Halcyon Yachts
Well-known member
Here is a quick tour (filmed whilst on a yacht delivery to Turkey):
I hope you enjoy it!
Pete
I hope you enjoy it!
Pete
Have you been through the Corinth Canal...
- Thread starter Halcyon Yachts
- Start date
Carmel2
New member
Finished by the French? We have done a few times and every time we get shouted at for going too slow.
Tony Cross
Well-known member
I've found the trick. Last time we went through (in a westerly direction) there was a small German yacht just behind us on the waiting quay and 'the man what tells you what order to go' told him to follow me, which made him the last boat. It was clear from his demeanour that he wasn't happy with being the last boat, so I deliberately fumbled slipping my lines and let him leap aggressively ahead of me. He clearly thought he'd scored a point over the dumb Brit, but since he could only make about 4 knots we had a leisurely trip through and could justifiably ignore the radio calls to go faster because overtaking in the canal is verboten!
houldsworth
Member
I agree with all, got chased up on VHF every 10 mins but there was 3 kts current from North so we only made 3kts sog.
Charles
Charles
Peroo
New member
Been through (eastbound) once and enjoyed the experience if not the cost.
Don't know why, but it certainly "felt" like there was an incline until after bridge and then a decline as we approached the end. Maybe it was the ouzo?
Enjoyed it very much.
Don't know why, but it certainly "felt" like there was an incline until after bridge and then a decline as we approached the end. Maybe it was the ouzo?
Enjoyed it very much.
RupertW
Well-known member
Been through once each way - first time was behind a 100 footer huge mobo with skipper who insisted on going at 2-3 knots and kept bumping against either side and refused all instructions to speed up - why he thought is was a good idea to go super slow with the wind behind him is baffling to me.
On the way West this year we were the lead boat and not shouted at all to speed up but we weren't looking forward to the beat to Galaxidi before dark so were probably doing 6-7 knots through the water.
On the way West this year we were the lead boat and not shouted at all to speed up but we weren't looking forward to the beat to Galaxidi before dark so were probably doing 6-7 knots through the water.
BobnLesley
Well-known member
Tell us about it: On our first passage through (2007) going west to east, we got abused and seriously tailgated by Tug-boat that was following, The abuse was all in Greek, but we'd no difficulty in understanding the tone of his shouts over the VHF and from the bow. Then about 1/3 of the way through, there's a slightly wider spot on the north side (a rock-fall from years ago) into which he forced us as he pushed his way past; we actually touched bottom and then bounced off again on his wake, a very disconcerting moment.
When we arrived at the quay at the eastern end the tug's skipper was just leaving the canal office and gave us yet another round of abuse and was physically threatening until some Canal Security Gaurds intervened and sent him on his way. We discovered from the Canal Officer that they'd monitored the incident on CCTV, apparently knew/were happy to confirm that we were "making 5.2 knots and maintaining a steady course". The Tug's Skipper was liable for a €600 fine for 'Pressing' us and the penalty for subsequently overtaking of us was a €2000 fine (we didn't discover if that was instead of or in addition to the original €600)
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tudorsailor
Well-known member
We went through last year too. Here is my attempt at a film. Interesting is the quick reverse shot at the start of the bridge coming back up that drops down into the water at either end.
Obviously should have increased the frequency of taking pictures to make a smoother movie. I will try to do better in future.
TudorSailor
Obviously should have increased the frequency of taking pictures to make a smoother movie. I will try to do better in future.
TudorSailor
cmedsailor
Well-known member
I had the pleasure of crossing the canal twice but the bad luck of crossing it both times during the night (right after mid night). It looks quite scary in the darkness. You always get the feeling that you will hit the walls, but of course you will not. It's not that narrow for a sailing boat!
vyv_cox
Well-known member
We have done it twice. First time was around 1300 hours, sun shining down to the water, a joyous experience. Second time was at around 0800, no sunshine, perishing cold and not at all enjoyable, other than the superb surroundings.
JonJon
Member
You'd think with all that money they charge you to go through they could lay on somebody from Greece's vast unemployed pool to take your lines at the control tower end. A pair of wings would be handy to tie up there single handed and pay your dosh.
Caladh
Well-known member
Ha .........more speed captain, more speed !!
xyachtdave
Well-known member
I've done it once with my mate Andy in a HR 352 on way back to UK from Turkey. Other than the cost I don't remember much drama, guess we were lucky!
I do remember ending up in shite hole called Patras. It had no redeeming features whatsoever if I remember correctly!
