"It's Boat Day!" Sennen said as he popped up from a still sleep. The alarm on my phone had just gone off and I walked over to his bed to gently wake him, though no effort was needed.
Matheus who was sleeping in the next bed smiled when he heard Sennen's enthusiasm.
So our Bro's Cave Boat Day – as Sennen deemed it – began.
All three of us were up, prepping and out of the house within an hour with a backpack of towels, aqua socks and a LOT of sunscreen. We made our way over to Ta Kardasia bakery for breakfast pies and large bottles of water before heading to the marina to check-in for our day boat. Today's day cruise included all the key stops: Makronisi – a formation of rock arches and grottos through which one can swim; Aspronisi – a beach at the end of a small island made completely of bright white polished rocks, bathed in crystal clear water that forms a channel around it; Tiganakia – "the blue lagoon" of incredible tourmaline water; Arki – a little inhabited island near Patmos with two tavernas for lunching; and Marathi – an even smaller island with no real settlements and one guest house where people go for a rather dull soft sand beach.
Sennen walked through town expressing his utter excitement and dripping positivity. So excited was he that I had to clear him out of the bakery because he was taking up too much space for other customers to come in and he was thrilled to be the first aboard the boat, even if it meant waiting a half hour onboard. We got the seats he wanted on the bow and ate our pies in peace while others checked in and boarded.
Once underway, it took about 50 minutes to arrive at Makronisi – a rock island with incredible arches and blue-green waters. Sennen and Matheus remembered it from one of our two boat days in 2019. Honestly, it was a highlight (although notably the site where Matheus kicked a sea urchin and got some spikes in his foot) being such a magnificently dreamy site. Sennen started sunscreening up before the boat had even stopped so that when it did he could be one of the first to jump off the boat.
"I LOVE jumping off the boat!" Sennen made clear numerous times. Without a doubt, jumping off the boat into beautiful lagoons and coves is one of the great pleasures of a day boat off Patmos. Sennen was in the water before I could even get myself sunscreened – though Matheus watched and took photos, as did I. Luckily, Sennen didn't go very far – he just swam right around the boat, pulled himself out of the water so he could jump again. Which he did.
Only this time I did too. And after Matheus put away his phone and sunscreened up, he joined us. We swam across five shades of blue, through caves and grottos and across small tides, eventually returning to the boat. From which Sennen jumped twice more before the captain blew the horn, bringing our swim time to a close.
As we approached climbed the ladder to the boat for the final time Sennen asked, "What's this place called? Micro-feces?"
"Sennen! Makronisi!"
"I know! It was just a really good joke!"
On the 20 minute ride to Aspronisi, we passed goats living in island caves looking out at us as we looked back at them. Cave goats were too much for Sennen who decided they must be the most delicious of all goats and that like truffles, they must be found and collected – because you obviously can't herd cave goats. At this point giddy with boat day, diving and cave goat joy, Sennen asked me to imagine having long hair and feeling the strong breeze blowing it. I played along.
"Do you feel it?" Sennen asked
"Yes, it feels good."
"That's called phantom pain."
When we reached Aspronisi – the unanimously favored site of the day. There aren't many times when I feel words just don't do the job – but with Aspronisi, there really is no accurately describing the effect of the light blue and crystal clear water over and next to a beach of PURE white rocks that have been polished for eons. Aspronisi is not only a unique site in general, but perhaps one of the most Aegean-Greek things to exist. Last visit to Aspronisi, six year-old Sennen talked to me about his questioning the existence of God. While in one sense it seemed like an odd moment for a deep conversation I didn't see coming, it also was understandable how such a place could inspire big ethereal questions.
This visit, Sennen discovered the channel around Aspronisi had a upper and under current pushing and pulling him simultaneously.
"It's like having people fighting over me!" he said as he enjoyed the gravitational game.
From there it was on to Tiganakia and the blueness that delights my soul. If Sennen was the most enthusiastic to jump off the boat at Makronisi and Aspronisi, I was as enthusiastic about Tiganakia.
Along the way, the sea got strong and the bow was bobbing strongly up and down. "I love this!" Sennen exclaimed as it if were a ride at Disneyland (which he later compared it to). "Ailyn and Mommy would be cleaning up their barf organs, but not me – I love it!"
This was truly the 23rd of Sennuary.
Tiganakia can be described only slightly better than Aspronisi. I love the experience of being surrounded in cool, wet tourmaline on a warm, dry day. It is a color even Pantone would struggle to nail down and is among my favorite hues of natural Greek blues. For me, diving into Tiganakia's waters is like a recharge for my soul. As profound as it was on one hand, it was as simple as they come on another – we simply dove in, swam around for 30 minutes, returned to the boat and left. It felt amazing.
The last two stops were the dullest, although the lunch at Arki was two-hours long, relaxing and delicious. The two small tavernas do a bang-up business when two or three tourist boats pull in. We enjoyed some excellent tzatziki, a decent saganaki, good gigante beans and our respective entrees of grilled octopus (Matheus), lamb chops (Sennen), chicken souvlaki (me) and tons of laughs, good conversation and memories. Boat day was a highlight of 2019, so it was amazing for the three of us to be together for it again – especially with Sennen in such a convivial mood.
On the hour or so ride from Marathi back to the Patmos marina, it also became clear just how much Sennen and I missed one another. In his way, he let me know that at this stage in his life, being around his dad is extra important to him and the five weeks apart were hard. We discussed some of the why's and how's and strategized on ways to make next summer easier. I can't count how many hugs, "I love you"s and "I'm so happy to be here with you, Daddy"s I got. It was a gift from my mom that we could have some boy-time together.
I suppose that's the thing about special days. They're not simply about the thing itself. As much as jumping off boats, coming out refreshed, immersing in brilliant blues, navigating caves and being stunned by white and crystal blue beauty are indeed special – the meaning we imbue into these times is even more powerful. Matheus Sennen and I set out on a boat day not just of places and experiences, but of revisiting memories while creating new ones. We took cherished times and layered new ones onto them. For each and all of us, our story grew and evolved today. And that was the most beautiful part of all.
