Kalymnos - Climbing Paradise

 A list of words to describe Kalymnos:

Rocks, caves, cliffs, tufas, stalactites, steep, pumpy, rope stretchers, underclings, tired forearms, olives, olive oil, sponges, honey, wild thyme, goats, cats, bees, more cats… you get the idea.

Nearly a month ago Kathleen and I arrived at this magical little island with high expectations of the climbing and the scenery. As is rarely the case in this life, our expectations were met and then some. When we flew in from Athens on a small propeller plan we got our first view of this craggy rugged island rising steeply out of an emerald blue sea. Orange limestone walls streaked with dark water stains and tufas contrast with the green hillsides that surround them.

Our host for the month, a portly Greek man with short silver and black hair called Skevos, picked us up in a tiny red car and drove some steep winding roads from the airport to the studio we rented for the month. We caught our first glimpses of the neighboring island “Telendos” and off in the distance, a truly massive cave called the “Grande Grotta”. Our minds were immediately blown and psych was really high.

The climbing here is absolutely fantastic and totally unlike anything I’ve climbed before. The routes are long and sustained. They are pumpy, with big features, yet still technical as they rely more on good footwork and creative rest finding than they do on brute strength. The variety of features forces you to utilize your whole body, especially your core, rather than just fingers. After a day of climbing, we were sore all over, but usually not too sore anywhere in particular.

We settled into our studio and made ourselves at home on our first afternoon.  The next day we began what would become our routine for the next month. We make breakfast, pack snacks and a small lunch for the crag and then head out to the crags. From our door it was ~40 minutes walking to Grande Grotta which was the center of the Kalymnos climbing universe. We’d spend most of the day at the crag, taking ample time to rest in between routes, then when we were thoroughly exhausted and hungry, we’d make our way down the hill, grab a gelato and head to the beach for a swim and then usually a restaurant for a cheap and delicious Greek meal.  Stuffed and satisfied, we’d saunter back to our studio and pass right out. Often we were right back at it the next day. Along the way we made a couple of neat friends including a Canadian ex-Pat teacher called Dan and a retired 31 year old banker called Bo. Bo and Dan joined us for many of our climbing days and helped a bunch with the photography here.

I recently read Alex Honnold’s biography and was impressed by his monk-like focus on climbing. I took the opportunity of being isolated on this remote island to clear my mind and hone my body to become a stronger climber. For the first two weeks of our stay I avoided the Internet and booze completely and tried to use them sparingly after that. I started keeping a climbing diary and diligently tracked my climbing for my whole stay. Looking back we climbed 17/ 27 days on the island, totaling nearly 2500m!

With so many crags and 5-star routes to choose from, I never settled on a project. I tried most routes onsight, and redpointed just a handful on my second go. I don’t think I tried any routes more than twice aside the classic warm-ups that Kathleen and I preferred. As a result, I didn’t push my grade as much as I perhaps could have, but I definitely have gotten better at climbing onsight.

Kathleen’s favorite climbs were:

• Harakiri, Spartacus (6b+)
• Panselinos, Panorama (6b+)
• Uncle Ernie, Panorama (6b)
•  Opera, Symplegades (6b)
• Fight of a Woman, Eros (6b)

KG on "Fight of a Woman" - 6b

My best sends of the trip were:

• Nickel, Kalydna (7a+ OS),
• Aegean Sea, Panorama (7a+ 2^nd go RP),
• Pompadoux, Secret Garden (7a+ 2^nd go RP)
• DNA, Grande Grotta (7a, flash)
• Kastor, Arhi (7a OS)
• K-22, Calcite Cave (7a OS)

Pompadoux 7a+

Kastor - 7a

Towards the end of the month, I finally started to try some routes near my limit, which would have made great projects if I had more time. The route below are mega classics that I’ll have to come back someday to send.

·      Nymphi, Calcite Cave (7b)

·      Tremendos Telendos, Eros (7b)

One big regret of mine from the trip was not climbing in Sikati Cave. We hiked out there to take a look on a rest day, but never made it back for a climbing day. The cave is outrageous with the longest steepest routes you could imagine and it sits above a beautiful and secluded beach. The only downside, however, is that most of the climbing is 7b and above so it’s not exactly a “something for everybody” type of crag. If you have the guns, this place is a can’t miss. It has to be one of the most spectacular sport crags on the planet.

