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Ionian Islands Kayak trip - August 2004

(130nm / 240km)

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150route I landed in Zante (a.k.a Zakynthos) and I made my way by ferry + taxi to Sami (Kefallonia). Here I built the folding kayak and started by crossing to South Ithaki. Went North along east coast of Ithaki. Crossed back to north tip of Kefallonia. Went south along west coast. Crossed to Zante - went South along west coast until Lagana bay and finished trip a few Kilometers from the airport.	152equip Big black bag contains the Feathercraft Kahuna Kayak and most of the paddling & camping equipment (30Kgs). Two small carry-on bags (13Kg) contained the rest of the equipment. I easily fitted all this stuff inside the kayak, including 2 days worth food and water. It would probably be a tighter fit for a winter's trip with more bulky equipment	158sami2ithaki Trip start – crossing from Sami(Kefallonia) towards South Ithaki.
161OrmosAndri  Andri bay at S. Ithaki. Wild (I think) goats greeted me.	162OrmosAndri The goats really seemed impressed by my Kayak. After watching one chewing a washed up plastic bottle I became a bit worried that they would try tasting my kayak in the night. As a precaution I put the kayak real close to my tent and set up a trip wire tied to a pot. I also told them that goat skin was as good as any for fixing a skin-on-frame kayak. This seemed to work since the night passed peacefully for both me and the kayak.	165OrmosAndri The goats and I settling down for the night.
170OrmosSiinos East Ithaki – fighting a head wind crossing Siinos bay. The forecasted West-force-2 wind was North and much stronger. Eventually I had to cut west and spent the rest of the day bay-hugging my way North	174AkrIlias Protected from the wind by the Ilias headland.	176AkrPsdadi Psdadi headland with the towers approaching Kioni bay/town.
178Kioni Kioni town (Ithaki) – stopped here to pick up some supplies.	180NE-Ithaki Camping on NE Ithaki – looking north towards Lefkada.	182NE-Ithaki This lady was sitting in the tree near my tent. We spent a very serene night together. She made less noise than the goats and had much nicer legs!!
184NE-Ithaki Camping on NE Ithaki – looking east towards Atokos	185NE-Ithaki Sunrise on NE Ithaki.	186NE-Ithaki2Kefallonia Crossing back to Kefallonia - north. Looking back towards the sunrise. A bit later a minor storm came out of nowhere – half a hour of rain with a back wind was very refreshing.
187NE-Kefallonia North tip of Kefallonia after the crossing. Map shows cliffs for ~15 Kms. A few miles later I met a single fisherman in a boat: He said, “hello” I replied, “hello” “From where you come?” “Ithaki” “Ithaki!! – ha-ha-ho-ho… Ithaki - in this canoe?” “Yes - this is the only one I got” “Ha-ha-ho-ho – very good” I, ”Where is the next place that I can land?” He pointed south towards a headland, ”After there … small beach, two miles” “Thanks - bye” “Good luck friend” After 20hrs of solitude a fitting break-fast – concise, informative and humorous.	188BayNearTzamarellata Bay near Tzamarellata in NW Kefallonia – the first bay after a few hours of continuous cliffs after crossing from Ithaki. This is the "small beach" that the fisherman had spoken of.	190OrmosAsou A sea caves in Assou bay – one of many that line the coasts of these islands.
193OrmosAsou Assou bay	195OrmosAsou Assou bay	196Asos Assos village in the distance on the saddle between the two ridges
198CaveNearAsos Stopped for lunch in an Assos taverna. Later relaxed a while in the kayak in this sea cave near the village.	199FrourioAsou Rounding the headland beyond Assos.	200OrmosMyrtos Going south from Myrtos beach.
201NW-OrmosMyrtos A perfect beach for my 3^rd night’s camp	203NW-OrmosMyrtos Room with a view. A 360 deg clip of the beach (you may need to save this clip to your desktop first and then try opening)	208NW-OrmosMyrtos Kayak packed and ready to go very early after I had been woken by a thief. Just before first light I heard a scuffle by my tent and woke up to see the shadow of a fox running off along the beach with something in his mouth. I gave chase shouting until I saw the shadow dividing up into one that continued running and a black blob that stayed stationary. This turned out to be one of my sandals. I returned to my tent and was relieved to find that nothing else was missing. I could manage fine without a sandal but a lost spray-skirt would be a big problem. I smelled the sandal and understood the fox's choice.
