Just One More Corner.

Simon is getting creative with his water entries.

Today was long and great, and it’s late, so I’m not going to be going for literary awards here. Suffice it to say, today was fabulous from start to uproarious finish. 

We woke up to the sound of Richie and Lulu moving us closer to our swim spot in another corner of our isolated bay in Kira Panagia. We slipped into a glassy pool of little fish and grasses and textures that never stop luring me to check around the next bend, around the next corner.

I’m not alone in this. Kendra and Simon both suffer from One More Corner affliction. It guided our whole day today.

The sea this morning was gin clear, and we played under ledges and dove to the bottom distracted by every shiny shell and stone.

Marianne and Lexi bombed around on the stand up paddleboard, getting a new perspective on the island and its flora and fauna.

Glass surfaces mean fantastic reflections.

We had run out of water on the yacht. We knew a fill awaited us at our afternoon island stop, but in order to rinse off after our swim, Lulu offered to “shower” each of us with our bottled water stores. A brilliant solution that rinsed the salt from our hides and gave Lulu an opportunity to dump something over each of our heads. A win-win.

Lulu bottle rinsing Kendra after our swim.

After barely 20 minutes back aboard and bottle-rinsed, Skipper set us out to find Blue Cave, a large cavern Simon had found on google maps. The location was pretty unspecific so we cruised the sheer cliff walls of the north east coast of Alonnisos gawking at sea caves and little bays and a million corners we all wanted to explore. The biggest cave – it looked like we might put our entire yacht inside of it – seemed to be worthy of the title, and so we dropped in there for a bouncy A to B swim where our yacht followed along beside us as we explored every nook, beach and cranny in this wild stretch of coast. A big cave. A small cave. Another cave. A cave with a swim through. A cave with a secret inner beach. A cave with a giant column – here we plunged into blackness, full of faith, and swim round to the light on the other side. 

Miriam swam into each of these caves, a little deeper each time. She held my hand and swam into the dark. She was brave and came through to the light on the other side. A different world, a different life, she said.

After each dark cave and bright pocket beach we thought we might be done. Until we wondered aloud what was around the next corner. And the next. After over an hour, we finally pulled ourselves away from the wandering wall and climbed aboard, exhausted in the best way.

More bottle baths and we settled in for a sail to the tiny outpost of Steni Vala on Alonissos for water and a good dose of land. We arrived just about at nappy time on shore. Some of us wandered the small seaside streets, Simon reviewed the underwater stroke video I had made of each of our swimmers. He showed each of them the ways they could make their already strong strokes a little more efficient. It’s all about working smarter, not harder. Especially when you’d like to go a long way around one more corner. And another.

With our water tanks filled from the garden hose provided on the dock, we all cleaned up with proper showers before dinner. Our stern was tied to the dock, but shallow water prevented us from being close enough to simply hop off. Skipper arranged a line to shore with which we could ferry ourselves on the dingy. This was harder than it looked, and funnier than I can describe. Everyone was a good sport and I refrained from taking pictures.

We dined at Sossinola (Alonissos spelled backwards) restaurant just feet from our yacht, where we had snacks, then apps, then mains, then ouzos and cappuccinos and frappes and chocolate souffles and then little shots of something and some cookie things they gave us because they loved us so much. Throughout, we laughed. I mean, laughed. I don’t even know about what and it wouldn’t be funny to you if I told you anyway. It was that kind of laughter. The kind that makes you cry, the kind that comes living in tight spaces with strangers who become friends and from nothing you could predict two days prior.

Outdoor dining and over eating and laughing and and and….

So it was a long and awesome day. Our heads are full of corners explored and wonder about the ones ahead, our bellies are full of whole Greek delectables, and our hearts are light with good, good times.

The rooster will call soon (when we sleep close to shore, there’s always at least one). I can’t wait for the corners Thursday will reveal.

Kali Nikta and love,

Heather