Gulfs of Patras and Corinth
Wednesday 6th October... Linda - Well, we are here in Messolonghi having 'run away' from the worst of the expected storm tomorrow... we hope. It's still forecast to be gusty here, but not as much as out on the islands. However, this morning was calm with nice views of the mountains. We decided to play even safer and take Thesee into the marina. So that's where we are tonight and are planning to stay until Saturday or Sunday.
Views north from the anchorage
Looking across to the marina
The welcome sign in the marina
We walked to town to get our Transit Log stamped but they told us there was no-one available to stamp it, so we have to go back in the next day or two. On the way back we went for coffee in the marina cafe, where the staff were very welcoming. We also got talking to some other yachties who had come from Zakynthos yesterday to get shelter, after having been told it was not safe to stay there due to the weather. And later we had a very large sailing yacht berth next to us, another Brit flag with a Southampton registered boat.
The most amazing thing today was that we had a massive turtle surface at the side of the boat, right here in the marina. Honestly, it was a metre long!! Quite a shock really, although we had read about them we didn't expect to see one. Don't think I'll be doing any swimming anytime soon.
Thursday 7th October... Linda - Well, it's 10.30pm here and I'm pleased to report we've not had it too bad today considering the weather forecast. It was definately pretty gusty and at times a lot of choppy water coming across the harbour to where we are situated. We stayed on the boat monitoring the situation and making sure all the lines were secure etc. It's raining now and we are still due another few hours of gusts so may not get to sleep just yet. A little lightning about and some rumbly thunder.
Friday 8th October... Dean - So it's me today. First thing today was to go back to the port police here in Messolonghi and check in. We tried the day we arrived but evidently the lady had the day off. More like the others in the office couldn't be bothered. Anyway I managed to get the transit log stamped in the end. We had some bad weather over the last couple of days so today was a catch up day and some boat maintenance before we lift out. First was to change the oil and filter in the engine, then the two diesel filters.
Secondary diesel filter
It's always a messy job
I also changed the coolant in the engine, which was well overdue. While I was doing all the jobs the weather was trying its best to ruin the day and some of the downpours were torrential, washing all the dirt from the hard standing and car park area into the water.
Rainbow
Torrential rain
Tomorrow we will try and make it into town and see what it's like as long as the rain holds off. Perhaps I can look for Linda's Christmas present while we're there. Obviously she has already had some new batteries for the boat but I'll keep my eye out and see if I can treat her to maybe something off the list. Perhaps some paint mixing pots or some safety goggles maybe even a new angle grinder. She's so lucky. Just on a whim today I bought her some 60 grit grinding discs, I think maybe I'm getting a bit soft in my old age.
Saturday 9th October... Linda - We hit the town today. First stop, the 'Garden of Heroes'. This 14 acre garden is a serene oasis in the midst of a pretty much run down town. In it are numerous statues and memorials dedicated to political and military figures who have their place along the long history of this town. The largest part of the garden is dedicated to the fighters of the Greek War of Independence, who fought for the freedom of Messolonghi. The poet Lord Byron is commemorated here with a statue having given his fortune, talent, and life for the cause of this war.
Very old looking buildings as we walked into town
Churchy thing with a candle inside, along the street
So we arrived at the Garden of Heroes. All the inscriptions were in Greek, but we have since worked out which one is Lord Byron...
Lord Byron statue, it is said his heart is buried here
From there, we walked through the town streets, stopped for coffee, walked some more, did some shopping, walked some more, stopped for lunch, did some more shopping, did some more walking, and then finally back to the boat.
Entrance to town
Not sure who this is, but must be famous
Town square
My coffee cup...with no handle!
Strangely marked cats around here
Street food lunch, pork gyros and a Greek beer
Back at the harbour it was very calm water today
Question: What is Dean up to now?
Answer: He's checking the height of Thesee's mast with his range finder.
Reason: We'll be sailing under the Rion-Antirion Bridge sometime this week and need to make sure we'll fit under it. The bridge crosses the Gulf of Corinth near Patras, linking the Peloponnese peninsular to the mainland. It's quite spectacular, but more of that in due course.
How high is that mast Dean?
Sunday 10th October... Linda - The stormy weather continues. Dean stated that "It blew a fair bit" during the night. I think I must have been semi-conscious around 4am, because I could hear the slapping water on Thesee's stern, and then I couldn't get back to sleep. For some very strange reason I couldn't get the song 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' out of my head!!
In between this morning's frequent squalls we took a short walk around the marina to stretch our legs. There is a very old large wooden boat on the hardstanding near to us. God knows how long it's been there. We took a closer look, and on the port side it's got massive holes in the hull.
The wooden boat ashore
Surely it's past restoration
Dean also spotted this boat name which we thought was very funny...