I do remember ending up in shite hole called Patras. It had no redeeming features whatsoever if I remember correctly!
tudorsailor
Well-known member
We'd heard that Corinth was not nice so when we went through from west to east, we anchored in bay on the north side of the gulf and then motored down to the canal in the morning.
TudorSailor
TudorSailor
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
A weirdly appropriate choice of music - I'd never have thought of that, but it works superbly. Thank you.
RupertW
Well-known member
Patras is our absolute "must stop" place when we transit the gulfs. Not pretty but within 5 minutes of tieing up we've got laundry, fuel and water sorted and any boat jobs needed done in 24 hours (like a new autopilot underdeck tiller pin machined from scratch and fitted.
Supermarkets and cheap restaurants and a lovely bar overlooking the marina.
OldBawley
Active member
When we went trough West to East ( 2001 ) I somehow managed to be the first yacht of the group. That way it is me who dictates the speed. Four different nationalities and languages, I sort of translated for all while we ware waiting in front of the canal. Germans and French have more problems with the pidgin the Greeks ware transmitting by radio and I happily volunteered to be the lead boat.
Done a few night passages of Amsterdam. The bridges ( A lot ) and a lock have to be passed at night in a big convoy. Dozens of boats, often some barges also, lights everywhere, all passing trough one open bridge, stopping for the next, then going again. Being the first boat is an advantage. You decide the speed, have no bunch of weekend skippers in front of you. ( Just behind you )
I learned when driving in convoy during my army time that the first truck goes a steady 60 km/ h and the last one has to do almost double to keep up. No idea why, but a fact.
Guess the same for boats.
Done a few night passages of Amsterdam. The bridges ( A lot ) and a lock have to be passed at night in a big convoy. Dozens of boats, often some barges also, lights everywhere, all passing trough one open bridge, stopping for the next, then going again. Being the first boat is an advantage. You decide the speed, have no bunch of weekend skippers in front of you. ( Just behind you )
I learned when driving in convoy during my army time that the first truck goes a steady 60 km/ h and the last one has to do almost double to keep up. No idea why, but a fact.
Guess the same for boats.
NormanB
Well-known member
Been through once and planning to do so again early in 2018 (well - late May). Considering the fee and the revenue they must bring in - the canal is in really poor condition, very neglected in places and no evidence of any maintenance/repair.
As for Patras - well I did not see much as I was only there overnight and only ashore for five or six hours, but had a really interesting walkabout, a great meal, met friendly people and restocked the boat with good quality and cheap fruit and veggies.
Bertramdriver
Active member
My Dad wrote this in 2013
Left Aegina in high spirits and did the 25 miles to the eastern entrance to the Corinth canal at a steady 15 knots in good conditions. As we entered the passage towards the canal we hit the notorious headwind / current and speed dropped to 11 knots so had to go off the plane. As usual there was a lot of hanging about at the entrance as canal control shuffled boats around and gave conflicting instruction "get ready" "wait" etc.
Whilst we were hanging about I noticed the Bertram was getting difficult to control and the combination of wind,current and crazy response to controls was perplexing me. Then we were called to tie up on the quay to pay the fees. Trying manoeuvre to Dock became a nightmare. The helm wouldn't respond and the engines had no effect on close manoeuvring at all. Never the less I shuffled the Bertram onto the quay, collecting some serious scratches on the gel coat and an angry tirade from the wife.
Went into the office to pay my dues, and by then the fuel tanker had arrived so I took the chance to top up. All these distractions took my mind off the key issue. Why wasn't the boat steering?
Just as I cleared all the fussing the control called to tell me to lead the next convoy through the canal so I fired up and the wife let go the warps. Then chaos. The boat wouldn't steer and to get off the key I had the pump the throttles hard. The result was that the mixture of over revs, wind and current sent me sideways across the canal entrance. By now the rest of convoy had closed up, restricting the space even further and as I shuffled backwards and forwards ( the canal entrance is less than 50 metres wide) the sightseeing crowds in the cafe and on the trip boats were audibly gasping at my increasingly frantic manoeuvring. Isn't it funny how the more people scream at you the quieter it goes in your head.
Anyway after 5 minutes of death defying boat handling I called quits and requested assistance from canal control. The pilot boat came over, took our warps and towed us back out into the bay, leaving an angry hum from the delayed convoy and the finger pointing laughter of the sightseers. As we were towed the boat screwed over to starboard on a parallel track to the pilot boat so it became obviousness that the rudders had locked over.
