Answers to all your questions

Never been on sailboat in your life? Don’t worry, you won’t be our first guest whose prior experience has been paddling round a duckpond.

If you love the water, being outdoors, getting away from the crazy crowds – chances are you’ll take to sailing like a duck to….um, a duckpond!

If you have a gregarious, team-spirited nature – you’ll love the social aspect of our shareboats. Our sailors often go from initial strangers to friends-for-life.

Please make sure that you are fully aware of the “cosy” space on sailboats. If you’ve never been aboard a yacht before, look closely at some interior photos of boats – and not ones taken with a super wide-angle lens!

Do be aware also that although you don’t need to be an athlete – sailboats need a reasonable level of physical agility. You need to be able to climb in and out of dinghies, navigate often narrow gangplanks, etc.

In short, if you thrive on adventurous new experiences, would prefer a family-owned pension to the Hilton, love the sun and the sea – you’re at great risk of falling in love with sailing. We feel it is only fair to issue a warning: Sailboat addiction is a chronic, incurable condition. You’ll never get over it.

You don’t need to be an athlete or a yogi to enjoy our trips. We’re very laid-back and cruise-y; we’re not out to win races nor battle 30 knot blows.

But you do need the balance and agility to climb in and out of a dinghy; on our Med trips – you’ll need to cross from the boat to the shore via a fairly narrow gangplank.

If you’re super-keen but not sure on this score – don’t be overly intimidated, just chat to us about it. We’ve had people onboard with conditions one would think a definite sailing no-no – and they have been wonderful!

A quick note on CPAP machines – these can be a challenge to a sailboat’s electrical supply; pls be sure to talk to us about this if it’s an essential for you.

Very few! That’s our whole philosophy of “No Surprise Extras”. In general, if it’s on the boat – it’s included. If it’s ashore – it’s not.

In the Med, our trips are mostly skipper-only – so we provide the provisions for breakfasts & lunches, and everyone pitches in to help. Dinners are always ashore in little local tavernas. A cook/first mate is sometimes available; this is at an extra cost.

In Thailand & the Philippines – we have amazing cooks onboard; they take care of all breakfasts & lunches. Dinners are usually half the time on the boat, half the time ashore. All meals on the boat can also be arranged.

The only other spending money you’ll need is for land activities; eg in the Med, you might rent scooters, jeeps, do some of the guided historic tours, etc. In Thailand, how could anyone resist those massages-on-the-beach! These costs are still all very reasonable, however.

Of course, if you decide to go hit the town and get into expensive cocktails, this will clock up a few extra $$s. Though all things are relative: you probably couldn’t spend as much on a night on the town as you would at home, even if you tried!

Note: There are a few dangerously enticing shopping spots; eg, Turkish bazaars, Thai markets… even those who claim to “hate shopping” have been known to sneak back to the boat with armfuls of goodies. You have been warned.

We don’t take kids on our shareboat trips. Sorry, parents – but an onboard mix of supposed grown-ups being “big kids” and the real variety don’t mix 🙂 We also get a lot of folks who’ve deliberately left their kids home for a break, who would be mightily unimpressed to find others on the boat.

However – if you charter one of our boats for your own family – no problem! As a private charter, we can create a totally “kid-friendly” itinerary. We do advise against bringing younger kids (under 5/6 or so) – it won’t be exactly a relaxing vacation for mom & dad unless the kids are already “boat trained”.

If you’d really like to bring your kid(s) with you and love the social aspect of shareboating – we are often able match up compatible families to share one of our bigger boats. Or perhaps you are travelling as a solo parent travelling with your kids/teens and would like everyone to have some more varied age interaction. Just drop us a line, we might know a perfectly matched family out there who’d love to share the adventure with you!

On a sailboat, attitude comes before age. One recent 73yr-old newbie sailor was helming in 25 knots within a couple of days and having an absolute blast!

