Fire, a strange atmosphere and a joyful reunion

After transiting the Corinth Canal we headed straight for Loutraki Harbour in Corinth where our friends Sue and John were waiting for us aboard our buddy boat Catabella.

It had been an amazing experience going through the Canal – although it wasn’t the first time for me as my family had sailed through it when I was just 15 months old. Of course I don’t remember a thing about it but have recently learnt the name of the ship — SS Sidi Mabrouk that we travelled on.

Sue and John had arranged to meet their middle son Simon and his two children on the island of Cephalonia in the Ionian Sea so we were on a mission to get there on the date they were flying in.

The next morning we headed off from Loutraki Harbour to the small island of Trizonia – the only inhabited island among all the islands of the Corinthian gulf. It is just 2.5 square kilometers in size and has a population of only 64 inhabitants!

On the way we had a short but lovely visit from a couple of dolphins – there were others that we could see quite a way from the boat but I think they were too busy fishing to come and play.

Trizonia turned out to be quite a treasure – there are no motor vehicles at all and life on the island appears to be lived at walking pace, which is very pleasant.

However, the waterside restaurants were pretty busy as small ferries shuttled to and fro across the bay from Glyfada on the mainland, bringing many guests keen to enjoy the laid back lifestyle – if only for an evening.

The only negative aspect to our stay there were the terrible bush fires raging on the mainland nearby. As we walked home from dinner we were alarmed to see massive flames on the distant hill sides.

During the day we had watched with bated breath as three purpose built water carrying aeroplanes flew down right in front of us scooping up big loads to drop on the nearby fires.

They came back time and again and every fly past we held our breath as they completed the mind boggling manoeuvre to fill their tank. Those pilots are incredibly brave and thank goodness for them as without their efforts the wild fires would spread very quickly posing an even greater danger to humans and wildlife alike.

We set off the following morning at 6.30 am this time heading for Aitoliko Lagoon in the National Park of Missolonghi.

Before we reached this rather strange place we travelled under the magnificent Rio-Antirrio Bridge near Patras.

This impressive structure is one of the world’s longest multi-span cable-stayed bridges in the world. We had driven over it at least twice in our camper van on our the way to view S/V Sunday and also when we went to sign the contract of sale.

We had been impressed by the bridge when we drove over it but sailing under it and seeing it in all its glory from the water was on another level.

Around three hours after going under the bridge we arrived at our anchorage for the night in the corner of the Missolonghi Lagoon. What a weird uncomfortable atmosphere this place had! It is only now that I understand why.

But I digress. We entered from the Gulf of Corinth through a narrow entrance and motored along a channel which was well marked thankfully, as on either side we could see shallow, murky, water, and fishing nets and traps and in one part, a two-lane road sitting on a dyke (just like the Netherlands!).

The heat was absolutely oppressive and despite the uninviting water, people of all shapes and sizes, young and old, were dunking themselves in an attempt to cool down.

The strange slightly eerie atmosphere I mentioned earlier could be, I think, attributable to the terrible events that occurred here during the Greek War of Independence.

In 1825 after two earlier attempts, the Ottomans, with the assistance of the Egyptians, returned for a third time to try and capture Missolonghi in 1825. The Greek rebels had held Missolonghi since soon after the beginning of the Greek War of Independence which began in 1821 and they held out again for a whole year until starving, they attempted a mass breakout resulting the loss of thousands of lives. No wonder there is such a distinctly uncomfortable and unpleasant atmosphere there.

We left the lagoon early the following morning on our way to the Ionian Island of Kefalonia. We made good time and were anchored in the pretty bay of Agia Effimia well before Sue and John’s family arrived by plane from England.

There was a joyful reunion for the Catabella crew that evening and we all celebrated at a pretty local taverna overlooking our anchored boats.