ocean-pilgrim

The in-between places are not often mentioned. People talk about the magic of the islands, the wild rugged beauty of the Peloponnese or the sheltered waterways of the …gulf.  Me included.  But everywhere has it’s own cultural, historic and environmental vibe and value that is different to all other places whilst on the surface seeming the same.  Last year when we arrived in the Gulf of Patras we were both really impressed by how rugged and beautiful the surroundings were and also how unusual.

The boat was tucked away in Aigio and when we returned a few weeks ago we were struck again by its location, surrounded by many high mountains both on the Peleponese and on the mainland of Greece further North.  A few years ago we went by car to Delphi which rests on the lower slopes of Mt Parnassus.  This year whilst we couldn’t see Delphi we were knocked out by how much snow was still on the mountain.  The cooler temperatures meant it also wasn’t melting! And did you know that there are ski resorts on the Peleponese?  Yep, news to us also but totally believable after seeing the snow fall to about 500 metres on the May Day weekend.  It was dusting the hills around Aigio and the mountains had fresh coats of white. Ugg Boots.

The Gulf itself can be very windy too.  The Rio/ Anti Rio bridge that joins Greece’s third biggest city, Patras, to the mainland creates its own wind effects too.  It can roar through there making travel through there hard going if both the tide and the wind are against you. But that was ahead of us after our launch.  When we finally got away we headed to a tiny island called Trizonia and sheltered in a bay overnight. Ah the bliss of first night at anchor for the season.   Its very cute there and protected too.  Last year we pulled into the little marina that is full of hulking wrecks of boats.  No-one is responsible for it at the moment meaning people can stay there at no cost and no one cares if their boat is a little ……shall we say shabby or uncared for. We spent a few days there last September as we prepared Intention for her winter hibernation.  There is a cute little bay with tavernas and a tiny mini market on the other side of the tiny island and a few hotels too.  A ferry which looks much like a fishing boat comes and goes from the mainland for about $2. Day-trippers arrive to sit at the cool bars or local Tavernas, have a swim and catch the ferry back home again. 

From Trizonia we headed towards an anchorage called Nafpaktos.  It has an amazing castle on the hillsides above it and a history of inhabitation going back 4,000 years. There is a fabulous tiny keyhole harbour too and whilst it was empty (so we could have anchored in there with lines ashore) we elected to just sit on anchor outside and had the outer bay all to ourselves overnight. Lines ashore can be stressful particularly if you haven’t checked out the anchorage. Reports said it was shallow close to shore which is no good for us with our long (new!) rudder so we kept it simple and anchored out. We were keen for a big uphill walk and took the dinghy in and climbed up to the well preserved remains of the Venetian Castle with walls that have never been breached, such was its defensive position on a hillside above town. There were few people at this time of year and we pretty much had the grounds to ourselves.  Just us and a fabulous chorus of birds. The town was charming although the multiple busloads of teenagers on a school visit were less so.

Next it was time to head through the Rio/Antirio Bridge. This means calling the Bridge port authority to request permission to go through. Then we keep the VHF radio on and monitor it from 3 nautical miles out and call him again when we were one mile away and he’d then tell us it was ok to pass through and which span to use. All a bit thrilling!

The following day with some stronger winds forecast we headed for Messolonghi, a town built in a wetland up a 2km narrow channel and far from open waters. It was such a strange experience coming into this spot as along the channel that leads to the town there are multiple small shacks or fishing huts, all surrounded by eucalypts.  Each had their own jetty and there were fishermen everywhere both in small punts and on the ends of their jetties.  It was so like Australia up on the NSW and Queensland coast that I felt like I had been transported back there. 

The town itself was nice enough and the yacht chandlery good however we woke up on our second morning to absolute stillness and a few hundred mosquitos in our cockpit!  Thank goodness we never neglect to put our netting up and close all the windows before sleep or I suspect we wouldn’t have had much sleep at all. So it was anchors up and about 20 buckets of water and a stiff brush to remove the stickiest black mud I think I’ve ever seen and then we were away motoring out into a hazy morning where there was no horizon just endless blue as far as the eye could see. Soon we’d be out of the Gulf and heading towards the Ionian Islands on the next part of our adventures.  Beautiful, busy, full of charter boats and more expensive promising azure waters, history and warmer weather.