March - Ribble Canoe Club

Page 16 November/December 2003
Cyclades Chronicle
October 2003
I’d been out to the Greek island of Milos for
two weeks last year and enjoyed spectacular
multicoloured cliff scenery from warm deep
clear seas, whilst there a mention to Rod
Feldtmann (www.seakayakgreece.com) that
an island-hopping trip might be a good idea
struck home. A multi island tour to Santorini
and a possible return had been top of Rod’s
wish list for some time; this year (2003) was
time to achieve that goal.
Rod, an Australian, married to Petrinela and
father of two daughters, has organised sea
kayaking tours from his home in Milos for
several years and for this adventure recruited
Jeff and Heidi from Montana, USA to
accompany him. I was keen to sample warm
days and sleeping on sun warmed beaches and
needed very little persuasion to make up the
team.
Wednesday 1 st Oct
The peace and quiet of the local village was
disturbed as Jeff and I dashed around for
provisions, Rod picked up Heidi from the
Airport and we assembled at our departure
port of Pallonia. Heidi had been subject to
delays on her air travel and had the task of
loading up a kayak and setting off within a
mere couple of hours of arriving on Milos.
Last minute purchases of bread, goodies and
supplies of water were crammed into the
remaining corners of the kayaks and we were
on our way.
Heading northeast we soon reached Kymolos,
skirted the south end of Poliegos and gazed at
the cliffs, spires and pinnacles of this
uninhabited island. As we followed the
island’s east coast to our destination an
increasing wind slowed progress and it was
with some relief when we landed on the beach
in near dark conditions.
Thursday 2 nd
The wind persisted throughout the night,
building up a disturbed sea and our departure
was delayed until midday when a “go for it”
decision was made. The 23km crossing to
Folegandros is open to the winds and
estimates that we were subject to a Force 6
meant re-adjustments to our compass bearing.
Some three hours of paddling and several
sweep strokes later we were able to pick out
features on the cliffs and relax a little as we
put the wind to our backs and headed south.
Huge smiles were exchanged as we landed on
a secluded beach complete with nudists
enjoying the sun.
Pushing eyeballs back into their sockets we
paddled ourselves away from the warmth and
calm of this lovely beach and made our way
to Angalli, here we left the kayaks and walked
inland to the nearby town with its winding
streets, alleyways and birds singing in the tree
lined square. Dragging ourselves away from
this delightful area we returned to the kayaks,
ate at a nearby taverna then settled down for a
well-earned rest.
Friday 3 rd
Quieter seas greeted us in the morning and we
pottered along the huge limestone cliffs of
Folegandros and headed across to Sikinos.
Lunch was taken on the summit rocks of the
small island of Khardhiotiss where we were
able to see both our previous route and look
out towards our destination of Santorini. The
beach at Sikinos had ample driftwood and
soon enough material was gathered for a
modest blaze. Jeff’s attempts to conserve
water by boiling the spaghetti in ready salted
seawater did little to enhance his culinary
reputation as we made inroads into our store
of bottled water. His excuse? “Pacific
seawater must have a lower saline content; I’ll
add a little more bottled water next time”.
www.ribblecanoeclub.co.uk