Journey to the Cyclades

It’s been one month since Neil and I found ourselves stuck in Philadelphia. We were supposed to have been en route to Greece to begin our second sailing season, but a series of flight cancellations had us cooling our heels in a Philly airport hotel. So, we decided to relocate to a more scenic location. If we couldn’t reach Greece, how about a few days in Venice? It was a fantastic pivot, and we felt very fortunate to be able to turn a flight snafu into a three-day excursion to enjoy the sites and flavors of Venice.

Eventually, we did make it to the west coast of Greece and back to our marina. We were nervous about how we’d find the boat after six months on land, but Arcadia looked great and we were able to get her launched relatively smoothly. Once launched, we spent about a week traveling eastward through the Gulf of Corinth, which is the body of water that separates the Peloponnese peninsula from mainland Greece. In the gulf, we sailed lovely dolphin “infested” waters, and explored the quaint coastal towns of Nafpaktos and Galixidi.

We spent Easter in this area. A flame is flown from Jerusalem to Greece on Easter Saturday and then used to light churches throughout the country. This is followed by fireworks and singing which we could hear at midnight coming from the nearby town. Bright red eggs are cracked together to mark the end of fasting, and we joined in this tradition on Easter morning.

Soon we reached the eastern end of the Gulf of Corinth, and it was time to transit the Corinth Canal. The canal was built in the late 1800s and is striking. We are in awe that we were able to travel through the canal in our very own vessel.

When a boat exits the canal it is officially in the Aegean Sea which is home to hundreds of islands and several named groups. The first island group we encountered after exiting Corinth was the Saronic Island group. We spent time on several of the Saronics, staying the longest on the island of Poros, due to the onslet of a notorious wind pattern known as the Meltemi. The Meltemi winds are infamous because they can blow hard for a week or longer making seas uncomfortable and very challenging to sail. We kept the boat in an anchorage with some wind protection for 5 days and felt relatively safe and confident that our strong anchor would hold, but we were definitely on edge.

At the end of the Meltemi, as winds began to ease, we took a fun ferry ride to the nearby island of Hydra. This quaint island does not allow cars. Most people get around on foot, but horses and donkeys are also used for transportation and hauling things like groceries up the island’s steep narrow streets. While there, we happened upon a group of laborers taking a lunch break as their donkeys looked on.

Once back on Arcadia, we gave the seas another day to settle after the worst of the Meltemi had passed. Despite this, our journey across the from the Saronic Islands to the Cyclade Islands was difficult. The waves were huge and I was uncharacteristically nauseous on the 6-hour sail. Finally, we landed at a little island called Kynthos where we hiked to a beautiful beach that separates two bays. The next day we sailed to the island of Serifos and hiked to one of the hilltop white walled villages that the Cyclades are known for. We did not stay long though, as we were on a mission to get to the island of Paros (not to be confused with Poros) in preparation for the arrival of friends who would soon land there and sail with us for a week. We are excited and ready for company!