Late September, 2023


The area covered in this blog

Key:
1=Athens area marinas and anchorages
2=Paralia Sofikou
3=Galatas
4=Korfos
5=Kalamaki
6=Itéa


Sept. 24-25, 2023
Edem (near Alimos Marina)
37º55.047'N,23º41.809'E

& Paralia Sofikou, Greece
37º50.024'N,23º07.849'E

We'd read that Flisvos Marina near Athens would provide a berth for boats that were visiting the Customs and Immigration authorities, but when we arrived, they said that they had no space.

No worries, we saw on Navily that there was an anchorage about 2km from Flisvos, so we took Awildian there and dropped the anchor. We called the Port Authority and asked if captains could come in with their dinghy to clear into Greece. We were given the green light, so we dropped the dinghy and I stayed with Awildian while Eric buzzed in. He had to do some fancy talking with the two marineros who came out to meet him, but he eventually was able to tie up our dinghy and walk to the nearby Port Authority building to begin the clearing-in process. Thus began a multi-day, multi-location, multi-taxi-ride extravaganza that eventually resulted in our being completely checked into Greece. Let's just say that Athens is not the easiest place to clear in.

Later that day, we learned that good friends on two other boats from Porto Montenegro (Mads, Alisha, and Victoria on sv Seaesta Blue; and Sarah, Peter, and a visiting friend, on sv Flying Fish) were also in the area, so we arranged to meet up in a pretty little anchorage called Paralia Sofikou about 25 miles from Flisvos Marina. When we arrived at the anchorage - after carefully crossing the busy shipping lanes, dodging fast ferries, and winding our way through a sprawling anchorage of (mostly) stationary cargo and tanker ships - Mads jumped into his dinghy and helped tie Awildian's stern to shore after we dropped anchor. Soon after, our friends on Flying Fish arrived, and Mads helped them, too.


Catching up with good friends

We had a fun dinner at the little taverna on shore. It was fun to catch up, before we all went our separate ways the next morning. Both Seaesta Blue and Flying Fish are now in the Caribbean, having crossed the Atlantic in early 2025.


Sept. 25-27, 2023
Alimos Marina, Athens, Greece
37º54.74'N,23º42.37'E

After saying goodbye to our friends, we wove our way back through the crowded ship anchorage and across the busy shipping lanes, to a berth we'd reserved (on a day-to-day basis) in Alimos Marina near Athens. We spent the next two days finishing our clearing-in process, which required multiple taxi trips to Athens' main port in Piraeus. We also located and coordinated with the rigger on shore who'd said that if we were in Alimos he'd come and measure Awildian for the hardware to support a new Code 0 headsail that we were hoping to buy. He did come, but it turned out that Awildian sported a different brand of hardware than he carried, so he couldn't work with us.


Some fun tracks in the sidewalk in Alimos

Sept. 27-28, 2023
Galatas (near Poros), Greece
37º30.182'N,23º26.475'E

We anchored in our favorite spot, near the small town of Galatas, just across the channel from the town of Poros. Galatas is a working-person's town, whereas Poros is the tourist town. For instance, Eric and I have both gotten haircuts in Galatas, and we do our grocery shopping there. The anchorage is uncrowded, and usually quiet - except when passing ferries create rolling wakes.

We'd learned that other good friends of ours from Porto Montenegro, Lyn & Shawn on sv Yaama, were anchored in one of the other anchorages near Poros. So of course we went to visit them and shared a nice meal on shore. It was good to catch up with them, too! The next morning, after most of the charter boats had left for their next destinations, we sidled over to the Poros Town Quay, tied up alongside, called the local fuel tanker truck, and filled Awildian's diesel tanks before the next onslaught of charter boats arrived.


Sept. 28-29, 2023
Korfos, Greece
37º45.773'N,23º07.548'E


On our way to Korfos

On our way toward the Corinth Canal, we made sure to stop in at Korfos, where a few months earlier the pharmacist, Anna, and a restaurant owner, Iannis, had been really helpful when Eric's back had packed up while we were anchored off the little town. They'd arranged a taxi to take him to the hospital (in Corinth), and Anna came out to Awildian in our dinghy for three consecutive days to give Eric injections of anti-inflammatories, after his hospital visit. We wanted to say hello to Anna and Iannis, to show them how much better Eric was doing now. We caught up with Anna but didn't see Iannis this time.


Catching up with Anna

Sept. 29-30, 2023
Kalamaki, Greece
37º55.27'N,23º00.81'E

Kalamaki is a handy anchorage near the eastern terminus of the Corinth Canal. Wide open, with lots of sand to anchor in, and sheltered from northern and western wind, this is a great spot to hang out until your appointment to transit the Canal. Which is what we did, spending one night here.


Sept. 30, 2023
Corinth Canal!
Eastern terminus: 37º55.00'N, 23º00.57'E
Western terminus: 37º57.12'N, 22º57.60'E

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The Corinth Canal

Though open every day in previous years, this year the Corinth Canal was only slated to be open from June 1 through September, so that it could be closed for awhile to allow repair work to continue on a huge landslide. During our cruising season, we'd kept those dates in mind: arriving at the Canal after September 30 would mean that instead of cutting through the middle of the Peloponnese Peninsula, we'd instead have to return to Montenegro around the bottom of the Peloponnese Peninsula, adding several hundred miles and many days to our trip.


The SHORT way (red) and the LONG way (yellow) to Montenegro

Earlier in September, we'd learned that the Canal had extended its opening time until the end of October, which took some of the pressure off of us. A couple of weeks earlier, using their convenient online system, we'd booked and paid for a Canal transit on September 27. Later we'd learned that as long as you've paid for your boat transit, the authorities really don't care when you do it, so it was no problem when we went through a couple of days late.

The Corinth Canal is 4 miles long, 80.7 feet wide, and 26 feet deep. The sheer rock walls lining it are 300 feet high, and are nearly vertical. When we steered Awildian - who is about 25 feet wide - through the Canal, it really felt like we were traveling down a narrow slot. At each end of the Canal, submersible bridges allow cars to cross or boats to pass, depending on whether they are floating or sunk; several other road bridges cross the canal at the top of the rock walls.

Some photos from our transit of the Corinth Canal:

Awildian entering the Canal


Road traffic waiting for the submerged bridge to come back up




Not much room on the sides...












Hand steering


Slips


The construction company getting artistic


Ongoing repairs


More ongoing repairs


The navigator LOL


The rainbow at the end of the Canal

The idea of digging a canal through the isthmus of Corinth first came up in the 7th Century BC, but it wasn't until the late 19th Century (largely due to the invention of dynamite) that the Canal was finally constructed, opening on July 7, 1893. Between these dates many attempts to build a canal were started and all were abandoned.

Before the Canal was built, ships wanting to travel between the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf were off-loaded, their contents making the trip across the isthmus on pack animals. The ships themselves were dragged from one gulf to the other by slaves along a greased road, and refloated on the other side.

You can find interesting and entertaining details of the Canal's history here:
Wikipedia Corinth Canal
and here:
Corinth Canal website


Itéa West anchorage
38º26.172'N,22º25.022'E

After our transit of the Corinth Canal, we continued west for another 30 miles in the Gulf of Corinth, to the town of Itéa, where we dropped anchor in a muddy-bottomed anchorage to the west of town, near a creatively-camouflaged bauxite mine.


We could still tell what it was, but it did blend in well with the trees and hillside...

Here, we spent a quiet and relaxing afternoon, and a restful night.