We woke up in Peristera Bay, goats along the shore, water like glass. Our swimmers nibbled on some of the lovely little breakfast items Lulu placed with care on Monday night, and then we jumped in for a swim.

We cruised along the southern wall of the bay for about ¾ mile, swimming along the edges of deep green seagrass beds and walls with contours and textures that seem unique to this place. We dodged some jellies along the way - everyone is getting highly deft at the jelly slalom, relatively unphased by their presence. It’s something that is just part of today, part of this experience. One of our automatic responses to a jelly field is that we fall into a line, either Simon or I at the lead, everyone head to toe. The laws of physics and drafting mean that the last swimmer in the chain gets a free ride. We’ve gotten good at wordlessly taking turns in that sweet spot.

We laughed a lot along these weathered walls this morning. I don’t even know about what. Just good swimming and some bobbing and a lot of laughing every time we came up for air. We reached a rocky point with a cormorant doing its wing thing and turned around for home.

Back aboard for a second breakfast and somehow lunch only a short while later - Lulu can’t help but throw food at us at every possible moment. A sail to the southern tip of Alonnisos to a little bay new to us.

*Moutias Bay on the Southern tip of Alonnisos offers the view of a hill top village and massive underwater boulders.*

It didn’t disappoint. Massive boulders above and below us, features to swim under through and around. I think Deb swam around every single submerged boulder. I followed her because she seemed to be on the most creative course. We found ourselves in a bay with a nude beach at the base of it. I think we all felt the concurrent urges to giggle and strip down to sun ourselves. At least I did. There wasn’t a single jelly on this swim, and I will say it was nice to just put our heads down and swim without a care.

A straight line swim back to the boat across deep water with a stop to roll and loll in the big blue. This is the moment when you can really see that the stress of everyday life has left the building, and swimmers become pure and playful. Perfecting a somersault with buoy between ankles is the most important thing to be achieved. Laura set the bar high, here. She both invented the move and workshopped it to a perfect 10.

Skipper prepared us for a bumpy sail to Skopelos town. He skillfully zoomed us from island to island for shelter. In between we all surfed the rollers on the bow. Simon and I put on a bit of a show, trying to jump at the peak of each wave, then nearly killed ourselves when it actually worked. The short version: I had my zero G moment.

Skipper expertly backed into a spot on the big breakwater of Skopelos town, Lulu, Simon and I manning our posts at fenders and stern lines as directed.

And so we all dolled up a bit and headed to town for cocktails and dinner. Richie is highly experienced at ordering for the table, and we all shared a million small plates with an impossible amount of cheese. Totally delicious. It was late when we stumbled home, some of us silly on ouzo and metaxa, some simply cheese drunk. I confess to writing this blog on Wednesday morning (surrounded by a table of fresh pastry if you can believe it after the sins of last night) after a solid night’s sleep.

It’s raining and windy this morning, but our guests seem to be romanced by the sites and tastes of yesterday. Simon and I feel nervous about the weather breaking the spell, but in truth, I think this merry quartet will roll and laugh with whatever comes.

Efcharisto,

Heather

Tuesday is for Laughs and Cheeses.

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