Sailing FAQ

A question which frequently has our skippers grinding their teeth! :). We will always sail when it is logistically possible; it’s what we love too, after all.

But at times, when sitting in a calm harbour, it’s hard to tell what the conditions are like outside; so sometimes, we just plain don’t know until we get out there.

There are other factors which influence the decision too; eg, if the wind happens to be coming from exactly where we want to go….. it could take an age to get there, tacking backwards and forwards. If there’s no time constraints, and the distance isn’t too long – then sure, let’s get that team-tacking on! But if, for example, someone is getting miserably seasick – we’re not hanging around taking twice the time to get there; we’ll motor-sail as the fastest way to get to port.

Luckily, that’s actually rare; what is common however, is that we DO need to get a good dock space at our next destination. In most places, it’s first-come, first-served; there’s no reserving spaces. With just a few little spots, where the local families have say over who gets space on their dock / buoy; they’ll keep us space. But in most places, docks are public property and if we want to be sure of a spot, we can’t arrive too late.

Plus – this isn’t a full-on sail training trip; it’s a vacation where people also want to explore the islands, to experience the culture and meet the locals. If you’re a die-hard sailor who wants to sail from dawn till dusk, we’re not the right outfit for you. We keep the best balance we can with what each group /individual wants to do – our itineraries are not set in stone, and our skippers always go with the flow of what suits the group best. We sail when it’s practical and fun to do so; when other factors kick in, then sometimes we’ll need to motor.

Look over our sample itinerary for your trip… then forget it! One of the best things about the sailing lifestyle is its flexibility; if everyone decides that they’d like to do something different, stay somewhere longer – as long as it’s logistically possible, we do!

If you have particular requests, let the skipper know and we’ll do our best to juggle everyone’s preferences and modify the itinerary to suit. Sometimes the weather gods may decide for us – the skippers will often modify the itinerary to take advantage of good conditions (or hide from bad ones!).

Please understand that the skipper’s decision on such safety-related issues is final. As part of our insurance / charter licence conditions, we are not allowed to leave port in winds of Force 6, nor if such a forecast is imminent. (And anyway – this is a fun vacation, not a time to show off anyone’s sailing machismo!)

For our sailing newbies, please also be aware that we will sail whenever it’s sensibly possible….but there are times when it is just not practical. Eg, if we are heading directly into the wind, it’s blowing 25 knots, and we have 20 miles to go. What would normally be a 4 hour passage could turn into 8 hours, if we try to tack the whole way. Likewise, if we’re cruising along in the afternoon at a lovely, mellow 2 knots…. but we still have 15 miles to go, and we know there is limited space when we arrive. Nope, dock reservations don’t exist here! The solution? Get up early and let’s get moving!! More time on the water, more time to explore the next spot. Our skippers are always happy to get going early.

As a brief summary – the sailing season in the Med runs from around mid/late May to end of Oct. Generally, Turkey is warmer early and late season than Greece; and there is even a small difference between eg, our Dodecanese islands and the more northern Greek island groups.

The winds roughly follow the pattern of the temperature; they are strongest when the season is at it’s hottest; late july/Aug.

Not at all ! We get a huge range of experience onboard – from old salts who’ve been sailing for decades, to people whose closest experience has been floating a rubber duckie in their bathtub.

Total newbies – if you’d like to learn – great! We love when people are enthusiastic to get into sailing. But if chilling on the foredeck with a good book is more your plan, that’s fine too. However, we do expect that if you’ve chosen an active trip like this, that you’ll get involved in the pitch-in, team spirit onboard. If chilling and doing absolutely nothing is your idea of vacation heaven – you’d be much happier on a cruise ship.

For you guys & gals who are experienced sailors already – our skippers are MORE than happy to let you take the helm and tweak the sails as much as you like! And perhaps pass on some tips like how the infamous “Med mooring” works….so you too can look cool as a cucumber as you glide in stern-to, whilst total pandemonium breaks out elsewhere :).

Basically, if you come packing a sense of adventure, humour, and team spirit – yay! You’ve found the right page.

Yes, it happens sometimes. If you know that you are susceptible to motion sickness, we can give you plenty of tips on getting around this. Meclazine, scop patches, wrist bands, ginger… different remedies work for different people. The most effective sea-sickness cure is getting on the helm. Seriously!

For some people, it’s smart to stay up on deck for the first day; after that, we find that the vast majority of people acclimatise and are just fine. If you get sick on planes, trains, automobiles and said duckponds… it might not be your best choice.

Our trips are meant as vacations, not sail-training – so we do our best to balance out about half a day on the water, half a day with time to explore ashore.

In the Med, the distances tend to be shorter; 3-4 hrs sailing time would be an average. We generally get up and out early in the morning, giving us plenty of time to sail – then time ashore later in the day. When it gets busy, it’s a great policy to be “out first, in first” – to get the best spots on the dock!