The meteor hole - Sikati Cave

Best Beach ever...

Other highlights from our stay in Kalymnos: The food was amazing and the people are incredibly nice. We visited the main town on the opposite side of the island from the climbing called Pothia on few occasions. We wandered the streets, took pictures and got a glimpse into the Greek life. We stumbled on an amazing little dessert place with mega delicious and cheap baklava and tiramisu among other deliciousness.

Cute Kalymnian couple in front of their very interesting decor

The harbor was really interesting as well. Interesting old fishing boats, workboats, sailboats as well as some sunken vessels which were still tied to the dock! This made for a haunting ambiance as we wandered around the harbor on a slightly stormy spring day.

Pothia

Welcome to Rome!

Welcome back to the blog folks. After a brief hiatus to pile up some monies, I’m back to my full time job of exploring bitchin rocks around the globe! ;) Just kidding… as it turns out, my girlfriend Kathleen has accepted an offer to attend the University of Texas (in Austin) for Business School!! With that, we are moving on from the bay area for the time being and have a few months free to travel. So here we go!

I have dreamed of coming to Europe for a long time, but somehow managed to put it off until just now. In some ways, the delayed gratification has made this trip that much more worthwhile. The sights, the languages, the cultures and especially the foods have blown me away in terms of their diversity and novelty.

Kathleen and I arrived in Rome late in the evening about a week ago, dog-tired from 14+ hours of travel. We found our way from the airport to the city center by train and made our way to the hostel by taxi from the nearest station. Our energetic and eminently talkative host, Humberto, was waiting for us on the corner. Humberto was an intriguing and genial character with Brazilian and Japanese heritage. He has lived in Rome for ~8 years, and is studying business while working to become an entrepreneur in the hospitality industry.

From what I could tell, he is on the right track. As soon as he had helped us up the stairs to our apartment he showed us over to the TV where he had a Google Map of Rome staged. Rapid fire, he gave us the lay of the land: colossal landmarks and sights, restaurants, bars etc.  After 15 minute of a verbal fire hose of information, he realized that we were quite tired and not really tracking anymore… with that he left us to our own devices.

We made our way down to the street where we did not have to wander far before finding a lively restaurant with yummy pizza and a delicious house wine (a Chianti). Then we retired to our beds immediately in an attempt to shake off the jet lag as we prepared for three full days of sightseeing.

The next morning we wandered narrow the narrow cobblestone streets on either side of the Tiber River seeking massive and crumbling Roman ruins, elaborate Renaissance era Cathedrals and spectacular fountains. I wished I had spent some more time brushing up on my world history to provide more context for what we were seeing, but the epic scale and intricate detail of the statues, artwork and architecture was absolutely breathtaking.

What impressed me the most, however, was the character of the town in between all of the glorious monuments. Each shop and restaurant was boutique with a unique charm, with very few chains daring to make an appearance (though we did come across a McDonalds right next to an ancient cathedral which was a distinctively depressing sight).

While hundreds of international tourists clustered around the popular fountains and plazas (piazzas to the Italians), the locals happily mingled at the outside pubs and restaurants late into the evening. One night, Kathleen headed to bed early, and I ventured out on my own with ambitions of seeing some of the famous nightlife firsthand. I made my way across the river to a popular club, getting there ~10pm. When I arrived I was met with a quizzical expression - “the music doesn’t start until 12 you know?” the bartender told me. The place was empty and I didn’t have the energy to stay up – several more hours. Defeated, I guzzled a 7 Euro Heineken in the empty club as the staff set up for the evening and then made my way back across town.

As I wandered through empty narrow alleys and lanes, I soaked in the quiet, unique experience that is Rome in the evening. Then I stumbled on a busy piazza where I enjoyed ridiculously good hamburger with bacon from a little greasy spoon. There I chatted up some local teenage boys who were quite impressed I was from America. One of them had an American flag as their iPhone cover believe it or not. At first, I questioned whether it was an ironic statement, but he assured me “He likes Americans and American things”. Not sure if I feel the same way but right on kid. By the way, what are you doing out at midnight – don’t you have school tomorrow?

After two more days of sightseeing and eating, our legs and stomachs were thoroughly exhausted. We splurged for one final dinner out, we each had a different seafood pasta. Pretty sure the main ingredient in the sauce was butter with a bit of olive oil to loosen it up. We enjoyed another amazing Chianti and with that… we both felt ill and were ready to get the heck out of Rome.. Next stop Greece!

