Sicily sea kayak synposium - The Aeolian Islands

The Aeolian islands are truly beautiful and are made up of 7. We were staying for the first 4 days on Volcano, were a number of day and half day sessions, from fun and balance with Barry and Justine http://www.cackletv.com/ Greenland rolling with Cherry and Turner (they were flown over from the states) http://www.kayakways.net/ 3 star training and assessment with me, yoga for paddling, navigation, food for paddlers and a walk up Volcano, which is active and much more. Food was great, although in true Sicilian style often after 2100 :(

This photo was taken just out side the hotel and the days of the symposium were very calm.

Following the symposium the tour then commenced which was a four day paddle, from Volcano to Lipari and camping at a static site, then on Salena for a camp on the beach and then on to Stromboli and a camp close to the harbour. Lipari's West coast was stunning with many caves, a few arches and pillars.

Paddling with so many people was quite stunning and it was all very well organised with front and back markers who kept in contact by radio, plus we also had a support boat.

Paddling in such warm water was fantastic, with a swim at lunch time, a great way to cool down.

Here we have Stomboli in the distance, which was one of the longer crossings of around 3 hours and a super sea state! A couple of people used trolleys to transport there sea kayaks on to the ferry's that run between the islands, so they could then paddle around an island without having to undertake a crossing.

Thanks to Justine for the photos of Sonja and my self.

Sadly my camera then worked no more, so the highlight of the trip was seeing Stromboli in action and I really mean, it was very impressive but no camera! Hopefully over the next week or so Ill follow up on a link and be able to share some impressive active Volcano shots.

So all in all a super and varied symposium, in an amazing setting, great food and well organised by Gianfranco and Francessco of Maremotu http://maremotu.it/ two super guys.