Epídhavros

Having transited the Corinth Canal so painlessly early in the morning of Friday 22 August, we had plenty of time to continue eastwards before nightfall. We therefore decided to carry on to Epídhavros, another 20 miles or so to the east of the eastern entrance of the canal. The pilot book warns of strong gusting winds from the northeast in the vicinity of the Corinth Canal but the weather was so benign that we managed to sail downwind gently under main and genoa for no more than 2 hours before we gave up and switched on the engine. So much for the windy Aegean!

The bay at Old (Palaiá) Epídhavros is open only to the east so with what wind there was forecast to come from pretty much all direction other than east we thought it would be a good place to stay for a couple of days so that we could go inland a bit to see the famous ancient Greek theatre. In the summer the best anchorage (off the town beach, sheltered by a sand spit) is closed off by yellow buoys to provide a swimming area. We didn’t want to be on the town quay, having heard nasty stories about surge and swell, so we anchored just south and east of the beacons that mark the channel over the sand spit – solid stone/concrete beacons that would do a Brittany port proud and which seem rather over-specified for a small port.

Unfortunately, over the weekend the only way to get to the ancient theatre from Old Epídhavros is by taxi and the drivers only permit a stay of 1 hour. Given that there is the famous ancient theatre, a museum and the Askeplion (ancient hospital/spa) to see we decided to give it a miss and to do it the following year from Návplion from where it is possible to hire a car or scooter and do it at one’s own pace. Having wandered around the town (standard beach resort) we decided on the Saturday to move on to Nísos Aígina, which had the benefit of being closer to Athens and having an ancient temple that we could visit on the Sunday.

Palaiá Epídhavros