Author: Gisela Wuerfel

Trizonia is a tiny island directly opposite the northern mainland in the Gulf of Corinth. It is so small that there is only one small shop that closes at the end of the season. Then you have to take the small ferry boat five minutes to Glifada on the mainland to do some shopping. You hardly see any cars, because there are almost no roads. At the small market place there are three taverns and two cafés and like everywhere else they are populated with countless cats. In the harbour at the back of the island in a small bay, there are boats that you get the impression that they will never leave here - as well as their owners who live on them. 

That it should be beautiful here can also be seen from the fact that the European long-distance hiking trail E 4 runs across the island. There are various hiking trails to the capes, from which you have a wonderful view of the Gulf and the opposite Peloponnese with its steep, massive mountains. 

The colours, we found, are particularly intense or particularly good to experience and enjoy here. Rusty brown tones on the paths, from the clay on the white karst rock, but also from marble terraces. White the rocks and also the little houses. Dark red - there is a "Red Beach" here with dark red pebbles, bauxite-containing rock that is mined a few miles further east on the mainland. 

Blue - turquoise - green in countless shades the sea, depending on the incidence of light and the condition of the ground. 

Other shades of green are formed by the fresh pine trees, which stand close together in some places. 

Other shades of green and also silver dominate in the interior of the island: Countless ancient olive trees with their silvery green leaves and the silver-grey gnarled trunks. 

We have managed to get away again - because we still have a lot to do here in Greece.

In the south of the Peloponnese we noticed it at some point - we haven't had any shore power for four weeks!

The many electrical consumers already need a lot of power - from the 12 volt battery. Pumps for the running water supply, lighting, navigation instrument display - and of course the refrigerator, the biggest consumer of electricity (besides the hot water boiler, but you don't need that anyway at 35 degrees outside temperature).

In addition to the separate starter battery, there are two service batteries that operate the system, with a total capacity of 670 ampere hours. When the engine is running, it charges the batteries of course. And when we are in port and have shore power, the batteries are charged via the permanently installed computer-controlled charger on board. If not, we have four solar panels that we can fold up so that they are optimally aligned with the sun.

This means that if we are lying at anchor and have the fridge on during the day to have cool white wine in the evening, the system loses about 2 percent. If we then fold up the panels the next morning - and the sun is shining - it takes an hour or two to get back to 100 percent. One should not underestimate solar power!

That's why we didn't even notice the four weeks without shore power - we are curious to see how it will be in autumn with less sun.

In July, August and September we experienced almost only hot days here with temperatures that were almost always above 30 degrees during the day, often up to 36 degrees. Now, at the beginning of October, autumn comes here too. In the evening it cools down pleasantly. A few days ago we put on (light) long trousers for the first time in months. Maybe we'll soon need a pair of socks in the evening too? In which schapp did we put them when we arrived?

We experience the October weather here in the Gulf of Corinth in a Great Varieté: an alternation of overcast skies, mild light, bright sunshine, light wind or even calm and sudden strong winds, mostly from the west. And from time to time rain and thunderstorms. But even the sun still has power. Our solar panels still charge so well that we can get by largely without electricity from the land.

We also clearly notice that the season is over. The harbours are rather empty. The many charter sailors have disappeared (although this summer there were not as many as usual due to Corona). The tavernas are gradually closing and in those that are still open there are only a few guests. Everything becomes quieter. A mood aptly sung by Gilbert Bécaud in the beautiful song "C'est en Septembre" about the end of the season in France.

So now we can enjoy our cosy boat more and more below deck in the evenings. A few bottles of good red wine are also stored there. They will probably not be taken on board for winter storage.

It gets dark sooner and the sind rises later. That's where the nice big sleeping bunk in the stern beckons.

Before it gets really uncomfortable here in November, we want to take good care of our boat and prepare it for the winter. There is still a lot to do. So we are now on the way to Messolonghi, our starting port and boat quarter for this winter and are looking forward to meeting the friends we have there in the meantime.

