Okay. I think I've got my head above water again after two weeks of avoiding anything like real life. Bills are paid, there is a little food in the fridge, and our clothes are clean again. It feels nice. Not as nice as basking in the sun on top of our own private sailboat, but another kind of nice.
Where to begin? The trip was planned as a celebration of our friends' anniversary, so my bestie T was in the dark the whole time. Her awesome hubby J helped N and I pick a sailing company and sort out a flexible itinerary. N invited his closest friend from Ohio, and, with our fearless skipper (who we nicknamed "Stavros"), we cruised the blue Aegean waters for 11 days. Bliss!
I'm not sure about you, but doing internet research for traveling is intimidating to me. There are so many options out there, and I never feel like I've got all the info I could. Is the next great deal just around the proverbial corner? It took us months to nail down dates, a group of islands, companies, size of boat, etc. In the end, we chose perfectly - the company we worked with (DMS Sailing) was professional, a good value, and I would definitely reccommend them. We ended up in the Cyclades with a Bavaria 44 sailboat, which could hold up to 9 people. Even with our six, it got a little cramped sometimes. We had 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and galley area, and four cabins. On the deck, there was another sitting area with two benches, and plenty of room on top to lounge in the afternoon sun after swimming.
Marina Alimos, Athens
The five of us rendezvous'd at the marina on a Saturday, and by that time T had figured out what was going on. It was so good to see her and get settled on our boat - we all spent the first 12 hours remarking how unbelievable it was. After shopping for groceries (what does one get for a boat trip? How easy will it be to restock along the way? Do we need to buy TP and a sponge? Answers: Lots, Easy, and Yes) and meeting Stavros, we took off for our first island, Poros. Along the way, with Athens fading in the background, we took our first Aegean swim (cold!) and watched our first sunset.
Just another day on the boat!
I had no idea what to expect of the islands - would they be remote, or would we be able to find all kinds of services on them? Turns out most of them have more than one "city" and it's not hard to find grocery stores, laundry service, etc. We always ate breakfast and lunch on the boat, but usually went out for dinner. And, man! Do I miss those greek salads! We arrived in Poros fairly late, docked, and rushed out to dinner. Afterwards, we wandered the island and ate ice cream, and fell asleep to the sounds of the disco several yards from our boat.
Church on Poros
The next morning, after rousing everyone from deep slumber (perhaps ouzo-induced?), we set sail for a morning swim. The water was still on the chilly side, but I managed to convince myself to jump from the back of the boat - when would I ever get the chance to swim from my sailboat again? Not soon, I'm feared, and leapt! After a few days, I got used to the chilly water and preferred jumping in from the boat to inching my way into the water from a beach. We sailed a full day (no seasickness yet!) and arrived in Kythnos just in time for a sunset.
Most of the boats at the docks were sailboats, similar to ours, but at nearly every port a monster of a yacht would roll in and everyone could be seen scrambling for a view. I swear P. Diddy rolled in next to us one night on a beast called the Mima...unfortunately, we were not invited aboard for their parties, and instead the six of us drank Mythos beer and played Uno by ourselves.
We didn't spend much time in Kythnos because our first main goal was to make it to Santorini, in the southern part of the Cyclades. Since we had two weeks, it wasn't really a problem, but we definitely wanted to get there sooner rather than later and then hit some more islands on the way back. Before our long day of sailing, we anchored in a little cove for a brisk morning swim (getting a feel for what our days were like?). N and I jumped in first and swam to a small sand bar about .25 miles away. Even N thought the water was cold, and he'll swim in anything!
After a walk on the sand, we convinced ourselves to get back in the water to swim back to the boat. On our way back, we heard shouts from another boat in the cove. They were pointing to a man in the water who was definitely having a hard time staying afloat. N didn't waste a moment and swam over to him to see if he needed help - he did. Apparently he landed on his stomach when he jumped in, knocked the wind out of himself, and then panicked because he was scared and the water was so cold. A dingy arrived shortly and the man was taken back to his boat and later, we heard, was doing just fine. Thank goodness it wasn't a heart attack or anything! To show his appreciation, the man later bought N a really nice bottle of Greek wine, which we drank our last night at sea. My hero!