Headin home

I've spent most of August in Moorea in the same anchorage next to the same reef pass called Haapiti. The days kind of all blur together. When there is surf, Dave and I surf. When there's not, well we're bored and we try n find other shit to do. There have been days of mindless perfection, magazine quality barrels. There have been fun days and flat days and too big days and everything in between. My life has been on hold while I've lived out my surf rat fantasy: to jump off a boat and go surf a left hand reef pass as much as possible.

The highlight of the French Polynesia trip thus far was definitely sharing a day of perfect surf with a handful of rippers and the girls from a boat called Swell. Liz Clark is a surfer and UCSB Alum who bought a boat and has singlehanded it all over the South Pacific for the last 10 years or so. She's a cruising celebrity and I'm a fan. She and pro surfer called Lea Brassy dropped anchor a stone's throw from our boat. Dave had more luck chatting up Lea than he did getting waves. Sure enough, he convinced the ladies to join us aboard Tusitala for some dinner and drinks. The evening was tame enough but I still couldn't believe my luck. Here we were, dining with a couple of semi-famous and beautiful surfer girls after a day of epic surf. A dream come true to be sure. After a few days they were on to the next island and we were left with a rainy and empty anchorage. The silence was deafening.

It's been a great experience. I feel truly fortunate to have been granted this opportunity of a lifetime. There are drawbacks to paradise, however. The hours and days and weeks of lonely downtime wore on my sanity. I thought I could use this time to reflect and to gain clarity on my aspirations in life. Instead my mind spun in circles and I became filled with anxiety about mistakes I've made and my uncertain future. My ability to stay present and motivated melted away in the hot tropical sun.

I needed to make a change and to take the next step in life. With NPAC Hurricane season in full swing Dave and I were to be pinned down likely at least through September before being able to make the intended passage to Hawaii. To make matters worse, we were 'flying under the radar' with the authorities and couldn't really risk hanging out in Tahiti proper. The thought of spending 2 more months on anchored of remote islands followed by a big three week passage was daunting. I was already stir-crazy and August had just started. Dave decided to take Tusitala west towards New Zealand and I finally booked my ticket home.

The last nine months abroad have certainly taught me a lot. I learned more about myself than I did about Australia, that's for certain. I have no idea what the future hold in store for me. More adventure, more love and more happiness is what I hope for. Optimism and perseverance is what it will take to achieve those ends. Time has come to get home and get back to work!

Thanks for reading! Til the next adventure... adieu.

Tahiti and Moorea

Hey friends!

It's been over a month since we left Fakarava so I figure it's time for an update! After one last amazing snorkel of the pass in Fakarava we made the 2-day passage to Tahiti. This was my first taste of blue water sailing and I couldn't have asked for a better intro! We had decent (albeit shifty) breeze and reasonable seas the whole way so I didn't get too seasick but I definitely felt it coming on. We landed a nice size skipjack tuna while trolling underway. According to Dave, this fish was surprisingly good eating compared to other skipjack he's caught.

We had a lot of business to handle upon arrival in Papeete, namely bureaucracy, boat work and food shopping. I also got my first taste of Tahitian surf, and more aptly, my first taste of the reef! The wave, called Taapuna, is a dredging lefthand tube. The takeoff is steep and the lip lands in no more than two feet of water over a very sharp coral reef. The local surfers and boogie boarders have it dialed and this is a tough spot to get waves. I paid for the scraps I got with skin and dings to my surfboards. You most definitely have to pay to play around these parts. At least we made time for a post-surf sand-barbeque one fine sunday afternoon. The locals here are about as friendly as they come.

Next we headed down the coast to the infamous slab at Teahupoo. We arrived just in time to witness the best day of the year thus far. The experience was nothing short of spectacular. You can sit in the relative safety of the channel and still feel the spit get blown out of the barrel of these giant perfect waves. The surf was out of my league on this day, fortunately my boards were safely stowed on Tusitala so I couldn't be tempted. I still wanted to get a feel for the lineup so I swam out with my GoPro and got a couple of shots.