The bus from Itea, where we fixed our boat, to Delphi leaves at 7.15 am - no idea when we got up so early the last time…….But so we hat sunrise in Delphi, which was a bit leaden-covered, but very atmospheric.
First the bus Gomes a few kilometres through the fertile plain at the foot of the Parnassos mountains, olive trees as far as the eye can see. Then it spirals up 10 km into the mountains in breathtaking hairpin bends and steep climbs. Vertical cliffs, rugged karstified rocks, impressive.

The sanctuary of Apollo is located on a terrace directly in front of a huge rock face, the temples and the buildings are so to speak glued to the rocks, unbelievable. And in a tremendous density, a whole city high above the plain, behind it naked vertical rock, in front of it as well.

At its heyday in the 5th/4th century Delphi was considered the navel of the world: it was the centre of the then known world between Italy and the western Mediterranean and the Levant as far as Asia Minor and Armenia. Before that, however, the known world went much further east, in Mycenaean times and even afterwards, new materials, new techniques and new forms in the fine arts and crafts came here through trade, they were imitated and processed in temple buildings - cultural fermentation, as in Mycenae.

The Greek cities and city-states offered their rich offerings here, there was a small temple for each city/state where the gifts were stored. Every four years the Pythian Games took place here, one year before the Olympic Games, a religious and sporting event that gathered all the Greek tribes.

Of course, the different epochs shaped the buildings, the stadium, built unbelievably high on the mountainside, did not have stone seating stands From the beginning, the Romans built them first. Directly below the stadium the amphitheatre with a gigantic view over the mountains to the sea.

Below the huge complex is the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, where the goddess of wisdom, fertility and health was worshipped.

At the entrance to the temple area there is an archaeological museum with hundreds of exhibits, some of which are known from history books. Here again, the various influences of the Mediterranean are very interesting and impressive, for example the column, which was a donation from Naxos, bears an Egyptian sphinx.
We will not reveal what we asked the oracle about. But we do know that if the question is asked wisely, you can often find the answer yourself.

Delphi - a unique experience.

Corinth, the second largest city in the Peloponnese, was destroyed several times by earthquakes and rebuilt in a very pragmatic chessboard fashion. The city is not very pretty - but very lively, many young people, the University of the Peloponnese is here. The huge harbour is not very busy, probably due to Corona and economic crisis.
A few kilometres south of Corinth there is a gigantic single rock, Acrocorinth, 565 m high. It clearly towers above the barren partly karstified, partly volcanic hilly landscape. From its summit there is a breathtaking view to the west of the Gulf of Corinth and the surrounding mountains and the Greek mainland, to the east of the Saronic Gulf with its many islands, a red-brown-green-deep blue composition.
Since the early Greek time, 7th century, the rock was inhabited, a temple of Aphrodite is said to have stood on it. You can visit the by far the largest Greek fortress here, an impressive experience. Several defensive rings stuck to the partly almost vertical rock walls, towers and battlements, meter-thick walls, a cistern, a small church and a mosque stand on the site high above Corinth. The fortress is more than twice as high and much more extensive than that of Nafplion, which is already gigantic. With its strategic position, from which it was possible to dominate the gulf, it was of course always fought over by competing powers: the basic complex was built by the Byzantines in the 7th century. The Franks followed in 1210, then the Palaeologists (the last Byzantine emperors) in the 14th century, then the Knights of Rhodes, then the Turks, then the Venetians, then again the Turks until Greek independence in 1822. Everyone continued to build the fortress, which is one of the reasons why it is so impressive.
With its history, it is typical of the Peloponnese as a whole as a sought-after interface between East and West, as an important station on the trade routes from Italy to Constantinople, and as a transit area for crusaders.
We took a taxi up the steep mountain to the first gate - and after several hours of sightseeing, hiking and clambering through the extensive grounds we walked back by foot, always with the magnificent view of the gulf, down to ancient Corinth with its columns and excavated ancient buildings.

In the middle of March, together with Beatrix and Peter, from whom we had bought Aglaya, we stood on top of the car bridge and looked out over the Corinth Canal. And I (Gisela) had stood there 40 years ago and thought about what it would be like to sail through in a boat. Now we have done that with Aglaya. For our boat it was not the first time, for us it was. 