Once anchored I was able to check all of the systems and could see that the autopilot was very unhappy, with the pump clicking away beside me in a locker. I disconnected the pump, switched off the autopilot and hey presto I had steering.
On the next convoy through they put the Bertram in front with the pilot boat behind and held the other boats well back. Now being a little stressed at this stage I held speed at 1100 rpm which would normally be 8/9 knots but was only getting 4 knots in the current. Steering was good and I started to relax, then the pilot boat came up behind (very close) and shouted for me speed up. I ignored him knowing what would happen. By the third time this happened I lost it and snapped.
I cranked up the revs and hit the hump, up she went and 17 tons of water went barrelling down the by now 30 metre wide canal. The pilot boat shot up into the air and then did an impression of a cork in a washing machine. My last glimpse was of the pilot stuck sideways across the canal trying to get his bow round. The exit in sight I throttled back to pootling speed and we motored serenely into the sea of Corinth.
I have now idea of what caused the autopilot to behave like that, and further investigation and testing have not revealed any solutions, neither have I been able to recreate the problem. But I don't think we'll be going through the canal again anytime soon.
So the moral is make sure you can isolate and turn off your autopilot before you try anything fancy
Thanks to Alf for giving me the courage to own up, and apologies to any boat following last week who found their passage through the canal
Left Aegina in high spirits and did the 25 miles to the eastern entrance to the Corinth canal at a steady 15 knots in good conditions. As we entered the passage towards the canal we hit the notorious headwind / current and speed dropped to 11 knots so had to go off the plane. As usual there was a lot of hanging about at the entrance as canal control shuffled boats around and gave conflicting instruction "get ready" "wait" etc.
Whilst we were hanging about I noticed the Bertram was getting difficult to control and the combination of wind,current and crazy response to controls was perplexing me. Then we were called to tie up on the quay to pay the fees. Trying manoeuvre to Dock became a nightmare. The helm wouldn't respond and the engines had no effect on close manoeuvring at all. Never the less I shuffled the Bertram onto the quay, collecting some serious scratches on the gel coat and an angry tirade from the wife.
Went into the office to pay my dues, and by then the fuel tanker had arrived so I took the chance to top up. All these distractions took my mind off the key issue. Why wasn't the boat steering?
Just as I cleared all the fussing the control called to tell me to lead the next convoy through the canal so I fired up and the wife let go the warps. Then chaos. The boat wouldn't steer and to get off the key I had the pump the throttles hard. The result was that the mixture of over revs, wind and current sent me sideways across the canal entrance. By now the rest of convoy had closed up, restricting the space even further and as I shuffled backwards and forwards ( the canal entrance is less than 50 metres wide) the sightseeing crowds in the cafe and on the trip boats were audibly gasping at my increasingly frantic manoeuvring. Isn't it funny how the more people scream at you the quieter it goes in your head.
Anyway after 5 minutes of death defying boat handling I called quits and requested assistance from canal control. The pilot boat came over, took our warps and towed us back out into the bay, leaving an angry hum from the delayed convoy and the finger pointing laughter of the sightseers. As we were towed the boat screwed over to starboard on a parallel track to the pilot boat so it became obviousness that the rudders had locked over.
Once anchored I was able to check all of the systems and could see that the autopilot was very unhappy, with the pump clicking away beside me in a locker. I disconnected the pump, switched off the autopilot and hey presto I had steering.
On the next convoy through they put the Bertram in front with the pilot boat behind and held the other boats well back. Now being a little stressed at this stage I held speed at 1100 rpm which would normally be 8/9 knots but was only getting 4 knots in the current. Steering was good and I started to relax, then the pilot boat came up behind (very close) and shouted for me speed up. I ignored him knowing what would happen. By the third time this happened I lost it and snapped.
I cranked up the revs and hit the hump, up she went and 17 tons of water went barrelling down the by now 30 metre wide canal. The pilot boat shot up into the air and then did an impression of a cork in a washing machine. My last glimpse was of the pilot stuck sideways across the canal trying to get his bow round. The exit in sight I throttled back to pootling speed and we motored serenely into the sea of Corinth.
I have now idea of what caused the autopilot to behave like that, and further investigation and testing have not revealed any solutions, neither have I been able to recreate the problem. But I don't think we'll be going through the canal again anytime soon.
So the moral is make sure you can isolate and turn off your autopilot before you try anything fancy
Thanks to Alf for giving me the courage to own up, and apologies to any boat following last week who found their passage through the canal
KellysEye
Active member
Thanks for the history it is fascinating.
