With thoughts of Delphi lingering in our heads the next day we headed south again, to Corinth Yacht Harbour, a mile away from the most expensive canal on the planet. Per metre it works out the most expensive canal to transit but we had decided last year it was an experience we wanted to have.
Dragonfly and Jolli Jumper were with us, we planned to take photos of each other on the way through! We had a windy night in the yacht harbour which necessitated Dragonfly to change berth and caused Jolli Jumper to have to leave the harbour and anchor in the commercial port. We were relieved when we woke up that the day was bright and calm as we had heard that the wind makes the entrance to the canal more challenging.
We called the Canal Authorities at 0700hrs and asked for permission to transit and we were asked to wait 20 minutes. Traffic is only one way through the canal due to the size. It is 3.2 miles long, 25m wide, yes metres, the maximum permitted draught is 6.5m and the limestone from which it is cut rises to 79m above sea level at its highest point. The maximum air height is 52m because of the bridges over the canal. None of those dimensions were a problem for Max.
Approaching the canal we were asked to wait a bit longer and then we saw why: three yachts came motoring out in front of us. Then it was our turn. We were asked to go at full speed but we had 2knots of current with us so going at 5.4kts boat speed turned into 7.4kts SOG (speed over ground) which was fast enough to keep the canal authorities happy.
There are two hydraulic bridges at either end of the canal that lower into the water to allow boats to pass and use a traffic light system. We had a green light as they were already open for the other yachts to come out.
Dragonfly led the way, followed by us with Jolli Jumper bringing up the rear. The cameras were clicking all the way through as we looked in awe at the engineering required to make the canal. It was built, in its present form, by a French company and completed by the Greeks in 1893. It was enlarged after damage suffered in the Second World War. There are now three bridges: one rail and two road.
Ian and I had driven over the canal and looked down and remembered thinking how deep it was. Now, from the bottom, we didn't think it was a high as we thought! However, it was very narrow, not for us in Max but for bigger ships we couldn't imagine how they could navigate, especially when we saw some rocks just under the water in some places. It was surprisingly green at the beginning and end and the limestone rocky section was really in the middle.
At the speed we were travelling it took us about half an hour to get through and in no time we were tied up on the dock on the starboard side as we came out. The formalities needed to be completed here, including paying. The cost for us was 244 Euros, roughly what we expected so no shocks there. However, not sure we will go back the other way any time soon!
And now we are in the Aegean Sea, looking forward to the Saronics, Cyclades, and Dodecanese islands, bring it on....