Lynn and Simon left us here to return to the UK via Athens and we will continue westwards through the gulfs of Corinth and Patras to Kefalonia where friends Roy and Jackie will be joining us. Hope you're all well. best wishes Helen and Iain

the charioteer

the navel - the centre of the world

Delphi the stadium temple of apollo and athenian treasury

Crossing the gulf to go to Itea (nearest port for Delphi) we had a storming sail. It started as a nice light breeze but it built fairly quickly then quite suddenly was over 20 knots and we put in a couple of reefs which was just as well as soon the wind was around 28 to 32 knots! Happy to report the new main keeps a much better shape than the old sail and the boat was very comfortable - and going like a train (well up to 9.5 knots which is quite fast for us) with such strong winds and a reasonably flat sea. We all really enjoyed the sail but equally I think we were all glad to get into itea and safely berthed alongside the quay. (Unfortunately the only berths were on the leeward side so we were pinned hard against the concrete quay for a couple of days while we were in Itea and our fenders are now a bit squashed!). Itea was a friendly relaxed place and convenient for Delphi which I could take pages to tell you about but its all on the web so I'll just say this is a very special site which gives a great impression of the classical world. If you're in this region (it's only 2 1/2 hours from Athens) I'd encourage you to go and see it. Simply wonderful.

A marina for Alma

We stopped at Kiato for the night and there's not much to say about kiato but to indicate what we thought of the place I can say that we had dinner on board rather than leave the boat unattended. We left early next morning.

going, going, gone - thank goodness

Boys relaxing while girls work

Corinth Canal

We spent Friday night at anchor then on Saturday went through the Corinth Canal - what an experience. Very unusual system where the road bridges sink down 6m below the surface of the water to allow boats to sail through! We had to wait for 2 other boats to arrive before we were allowed through. Unfortunately they were both large motor yachts which went at top speed and the canal office kept radioing us to tell us to speed up and not fall behind the others but we were already at close to top speed (under engine of course) and I don't like to push the engine at absolutely full revs. So we fell behind a bit and then the office was on the radio again telling us i thought to increase speed - when I acknowledged message it transpired the office now wanted us to decrease speed!! (either his english, the radio transmission or my hearing wasn't clear). They'd decided to take the opportunity of the gap between us and the two boats ahead to raise the road bridge and allow traffic across before lowering again for us! So we slowed to minimum speed while still keeping steerage way (the canal is only 25m wide so not much room for manoeuvre!) and then the office was back on the radio saying "ALMA FULL SPEED FULL SPEED" and they started to lower the bridge again - although it wasn't clear that it would be fully lowered by the time we arrived if we went at full speed so we compromised on the speed and then just to cause a bit more concern we noticed the signal lights for boats were still red! Back on the radio to the office to query the red lights. "ALMA FULL SPEED, FULL SPEED" and just as we got to the bridge the lights changed to green, we went through (over) and out into the gulf of Corinth with great relief. Quite a lot of stress but great experience.

and the goddess

more old relics

On Thursday 28th Simon and Lynn arrived by ferry and the next day we started our history cruise with a visit to the wonderful temple of Aphaia (490bc) (curiously many of the statues found here are now in munich museum).

choosing dinner at the fish market, aigina

Aigina was again noisy, chaotic and stiflingly hot but curiously the more we come here the more we like it. The port is mayhem with ferries, hydrofoils and numerous yachts coming and going (the hydrofoils coming in at high speed causing a big wash in the harbour and sending all the moored boats rocking and rolling!), and the road along the quayside is like the M25 except the traffic (high percentage of noisy scooters) doesn't come to a halt. But away from the front there are some lovely local shops, a great fishmarket (choose some fish from a stall and they deliver to the restaurant you're eating at) and some attractive buildings (perhaps reflecting the glorious days when the Greek flag of independence was first raised here after the war of independence). My economic barometer (price of a haircut E10 here) suggests Aigina economy closer to Malta(E4) than UK (£17) or france (E22).

Pomegranites at Vathi

From Vathi Harbour