The next day most of the crowd had disappeared and there was still some mixed up swell, with the occasional bomb in the water. I knew we were leaving the next day but I needed to have a piece of the action. I gave the beast a paddle. I was scared shitless to be completely honest. It's hard to tell how big a wave is going to be as the swell approaches. The wave drops out below sealevel more than it rises as it breaks. Adding to the intimidation, I was sharing the lineup with pro-grom phenoms Taylor Clark and Jack Robinson and a few other surfers who surfed nearly as well. I scratched around the lineup trying to nab a small one without getting caught inside. After about an hour I finally mustered the courage to get into position and push over the ledge on a smallish one. I aimed my big-wave 6'7 pintail straight down the line and shot like a rocket right to the boats. No barrel, no turns but I didn't care, I was psyched just to get a wave out there. I decided to stop while I was ahead since we needed to get going to the next anchorage.

A few days later we cruised over to the island of Moorea and surfed a much more friendly left-hander at Haapiti. This spot is idyllic, with beautiful mountains and a relatively consistant wave in perfect, clean blue water. We've spent the better part of the last month here surfing ourselves silly. My surfing has definitely improved leaps and bounds; I've never spent this much time at a lefthander before. Surfing a long wave, frontside is a whole new world for me and I've really gotten to practice just the functional fundamentals of riding waves. My timing and positioning has improved, my balance for manuevers etc.

Surfing has been great, but boatlife has it's pro's and con's. The hours and hours of downtime when the surf's not great or it's raining can most definitely can mess with your head. You have all the time in the world to make mountains out of mole-hills and it's important to stay busy and keep the mind occupied lest you go crazay!

Till next time folks!

Pacific Atoll: Fakarava

Hey everybody,

I've spent the last few weeks in Fakarava, an atoll near Tahiti.

But first... I had to leave Australia. I'm not gonna lie, I teared up a little bit on my last day in OZ. Flying out of Sydney and seeing the sea cliffs and the harbor from above just as I did when I arrived last December made me nostalgic. Even if I never make it back, I'll never forget that view. Coming to OZ was a major leap in my life; I booked a one way ticket, I packed just about all my shit worth keeping. I had no idea what to expect. I abandoned the whole life I had built back in the bay area to embark on this no plan journey down under. Sydney looked so beautiful the day I arrived. I was excited about all of the possibilities of the trip. I was excited surf in warm water, go rock climbing, party like an Aussie. Maybe I would land a sweet job and just settle there.

No such luck; the Oz leg of my trip is over. It didn't last as long as perhaps I had hoped but in the end I accomplished just about everything I set out to. I didn't really fall into the job of my dreams and enjoy any of that good Aussie money. Instead I spent most of my savings financing an epic road trip around that giant hunk of land. As far as my 'balance sheet' in life, I'm probably worse off than when I left: I have a lot less money, a big hole in my resume, no job, apartment or girlfriend. I might be in a bit better shape physically but even that is hard to say. All told that's a lot of 'cost' for this trip. But shit, that's life and the journey was incredible and life changing. I'm truly grateful for all of the experiences I had in OZ and especially the people I met along the way.

Now I'm off on the next adventure. After 2 days of air travel and an interesting night spent in the Papeete airport, I arrived on a remote atoll in the Tuamotus Islands called Fakarava. This 'island is actually a sunken volcano that has left behind a ring of sand and coral that is 20 or 30 miles across. The scenery is straight out of a magazine: Lush palm tree's, pink coral sand beaches sitting atop the bluest water on the planet. The island is pristine (apart from the disconcerting amount of plastic that has accumulated on the windward shore).

I touched down in Fakarava on the evening of my second Friday the 13^th in a row. I hitch-hiked into town. I easily spotted Tusitala from shore and knew Dave and Briana must be nearby. I wandered around until I ran into them at a tiny grocery store that sold pricey but refreshing bottles of beer. We knocked a couple back and got all caught up before loading up their dingy with all of my luggage and schlepping it to the boat. It was good to see them and the boat in good condition this far down the road. They have sailed from San Francisco to Costa Rica to the Galapagos to the Marquesas to here. Both Dave and B are salty vets of the cruising game now and have a pretty mean tan going.

I spent the first couple days getting situated and helping with a bit of boat work. Then we did some grocery shopping, I had a nice long run with Dave and we went to a pearl farm which was a cool experience for sure. I learned a lot from an interesting German ex-pat who had been in the pearl farming game since the 70's. Turns out, even with modern techniques, it's difficult to produce a perfect pearl. After getting an in depth rundown of the process, we visited their boutique. The quality of their best pearls was stunning. Given the difficulty to produce these shiny nuggets and their beauty, it's easy to see why they fetch such a premium.