210AkrAtheras Sea cave on the Atheras headland.	211AkrAtheras Sea cave on the Atheras headland.	212Petani Brunch on the beautiful Petani bay.
213Petani Petani bay	214Petani Petani bay. Two sea kayakers from Italy. They told me that each year they take their kayaks by ferry to some Mediterranean island and circumvent it at a leisurely pace. These were the only kayaks that i saw during the trip.
215AkrOrtholithia	216Kipouria Kipouria monastery in the distance.	217Kipouria Kipouria monastery
218Kipouria Kipouria monastery clip of the Kipouria area (you may need to save this clip to your desktop first and then try opening)	220W-edge-Kefallonia A mile south of Kipouria monastery – the most western point of Kefallonia.	221W-edge-Kefallonia Lighthouse 2 miles south of Kipouria.
222W-edge-Kefallonia Guardian on a rock facing the sea.	227AkrLiakasThionisi Liakas point toward Thionisi Islet.	228AkrLiakas Liakas point – my camp on a fossil bed.
229AkrLiakas Liakas point.	231AkrLiakas Liakas point – first light. Before packing the kayak for the crossing to Zante in the morning.	232AkrLiakas Looking towards Zante in the morning. The crossing from here is ~22Km towards the northern point of Zante (Akr. Skinari) which appears as the leftmost part of the distant landmass. There is actually another crossing point which is closer to Zante (Kato Katelios) from which the crossing is about 17 Km but since I wanted to cross in the morning there was no point in spending the extra 2-3 hours to reach the closer point. Also my route kept me out of the ferry route between Pesada (Kefallonia) to Korithi (Zante).
233Kefallonia2Zante Half way into the crossing. Zante (Akr. Skinari) the cape on the right still looks far off and the kayak, for the sake of the picture only, is pointing towards the Kefallonia-Zante ferry.	234NZante 3 hours later I have almost arrived at the end of my first big crossing.	235ZanteBlueCave Blue caves on the way to lunch in St. Nikolas in North-East Zante.
236ZanteBlueCave Blue caves on in North-East Zante.	237ZanteBlueCaves Blue caves in North-East Zante.	238NW-ZanteTanarfes After encountering rough afternoon seas in North West Zante – I found this lovely bay where I camped for the night.
239NW-ZanteTanarfes There was no beach so I had to stand in the water and unpack the kayak and then to maneuver the empty vessel over the rocks to a safe place.	241NW-ZanteTanarfes Looking north towards Kefallonia from a viewpoint above the camp. clip of the bay (you may need to save this clip to your desktop first and then try opening)	242NW-ZanteTanarfes
244Ormosnavagiou Shipwreck bay.	245Ormosnavagiou Shipwreck bay. Some guys from the yacht in the background photographed me. Later in the day boatloads of tourist arrive so I didn’t stay too long.	246Ormosnavagiou Shipwreck bay. clip of the shipwreck bay (you may need to save this clip to your desktop first and then try opening)
248AkrPlemonari Plemonari point (West Zante)	249AgIonnis Ioannis cape (West Zante) and Ioannis islet.	250OrmosStenitis Stenitis harbor. A few fishing boats with no one in sight.
253AkrKeri Keri in South-West Zante.	255AkrKeri Turned the camera on myself at Keri in South-West Zante.	256AkrMarathia Marathia cape – Southern tip of Zante.
258NisiPelouzo Lagana bay – Zante. Pelouzo island	260PortoKoukla Lagana bay – Zante. Porto Koukla camping grounds a few miles from the airport.  End of the appox. 240Km trip. Equipment drying before packing.	262LaganaPelouzo Lagana bay – Zante.
263LaganaMarathonisi Lagana bay – Zante. Marathonisi island on the right and Pelouzo island on the left.	265LaganaMarathonisi Lagana bay – Zante. Marathonisi island.	266Lagana Lagana bay – Zante.

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