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After leaving the yard in Almira we headed to Poros where we were collecting our new bimini. We caught up in Poros for a meal with other ‘boatyard’ friends, Eva and John from Destiny. Unfortunately our new bimini did not initally fit. Poor Daniela had no more of the matching fabric so new canvas was ordered from Athens – delaying the process by a few more days. . We must be getting into this cruising life because we just went with the flow and enjoyed beautiful Poros with shopping and coffee expeditions. Some other new boat friends from Windhover (Irish) were also in Poros so we were in good company.

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We finally left Poros at 3 pm Saturday and had 5 hours of daylight to reach our overnight anchorage just north of Cape Sunion. It was almost sundown and the temple of Poseidon and Athena perched on the cliff edge, seventy metres above the sea, looked amazing with the sun behind it. The seas were sloppy but we were able to sail most of the way although I did need a seasick tablet. The following day we motored for 7 hours up the Evia Channel to an overnight stop at a very protected anchorage at Vufalo, passing Marathon which is of interest because of the battle of Marathon. Today, this location is a beautiful pastoral image, but over two millennia ago, it was the site of an epic and important battle.

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Marathon is a town on the Greek mainland and the site of the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians. Legend has it that Pheidippides, a Greek herald at the battle, was sent running from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory, which is how the marathon race was conceived in modern times

www.marathon.gr

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Once again the day dawned still and windless. We set off motor-sailing to the half way point up the channel, Chalcis, Chalkis, Chalkida, Halkida or Halkis (nobody can agree on the spelling of this place) which is the main town on the island of Evia. Situated at the narrowest part of the channel, there is a opening road bridge which links the two sides and where the water current can rush through at up to 15 km per hour! The interesting thing is the reversing of flow direction that happens about every 6 hours (it’s tide like, but not really tidal and can’t be predicted exactly. It doesn’t have a 3 hour ebb then 3 hour flow as in a normal 12 hour tidal cycle , it just switches, one minute it’s running at 5 knots northwards and 5 minutes later it’s running at 5 knots southwards!). The bridge opens for boat traffic in the evenings only any time between 9.30 pm and 4 am at the discretion and direction of the Port Captain. You book in on arrival and pay your EUR 36 for the 5 minute transit (which does include a night on the quay on the other side) then wait by the VHF radio from 9.30 for your call to go through. We were lucky to go through at 10.30 pm so not too tired waiting around but it was quite nerve wracking motoring through this maelstrom of whirlpools against the tide running at at least 4 knots against us. The after dinner crowds line the bridge walls (7 metres high white marble walls) and I believe it can be quite a spectator sport. The bridge itself retracts under the roadway – something we have never experienced before.

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Some stunning scenery as we head further north with lots of densely wooded hills and pine trees down to the shoreline. In the background many of the higher mountains still have quite a bit of snow – rather a strange juxtaposition with the warm sea water (20.5 at the moment) and very pleasant daytime temperatures of around 24 – 26 c.