Ionian Flotilla tips
Discussion
So we've finally put a long term aspiration in place and booked a flotilla in the Ionian for me, the wife, and the kids (12 years old) for the summer.
I've done a reasonable amount of sailing around the South Coast, but never as skipper. I've got my day skipper, wife has got her competent crew, kids have done some dinghy sailing. We've booked a skipper to help us get into the swing of things for a few days, but once we're comfortable with the boat, mooring etc. I'm expecting we'll be going solo.
And hints and tips? I'm hoping to get a balance between getting the kids involved and doing some decent sailing (which might mean not just point and shoot to the next destination) , but also not making it all about the sailing by including snorkeling, swimming, seeing the islands, tavernas etc...
I've done a reasonable amount of sailing around the South Coast, but never as skipper. I've got my day skipper, wife has got her competent crew, kids have done some dinghy sailing. We've booked a skipper to help us get into the swing of things for a few days, but once we're comfortable with the boat, mooring etc. I'm expecting we'll be going solo.
And hints and tips? I'm hoping to get a balance between getting the kids involved and doing some decent sailing (which might mean not just point and shoot to the next destination) , but also not making it all about the sailing by including snorkeling, swimming, seeing the islands, tavernas etc...
Mave said:
So we've finally put a long term aspiration in place and booked a flotilla in the Ionian for me, the wife, and the kids (12 years old) for the summer.
I've done a reasonable amount of sailing around the South Coast, but never as skipper. I've got my day skipper, wife has got her competent crew, kids have done some dinghy sailing. We've booked a skipper to help us get into the swing of things for a few days, but once we're comfortable with the boat, mooring etc. I'm expecting we'll be going solo.
And hints and tips? I'm hoping to get a balance between getting the kids involved and doing some decent sailing (which might mean not just point and shoot to the next destination) , but also not making it all about the sailing by including snorkeling, swimming, seeing the islands, tavernas etc...
I really love sailing that area, done maybe 5 or so trips over the years. My favorite three areI've done a reasonable amount of sailing around the South Coast, but never as skipper. I've got my day skipper, wife has got her competent crew, kids have done some dinghy sailing. We've booked a skipper to help us get into the swing of things for a few days, but once we're comfortable with the boat, mooring etc. I'm expecting we'll be going solo.
And hints and tips? I'm hoping to get a balance between getting the kids involved and doing some decent sailing (which might mean not just point and shoot to the next destination) , but also not making it all about the sailing by including snorkeling, swimming, seeing the islands, tavernas etc...
- vathy in meganissi
- kastos town on kastos
- fiskardo on kefalonia (you will have to get in there before 4pm as it gets rammed
tuscan_raider said:
I really love sailing that area, done maybe 5 or so trips over the years. My favorite three are
- vathy in meganissi
- kastos town on kastos
- fiskardo on kefalonia (you will have to get in there before 4pm as it gets rammed
Thanks - vathy in meganissi
- kastos town on kastos
- fiskardo on kefalonia (you will have to get in there before 4pm as it gets rammed
What happens if you're busy sailing and don't get in? Is it a case of anchoring off and getting the equivalent of a local river taxi, or do you end up needing to go around the coast to less popular spots?
Thinking about it a bit more
- Ithaka has some cool ruins you can walk to from the port
- for a quiet night (there is no marina and only occasionally a taverna) - Port Leone...and up the hill there is and old church and a nice view
- Vasiliki on the southern edge of Levkas - walk East up to amazing tavernas away from the port
- Ithaka has some cool ruins you can walk to from the port
- for a quiet night (there is no marina and only occasionally a taverna) - Port Leone...and up the hill there is and old church and a nice view
- Vasiliki on the southern edge of Levkas - walk East up to amazing tavernas away from the port
Mave said:
Thanks
What happens if you're busy sailing and don't get in? Is it a case of anchoring off and getting the equivalent of a local river taxi, or do you end up needing to go around the coast to less popular spots?
Yes, if you dont get in, you can anchor off the other side of the bay and take a line ashore...but its bumpy as the ferry rus late into the evening..and you will have a tender, so you can motor or row over to the tavernas if you wantWhat happens if you're busy sailing and don't get in? Is it a case of anchoring off and getting the equivalent of a local river taxi, or do you end up needing to go around the coast to less popular spots?
