Not that long ago, I reached out to my mailing list. As I often say, it’s a huge responsibility to have readers; that said, this travel blog is more about the people reading it and less about me. I have asked the people following the blog about what would they like to see in the future. More than 90% asked for even more travelogues in the style of the Letters to Barbara, but there were quite a few that asked me for pure photographic reports too. In other words, more photos, less text. Today, I’m uploading for the first time such a post, called Ferry Tales.
The photos that you are going to see are from my summer 2019 vacation. I have visited (once again) Anafi, and I thought of taking pictures -mainly- of the people traveling with the ferry to the island. Hence, the Ferry Tales photo project was born. I have to underline here that the ferry connections to Anafi are really bad: there are just a couple of ferries per week, and sometimes the boats won’t even reach Anafi. No, it’s not because of bad weather, which would have been, of course, understandable. It’s a matter of profit. Yes, you got that right. I hope that in the future, the Greek state will care more about the remote islands like Anafi.
The most loyal ferry visiting the island is Prevelis. It is a very old ferry making it the perfect setting for a photo-series called Ferry Tales. According to the locals, it’s forty years old, but it always arrives in Anafi, sometimes against all the odds. I have traveled several times in the past with Prevelis, and I can’t complain about it. Indeed, its interior is dated, but I always find it perfectly safe and fine.
This year, the sea was really rough. Strong winds were reaching up locally to 8 points on the Beaufort scale, but the mighty old ferry handled the journey pretty well. I tried to walk as much as possible and gather some material from the journey. I decided to take candid photos of the passengers and also a few of the ferry itself. So, I’ll let the photos do the talking. I hope you’ll enjoy the “journey.”
As always, I took all the photos with the Ricoh GR ii camera and edited them with my Ricoh GR ii Lightroom Presets.
Ferry tales: People on a slow journey
The previous night, the boats in Greece were not allowed to travel due to the extreme wind, which reached more than 130 km/h. Apparently, the journey was really slow, and some of the people got really dizzy. Fortunately, others enjoyed the trip—even though one could detect a certain degree of melancholy in their eyes.
Now and then, I’d take my camera, and I’d walk around the interior. Most of the seats were empty -but one could always stare at the sea.
Once in a while, I spotted lonesome travelers lost in their thoughts. They usually stood in front of a window, looking at the sea.
The Prevelis ferry has several floors and a couple of cafes inside. The day I traveled, it wasn’t full at all, and bored men were the norm.
Some passengers didn’t care about the sea. The televisions were already turned on, and for some, the TV was way more attractive than the sea.
At times I felt I was traveling on a ghost boat. I would walk dozens of meters without meeting anybody, and I could observe the details of that old ferry.
Some of the empty spots looked prime. Whenever I was finding a totally empty room, I was sitting there for a while. It was really peaceful but somehow sad at the same time.
The sea was everywhere. I couldn’t have enough of it, and I took several photos.
Of course, some of the people had to work. For example, a man was cleaning the stairs. Trust me, it’s harder than you think: there are lots of floors on that old ferry.
He deserved a better photo—or at least one that presented the landscape. What you see out of the windows is the island of Santorini.
Midway to Anafi, the sea started to be really rough. It might not be that obvious from the photos, but the truth is that you could hardly walk. I thought of checking the deck and having a cigarette.
I tried to have a closer look. Even though I was on the 4th floor of the ferry, I was sprayed by the sea. It was challenging to hold myself, and it was slippery. The wind was strong, and the sea got even rougher.
As we approached Anafi, the sea became calmer. I went to the other side of the deck, and I saw people enjoying the journey. There was a couple who had probably slept during the journey in one of the cabins. The man had brought his pillow outside on the deck and kept trying to make himself comfortable.
Soon, they stood up and tried to enjoy the view. Anafi was almost visible from the deck of Prevelis. The island of Pachia (it means “The Fat one”) appeared. It was shortly before noon, and the sun was intense. It’s always challenging to take photos under such a harsh light.
Soon, the captain announced that we were arriving in Anafi. I left the deck and went downstairs. Just a bunch of people would disembark at Anafi. Two people were looking at the island, and they seemed emotional. I can’t tell if they were locals or not. Out of the window and on the very top, the whitewashed houses of the Chora of Anafi appeared.
Moments later, the small port of Anafi appeared through the windows of Prevelis. A few tourists, a bunch of locals, and the Monolith of Anafi in the background welcomed us.
I had some beautiful days in Anafi. Once again, I’ve written a travelogue, I enjoyed the landscape, I hiked to Kalamiotissa Monastery, and I swam for hours every single day. But all nice things come to an end. After two weeks, I had to take the way back. It was an early morning catamaran, starting at 6 am, that took me away from the island. It was pitch black, and only midway to Santorini, I started seeing some daylight. I exited the Andros Jet and starred at Anafi.
The light was sweet. However, I wasn’t in the mood for more photos; I was one of the melancholic passengers now. But then, I saw a lady looking out of the windows. We could still see Anafi, and yet we were already daydreaming of it. I took a couple of photos.
Then, I returned back to my seat, closed my eyes, and slept. When I woke up, Anafi was not there anymore. And that’s how the ferry tales usually end.
More Greek islands guides: Anafi, Astypalaia, Sikinos, Schinoussa, Donoussa
More Greek guides: Itineraries for a week in Greece, Greek Ferries guide, Greek islands on a budget guide
*Get my FREE Travel Writing Course*
Pin it for later
Sharing is caring. Share the Ferry Tales: People on a Slow Journey with your friends.
Last Updated on April 16, 2024 by George Pavlopoulos
Great photos. And what an ornate old ferry boat. Am wondering how to fit in Anafi on my trip next year. No real options heading from Crete. What do you think?
– Michael
Hello, dear Michael,
Well, you can definitely reach Anafi from Crete! You will actually travel on that ferry! I think it reaches Anafi once or even twice per week from Crete. Therefore, it’s totally doable, but just keep in mind that Anafi is not very well connected: that said, allow a couple of days in Anafi and don’t be on a very tight schedule. There’s always a chance of losing a ferry from Anafi (sometimes they don’t reach the island at all). But as I said above, you can definitely reach Anafi from Crete. If my memory serves me well (I didn’t travel on this specific route), the Prevelis ferry leaves from Herakleion in Crete. But please cross-check that. A piece of final advice: the Prevelis ferry (the one in the photos) will always travel to and from Anafi, even with bad weather; try to avoid the catamarans though: these are high-speed boats that depend a lot on the weather. The Aegean Sea is known for strong winds, and the catamarans cannot make the journey. Plan everything with Prevelis, and you will be just fine. Hope I helped a bit 🙂