The channel connects the Saronic Gulf with the Gulf of Corinth. There were plans for it in ancient times and in 66 AD Emperor Nero made the first attempt, which he is said to have personally helped with a hoe and spade. 6000 Jewish prisoners of war were forced to work. But when Nero died two years later, the project was discontinued. Only the Venetians resumed the planning in 1687, but in view of the masses of rock that had to be moved, they put it down again. After the Suez Canal was completed in 1881, the new Greek state commissioned French engineers to build the Corinth Canal. It was completed 12 years later, despite major funding problems.

Already the journey was exciting: After we left the cosy little harbour in Nea Epidauros, we were unexpectedly met by wind from the front with gusts up to 45 knots with the corresponding swell. Is it possible to go through the channel with such a wind?

The day before we had already sent an e-mail to the Customer Service Corinth Canal and registered. Two nautical miles off Isthmia (eastern entrance) we then reported by VHF and immediately received permission to fix our boat in front of the office. Because you don't get through the canal for nothing. We paid 180 Euros for Aglaya. After a little waiting time, in which we could watch the oncoming traffic coming out of the canal and for that the almost archaic little road bridge was pulled under water with steel cables, we were called “Aglaya, quick, quick! Go!" So go! We had the canal all to ourselves, no other ships went in with us. 6.3 kilometres distance to the exit in Posidhonia, very close to us the partly bricked walls. 8 metres wide, that's not much, you're not allowed to make any detours. 30 knots wind from the front, but in the canal it doesn't matter, there is current from the front, but no swell. The small road bridge at the end of the canal disappeared under water when we were just before it. And then we were through. A great exciting experience!

But the welcome in the Gulf of Corinth was quite uncomfortable. The same strong wind from the west as on the eastern side of the canal. In addition up to 3 meter high waves. Fortunately we only wanted to turn left and enter the harbour of Corinth. That was the little excitement at the end of the day: mooring with 30 knots wind in the harbour. It worked. Luckily we had help from other sailors who were already in the harbour with their boat.

Preliminary remark: Salamis! The naval battle of Salamis, an island we also passed by, is almost an anniversary to the day! It was in the last days of September 480, exactly 2500 years ago, that the Greeks (Themistocles) defeated the Persians (Xerxes). Historians say that this was the origin of an independent, western, non-orientated occidental culture, with political development, with literature, theatre, epics, "classical Greek" as we understand it today. But of course there were already advanced civilizations in this area, Mycenae, and Homer's epics date back to the eighth century. But the cultural area of that time, the Levant, probably reached as far as Syria, Mesopotamia, and Egypt in the south, so it was not as independent as it is…….
Greek country life - of course Aglaya remained in the water. But as storm was announced, we wanted to weather it as safely as possible. So Nea Epidauros, a tiny harbour, but protected on all sides - 3 km away the village (the famous theatre is only 15 km away), which is picturesquely and wildly rising up a mountain slope, surrounded by steep rugged rocks and canyons. On top, on one of the rocks, the remains of a Byzantine fortress, and a village like in a Greek picture book. Sleepy steep streets, rather corridors, tiny squares, a single pub in the village square, but: this is where Greek independence was declared, in 1822, after the Ottoman domination was overcome; a column and a museum bear witness to this. As always, we climbed up in the midday heat and were rewarded with a gigantic wide view of almost all the islands of the Saronic Gulf, suburbs of Athens so to speak. Aegina, Methana, Poros, Salamina, Agristi……..
Between port and village a plain where oranges, lemons and wine are cultivated, very idyllic everything. So we walked through these groves and, as usual for us, we got further and further into the hills. The walk ended after 10km in Palea Epidauros, i.e. in the old Epidauros, a charming bay - and on a peninsula an amphitheatre, which is only a fraction of the size of the famous theatre, but which has a completely different and wonderful charm amidst olive groves - and completely without tourists.
The taxi brought us back to our little harbour, where Aglaya was patiently waiting for us.