Ioánnis Theológos - Khalkí

Pyxis
Karen & Richard
Tue 30 Aug 2011 22:58

Tuesday 30th August – Ioánnis Theológos – Khalkís

38:27.945N 23:35.560E

 

We resumed our journey to the bridge at Khalkís at dawn as we wanted to get there before the wind got up.  We came out from the anchorage to find the water in the channel was flat, so different to yesterday when we arrived.  As it turned out the forecast was right and there was hardly any wind today and we ended up motoring all the way. 

 

We arrived at Khalkís at noon and berthed alongside the town quay.  The town quay is in the narrow section just before the narrow bridge (just 129ft wide) where a strong current flows through between the north and south harbours – this spot has one of the highest tidal ranges in the Med, quite a change for us after so long without having to think about tides.  As we approached there were quite a few eddies in the water to make parking more interesting – fortunately right by the quay the current was much less and the skipper of another yacht kindly caught our lines.

 

The town quay is quite pleasant, lined by bars and restaurants.  However, the downside is that it is quite busy and will be noisy at night.

 

This afternoon we refuelled and bought provisions – being a large town, there are bigger supermarkets here than we have seen for a while.  We then went to the Port Police to book our transit through the bridge.  The bridge only opens at night to minimise disruption to traffic; the time it opens depends on the tide and slack water (it can be 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning L).  The guy who caught our lines said that last night it was opened at 11pm so we were expecting to transit around midnight.

 

The Port Police office is well hidden down a side street but when we found it I was pleased to find it was air conditioned.  The price for passing through the bridge was just under €20 and we were given the following instructions:

 

At 22.00 we were to go on standby, monitoring VHF Channel 12
At the appropriate time, the Bridge Controller would call us and tell us to ‘Prepare’
The Bridge Controller would then call to tell us to ‘Pass through the bridge’

 

We were told that the expected transit time tonight was 23.50.  Having read another yacht’s blog about their experiences we were expecting around 15 minutes between being told to prepare and being called through the bridge.

 

Originally it looked like it would just be us transiting north to south but this evening a large catamaran and another yacht have arrived planning to go through.

 

To cut a long story short, we were actually passing though the bridge by 22.15 and in the anchorage shortly after (Khalkís is apparently noted for the strange behaviour of its tides – especially around springs).

 

The more detailed version was a bit more exhausting for us:

 

We had a late dinner and read in the cockpit until it was too dark, listening to the sounds from the bars and restaurants along the quay.  At 21.50, bored with waiting and simply wanting to get to the other side and relax, we decided to have a quick wander along to look at the bridge and see how the currents were doing.  We took the hand held VHF with us in case we were not back by 22.00.

 

When we arrived at the bridge we saw the Port Police officer we had spoken to at the office and waved to him and said ‘hello’.  He stunned us by saying we’d better get back, he was about to open the bridge.  It was only 21.55!

 

There was no time lose.  We literally sprinted back along the quay, leaving tourists in our wake, Richard with the VHF crammed to his ear trying to listen for the ‘Prepare’ signal.

 

Richard made it back first and quickly opened the hatch and went down below to switch off the 22.00 alarm that had just gone off and switch on the navigation equipment and lights.  I just about made it without collapsing in a heap and leapt on board.  I took the mid ropes off on my way on deck trailing them with me.  The chap on the boat behind waved his handheld VHF at us to indicate that we were being called to ‘Prepare’ so Richard radioed back our acknowledgement – with the noise of the bar beside us we could barely hear the VHF.

 

Richard fired up the engine then leapt ashore to sort out our remaining lines, tossing me the handheld VHF as I took the wheel and I crammed it to my ear to try to listen for the signal to go through the bridge. 

 

The traffic on the bridge stopped and the bridge started to open (the two sections slide back into the wall on either side) and we slipped our lines and went to wait out on the water.  Richard took the helm as we dodged our way through the local fishermen in their small dinghies riding in the middle of the channel.  The Bridge Controller instructed all the boats in the north harbour to proceed through the bridge – and then started calling them by name to make sure we had heard.  I confirmed we were on our way.  There was still a little current against us as we went through but all went well and the other side boats were lining up to go the other way. 

 

As we went through the bridge, I asked Richard what time it was - 22.15 he replied!  This meant that we were safely anchored, lines and fenders all tidied away, and a beer poured, all before 23.00.  Great J

 

 

On Passage: Ioánnis Theológos – Khalkís

© Pyxis 2011