The Good Life - Elderflower Cordial

Before June slides gently into July it is worth knowing that it is still possible to collect the elderflower heads from the elder tree and make a refreshing cordial. Unfortunately my forays into the hedges and ditches have brought about a few bouts of hay fever which have left my nose streaming and my eyes stinging during the long sunny evenings. I am looking forward to a little light rain as a result!

Elderflowers snipped from the heads ready to be plunged into the warm water

The native Irish Elder tree is called an trom in the Irish language and has a long association with native folklore and old medicinal and herbalist traditions. The Irish Triads, derived from a 14th century manuscript known as the Yellow Book of Lucan, is a record of observations and proverbs and record as follows: three signs of a cursed site are nettles, the corncrake and the elder tree. This is possible a reference to the fact that the elder colonises land quite rapidly and is very visible and recognisable at this time of year by its large bunched heads of simple white flowers with yellow stamens. By now some of the flowers have been pollinated and already small berries are beginning to form.

The ingredients for my cordial are as follows: 25 heads of elderflowers, 1.8 litres of water, 1.3 kilos of sugar, 4 lemons, 50 grams citric acid.

To make the cordial shake any bugs from the heads of the flowers and snip the flowers from the stalks. This may take a little time but your patience will be rewarded! Boil the water and dissolve the sugar into the boiling water. Then add the elderflowers, citric acid and the sliced lemons. I also zest the lemons to get a little more impact from the lemons. If you are not too enthusiastic about the lemon flavour you can use a combination of oranges and lemons. Citric acid can be difficult to find but most eastern food stores stock it under the East End brand name.

This Cordial is good fun to make and also leaves a relaxing scent in your living area. To ensure a long life you should refrigerate the cordial or freeze it. Two jars of cordial I produced, and did not refrigerate, have started to ferment, and I am leaving them to do their thing for a few weeks to see how this experiment develops!

The Good Life - June harvest from the allotment

Today we had a little harvest in the allotment. Scallions and beetroot were thinned yielding a nice crop of young vegetables. The rhubarb is in full flight at the moment and we are taking quite a few sticks for tarts and cakes before the curtain comes down on that harvest in July. The lettuce is coming on really well, but with this fine weather you could not possibly fail to produce a glossy well coloured firm head of lettuce. Our sorrel was severely cut back after an attack of blight but has recovered very well; the young leaves may be seated down tommorrow morningg to accompany a few poched eggs. Salad potatoes and mange touts are also ready for the taking and we spent a good 20 minutes digging and searching through the soil to find the little gems. The turnips, onions and shallots are also entering a period where they can be harvested.


Over the coming weeks we hope to reap the reward of other varieties of potatoes, peas and broad beans. We have tried to draw out the harvest of various types of beans and peas by planting a few seedlings over the last few weeks so we can look forward to a long and fruitful harvest through the summer months.

The colours of Summer in North Dublin

Sailing to Byzantium - 15

The port at Zakynthos town

We Docked at Zakynthos at 10 a.m. and refuelled for the next stage of the passage up to the Corinth Canal and further to Athens. Fuelling a yacht is normally a lengthy procedure involving getting on and off various docks, but an enterprising man with a fuel tanker drove along the quay and inquired if we required diesel. Within a short space of time we had taken on 600 litres with little or no fuss and then Moritz and Steve set about tackling a number of issues with the engine.

Detail from a Byzantine frescos rescued from St Andrea's Monastary built in the 16th Century and now situated in the Byzantine Museum

Zakynthos has had a long and arduous history and was first referred to by Homer. Under the Roman and then Byzantine Empire the island of Zakynthos was incorporated into the themata system along with Corfu and Kephalonia. The themata were regional administrative structures developed after the Arab attacks during the 8^th Century, continually reorganised up until the 11^th Century; they stretched from Anatolia and Armenia in the East to Longobardia (southern Italy) in the West. With a little time to spend wandering around for the afternoon, I visited the Byzantine Museum in Solomos Square and discovered a fresco and icon dating to the 12^th century. The orders, structures, symbolism and representations used in Byzantine religious art remained present in the religious art produced for the Greek Orthodox churches in Zakynthos up to the 18^th century.