Mave said:
tuscan_raider said:
I really love sailing that area, done maybe 5 or so trips over the years. My favorite three are
- vathy in meganissi
- kastos town on kastos
- fiskardo on kefalonia (you will have to get in there before 4pm as it gets rammed
Thanks - vathy in meganissi
- kastos town on kastos
- fiskardo on kefalonia (you will have to get in there before 4pm as it gets rammed
What happens if you're busy sailing and don't get in? Is it a case of anchoring off and getting the equivalent of a local river taxi, or do you end up needing to go around the coast to less popular spots?
Your flotilla leader will tell you in the morning briefing where you're going and what time they would like you to be there by, they will be there way before time to reserve spaces on the quay and help you in, (reverse parking is fun). Don't worry about being a bit late though they will wait until their last boat is in like a shepherd with his flock.
Agree with Vathi, Fiskardo is very tourist but beautiful and maybe the only place you won't get a spot on the quay if you're not in early enough.
If you get a day off try Vassiliki, it's a great windsurfing bay with a decent harbour at the town end and some lovely restaurants, watching my very drunk wife dancing on the shelf at the Zeus bar with the young female windsurfing instructors is still one of my sailing holiday highlights.
Top Tip, most supermarkets sell large bottles of frozen water, buy some and put them in the boat fridge, it helps thing stay cold for longer and you can drink it when it defrosts.
It's not usual to go solo and wherever you please on a flotilla - check with who you're going with of course but flotillas generally have a lead skipper on one boat who the rest of the flotilla follow like ducklings and have a set predetermined route and an itinerary which will be organised to accommodate the least able and experienced. Marina berths and restaurants are usually booked in advance so everybody knows exactly where you'll be every night.
BTW I'm not knocking flotilla sailing because that suits some just fine and its a useful way to build confidence and skills.
But if you want complete freedom to plan your own routes and manage your own passage making as well as some more challenging sailing then you'd almost certainly be better off with a bareboat charter instead, and as an aside I dread arriving at a destination where a flotilla or Yacht Week group are in because that's pretty often a guarantee you won't be getting much sleep that night.
I can't comment on what the Ionian is like but more than once I've gone into a Croatian marina and turned and come out again and anchored overnight in a bay instead when I've spotted a flotilla berthed in there.
BTW I'm not knocking flotilla sailing because that suits some just fine and its a useful way to build confidence and skills.
But if you want complete freedom to plan your own routes and manage your own passage making as well as some more challenging sailing then you'd almost certainly be better off with a bareboat charter instead, and as an aside I dread arriving at a destination where a flotilla or Yacht Week group are in because that's pretty often a guarantee you won't be getting much sleep that night.
I can't comment on what the Ionian is like but more than once I've gone into a Croatian marina and turned and come out again and anchored overnight in a bay instead when I've spotted a flotilla berthed in there.
Jaguar steve said:
It's not usual to go solo and wherever you please on a flotilla - check with who you're going with of course but flotillas generally have a lead skipper on one boat who the rest of the flotilla follow like ducklings and have a set predetermined route and an itinerary which will be organised to accommodate the least able and experienced. Marina berths and restaurants are usually booked in advance so everybody knows exactly where you'll be every night.
BTW I'm not knocking flotilla sailing because that suits some just fine and its a useful way to build confidence and skills.
But if you want complete freedom to plan your own routes and manage your own passage making as well as some more challenging sailing then you'd almost certainly be better off with a bareboat charter instead, and as an aside I dread arriving at a destination where a flotilla or Yacht Week group are in because that's pretty often a guarantee you won't be getting much sleep that night.
I can't comment on what the Ionian is like but more than once I've gone into a Croatian marina and turned and come out again and anchored overnight in a bay instead when I've spotted a flotilla berthed in there.
Everyone has to start somewhere and an Ionian flotilla is probably the best place for the OP, it certainly was for us in our early sailing days, the support and help from the lead boat was really important and helped a lot to reassure my slightly nervous wife about sailing.BTW I'm not knocking flotilla sailing because that suits some just fine and its a useful way to build confidence and skills.
