205 NM 34 hours
Eastward ho again! We set off just before midday and had some pleasant sailing into the Gulf of Patras motoring a fair amount due to the lack of wind. After witnessing a sensational sunset we passed under the Rion bridge at midnight, and the bridge traffic control directed us through the north channel with only 25 metres clearance. As always I held my breath a little as we passed under the bridge.
Hold your breath!
It turned out to be a very busy night sail, dodging fishing boats and ferries, and trying to differentiate navigation lights and other vessels from those on land. Just when we thought we could relax having passed into the Gulf of Corinth and left the lights of Patras behind us a storm blew up, and we 30-40 knots of wind on our tail we surfed towards Corinth with no genoa, and just a handkerchief of main making 7 knots!
The storm lifted around 06:00 and we passed through the Corinth canal at midday. The canal is impressive and well worth the expense! After that we turned north east to Athens and were glad to tie up at around 7:00 PM.
Going through the Corinth Canal
Entering Piraeus we were greeted with the site of an impressive superyacht
The jet ski bay was nearly as big as our boat!
205 NM, 34 hours.