In 1953 Zakynthos was badly shaken by a series of catastrophic earthquakes. Very few original buildings survived these seismic events and the buildings in the town today are largely modern constructions.

Icon of the 'Virgin and Child' attributed to the 12th century damaged in 1953

We departed the port of Zakynthos just before 6 p.m. and reached across the Strait separating the island from the Peloponnese accompanied all the way by dark shearwaters gliding in the troughs of the waves. We quickly passed into the Gulf of Patras and Papas Point was abeam by 10 p.m.; Fenix averaged 10 knots of boat speed for most of the evening. My next watch began at midnight with about 12 miles to run down to the bridge crossing between Rion and Andirion, joining mainland Greece to the Peloponnese.

Reaching across the Zakythos Strait into the Gulf of Patras

As the wind had moderated, I was welcomed on deck by the sweet scent of thyme wafting down from the surrounding hills in the peaceful dark night. From 12 miles out the bridge structure dominates the night’s dark horizon with its bright lights. With the passing of every mile the Gulf of Patras narrows and the suspension bridge becomes more impressive as it stretches across this not inconsiderable two mile neck of water.

Computer generated chart with weather ovrlay for Friday June 4th 0045 hours

From 7 miles out you are required to notify Patras traffic control of your approach to the bridge. They inquire of your overall length, type of vessel and mast height after which they allocate an area for you to pass under the bridge. With one mile to go you are required to contact them again to inform them of your final approach and presumably the fact that you still exist. Once through the bridge we emerged out into the Gulf of Corinth and gybed our way downwind passing a number of points and headlands over the 60 miles that lead down to the entrance of the Corinth Canal. This proved to be a quick passage for us as the wind built up to 23 knots and Fenix was cruising at a comfortable 10 to 12 knots. My six hour watch passed very quickly because of the navigation involved, the great company on board and the magnificently mild conditions. The teak deck was dry under foot and you could wander with surefooted ease and safety around the deck while gybing the boat and carrying out manoeuvres.

The western entrance of the Corinth Canal

H. M. Denham wrote a useful pilot book entitled “The Aegean, A Sea-Guide to its Coasts and Islands”. Published in 1963 the book sets out, region by region, experiences and points of interest for the mariner. Mr Denham noted the following in connection with the Cornith Canal based upon his travels in the late 1950s early 1960s:

“A yacht wishing to leave the Aegean and pass through the canal is sometimes met by an official in a launch; but if not, it is advisable to go alongside the rickety jetty where an official may come on board to calculate the canal dues. For a 20 ton yacht this may amount o about £7, which is more expensive than the charges at Kiel, Suez or Panama. One then waits for the Red Flag to be hauled down, when the yacht may proceed through the Canal under power without having to take a pilot. This dull 3 mile cut passes through vertical limestone cliffs 250 feet high on either side. The Canal, 80 feet wide and 26 feet deep, is much used by caiques and local steamers which thus save a distance of 140 miles on the sea route around the Peloponnesus via Matapan. Steamers passing through must proceed very slowly, the larger ones having to be towed…. The sides of the Canal are continually breaking away and have to be repaired; this operation, which is performed on Sundays, involves closing the Canal, vessels being advised by ‘loud hailer’ as they approach the entrance.”

Fenix passing through the Corinth Canal

Today the Corinth canal radio controller announces himself over the airwaves as “The Canal”. We saw no sign of the blue or red flags described on various modern pilot books, and the main query from the radio controller was whether our payment was to be made in Euros or Dollars. You were actively encouraged to increase your speed by the controller passing through the entrance, albeit subject of course to the apparently unpoliced and unpublished speed limit of 7 knots. It is not surprising the Canal continues to suffer from erosion, and whereas in the past it was closed on Sundays, Tuesdays are reserved for maintenance work. Nevertheless, passing through the Canal is an amazing experience, not as "dull" as Mr Denham may have you believe, and as you proceed you cannot but marvel at this great feat of engineering, which in its own way must rival the other great canals of the world at Suez and Panama (and of course Dublin).

The eastern entrance to the Corinth Canal

The spoof police paid a visit on board after clearing the Canal. I reported radio traffic to our skipper Moritz concerning the Canal authority hailing a yacht "Fenix" for a speed violation on the Canal. He was visibly shook and inquired about the possible penalty involved. I stated that leaving the vicinity of the Canal in the manner we did could only attract the maximum financial penalty. I suggested we hail the Canal authority and deliver up our credit card details and negotiate some form of settlement. Looking very pale (possibly due to exhaustion) he was motionless and visibly sank into the chart table seat. Every member of the crew played a key role in this cruel deception. As we entered Zea marina in Piraeus five hours later, he was still asking me what will happen. I could only say “Only time will tell”.

Exiting the Canal we rehoisted the mainsail and continued our passage eastwards through the Saronic islands finally leaving the island of Salamis to port and turning north east towards Piraeus and Athens, passing large container ships and car transporters, finally arriving in a civilised manner observing the harbour speed limits shortly after lunchtime. Being quite tired after our arrival in Athens we decided to indulge in a little light entertainment on board watching “From Russia with Love”. Throughout the movie there were repeated heckles of disappointment rained down upon the skipper, who was practically asleep at this stage; comments such as “We should have been there” and “We should have seen that...” were not infrequent.

Computer generated chart with weather ovrlay for Friday June 4th 1000 hours

Plans and routes remain at the behest of others, and to that end Fenix will begin a new adventure and a season of charters from Athens. My Byzantine adventure has come to an end but has created an interest for me in the political world of the medieval Mediterranean states and Empires, where Venetians, Arabs, Turks, Russians, Slavs, Bulgars and Franks competed against each other in a contest of conquest. Expansion and retention of territories, and of course wealth, were the primary motivations for many of these nations’ rulers from the 8^th to 15^th Centuries, but it is important not to lose sight of another vital backdrop that was continually played out during this period; the expansion of the Christian and Muslim religions.

Many borders of kingdoms created during this forgotten period of history influenced the borders of modern states and national identities. As important were the newly created medieval borders created by the themata, or regional administrative provinces, put in place from the 8^th to 12^th Centuries by the Byzantine Emperors. Sailing through the islands and along Mediterranean coastlines you witness at first hand the vestiges of this struggle for power, territory and wealth, where Venetian hilltop fortresses guard and protect hinterland rarely distant from Byzantine Churches, and some of these lands and islands document the continual Ottoman Turk marauders on these shores. You can familiarise yourself further with the exotic and fabulous Byzantine world in Judith Herrin’s book entitled “Byzantium” which has opened a window for me into this world.

A trip to Athens is not complete without visiting the Acropolis - still under destruction

Sailing to Byzantium - 14

Decorative Majolica tiles from the Sunday flea market in Palermo

By Sunday 31^st of May we had convinced our Sicilian Engineer that enough was enough and that we were leaving the dock that afternoon. He pleaded “domani, domani” but quickly realised that we meant business as the bimini was being folded, and the final arrangements were taking place before heading to sea. He quickly remembered what he had planned for Monday and drilled some holes in a steal plate, finally completing a complex arrangement supporting the fridge compressor unit and the service batteries’ alternator.

We left the port passing the stricken car ferry which had still obvious signs of fire on board. We carried out final preparations while at anchor in a little bay to the north east of Palermo, and following a refreshing swim and lunch we set off once again shortly after 4 p.m. The main sail was hoisted and the fishing rods deployed, baited with lures larger than your average catch. Steering 83 degrees we motor sailed out of the bay with the hot sun on our backs. What little wind there was made working on deck a pleasure and Fenix gracefully met the rise of the oncoming waves. It did not take long for our eyes to become accustomed once again to the gentle curvature of the perfectly cut sapphire blue horizon separating the hemispherical dome of the sky from the diaphanous blue of the sea. Making our way down the coast the sea sprang to life with dolphins visiting us regularly, racing passed the quarters breathing as they went, jockeying for position under the bow, and leaping clear from the water.

Ian and Steve on deck motor sailing out of the Bay of Palermo on Sunday evening

My next watch began at midnight and we were just approaching the Aeolian islands. Our course would take us to the south of Volcano and Lipari leaving Stromboli well to the north. Given the constraints of time we were required to keep on moving. However, the dark night did have its moments of excitement and dismay. At times the water was thick with life and we moved through shoals of jellyfish lighting the water with phosphorescence. Down below there more sinister developments and possible early signs of a failing fridge compressor not helped by the bedding in of the engine, and the use of different belts driven around by an array of pulleys off the engine.

Working our way up to Capo Rasocolmo and the Straits of Messina

By 8 a.m. we were approaching Capo Rasocolmo and gradually the wind lifted allowing us a better angle of approach towards the Italian mainland passing Capo Peloro and the entrance to the Straits of Messsina. The Straits are just under two nautical miles wide in places and the wind funnels very quickly between the two mountainous landmasses; we were beating to windward in winds between 27 and 32 knots. Fully powered up with one reef in the main and reduced head sail we tacked our way through the shipping lanes of this busy marine thoroughfare. The waters of the Ionian and the Tyrrhenian Seas meet head on just off Messina causing the water to stand up as if you were passing through overfalls. The surface of the water is so unstable in places that whirlpools form but this does not appear to discourage the small fishing boats as the work these waters.

The port of Messina

A decision was made to pull in to Messina and source some belts for the engine but this proved fruitless. The town was shut down for lunch and would not reopen until after 4 p.m. I took the opportunity to walk up to the archaeological museum but discovered upon my arrival that it was shut. In fact the complicated opening hours appeared to ensure the doors would remain shut for the majority of the time. Behind the steal fencing I could see many graeco roman structures and architectural ornament bundled up and stored in chicken wire, undisturbed in the long grass. Disappointed but not surprised I returned to the boat. Messina has a tragic quality to it; in recent times it was destroyed by an earthquake and tidal waves in 1908 and suffered again towards the end of World War II. We left Messina and the Straits passing the Capo dell’Armi by 8 p.m.

Computer generated chart with weather overlay for Monday 1st June

June 2^nd started at midnight for me and as I came on deck we were rounding Calabria Reggio and passing the lighthouse of Capo Spartiventi. This would be our last sighting of land until we sight the islands of western Greece and its coastline. By 2 a.m. the lighthouse of Capo Spartiventi and the moon had sunk below the horizon behind us, and we were plunged into darkness. For the next two hours we peered into this impenetrable darkness assisted only by Venus and the Milky Way which divided the entire night sky. The wind varied greatly and came and went never achieving any strength and Fenix rolled in the swell of a distant wind.

Computer generated chart with weather overlay for Tuesday 2nd June 8 a.m.

By dawn the wind had built a little and the mainsail was beginning to set but intriguingly it did not build from the forecast direction and soon died away. Summer is having its effect on this part of the world and the big low pressure systems of Spring have faded away and no longer develop the ability to create wind we require. As noon approached everybody on deck, whether on watch or not was seeking the shaded shelter of the mainsail. With no land in sight we keep a watch for shipping, signs of fish, or signs of an increase in the wind. With between two and three thousand metres of water beneath us you might think this would be a barren and empty world but sightings of lonely turtles swimming and basking in the water are not infrequent. By 4 p.m. we were just about to lose faith with the wind and then it slowly built to 12 knots. Two hours later we had about 14 knots and the genoa was unfurled lifting our speed to just over 8 knots over the ground. Buoyed up by this confidence in the wind we set the asymmetric spinnaker just after 7 p.m. and Fenix is barrelling along at 8 knots towards Zakynthos in western Greece.

Fenix on a broad reaching away from the setting sun

By midnight the wind was decreasing but the sailing was still quite good and our speed was comparable to and sometimes better than what could be achieved under engine. By 2 a.m. the moon had dipped below the horizon but the night sky was kept bright by the constant flashing of an electric storm to the west our position. Gradually we could make out the flash sequence of the lighthouse on the southern side of Zakynthos and it became a good reference point to steer by in the weakening wind.