A Wednesday Away.

Anchored in the remote waters off of Kyra Panagia, at the Eastern end of the Sporades Archipelago. We have no internet tonight, and somehow, no one minds. I might even suggest we had our most special, fun evening to date. We belong only to each other tonight. And that means something to a group like this.

The day started with a departure from the dock at Patitiri in Alonossos. We made right for her shore line not far away. We dropped in expecting a string of caves we enjoyed last year. Instead, we dropped in and meandered along a sharp and varied rockscape, small nooks and crevices for us to explore. Simon and I huddled up and wondered, where did the caves go? How did we get this wrong? Suddenly the coast line changed from low and sharp smooth and towering. Caves. We found a spot we’d never been to before, with a tall slot swim through (okay okay there was a bit of a belly crawl in the middle – totally worth it) that led to a stunningly white beach, cupped by a massive wall all around. So beautiful. We swam in and out of fresh water springs gurgling up from the bottom, chilling us and blurring the underwater view. A wild ride for the senses.

Cool fresh water mixing with the sea creates a Halocline - blurring our vision much like a heat wave.

Around the next corner was the large and more well known Blue Cave. You could fit my house in there. We swam all the way in and hooted and hollered and let our voices be swallowed up by endless caverns in the dark. A curtain of light grabbed our attention toward the entrance, and we played underwater in and out of the light. 

 Back onto the boat for a lovely sail further east to Kyra Panagia, where we sit now. Uninhabited, remote and beautiful, the first order of business was some serious napping. So much so that we didn’t get back in the water till almost 430. Who cares? Our afternoon swim was more about being in this far away place than about anything we might see in the water. Still, we swam along the bay’s shores, crossed to a small island, circumnavigated it, hung out in the calm water for a while, and just took it all in. We allowed ourselves to be out of touch, out of reach, and I think I felt a certain calm come over us all. The biggest news to keep tabs on? Updates on the progress of a small herd of goats on the shore line.

Dinner was chicken with prosciutto and a phenomenal mushroom risotto. Being so isolated, we settled into the kind of talks close friends have when the phone doesn’t ring and no one from the outside world can pull you away. 

Crepe night! More talking and some laughing over perfectly prepared crepes and jars of fillings being passed across the table. The sky got pink and the water got even more still. The goats bleated in the dusk.

How about game night?! Even Richie and Lou Lou played, and we laughed until our sides hurt. A family fun night.

The stars got showy, and we could even see the galactic core – the thickest part of the milky way. A long exposure on a camera will capture it, and that’s usually impossible on a boat that moves. The water was so flat and still, I nearly got a sharp image with a 20 second exposure on the stern. Not perfect but well worth the effort to remember how calm and beautiful tonight has been.

A long exposure on a boat?! We could see the most dense part of the Milky Way with the naked eye. Speaking of naked…

The finale – 4 of us jumped in for a starlit skinny dip. Three laps around the boat in the darkness, the bioluminescence around us mixing with the stars. The kind of experience you never forget.

Tonight we belong to each other and to this little rock in the middle of a blue sea, one that has been so generous with us this week. I doubt any of us will forget what it meant to be so far and away together.

Efcharisto,

Heather

Kyra Panagia

(39.3226010, 24.0554278)

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