We left Trizonia at 09.00 and squeezed past the dredger in the channel without incident. The wind was a gusty westerly topping out at 23 knots over a steady 15 knots or so. Initially we ran with the gennaker but after the gusts increased we pulled the genoa out and then furled the gennaker once it was shielded by the smaller sail. The morning grew greyer and colder and by 12.00 we had gusts and lulls in the cold wind so we gave up and put the engines on to move us in to shelter as we rounded the peninsula into the stretch that leads up to Galaxidi. We were moored to the quay just after 13.00 and our first impression were positive. It's an attractive town with rambling streets leading off behind the quay, it has been well looked after in the public spaces and its not too commercial. It also has a quay population of the normal cats and dogs though here they have added ducks as well!


Galaxidi Quay from opposite the moorings. Taken on the colder day when we arrived.

We ate out that night in Bebellis Taverna and the food was good and quite original for Greek dishes, eg. pork cooked with plums. We have found a decent butcher and greengrocer as well as basic stores, you could be comfortable here for a while.

The next day we hired a car from the local business that advertises by parking the vehicles in front of the quay with large a phone number displayed. We wanted to visit Delphi and do some heavier shopping (beer, wine, sparking water, UHT milk etc), the things that are not fun to carry back to the boat! At E40 plus the fuel (which turned out to be E7.50) for a reasonable little car, this was a good approach.

Delphi is the site of the ancient temple and settlement starting around 500 years BC. It's quite a way up in the mountains so you can catch a bus, hire a taxi or take the rental approach. We have a policy of trying to arrive at such places early so were pulling up after the 40 minute drive by 09.30, this gave us the 90 minutes needed to walk around the sight It's worth the trip as the site has some interesting remains and the museum is also full of relics from very early history. The most interesting bit for us was right at the top of the site where the stadium is sited. This is unusual in that it's around 200m long and narrow and was the site of many types of races for prizes of laurel crowns and a status only below that of the Olympic competition itself. It was also quite amazing to think of the work it must have taken to flatten this area on the side of a mountain back then!

The Stadium at Delphi

By 11.00 as we were making our way back down the hoards from the coaches were starting their climb.... go early to these places!

On the way back we found a very spectacular view from a coffee shop in Dephi town and had an interesting chat to a Greek guy whole explained things about the area whilst we took on our caffeine requirement. We also visited Itea, the other town in the area. It is much more industrial than Galaxidi being near the site of the biggest bauxite mine in Europe. If you were going to Delphi by bus Itea would be an easier base but having checked out the marina and port areas we were glad we had made the choice we did. We did have a pleasant lunch of fried fish and salad on the port road and found a larger supermarket in Itea to do our stocking up but we were happy to return to Galaxidi.

The view from our coffee stop

That night Chris and his guitar were invited on to the next boat to join the Norwegian owner, another English lady and their guitars. They spent over two hours attempting to produce renditions of songs ranging from Dylan, Neil Young, Eagles, Simon & Garfunkel and Metallica through to English and Norwegian folk tunes. Some of the output actually sounded OK and fun (and the odd beer) was had by all three. Chris realised it was time to quit the band when Carolyns 'starving face' told him it was well past dinnertime!

The Galaxidi Jam session in full flow!

We have tried to have our DEKPA re-stamped here, but the port police were uninterested as there was still a week to go......do it later was the message (or maybe 'don't bother us')

We like Galaxidi, so we will wait here for the right weather to suit our crossing down to the Corinth Cannal, the next challenge on our route.

Main Picture: The Temple of Apollo at Delphi with a view of the valley