CRUISING GREECE: AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY FROM ATHENS TO CHAKIDA, GREECE
CRUISING GREECE:
AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY FROM ATHENS TO CHALKIDA, GREECE
Chalkida, (is) a city perched amphitheatrically in central Evia.ย Chalkida straddles the beguiling Strait of Evripos, bridging the coast of Evia and Boeotian mainland. A modern metropolis pulsating with history, Chalkida embraces its maritime heritage and hospitable spirit. The city's allure lies in its unique dance with natureโthe captivating tidal spectacle of the Gulf of Evia.
The one thing Chalkida is world-famous for is the peculiar tidal currents that flow interchangeably north-to-south and south-to-north through the Euripus Strait between the island and the mainland. It is this phenomenon that has given the city the nickname: Crazy Waters.
Reversing tidal currents are caused by the moonโs gravity and occur in all straits worldwide, but they are mostly imperceptible by the human senses. It is the distinct geography of Chalkidaโs straitโits double-funnel shape among other factorsโthat make the local currents particularly strong.
The flow peaks at an astounding speed of 12 km per hour, which, for context, is comparable to torrents during floods. For most of the month, the current changes direction about every six hours with a clockโs regularity. But for a few days around the half-moons, it loses its pattern altogether, moving back and forth in chaotic ways.
The 38-meters-wide strait is spanned by an 8-meter-tall bridge, which, constructed in 1963, is the latest of a long succession of bridges dating back to antiquity. The bridge is withdrawn usually once every evening to allow for large vessels to traverse the strait. Given the powerful stream with its notorious vortexes, it requires skillful maneuvering to sail through. It is quite an impressive spectacle to behold. Due to the unpredictability of the currents, the bridgeโs opening times are not standard. Estimations are stated on a screen on the spot and live views of the bridge can be seen here.
If youโre now thinking that itโd be great fun to jump from the bridge, you are totally right. But it is unfortunately illegal. However, this detail wouldnโt stop us when we were kidsโฆ Free-falling for a short distance, weโd then be engulfed and drifted around by the currents, losing every sense of direction within this dark whirlpool of pressing liquid, for up to half a minute. By the time weโd reach the surface, we could be more than 50 meters away from the bridge, laughing and waving at the coastguards who were always a little too late to stop us.
SVย SMALL WORLD III ๐ป๐ฎ Karen & Darren -ย Bristol 47
THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR ADVENTURE
BOATWORK IN PARADISE: RE-SPLICING HALYARDS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF NUKU HIVA
RE-SPLICING HALYARDS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF NUKU HIVA
Following through after our June 9th article:
Chafe: Find It, Fix it, Get Ahead of it
(LINK????)
Cruising offers so many takes on life.ย Among them "Boatwork in beautiful places" rings true time and time again aboard SV WHIRLWIND.ย Granted this 'grind' is part of the fun of raising our sails, putting miles beneath our keel, watching dolphins surf our bow, sharing sundowners, and sailing for days and days to distant shores.
This week Captain Mike set about to re-splice the portside Spinnaker halyard that had chafed on our Pacific Crossing in May. Once we found the trades en route to French Polynesia we had the opportunity to fly the spinnaker for days on end before the conditions changed and a new sail was required.ย ย It was on one of these sail changes that we noticed that the head of the halyard had been chafing on something at the top of the mast.ย While the cover was shot, the core was fine and we had to put that halyard to rest until now.
(Side note: Redundancy to the rescue!ย Thankfully, when the conditions called for a spinnaker again, we were still able to raise ours as we have a starboard spinnaker halyard that carried us the rest of the way.)
Getting geared up to Re-splice the halyard where it was damaged, Mike took the opportunity to do a few upgrades that had been on hisย 'list for sometime'.ย We hadn't had a shackle in at the head of the line.ย We had been attaching the halyard with a bowline.ย Additionally, he put a new eye splice in the bitter end.ย See photos below for Re-splicing inspiration.
SY WHIRLWIND ๐บ๐ธ Maurisa, Mike, Russell & Josea โ Alajuela 48โ