Our third night found us at Sifnos, a bit closer to Santorini, and one of my favorite smallish islands. We got a chance to spend three days there because the weather changed and sailing would have been rough. When we arrived, we all showered and I found out that, after days of being coated in salt and sweat, even a short shower done while hovering over the toilet is bliss!
First night in Sifnos, sunset.
More tomorrow...
Marina Alimos, AthensThe five of us rendezvous'd at the marina on a Saturday, and by that time T had figured out what was going on. It was so good to see her and get settled on our boat - we all spent the first 12 hours remarking how unbelievable it was. After shopping for groceries (what does one get for a boat trip? How easy will it be to restock along the way? Do we need to buy TP and a sponge? Answers: Lots, Easy, and Yes) and meeting Stavros, we took off for our first island, Poros. Along the way, with Athens fading in the background, we took our first Aegean swim (cold!) and watched our first sunset.
Just another day on the boat!I had no idea what to expect of the islands - would they be remote, or would we be able to find all kinds of services on them? Turns out most of them have more than one "city" and it's not hard to find grocery stores, laundry service, etc. We always ate breakfast and lunch on the boat, but usually went out for dinner. And, man! Do I miss those greek salads! We arrived in Poros fairly late, docked, and rushed out to dinner. Afterwards, we wandered the island and ate ice cream, and fell asleep to the sounds of the disco several yards from our boat.
Church on PorosThe next morning, after rousing everyone from deep slumber (perhaps ouzo-induced?), we set sail for a morning swim. The water was still on the chilly side, but I managed to convince myself to jump from the back of the boat - when would I ever get the chance to swim from my sailboat again? Not soon, I'm feared, and leapt! After a few days, I got used to the chilly water and preferred jumping in from the boat to inching my way into the water from a beach. We sailed a full day (no seasickness yet!) and arrived in Kythnos just in time for a sunset.
Most of the boats at the docks were sailboats, similar to ours, but at nearly every port a monster of a yacht would roll in and everyone could be seen scrambling for a view. I swear P. Diddy rolled in next to us one night on a beast called the Mima...unfortunately, we were not invited aboard for their parties, and instead the six of us drank Mythos beer and played Uno by ourselves.
We didn't spend much time in Kythnos because our first main goal was to make it to Santorini, in the southern part of the Cyclades. Since we had two weeks, it wasn't really a problem, but we definitely wanted to get there sooner rather than later and then hit some more islands on the way back. Before our long day of sailing, we anchored in a little cove for a brisk morning swim (getting a feel for what our days were like?). N and I jumped in first and swam to a small sand bar about .25 miles away. Even N thought the water was cold, and he'll swim in anything!
After a walk on the sand, we convinced ourselves to get back in the water to swim back to the boat. On our way back, we heard shouts from another boat in the cove. They were pointing to a man in the water who was definitely having a hard time staying afloat. N didn't waste a moment and swam over to him to see if he needed help - he did. Apparently he landed on his stomach when he jumped in, knocked the wind out of himself, and then panicked because he was scared and the water was so cold. A dingy arrived shortly and the man was taken back to his boat and later, we heard, was doing just fine. Thank goodness it wasn't a heart attack or anything! To show his appreciation, the man later bought N a really nice bottle of Greek wine, which we drank our last night at sea. My hero!
Our third night found us at Sifnos, a bit closer to Santorini, and one of my favorite smallish islands. We got a chance to spend three days there because the weather changed and sailing would have been rough. When we arrived, we all showered and I found out that, after days of being coated in salt and sweat, even a short shower done while hovering over the toilet is bliss!
First night in Sifnos, sunset.More tomorrow...
1 comment:
Oh LindS I do love the stories and and way to go Nick! :)
Tell the p's hi for me and hugs all the way around, have a great time and I can't wait to hear the next updates and see more pictures.
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