Thesee
Tied on well
Thésée is tied on with 6 lines to the two sets of aft cleats, plus two lazy lines on the bow. So we are quite secure. The forecast tonight is for more high wind gusts. I hope I can think of a better song to sing when I wake up at 4am!
We're taking the opportunity of being in the marina to do some preparations for leaving the boat over winter. Dean finished cleaning all the teak, in between the showers of course. I'm cleaning all the cupboards and sorting the rest of our food supplies.
Monday 11th October... Linda - Crikey, what a lot of thunder and lightning during the night. It took my mind off singing songs which was a good thing. One lightning bolt and thunder clap came within a second of each other and was so loud it made me jump. In fact, the cockpit table LED bulbs switched themselves on! Yikes.
This morning to cheer ourselves up we took a 30 minute walk to the local Lidl. It was a pleasant stroll along the side of the wetlands nature reserve, and we could see the flamingos. Not something you usually see on the way to the supermarket.
We also passed Byron House, home to the Lord Byron History Society. Copy and paste this link for more info.....
messolonghibyronsociety.gr
It's Lord Byron again, in front of Byron House
Looking across the wetlands
Quite pretty in places
A lonesome Little Egret
Trying to stealthily sneak away from us
Calm waters this morning, but still a menacing sky
The flamingos
Sneaky coffee on the way back from Lidl
We bought some goodies from Lidl... beer, coke, chocolate, vitamins, donuts, crusty baguette, bbq crisps. Just the essential healthy foods 😀. Dean went to pay the marina for another two nights, then he cleaned the rest of the teak in the cockpit and we cleaned the oven too. So it feels like a good day. Also, we have booked Thesee's lift out for this Thursday! And we have a new neighbour too.
So we got up really late! 9.30am. The unpredictable weather continued during the morning, but the afternoon turned out lovely and sunny. So we went for a walk to the chandlery in town, where Dean found just what he was looking for... a submersible pump. Lovely. On the way we walked along the town quay. There really are some lovely bars along here, unfortunately completely deserted at this time of year.
Bars on the seafront
The town windmill
Found another memorial whilst Dean was in the chandlery
Then we walked back right around the harbour. Some very pleasant views, and a change of scenery to see around the other side.
Hotel with a swimming pool. Open but no guests.
As Thesee came into view across the harbour, we could see how tiny he looked compared to our 27 metre neighbour. When we are on the boat, the boat nextdoor doesn't feel that much larger, but obviously you can see from this next phot there is a huge difference in size.
Tiny blue Thesee in the middle
Nice sign although damaged
It turned into an even more exciting day, when a fellow sailor passed the boat and got chatting to Dean. Turns out he comes from Wordsley, just down the road from Dudley! And then, even more exciting than that, two of our friends turned up right out of the blue. Thomas and Irene on a boat called Lira. We first met them in Almerimar during Winter 2018 and haven't seen them for over two years. They've got a little dog called Skipper. Skipper used to be Saffy's boyfriend 💓. The four (five with Skipper) of us ended up going to the marina cafe for dinner and a very long catch up.
Hello Skipper
Lots to talk about over dinner
Wednesday 13th October... Linda - Big day today for Thésée and crew. It was 'negotiate the Rion-Antirion bridge day'! Yes, after a week in Messolonghi we departed around 10am. It was the best weather day since we arrived, and the forecast looked calm, if not a little rainy. We always find that we get to see more when we leave a place, because when we are arriving we are only looking for where to berth the boat.
Departing Messolonghi via the narrow channel
The journey today was around 35 miles east into the gulf of Corinth with the big bridge excitement at the half way point. The skies were varied but mainly very cloudy with only a sprinkle of rain on and off.
Reminds me of Gibraltar
So around 1.30pm we were approaching this magnificent bridge. Copy and paste this link for interesting bridge info...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio%E2%80%93Antirrio_Bridge
The bridge really is quite something. You have to call up Rion Traffic on VHF 14 to ask permission to pass under the bridge. There are 4 pilons in total. Rion Traffic then tell you which of the three channels to pass through. In our case today it was the southerly channel, and they tell you to make sure you have 3 pilons to your left, 1 pilon to your right. We kind of knew this from our research. They ask you how much is your Air Draft (we are 23 metres), which way you are travelling, and where you are going. They were very good and even thanked us for calling up.
The two centre pilons. This gap is for commercial shipping.
Getting nervous as we get nearer
Dean on the VHF asking permission
Just as we were approaching two military aircraft went right overhead
The red port hand marker helps us keep in the right place
Wow, what a view
Yay, we made it
Looking back, now we are officially in the Gulf of Corinth
As we passed underneath the bridge we used the range finder to check the height. We actually recorded the height from our cockpit as 41 metres. So we had plenty of room to spare.