Once we were done with town stuff in the north we set off to the 'South Pass', some 30 miles away at the other end of the island. The passage was smooth sailing on the inside of the atoll with flat water and a nice consistent breeze. There was still some excitement: a nice windy rain squall would pop up here and there; we also had to have somebody on deck keeping an eye out for rogue unmarked coral bommies. Fortunately the water is so clear you can see them from a mile away. Halfway down the island we threw out an anchor near a nice little beach. We paddled ashore and set up a sweet little slack-line between two palms. It was good times, save the mozzies and sandflies that showed up in force at dusk.

The next day we arrived at the pristine anchorage next to the 'South Pass'. The anchorage is protected on one side by a shallow sandbar and then a 'motu' or strip of island on the other. Immediately after dropping anchor we see a couple of small but intimidating fins cruising along the surface. Blacktip sharks. The's fella's aren't particularly dangerous but they can get up to about six feet and they aren't afraid to get close to you (especially if you've speared a fish... more on that in a few).

This place is great and there's no shortage of fun stuff to do. The first day we went to the 'South Pass' to snorkel. The pass itself is a few hundred yards wide gap in the reef. Simply put, the diving and snorkeling here is world-class. We jumped in the water outside the pass and let the current sweep us past a half mile of amazing scenery. The water clarity is stunning: you can see the bottom clearly in 50+ feet of water. The coral is vibrant and colorful, interestingly similar to in appearance but quite different in formation to the Great Barrier Reef. The wildlife, however, was on a whole 'nother level. In the shallows there were a brilliant array of reef fish of various sizes; this was a very healthy and colorful ecosystem to be sure. Towards the center of the channel is where things got interesting. There were dozens of massive schools of fish, swimming in unison, avoiding predators etc. Oh and the predators... laying in wait on the inside of the pass were dozens and dozens of sizable sharks who were having a grand time snacking on the fish passing by. We also saw a couple of big barracudas, which were both odd looking and intimidating at the same time.

Seeing all of this fish made us hungry. Dave was keen to put his sweet spearfishing rig to use. We spoke with some locals about where was good hunting and which fish were good to eat (many fish are contaminated with algae called siguetera). They told us to avoid the pass because it was too sharky and pointed us in the direction of a few bommies inside the atoll. We cruised over, suited up and jumped in. Spearfishing, as it turns out, is really good fun. It goes like this: You snorkel around and look for a good fish to shoot. You hold your breath and dive down deep while trying to relax and equalize the pressure sinus's with the depth as you go. Then you try and sneak up on the fish by hiding behind coral heads, playing dead etc. Then, if you're lucky and you get close enough, you shoot the fish in the head. Now's the fun part... within seconds there will be a half dozen or more sharks worked into a frenzy vying to get a nibble of your kill. At this point you can either, hold the spear and fish out of the water, which confuses the sharks since they don't know where the dying fish went. Or you can swim like hell to the dinghy trailing the speargun and fish with a long leash so that at least if all hell breaks loose with the sharks you are a little ways away. Most times I chose the latter.

For the most part our spearfishing was successful and uneventful. Unfortunately, on one occasion, I was a little over aggressive with my free-dive and didn't equalize properly which resulted in a bit of a bloody nose. I was fine, but this meant I needed to give the freediving and spearfishing a rest. Good thing the wind kicked up for the next couple of days. At long last, on borrowed gear, I was able to give kiteboarding a try for the first time. This is something that I've been wanting to do for ages, and now that I've done it, I just want to do it more. The first day went surprisingly well. After 10 minutes of getting dragged around by the kite in no particular direction and swallowing a lot of saltwater, I found myself skimming across the water, in near silence, at breakneck speeds!! My sailing speed record is officially shattered, I musta been going 20 knots. I haven't quite figured out how to ride on port tack since I'm terrible at surfing with my left foot forward. On day two I got a little carried away on starboard and ended up a mile or two downwind in the atoll and had to be scooped up by Dave and our other friends in the dingy.

All in all our time in Fakarava was amazing. We hung out with other cruisers on the beach and barbequed our fresh fish, crabs, konks etc. We did loads of fun activities. Dave and I played lots of chess. I also had ample opportunity to reflect on my previous trip and my life in general. I was tremendously grateful for the change in scenery. Next stop: Tahiti!! Stay tuned :)