We do need to emphasize the physical agility aspect here (but that’s not necessarily age-related!).  See the FAQ note on “physical fitness”. If you’re a sailboat newbie and unsure, just talk to us!

We at SeaScape do not arrange flights ourselves. To get the best deals requires full-time attention to the airlines, and that’s not our area of specialisation. Of course, we are always here for advice on the best route to research, local connections/ferries etc.

Transfers
We can always help with arranging taxi rides at the end of a trip – we have lots of great local contacts for this. Meeting arrival flights – it depends on which destination. We have detailed notes on all this.

Hotels
We have several which have been longtime favourites with our SeaScapers; more notes available on this. We don’t book these directly, but we can certainly point you in the right direction!

It has always been our very, very strong recommendation to take out travel insurance.

Some “soft adventure” companies have long made it mandatory; we do not want to be dictatorial,  but our realistic point of view is that you never know what will happen, whether it’s for personal reasons or things happening in the world that make you change your travel plans. Therefore our very VERY strong recommendation is to get a travel insurance.

The optimal travel insurance is “Cancel For Any Reason”.  It does mean literally that – because you had a bad week at work, or you broke a fingernail. But you must take this out very soon after paying your first deposit –  between 7-21 days (policy dependent). Please be sure to read all the small print; policies can differ widely. It is more expensive than other options, but in our experience during the Covid pandemic to name an example, they were the policies that paid out in the end.

Before contemplating washing your undies out on the boat – please check on the water situation first! You’re likely to become considerably unpopular with your crewmates if we run out of water for showers ‘cos someone’s done laundry at an inappropriate time. The best laundry day is obviously when we’re on a dock with water at hand. Check in with your skipper when the next watering place will be.

There are services along the way in both Greece and Turkey where you can have your laundry done for you. Prices are reasonable. Again, your skipper can let you know where.

We think it’s great if people want to get involved, learn about the boat, sailing, and generally be part of an active team. If one of your objectives coming on this trip is to learn about or improve your sailing – we’re more than happy to teach you.

But, we realise it’s not everyone’s goal… so, if spreading your towel on deck and lying out with a good book is your plan – that’s fine too. Our skippers will need some extra pairs of hands to help dock the boat, but you don’t need to be full-on tweaking sails if that doesn’t float your boat.

We do, however, expect that everyone will contribute in some way to the team spirit – if you wanted to just lie by a pool and have cocktails served to you, we assume you’d be on a cruise ship.

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.

Paul your skipper has a cellphone, and we’re in range 95% of the time. In the places with a weak signal for voice, we can usually still pick up SMS or email. If someone needs to contact you urgently, try the skippers’ cellphones first. Other than that every island has good signal once we’re close to shore.

Artemis will be connected with Wifi system, but it may not work when we are in some remote anchorages. Wifi is Available readily at most local establishments; buy a coffee or beer, and you’re online! At the tavernas that we frequent, of course they are happy for us to use their wifi for free, and power also for your devices if needed. Most days, there will be somewhere to get online.

If it’s important to stay connected more frequently and easily than having to make a shore expedition – it’s easy to get a local SIM card for your smartphone / tablet, and sign up for a data package. This is best done at the airport when you arrive. Make sure you do activate a package. Without a data plan, your credit will burn up within hours. It would be worth checking also with your own provider; many have international roaming packages with a data component.

Again, be careful not to use data roaming with your home provider unless you have a package activated! Roaming on a contract deal otherwise can run up seriously scary bills. Our skippers do have wifi packages on their own smartphones, and yes you are welcome to use these connections in an emergency. Please don’t ask to use their data allowance for anything that’s not important, however. The limits are not huge in Greece, and run out real fast with potentially 8 people downloading!

Our boats run on 12v DC, which means that charging small items like phones & camera batteries is not a problem. We have plug converters which will supply USB sockets. However, with the explosion of digital gadgetry in recent years – it can be hard to keep up! We can keep your essentials powered, but there might be times that charging everyone’s laptop at the same time just isn’t going to happen. There are a few ports which shore power on the dock is available, and we plug the boats in whenever possible. If that’s not possible – there is always the backup of taking your device ashore with you, and plugging into our local friends’ tavernas.

