Mon 10 Jun – Corinth Canal

We planned an early start for the day as it looked like the last with some wind before a week or so with no wind. Staying true to our mantra “less engine, more sailing” we wanted to make use of it and see if we could sail the 25NM down to Kiato. Kiato is about 10NM from the Corinth Canal and the idea was to moor up there and go through the canal on Wednesday (as on Tuesday’s it’s always closed for maintenance). As seems to be the case quite often, Poseidon had a different idea for us.

We had a terrible nights sleep, with a lot of wind, and Camilla not being able to move because of her bruised ribs. A quick look at each other at 0530 confirmed that we both needed more rest. So back to bed we went and got a few more hours of precious shut eye before setting off at a leisurely 0930. The wind had dropped completely and it was clear that today’s mantra would be “sail less, engine more”. Oh well, at least we were visited by a few Dolphins doing their shenanigans around the boat on our way to Kiato, and we gave our batteries a good charge.

Arriving in Kiato we found a huge deserted marina, something resembling a ferry terminal without any ferries in it. We moored up next to the only electricity/water post, and felt quite smug as we got Bini ready for a few days in a marina. The sunshades came out, every bit of electronic equipment got charged, water hoses were hooked up. Just as we were getting ready to give Bini a clean we found the tap not to be working and then a swell started rolling into the marina. The pilot book said that this marina could be dangerous in winds from the east and this is exactly where the (not forecasted) swell came in from. After a short deliberation we decided to pack up and see if we could find a less swelly place in the marina. There was no place place to hide from the waves, so annoying! Our Plan B was to continue east towards the Corinth marina which was closer to the canal entrance and looked a bit more protected. So out we went, and set sail.

The sails were trimmed and we were making a nice 5 knots east, everything good. A look at the chart plotter confirmed that Corinth marina was equally as far as the canal itself, and at around 1700 we thought we might as well head straight to the canal. The only issue with this is that sometimes one has to wait in the entrance to be able to go through, and there is no telling how long you have to wait. We didn’t want to go through the canal in the dark so thought to better hurry up and sail fast. Oh, and sail fast we did. As we headed towards the entrance about 1 hour out the wind picked up with massive gusts rolling off the windward hills. The wind literally went from comfortable 10 knots to rather uncomfortable 20-something then back to 10 knots. This is all fine when you don’t have to go anywhere, as you can just tuck in a few reefs and go a bit slower in the lulls. We wanted to make it through the canal in time though, and also saw a ship come out the other way,  meaning that there was a window of opportunity for us now that might be closing. We sailed these crazy winds as fast as we safely could, which meant putting reefs in and out and constantly trimming the sails. 

Exhausted we arrived at the west entrance to the canal and were immediately cleared to go in. Woo hoo! 

The canal itself is bizarre. The walls on each side are super high, more than 50 meters in places, while the canal is only 20-odd meters wide. It was very calm and picturesque and we had the whole canal to ourselves. Camilla participated in the “Most pictures taking in a single crossing” competition and definitely won!

Coming out on the other side we had to moor up and visit an amazingly modern office to pay the fees. The canal is one of the most expensive per mile in the world, and some of the proceeds definitely go into kitting out the canal authorities offices. 

Coming around the corner we saw our fellow cruisers on Polaris and Right Meow anchored in the calm of a bay. We joined them for a well deserved and much needed good night of sleep at anchor. It’s not the prettiest or quietest of bays as it’s right next to an oil refinery but it’ll do for the night.