We luckily had 2 free nights at Corinth, as the fee collector didn’t dwell outside our boat on Monday morning as we dressed. So after spending money in the nearby supermarket we headed out to the west in the early afternoon in what we thought was a gentle breeze. Well it was for a couple of miles but we soon had to reef the sails as we experienced gusts of 25 knots. Once reefed we had a good ‘wet’ and refreshing sail for an hour or so until we rounded the headland and effectively started sailing east again towards the Alkonhides Islands. Also as we left Corinth, we saw whisps of smoke on the hills to our north. This rapidly developed into a major wild fire, and as later reporting the news, 1000 children had to be evacuated from the coastal resort of Loutraki.
Now the wind was right on the bow, so rather than beat into it, we motored slowly for an hour or so to the welcoming shelter of the deserted Alkonidhes islands.
In the morning after a very peaceful night we ventured ashore to explore the deserted monastery and church. The small church was a delight and was probably as it was when the last monk passed away nearly 50 years ago.
