November kayakpacking around Skiathos
It was a spontaneous decision on a Wednesday to close the season with a very late trip to the south/ mid Greece. It was 20ish November …
Little did we thought, it is going to end up a story about long driving and big waves. Here it goes.
We travelled the whole night from Sofia to the tip of Pelion Peninsula — a small place called Ag. Georgios. The place for all sea taxis to Skiathos. As the trip took longer than we thought, we got there just before dawn.
Bobby was very tired and decided to take a small nap. I was eager to see the sunset.
We set off at lunch time and it was not a good idea! It was already quite windy at the crossing between the island and the land, yet we had no other choice but to get going! We packed 2 sleeping bags, 1 tent, 1 small stove, a lot of food, water and 2 bottles of whiskey. The warm clothes go without saying — after all sleeping outside in November is still cold even if in Greece.
It was an hour of fighting with the waves that came from all sides! In order to face them right we made quite a detour. Still the waves were more than 2m high and coming from everywhere. If there was a moment in time when I feared being in a kayak — that was it! I was sure we would not drawn, yet I was getting ready to lose all my valuables on board.
One thing that I always carry around while kayaking is my most favourite portable speaker. The Bose indeed saves us this time as without the music — the tension would have been unbearable! The sounds were giving us rhythm and perfectly fitting the silence that would have been expanded by the fear. The pic on the left was taken in the afternoon :)
We were close to flipping about 3 times which were critical, yet we managed to escape and continue our small adventure. Starting with 2h of massive ways after 8 h of driving is tough! Hence we finished the first bottle of whiskey even before it got dark!
We made a stop after the turmoil to have some food and recover! It was a moment of real appreciation of having soil under the feet! It is always nice to be in a place off-season. Mixed feelings always arise as there is a bit sadness about something being closed.. Yet, being alone and enjoying the beach only for you is a blessing.
As the days are short and the sun a vital warmth for our journey — we set off shortly after we changed and dried a bit. Whatever the afternoon had to offer would have been a piece of cake for us with such a start. Our goal was to pass the main city of the island and set up the tent on a beach that was just behind the airport. Yet, this proved to be too ambitious.
We closed the say on a small island in a turtle shape facing the main city Skiatos. We made it just for sunset and thank god, as minutes after it — it was already freezing! As a sunset chaser — that was always the goal. The sunset was glorious and I was happy to capture a few shots with my new Helios lense. It makes the colours dreamy and soft! The moment the sun is down the coldness is out together with the beautiful colours!
Day 2 was easy and chilling! The sea was perfectly flat and the sun was lovely warm! All we could imagine was the fierceness of the waves on the northern side of the island. The landscape was perfectly shaped by the wind and there are quite a few landslides despite the forest on the top of the cliffs.
As we were perfectly in shape — we made it to the starting point 1h before the sunset! We managed to load all the luggage and set off for a nice dinner! One of the best locations in Pelion that I know is the fish taverna of Stefanos in Lefokastro!
Then we set off to Sofia as Bobby is a machine and could drive even after 20 km of kayaking!
The End!