But if you want complete freedom to plan your own routes and manage your own passage making as well as some more challenging sailing then you'd almost certainly be better off with a bareboat charter instead, and as an aside I dread arriving at a destination where a flotilla or Yacht Week group are in because that's pretty often a guarantee you won't be getting much sleep that night.
I can't comment on what the Ionian is like but more than once I've gone into a Croatian marina and turned and come out again and anchored overnight in a bay instead when I've spotted a flotilla berthed in there.
These days we mostly do bareboat in the Caribbean and occasionally the Med but I've just started research for a sailing trip somewhere in September this year and have to admit to looking at Greek or Turkish flotillas as they are really social and great fun.
Ha ha, unfortunatly I shot myself in the foot years ago. I told my wife tales of losing a rudder at night off Cherbourg with an onshore wind, of trying to cook pork chops whilst seasick on the Irish sea, and then sent her to the mast (clipped on!) in a F8 during her comp crew.. For some resson she wants her first post Covid summer holiday to be low stress.... So this is really a trial to sneak sailing into our holiday to make it a Fun Thing without Dad getting stressed and Mum shouting at Dad - then maybe next year we can dump the flotilla and turn up the wind
popeyewhite said:
Friend was a flotilla rep in the ionian, heard some amusing stories about very hacked off wives suddenly realising they've got two weeks in 100 F heat in a tiny boat with no aircon and no relief from the kids. Wife gets an early flight home... .
Oh well, more space for me TeeRev said:
Everyone has to start somewhere and an Ionian flotilla is probably the best place for the OP
Of course they do and I'm not knocking it at all, but my response to the OP was due to him expressing a wish to go solo which is highly unlikely to happen in a flotilla, and once you have done so I suspect many skippers and crew would prefer not to experience the constraints and rigid itinerary of flotilla sailing. Mave said:
popeyewhite said:
Friend was a flotilla rep in the ionian, heard some amusing stories about very hacked off wives suddenly realising they've got two weeks in 100 F heat in a tiny boat with no aircon and no relief from the kids. Wife gets an early flight home... .
Oh well, more space for me Jaguar steve said:
TeeRev said:
Everyone has to start somewhere and an Ionian flotilla is probably the best place for the OP
Of course they do and I'm not knocking it at all, but my response to the OP was due to him expressing a wish to go solo which is highly unlikely to happen in a flotilla, and once you have done so I suspect many skippers and crew would prefer not to experience the constraints and rigid itinerary of flotilla sailing. While we love the freedom of bareboating we do occasionally also like the social aspect of flotillas, in a large group there are many types of people and you will always find someone that you click with, for families they are great as the kids will also have others to bond with, we all know how bored they get when just in the company of their parents.
At the beginning my wife would absolutely not have considered going sailing without the perceived safety net of a flotilla with it's lead boat and crew and that is probably similar for many couples, lead them in gently and they will gain confidence in you and themselves, the world of sailing then becomes your lobster!
GT9 said:
Are you going for one week or two?
If two, then there are some great destinations to the north as well, involving leaving the inland sea and heading into the open water towards Parga and Paxos.
Just the week (unfortunatly!). As hinted by others, this is (hopefully) just a taster to get the kids and wife booked, with a safety net If two, then there are some great destinations to the north as well, involving leaving the inland sea and heading into the open water towards Parga and Paxos.
Ionian winds are mostly non-existent in the mornings and pick up during late afternoon. There are however occasional periods of stronger all-day winds for several days. Download the Windy app to your phone to see the forecast for the various locations.
The app has an animation setting (top right map icon) so is very useful to get an idea of speed and direction throughout the day.
There are locations in the inland sea that amplify wind due to geography, the two most prominent being the bay off Vasiliki and the channel between Kefalonia and Ithica. So either avoid or seek out these, depending on what you are after.
Generally the wind speed picks up quite noticeably late afternoon and early evening for an hour or so and the overnight destinations can become crowded by that time, the combination of which makes the challenges of Med mooring more difficult the later you leave it.
You can always call on the assistance of the lead boat though so not too much to be worried about.
Popular overnight destinations, some have already been mentioned:
Vathi on Meganisi, Sivota, Vasiliki, Fiskardo.
