Friday Full and Fabulous.

We woke to a still and quiet sea, promising for our Plan A. We got the boat moving while our swimmers took full advantage of a bit of a lie in. Our destination - Georgios Island in between Alonissos and Skopelos. We discovered this semi-circumnav island swim last year and had the great fortune to do it both weeks. It begins with a cave.

One thing the Greek Islands have challenged me with again and again is scale. From the boat, it looks like we are close to a wall, a cave, or a big rock to swim to. We jump in and it turns out the target is four times the distance and size it appeared to be from the boat. It’s a little awe inspiring, and it happens again and again. The real tell is when one swimmer is up ahead and against the wall and they appear so tiny…oh. It’s BIG. I love that about this place.

So our start off cave looks small from the boat, and then we swim and swim until we reach what is an enormous cavern. I think it was Dana who commented that this is what it feels like to be small. It’s humbling and wonderful in my opinion which is of no consequence to Georgios Island.

Here’s something you need to know about Kendra - she will swim under, through, into and around any rock structure she can. If she dives down to look under a ledge and sees light coming through, you’ve lost her. She’ll see you on the other side, which is probably some cool pool with beams of light and overhangs and mini caves and ledges. So last year when we came to this island Kendra found the most exquisite set of rooms among the rocks. We couldn’t wait to share with this year’s guests.

After the rooms, a corner pocket beach of a million white stones, smooth and cool, brilliant in the sunlight. From there, a tunnel of inordinate magnitude, a pyramid of light through a massive rock wall. After these rapid fire wonders comes a long stretch of swimming along a dramatic cliff face, severe and reaching endlessly into both sky and sea below. Amy said it and I agree “It’s the closest I’ve ever come to flying”. It’s not the first time I’ve heard it said about this swim.

We round a corner and charge into a deep bay, with caves and beaches of varying sizes at its heel. This is at the exact opposite end of the island from where we started - about a mile in all. The whole swim is a showstopper, and not always possible if the weather isn’t right. What a delight to begin our final day this way.

All aboard for a lovely sail to our last swim spot. We dropped anchor and devoured lunch, rested a short while and jumped in for the final splash. Around a small point of land followed by two larger corners, the first stop is a T carved into the rocky shore line. There are caves at either end, and we did laps between them. 

But wait, there’s more!

Another hundred yards and we come to a small fjord for lack of a better word - a deep cut into the high cliffs. The water is deep and clear to a rippled sandy bottom, the end of the cut is home to the most perfect little beach. Light dances down to the water through lush trees on the cliff tops, and our voices are muffled by the steep stone walls. An eden.

Back to the boat on our last leg which was playful and lingering. Kendra did most of it underwater, and she and Dana played in the water together as only sisters will.  Jeff and Amy swam most of it together, side by side. Heidi reveled in her last moments of remembering her water self which has been asleep in her early days of motherhood. It’s always there and she will have more access to it as her adorable baby boy becomes more of his own person.

The afternoon was a blur of returning to Skiathos port and phenomenal moussaka dinner and of course, a slideshow of our trip. There were equal amounts of laughter and tears reflecting on the week in photographs.

As we chatted into the dim of our final night together, I talked about how personal the act of making a photograph of someone can be. It’s an additional layer of knowing a person. By the end of a week, I know who our swimmers are in the sea. I know what their strokes look like, their pacing. I know the types of areas they want to explore and how they move in the water. And the more time I get to spend observing them in this way, the better able I am to make photographs that tell the truth of their water story. I feel privileged to have this kind of access to them.

Goodbyes are never easy. Having met each other for the first time on SwimVacation and making the conscious choice to swim together again, this goodbye was particularly poignant. I think it’s possible we will see this gang all together again, and I certainly hope I am there to photograph it.

The Sporades spoiled us this week. I have no doubts it will spoil us in new ways in the coming week.

Kendra, Dana, Jeff, Amy and Heidi, Efcharisto, friends! Much love until we swim again.

Heather