Kinfolk Travel: Sailing the Greek Isles
Kinfolk Travel celebrates slower ways to see the world — with the premise that travel is an attitude of discovery as much as it’s an action or itinerary. We look at an excerpt from the new book: sailing around the Greek Isles.
Words: John Burns | Photography: Dayaan Armstrong
Dodecanese, Greece
The Dodecanese may not be the most storied Greek islands to sail around, but what they lack in stature they more than make up for with local charm and the freedom to visit villages, eat in small tavernas and stay overnight in hidden coves, all at your own pace.
Sailing Around the Greek Isles
Most people have heard tell of the beauty of at least one Greek island. There’s Rhodes, famed for its old city and medieval walls; Kos, home to renowned archaeological sites; and Patmos, “the Jerusalem of the Aegean,” where John the Apostle wrote part of the New Testament. But there’s a lot more on offer in the Dodecanese—the dozen islands that comprise this rugged archipelago on Greece’s southeastern flank.
Part of the ancient Greek world and ruled successively by the Venetians, the Ottomans and the Italians, the Dodecanese islands are strewn with imposing Byzantine and medieval monuments and traditional settlements that testify to this region’s rich history. The chain also comprises four small, inhabited islands and a scattering of uninhabited islets that can only be discovered by boat.
‘All of the islands have their own unique charm. A sailing holiday allows travelers to really get off the beaten track,’ explains Captain Dayyan Armstrong, founder of the Sailing Collective.
Armstrong, who learned to sail in the Gulf of Maine aboard a twenty-four-foot (7 m) sloop when he was a boy, launched his bespoke vacation business back in 2011, offering charters around some of the world’s most beautiful islands—including the Dodecanese. ‘We organize our own itinerary and change it when we want to. If we see a beautiful deserted beach or find somewhere we like, we stay there. It’s all about slow travel—as the Greeks say, siga siga [slowly slowly], and connecting with the environment,’ he says.
In the Dodecanese, Captain Armstrong’s itinerary includes the island of Kalymnos, renowned for its sea sponge divers, and Nisos, a near-deserted island with only one tavern. ‘Bigger islands like Kos offer a watered-down experience of the local culture, but on islands like these you get a real flavor of local life,’ says Armstrong. ‘We might meet herds of wild goats or discover two-thousand-year-old ancient ruins or eat at a beachside tavern with only the locals sharing their stories over a beer.’
His routes vary according to prevailing winds and guests’ preferences. Some trips take in Kalymnos, anchoring for the night in coves isolated by sheer cliffs. ‘Imagine just sailing into a deserted cove with waters so clear you can see the fish swimming beneath the hull of the boat,’ Armstrong says.
Food is also an important part of any Dodecanese experience. ‘It’s an immediate way to connect with the culture — we have talented chefs who try to incorporate the local produce at each place we go, so that we come closer to the culture we’re in via the food,’ Armstrong explains. ‘In some places, we’ll see a grandma who speaks English, and we’ll arrange for her to cook us dinner in her backyard, so it’s a great way to give back to the community too.’
Other ports of call include Lipsi, a rocky cluster south of Samos island where legend has it that the beautiful nymph Calypso kept Odysseus, one of the world’s greatest mariners, captive. ‘History is really important on a Dodecanese sailing itinerary,’ says Armstrong. ‘On the highest point of each island, there are Byzantine castles and mighty military fortresses; this is a crossroads of civilizations. Some towns are elevated, some are on the coastline; there’s a real mix of architectural styles and often, when sailing, we can see the Turkish coastline too.’
One of the highlights is Leros, with its dramatic landscapes and striking capital, Lakki, which was designed as a rationalist model town by Mussolini’s architects Rodolfo Petracco and Armando Bernabiti during the Italian occupation of the Dodecanese. ‘There’s a beautiful hidden cove there called Pantelis where we anchor, sheltered from the northerly meltemi winds,’ says Armstrong.
For visitors, sailing is a great way to discover Greece through a new lens. ‘Lots of people are well traveled, but they want to see the world in a different way,’ says Armstrong. ‘When they climb aboard one of our boats, they find a sense of freedom and of belonging. One of the greatest joys of doing this job is seeing the wild-eyed excitement when we sail to a remote cove or a spot of rare wildlife. It’s the thrill of just never knowing what you’ll see from one place to the next.’
‘If we see a beautiful deserted beach or find somewhere we like, we stay there.’