The Navily app will give you lots of hints and info for each of these places.
I’m guessing you collect and return from either Nidri or Sivota.
Other useful random tips:
A swinging mooring (assuming you have robustly tested your anchor holding) will head the boat into wind overnight so you can use the hatches to direct air into the cabins and saloon. Having said that a swinging mooring is not really a first flotilla thing, it’s just something to bear in mind for the future if you want quieter, cooler nights.
Line to shore moorings offer a good compromise between peace of mind and quieter settings. Trees are to be avoided for lines to shore, a big rock is best, some places, like the north side of Fiskardo bay have hoops embedded in the rocks.
Generally, Med moorings don’t give you the option to swim from the back of the boat either which is why some people prefer swinging or line to shore.
However if you want the freedom to come and go without the dinghy and like the bustle of the harbour wall, Med mooring is your answer.
When reversing into a Med mooring spot the two things that most often go wrong are either that the person on the anchor stops letting out the chain too soon and kills the boat speed too early or the person on the the helm leaves the engine in reverse too long and gets distracted, so you arrive at the harbour wall with way too much speed. Make sure you use reverse for short bursts, preferably at idle revs to give you more time, and only remove your hand from the throttle if you’ve returned it to neutral. Standing on the ‘wrong side’ of the wheel facing backwards is far more intuitive as to which way to turn the wheel to get the direction you want.
For all of the mooring types, if you are anchoring in 10 metres or more, give the anchor time to get to the sea bed, otherwise it’s quite common that you will end up with less chain out than you intended.
Ionian flotillas are great fun and perfect for beginner skippers and crew. All of the above is just useful stuff you will learn along the way, enjoy!
The app has an animation setting (top right map icon) so is very useful to get an idea of speed and direction throughout the day.
There are locations in the inland sea that amplify wind due to geography, the two most prominent being the bay off Vasiliki and the channel between Kefalonia and Ithica. So either avoid or seek out these, depending on what you are after.
Generally the wind speed picks up quite noticeably late afternoon and early evening for an hour or so and the overnight destinations can become crowded by that time, the combination of which makes the challenges of Med mooring more difficult the later you leave it.
You can always call on the assistance of the lead boat though so not too much to be worried about.
Popular overnight destinations, some have already been mentioned:
Vathi on Meganisi, Sivota, Vasiliki, Fiskardo.
The Navily app will give you lots of hints and info for each of these places.
I’m guessing you collect and return from either Nidri or Sivota.
Other useful random tips:
A swinging mooring (assuming you have robustly tested your anchor holding) will head the boat into wind overnight so you can use the hatches to direct air into the cabins and saloon. Having said that a swinging mooring is not really a first flotilla thing, it’s just something to bear in mind for the future if you want quieter, cooler nights.
Line to shore moorings offer a good compromise between peace of mind and quieter settings. Trees are to be avoided for lines to shore, a big rock is best, some places, like the north side of Fiskardo bay have hoops embedded in the rocks.
Generally, Med moorings don’t give you the option to swim from the back of the boat either which is why some people prefer swinging or line to shore.
However if you want the freedom to come and go without the dinghy and like the bustle of the harbour wall, Med mooring is your answer.
When reversing into a Med mooring spot the two things that most often go wrong are either that the person on the anchor stops letting out the chain too soon and kills the boat speed too early or the person on the the helm leaves the engine in reverse too long and gets distracted, so you arrive at the harbour wall with way too much speed. Make sure you use reverse for short bursts, preferably at idle revs to give you more time, and only remove your hand from the throttle if you’ve returned it to neutral. Standing on the ‘wrong side’ of the wheel facing backwards is far more intuitive as to which way to turn the wheel to get the direction you want.
For all of the mooring types, if you are anchoring in 10 metres or more, give the anchor time to get to the sea bed, otherwise it’s quite common that you will end up with less chain out than you intended.
Ionian flotillas are great fun and perfect for beginner skippers and crew. All of the above is just useful stuff you will learn along the way, enjoy!
) type that doesn't mind anchoring are there plenty places with decent shelter and holding not too far from a taverna/shops etc if you get a day or two solo?Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff