Chalkis

Crews Letter #2008 08 Chalkis Bridge

A problem so great, Aristotélis could not solve it.

He committed suicide by throwing himself into it and drowning.

Good Morning Crew;

Not far from Athens on the east side is the Island of Evvoia separated from the mainland by two large gulfs, North and South Evvoikos, and the Euripus Strait.

Tide and Current 101

This geographical structure creates a tide related navigation problem. It is the only one we have encountered in the Mediterranean. As the moon and/or sun pass by to the south, their gravitational pull raises the water of the South Evvoikos as much as a few centimetres. Most of it comes from the north Evvoikos. As the moon and/or sun leave, the water goes back from where it came. In both cases, the flow is through Euripus Strait. The strait is 30 metres wide. The South Evvoikos is about 120 square nautical miles (4 million square metres). Even a centimeter or two means a lot of water must pass through this narrow channel.

Add to the sun and moon the complexity of north or south wind, this is not a simple phenomenon. The resulting current is normally 4 to 6 knots, occasionally up to 10, depending on the phase of the moon and wind. It changes direction four times a day.

There is The Aristotélis Myth:

Aristotélis could not explain the current in Euripus. After an exhaustive study and no satisfactory explanation, he committed suicide by throwing himself into it and drowning.

It is only a myth. He explains most of it in his work, “Meteorologiká”. We are assured he died a normal death in Chalkida.

Aristotle chalkis Greece tide current Eurip

Chalkis Bridge

The bridge across Euripus Strait is of interest. To open for boat trafic, this bridge is swollowed by the road on either side.

We passed through this channel, south to north, at 0340 with a following current of 2+ knots.

A Side Note ФВΚ

Evvoia in Greek is ΕΥΒΟΙΑ. That is correct. “В” sounds like “V” as in Victor. If you do very well academically as an undergraduate in a US university, you are invited to join ФΒΚ, usually called “phi beta kappa”. The Greeks, both modern and ancient, would call it “fee veta kappa”. One out of three ain’t bad! Maybe part of the indoctrination into the society is to be told the secret. We would not know.

Sails, Full and By,

Phyl and Fred

ФВΚ

<<Previous ^Crews Page^ Next>>