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29th April - 15th May 2010 Preveza to Aegina
At the beginning of the summer we flew out to Preveza
with Ken, Karls Dad with the aim of moving Madison from
Preveza in the Ionian to Aegina in the Aegean. This
involved going through the Corinth Canal which was an
amazing experience.
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We had 2 weeks to complete this journey. After 3 days in
the yard at Preveza we launched into the water, following
a visit to the Port Police to do the necessary paperwork (we've
no idea what we were paying for). We headed south and east
towards the Gulf of Patras and the Corinth Sea. Ken normally
just gets flown out to work on the boat so this was going
to be a holiday to reward him for all his previous hard work.
We didn't stop anywhere for too long as we wanted to get
to Aegina with plenty of time to get her ready for hauling
back out of the water, however we still managed to stop in
Nidri on Lefkas, Vathi on Ithaca as well as some new haunts
for us such as Messalonghi, Trizonia and Corinth Town before
heading into the canal.
We managed to get some great sailing in too. In the Gulf
of Patras is the Rion Suspension Bridge which at the time
was the newest one in Europe and it was fantastic to sail
under here before reaching the canal.
The canal was cool and we got to see the bridge at the entrance
to the canal, that actually disappears under the water to
allow you to pass. It was amazing to sail through the canal
and see up close the sheer rock on either of it where it had
been carved out of the land. At the Aegean end of the canal
we stopped to pay our fee for transitting the canal which
we were told was the most expensive in the world in terms
of cost per mile. But for us it had been worth every Euro.
We got to Aegina with 4 days to spare to sort everything
out. This was the first place in Greece that we ever visited
(in 1995) so it was great to return. Aegina was as lovely
as ever. After a relatively (and thankfully) uneventful lift
out we got our bags and headed for the ferry so we could get
to Athens for a couple of nights to show Ken the sights there
before flying home.
Poor Ken had his legs walked off him as we visited the Acropolis,
Temple of Zeus, bazaar etc but it was all worthwhile as we
had a lovely time. We never tire of seeing the Panthenon and
had the pleasure of seeing the newly openned museum close
to the main site. This was amazing, but again reminded us
of the number of items plundered by the occupiers of Greece
over the years as they had left gaps where items currently
in the British Museum would now rest if they were to be given
back.
We took this opportunity to take home some of the items that
we found we hadn't used or wanted, on Madison, back to Edinburgh
so our bags were heavy and we arrived back in Edinburgh, exhausted
but with smiles and more nice memories.
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