To the Aegean
19 May 2018
Finally the time had come to start the trip to the Aegean we lifted the anchor and scrapped off the goo. About 3/4 of the way out of the bay we noticed that there was no water coming out of the starboard engine. Crap. We turned around and found a new spot in the bay to anchor. Despite cleaning hoses and filters this problem would plague us until Galaxidi when we switched out the new impeller for a different new impeller.
The next day we headed to Kastos and med moored to a wall next to a large power boat. The two people aboard were very friendly and they gave us some helpful tips about the next few ports. We went for a few walks to enjoy the town. There were some of the widest olive trees I have ever seen as well as a large variety of wild flowers in bloom not to mention peoples gardens roses, bougainvillea and geraniums mixed with citrus trees both in bloom and with fruit. The next town was Mesolongion it was our first stop after leaving the ionian sea. We motored down a canal flanked by houses built on marshy land each with its own ancient looking dock. Men in small boats were in the shallow water fishing when they needed to move they pulled up their stakes and poled themselves to the new spot stuck the stakes back into the mud and continued fishing we even passed some cormorants sunning themselves on a fishing weir. From here we traveled under the Rio Bridge. We have drove over this large bridge several times when traveling between Athens and Preveza and going under it made it seem even bigger. Usually when you go under a bridge there is a nagging feeling in the back of your brain that your mast is going to hit. Not with this one. We could hear the boats checking in with the authorities to receive permission to transit under the bridge and we were starting to recognize the names from previous ports. People we had helped tie to a quay and people that had helped us it was kind kewl. Our next stop was Trizonia. someone had started to make a Marina and couldn't quite make a go of it. The concrete break walls were still there as well as some of the floats and as long as you didn't hit one of the sunken boats it was a free place to tie . The local taverna owners helped secure the boats and took the opportunity to hand out menus. One of the guys who helped tie us said we needed to stay five days one day for each of the four tavernas and the
fifth to return to our favourite. The local mini mart took orders during the day for the next mornings bread delivery and for one euro a small passenger boat would ferry you to the mainland if you needed to do a bigger shop. I suspect this island would be an amazing place for a summer get away. We picked our weather window and zipped down to Galaxidi with less then an hour left in the run we were visited by two dolphins. There is nothing quite like dolphins playing at the bows of your boat and the feeling you get when they roll over and stare right at you is amazing. Galaxidi is bigger then it looks from the water. It is near Delphi so many people go there to do a day trip to the site. hehehe our last meal there was like a dinner with a show. The taverna was busy so we were treated to the owner hamming it up while taking orders then two cats got into a fight I see what they mean by when the fur flies wow it was everywhere. Once that was dealt with three geese came and muscled in on the local cats gig. Cats you can ignore ( except for the ones that dangle by their front paws from your table ) three big geese not so much. Eventually one of the restaurant staff lured them away with the offer of bread. While in Galaxidi not only did we fix the engine but we also took the time to modify the mattress for the port cabin something we had been putting off since We bought the new mattresses at an Ikea in Italy last fall. The starboard side fit like a glove. we knew the port side berth was a little smaller but when we unrolled the mattress it resembled a ski jump at least 6 inches in width had to go. With some trepidation we unzipped the mattress cover drew a line down the length of the foam and started cutting. Not only did it cut nice but it cut clean in a matter of minutes we had a mattress that fit the birth like it belonged. If only we had know about these Ikea
mattresses earlier. We departed Galaxidi for Kiaton it would be our last port before heading through the Corinth canal. The port of Kiaton was mostly full of little fishing boats but we and two others found a spot to tie. There was a lovely quay a stones throw west of the port but we were told a container ship was coming in an it wasn't going to be a good place to be. Sure enough moments after we tied we could see a tug boat zoom out to a ship and guide her in . While relaxing in the cockpit a gentleman walked buy and struck up a conversation seems he had been to the west coast several times. He declined a beer but said he would be walking along the Corinth canal about the same time as we had planned to transit and if we gave him our email he could send us pictures. They are wonderful Thank you very much. Kiaton is also where we picked up our newest crew member Gizmo the second a very cute little basil all he needs is a bigger pot.