuries of history, culture and a foodies delight with fresh pasta, olives, salami's and copious choice of quality red wine - making Sicily an enchanting place to visit. Although we didn't see any Mafia they remain a predominant influence in the city and the whole of Sicily.  

In the Messina Straits - still no fish!

An easy landmark to spot

Our next passage was across the top of Sicily and down through the Straits of Messina which separates Sicily from mainland Italy and is only 1.5miles wide at the northern end with an impressive radio tower that dwarfed the lighthouse. During this short passage of 130Nm we went to anchor for several hours during the night to wait for the wind which increased as forecasted to gusts of 40kts - thankfully the wind was behind us so a lot more comfortable angle of sail. 

We then spent a couple of days anchored in Cape Taormina with stunning scenery all around us with Mt Etna making a breathtaking view each morning. Mt Etna, at 3,329mtrs, rises majestically above the Cape and is the most active volcano in Europe. Thankfully we did not see any activity during our stopover!

View from the 'back door'

View from the bow

Another day on passage ends ....

Next landfall is planned for Greece.