Aigina
Arwenofbosham
Rob and Jacky Black
Fri 28 Aug 2009 14:37
|
37 44.4 N 23 25.6E
We finally left Kiato on Wednesday 26th of August
around 1300 having had a brief visit from the fridge technician who
diagnosed leaking coolant! (Fridge now not working at all!) We motored to
Corinth and had to wait until 1615 to enter the canal. The hold up was because
there was a small cruise ship going through and we had to wait to follow it! It
was fairly impress to be behind her all the way as in some of the narrow
cuttings her protruding life boats appeared almost to touch the overhanging
trees! It was an impressive journey - see pictures when I get a chance to post
them! We had an incentive to push on once through the canal as we had heard from
our friends Lesley and Trevor that they were in Aigina celebrating Lesley's
birthday. We managed a fairly quick passage using the full jib with winds up to
22 knots and arrived off the port in the dark to anchor, launch the dinghy and
get to the party by 2215 in a local Taverna!! We returned to the boat around
0030 and were relieved to find her still safely anchored! After a rather rolly
night we were up bright and early to go into the harbour to find a spot on the
wall. This was easier said than done. The only space was rather exposed on the
edge where the hydrofoils came in and out, plus there was a cross wind of 20
knots for much of the time. We tried several times to get into this slot but
gave up in the end and went back to the anchorage - only to be called on the VHF
by Trevor to inform us there were now 2 spaces on the main wall which involved
backing into the wind (a much easier procedure!). We were soon all fast and
decided a sleep was in order. After this we met up with our friends who gave us
details of where all the shops were. I went for a swim to the west of the
harbour to a lovely bay which is overlooked by the remains of a temple to
Aphrodite. The sea here is shallow over white sand and very warm!
We explored the town later - found the
laundry, where to buy ice and beer and how to get the free wifi - all very
important issues though not necessarily in that order! We were amazed at the
number of boats arriving in the early evening - we had two lines of boats behind
us with lines and anchors all mixed up - what a performance! Apparently Thursday
night is when all the returning charter boats call in as they have to be back in
Athens on Friday we shall remember to avoid it next time we come.
The town is quite substantial with plenty of
proper shops including two good chandleries, loads of Tavernas (go behind the
main drag to get the better deals!) and even horse drawn carriage rides around
the town. We decided to buy access to electricity and water for 30 Euros for
which you get unlimited use and 10 Euros back when you return the key. It
appears the number days you stay doesn't matter. The actual cost of berthing is
only 7E per night so it works out at 27 E per night for 2 nights and we have
been able to keep the fridge/freezer on all the time and run the electric fans
all day and night too - worth every penny!!
We are leaving tomorrow to get further east again -
there seems to be a weather window to get across part of the Cyclades ( the
islands in the middle of the Aegean renown for gales in the summer!) so we will
make the most of this and see how far we get.
Will try to put some pictures on the blog from here
before we leave.
|