Piraeus to Galaxidhi

The time was getting away from us, and we had a problem with our gas supply (no-one to fill US tanks, and difficulty finding a suitable connection between European gas bottles and out boat’s system), so we made an executive decision to head back through the Corinth Canal rather than going the long way round the Peloponnese. That way we could also call into Zea Marina in Piraeus, fill our US tanks and, as a bonus, do the laundry, buy a few small bits and pieces from John the chandler and find some real cheese!

 

Marina Zea, Piraeus.

By complete chance, Terry's photo of Zea was featured as the lead photo in this quarter's "Cruising Outpost magazine, which he opened to read while we were in Marina Zea.

It was fun to be back in Piraeus, that grimy old port of Athens where you can get anything you want and where the evening perpeta along the waterfront takes you past some of the priciest superyachts in the world (when you see YCM on the stern, you know the owners play in high circles).  We had two days where we managed to tick off every item on our list, from refilling the gas, to getting new bolts specially machined for the helmsman’s seat, getting a load of washing done, finding a nifty gadget for unsnagging the anchor, sourcing cheddar cheese and dry ginger ale, getting a haircut and much more. Then we even managed a night out at our favourite little family restaurant, Posidonia, for our 35^th wedding anniversary!  A visit to Piraeus also means a chance to get your Vodafone sorted out by John Kounas.  John is a) a very nice guy who is always cheerful and helpful and b) very good at what he does, which is make Vodafone work on your tablet, PC, phone.

 John and Terry

Then onward to brave the Canal once again, preceded, of course, by a visit to the ATM ready to transit the most expensive three nautical miles of water in the world. This was balanced out by saving about 120 nautical miles plus the definite advantage of being able to cook our food. The east to west transit was complicated by strong westerly winds and a significant current, but the Captain employed the time-honoured method known as “more right hand” and we were through the cut in no time. It is quite a sensation charging at near-top speed through a deep, narrow channel of limestone. In ancient times, ships made this transit on land, on a type of early ‘rail’ system powered by slaves or animals.

Through the Canal again

 

The weather in the Gulf of Corinth was anything but the gentle five knot breezes of the weather reports – more like 25 to 35! The anchorages we’d planned were completely untenable in these conditions so we ploughed on up to a group of three tiny islands, the Alkionidhes, and managed to find reasonable shelter behind Nisos Dhaskalio.  Here an abandoned monastery overlooks a miniscule bay with a mooring and a constructed breakwater. We manoeuvred into the bay, tied up securely to the mooring and I swam a long-line to the shore. The wind howled and the sea rose but we were OK in our little nook.

Next day was another beat to windward until we reached the very welcome shelter of the Bay of Iteas and the beautiful harbour of Galaxidhi. This is a jumping off point for a visit to the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, but it is worth a visit in its own right. The town has beautiful buildings, great views of Mt Parnassus and a relaxed, convivial waterfront, complete with a floating duck house for the resident ducks. They even have their own speedboat tied up alongside

Duck Condo

 A local character, the unofficial ‘harbourmaster’, helped us tie up and gave a lot of very good, but incomprehensible advice. We enjoyed terrific home cooking at the Porto restaurant and a show of traditional dancing by a local community cultural group, along with a spectacular display of lightning by the gods up on Parnassus.

Mt Parnassos

 

A local bus does the trip through Itea and up to Delphi on the shoulder of the mountain, once home to the nine Muses and the famous Oracle, known for its accurate, yet often cryptic and misleading predictions.

 

 

 

Great bus trip around a scenic bay full of tiny islands, then a slow climb through the world’s largest continuous olive grove (1.5 million trees) to a truly spectacular site. From the ruined temple complex, you look out over the grove which winds like a grey-green river through the valley below. Clouds hover amongst the surrounding peaks, with sudden storms reflecting the capriciousness of the old gods. The artefacts in the museum are tantalising: exquisite fragments, very few of them intact. The exception is the famous charioteer, with his penetrating dark eyes and reins still grasped in his hand.

 

 

The Temple of Apollo must have been an absolute wonder to the pilgrims who made the journey up the mountain to make sacrifices and hear the words of the priestess. We consulted the modern oracle (on the i-pad) but sadly, all we got was another wildly inaccurate weather forecast.

 

Galaxidi, looking towards Parnassus