Mains (AC) gadgets like hairdryers which consume a large amount of power simply won’t run on sailboat electrics – if every day is a bad hair day for you, try one of the butane curling tongs. Likewise, coffee makers, toasters, other such devices which require mains power don’t work on a sailboat 12v DC supply. Think of it as running devices from your car battery – that’s the type of power we’re working on.

The standard Greek/Turkish electrical outlet is the small round 2pin one and is 220-240v.

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.

In SE Asia – the best time to be in our cruising grounds (Phuket, the Philippines) is the northern hemisphere winter. From late Nov to late May is the dry season in Phuket; in the Philippines, their sailing season lasts a little longer. It IS possible to sail in both places in the “shoulder” season, before the main monsoon rains set in; be prepared for short, sharp downpours; but it can still be lovely sunny and warm weather inbetween.

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.

Experienced sailors, you can skip this bit!  You already know the pros and cons of living aboard. For our newbies – think of a sailboat as a floating RV home.  Basic resources like water and electricity must be used conservatively; storage space is at a premium. Someone once described sailboat toilets as “upright coffins” – yep, that’s about right!

So even though our 50-55′ yachts are big in cruising yacht terms, they are still a “cosy” shared space, where consideration for others is paramount. For those with an easy-going and gregarious nature, the way that group dynamics develop so fast on a sailboat is a wonderful experience; people often go home with friends-for-life.  If you are someone who needs a lot of their own “space”  (physically and/or mentally) – this may not be the trip for you.

Our favourite description of sailing comes from one of our guests: “It’s like camping on the water”.  Very upmarket camping for sure; but if this concept appeals to you, rather than the comforts of a plush hotel – you’ll be around like-minded people who love nature, adventure, and the team spirit that grows from such an environment.

With space being at a premium, most sailboats are configured with double cabins. Some are double beds, some can be bunkbeds or twins.

Some cabins have en suite heads (= toilet/shower), some are shared facilities.

Our shareboat prices are based on 2 people sharing a double cabin; single occupancy is sometimes available at 1.5 times the regular price.

If you are chartering the boat with your own group – it’s totally up to you how you sort out cabin arrangements!

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.

We provide a “starter supply” of drinks to kick off the first couple of evenings’ Happy Hours – beer, wine, a few rounds of gin n’ tonics, etc.  After that, it’s up to you to BYO whatever you’d like to drink onboard.  There’s plenty of opportunities to grab stuff in Leros before we leave, or during the trip on the bigger islands. We’ll also have a supply onboard which you can buy from us at cost price.

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.

We have a detailed “suggested packing list” in the longer, PDF form of these FAQs; but basically – as little as possible!   Sailboat life is very clothing-casual; shorts, t-shirts, swimsuits are what you’ll mostly be living in.  In early/late season, some long pants and a jacket for the evenings at times.

There are some specific suggestions, like waterproof protection for expensive devices – much as we like to appease Poseidon, we don’t want to offer him too many digital sacrifices.

One item NOT to bring – any huge, hard-sided luggage. Everything you bring goes in your cabin, so unless you want to share your bed with said suitcase, bring something squish-able. For trips starting and ending in our home bases, we can store extra luggage at our house.

Our “sample itineraries” here on the website are just that – please don’t get too attached to them, like a train schedule!

One of the greatest things about being on a sailboat is the flexibility to change our minds and our route to suit personal preferences, prevailing wind conditions, etc. The start and finish points are fixed, of course – but all else is changeable according to the whims of the wind gods and those on board!

A good point!  A 50’+ boat is still a very small space if you don’t get on with your crewmates. But — the fact is that 95% of the time, everyone on board gets on just great, and ends up really good friends. How come??

1) A very effective self-selection process! By definition, anyone who would choose an adventure vacation like this generally is an independent, flexible type, with a sociable spirit. In our experience, anyone who reads these notes and thinks “Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun!” usually turns out to be a pretty cool person themselves…

2) Just to be QUITE sure – not only do we have these very in-depth notes, but we also chat to all our potential sailors on email and/or on the phone before they book. We DO tell anyone who we don’t think is really suited that they should reconsider. We’re not doing anyone any favours by not being totally candid about this.

Obviously, we can’t make any guarantees you’ll love all your crewmates, but our success rate is pretty amazingly high  (check in with TripAdvisor and Facebook reviews from our previous shareboaters !).

We know extremely well how important group dynamics are, and we always try to create compatible groups.  For instance, we would not put a group of partying 20-30yrs olds together with eg, a 60yr old couple celebrating an anniversary trip.

We care about this a whole lot, ‘cos as most of our boats are owner/skippered, we’re there onboard with you!

Being a small, personal company, we are able to get to know most of our sailors individually – you are never “just one more number on a booking form” to us.

Firstly, what it’s emphatically NOT about is any kind of “dating deal”.  Our mostly singles groups are aimed at people who eg, are travelling solo or with a friend, and want to share the adventure with others who are keen to connect socially.

When we say “mostly” singles…. sometimes we get couples who also want to be with a very sociable group – even they don’t want to be all “couple-y”! So they are still a great match for the active dynamics of these groups.

Sometimes, in the early planning stages of a season’s schedule, we will nominate certain dates within a season to be “Mostly Singles”.

But actually more often, groups will develop their own momentum. All it takes is say, a couple of solo travellers to book early on a shareboat, and then of course, we’ll be sure to highlight these dates to other interested solo travellers with whom we are talking.

These trips often go from one boat with just those first few to jump in the deep end, and expand to 2 or 3 boat “sail in company” trips – cos now everyone who wants a lively, active trip will jump right on board too!

That’s what our crew “match-making” is all about! We’ll always give you the lowdown on the current guest composition of a trip, so you won’t ever end up unknowingly as the odd-one-out with eg, a family & kids!

We also send out “group intros” to our shareboat groups, so that everyone can introduce themselves and share a little of their background before the trip – a great ice-breaker when you’re travelling solo.

It’s also a chance to team up with other travellers before the trip – eg, to share taxis rides, swap info on hotels, or just have a pre-trip beer with some crewmates-to-be.

Our shareboat prices are based on two people sharing a cabin; and no, there is no single supplement in this case.

Because of the necessarily compact design of sailboats, most cabins are doubles. Some are double beds, some are bunk beds or twin singles. We get lots of solo travellers, and most are happy to have a cabin-mate (don’t worry, we won’t put you “in the same bed” with someone of the opposite sex 🙂

If you’d really prefer to have a cabin to yourself – on most trips, we are able to offer that option, at a cost of 1.5x the regular price.

There are some trips (especially our “one-off” exploratory trips, where we rent boats from other owners) when we’re not able to offer this option.

Just check in with us for any particular trip you’re interested in, and we can give you the options.

It doesn’t get much safer!

First of all, you get an instant friend-group to explore new places and experiences with. If you want to go off on your own, that’s fine too –  if you get lost or whatever, the locals know us so well, they’ll  take you home to the boat 🙂

Secondly, our skippers are not there just to sail the boat. They are your go-to people for everything – whether it’s keeping an eye on boat dynamics (is that guy bugging you?) to “What’s appropriate to wear to the monastry / the beach bar / the Turkish baths, etc?”

We advise the usual caution when transiting through the bigger cities;   keep your street-smarts about you there. But in general, the places we have chosen as our favourite cruising grounds are very low-risk for solo women travellers. Sure, the Greek & Turkish guys may well try to chat you up; but if you make it clear you’re not interested – they’re fine and still totally friendly.  All of us female SeaScape team members feel a whole lot “safer” here than we would in our home “First World” countries!

Want to bring your own group of friends or family? Great !  We can customise a trip for you which suits your pace and places you’d like to go.

That’s within logistical reason, of course – sailing from Athens to Crete to Istanbul in one week isn’t going to happen! When you are looking at distances, allow around 5 knots as an average sailboat speed. (Although not strictly accurate, think of a knot as “a mile per hour”).

In the Med, our usual trip duration is a week; for Greece AND Turkey, we really need around 10 days to make it worthwhile with the extra paperwork and distances.  Sometimes we are able to offer shorter trips (only within Greece).

In SE Asia, our trip duration is more flexible. Eg, our shareboat trips in Thailand are 8 days; and this is our favourite timeframe, to fit in all the best spots. But if you’d like something different – just drop us a line and ask!

Kids on board on a private charter?  No problem!  It can be a great learning experience for the whole family.  But we would recommend a minimum age of around 5-6 yrs old unless your kid(s) – and you – are already used to sailboat life.  Otherwise, it’s unlikely to be exactly a “relaxing” vacation for the parents…

The best time to sail in Greece and Turkey is between late May and late Oct.

Earlier in the season is possible, but those glorious sunny-all-day Med conditions are not guaranteed; we can still get some dodgy weather early in May.  The Turkish season tends to extend a little later than Greece; it stays warm and calm longer, the “lights-off” time for most tourist businesses in Turkey is Oct 30.  In Greece, conditions can be a little unpredictable late in Oct (but it can still be a great time to sail, for those who hate crowds!)

Winds – the typical meltemi pattern of summer winds tends to follow the temperature.  It blows the strongest in mid-summer, and is calmer in early and late season.  In some parts of Greece (notably the Ionian), it’s a nice, predictable afternoon breeze; anywhere mid-Aegean or further east, forget any such reliability – the meltemi will blow when it feels like it!

For Greece,  most nationalities do not need a visa.  One notable exception is South Africa, where you must apply in advance. If you at all in doubt, pls check with your local Greek embassy.  Most non-EU residents get an automatic 3 month visa-on-entry.

Turkey – most nationalities do need a visa, but it is a very simple online process.  The cost varies according which nationality you are, usually from around 15 euros to sometimes up to 50 euros.  The most common is around 20 euros.

Please note, your passport must be valid for 6 months AFTER your overseas travel is completed.

One of our reasons for choosing the Dodecanese as our home base is that we get Turkey as our next door neighbour.  So we get to sail in both countries,  a wonderful variety!

However, just because we are so geographically close does not mean that we can simply zig-zag between countries (if only!). One still has to go through customs procedures, and this can only be done at certain Ports of Entry.  Still, it’s a whole lot easier to take our own floating home between countries, rather than messing around with bags, queues and customs officials, as you would on a ferry.

However, it still takes our skippers time to deal with paperwork, hence our usual suggestion of 10 days or so as an ideal timeframe.  (Two weeks is even nicer, if you have the vacation time !).

Most of our “combo” trips start and end in Greece, cruising the Turkish coastline in the middle of the itinerary.

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!

In SE Asia, the distances are sometimes longer – there will be some days when we might sail 5-6 hours to get to somewhere particularly spectacular. Most of our boats here are wide, spacious catamarans, with plenty of shaded space to spread out – so the extra time on the water isn’t exactly hard to take :).

Int’l driving licences

motorbikes licences

12v unless we are on shore power

Great question! We’ll go through that when you get here, but for now it’s enough to know that it gets exciting at times, especially when the crosswind gets up. It’s worth it in the end though, and we always celebrate with something cold when we’re done!

25 euros per dinner will get you a ton of food, and about as much wine as it’s possible to drink.

We have a whole section on that right here!

But basically, if it’s on the boat – it’s covered; if it’s ashore – it’s up to you.

25 euros per dinner will get you a ton of food, and about as much wine as it’s possible to drink.