At Trizonia we went alongside the quay. It's a strange place as they don't seem to charge and liveaboard boaters seem to hog the place. Still it was quiet today and a nice couple helped take our lines for berthing. We just had time to walk to the Tavernas for a drink. The island seems lovely, if not a little odd.
On the quay in Trizonia
Local kitties
Church
Tavernas quay
Coastguard office
Drinks stop
Just a quickie
Pretty menu
Thursday 14th October... Linda - And so, the weather DID NOT PERMIT our lift out today. After a calm night here in Trizonia, at 9.30am this morning we were sitting experiencing a thunderstorm with lots of black clouds around and 15 knots with wind shifts. Dean called the lift out boatyard and it was agreed to postpone until probably next Monday (which in fact was our original lift out date).
Unbelievably, only an hour later and for the rest of the day it was super calm, not a breath of wind, the sea as flat as a pancake, although it was still raining with total cloud cover. The weather has been so strange this last week or so, you really can't believe any forecasts. In the last couple of days Dean has received two automatic weather warning messages on his phone from the Greek authorities. They send these messages to all mobile phones in the areas of concern. A bit odd that I never received the messages on my phone.
Calm after the storm (and before the next one probably)
Weather passing to the east now
We now had a whole day to do nothing. So although it was still showery we went for a walk after lunch. The walk turned into a hike to the 'tower' up in the hills, although we never found the tower, even having followed the signs into thick overgrown unpassable areas. So we gave up and returned to the boat, very muddy shoes and all. But we did clean our boots in the stream of rain coming down the hillside.
Around the quayside
So annoyingly calm now
Local boats
Nice path around the small headland
Looking to the mainland and the town of Chania
Beautiful small bay here
Lovely trees on the beach
Nearing the tavernas in the small bay
We found a very Greek chapel on the hillside
...and a swimming pool
From the hilltop looking to the hazy mainland again
The small mainland harbour where the local water taxi goes to
So there are no shops on Trizonia, but a lovely handful of bars/restaurants in the small bay. Most are closed but there are three open, with basically no customers. We got back to the boat pretty much soaked through, got changed, and went back for dinner at Kalypso restaurant. The people are so friendly, and after dinner the owners brought us a free dessert. It was what they call a spoon sweet, very much like a large glacé cherry only bigger and orange, and in a very sticky treacly type liquid. The lady didn't know what it was called in English, but we looked it up and found it was a kumquat fruit.
Friday 15th October... Linda - Not been off the boat today. It's been windy, we're getting the side effects of Storm Ballos which has hit Corfu and also Athens quite badly. Trying to keep occupied with more cupboard cleaning, paper shredding, and clothes sorting. Good news is that we have re-arranged Thesee lift out for Monday afternoon. It looks like the weather will be calming down after Sunday, which we are very pleased about. We will have had almost 11 days of stormy weather by then!
Saturday 16th October... Linda - Today we took the little ferry boat to the mainland. Only about a 10 minute crossing. It was still fairly blowy with white horses. I was slightly apprehensive but it was fine. The small town (villages) of Glyfada and Chania on the mainland were unimpressive with only a handful of cafes, a shop, bakery, and pharmacy. We managed to fill two hours and then caught the ferry back to Trizonia. Walking back to the boat we passed a private house gathering. They were all in good spirits and we noticed a load of smashed plates on the floor. It seemed they wanted us to join in with their celebrations. We smiled, waved, and carried on our way.
Another dinner eating out tonight. This time surrounded by the local cat colony who seem to like chicken and chips. So pleased that the weather is finally calming tonight. After yesterday's east to west blow, today it all came back again west to east!
On the little ferry to the mainland
Along the seafront
The nicest building around
Glifada
Church again, side view
Small chapel here too
Looking over to Trizonia Island
Top off the outboard
Draining the engine oil into a modified empty milk carton
Next job was emptying our spare diesel and water into the relevant tanks. We always keep spare, and we've had this lot as a back up since Licata. Not that we needed it, but it needs to be rotated at least once a year.
Spare diesel going into the tank
After the jobs were done and after lunch, we had another walk on the island. This time we walked to a place called Red Beach, on the south of the island. We could look across the water to tomorrow's destination 'Aigio' (or Aiyio, Egio, Aigion). All the places here seem to have a multitude of spellings and it's very confusing, let alone trying to pronounce them. This one's pronounced EGG - EE - OH.
On the walk, looking across to our harbour
There's Thesee
Mini cyclamen in bloom along the path
Tree varieties
Nearly at Red Beach
The lettering is made of small red stones from the beach
This way
It's not very wide, but it's definately red
Sea still rolling in on this side of the island
We made a megalith on the driftwood
Back at the harbour we went for a drink. Dean wanted to eat out tonight as he's eager to try the Mousakka, but they didn't have any, so we ate on the boat. Omelette and salad. Getting a bit low on food now as we count down the days to winter berthing and home time.
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