Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Food and drinks are not provided in a skippered charter. That will give you the opportunity each day to enjoy fantastic food and wine at friendly water-side taverns at each island.

Also the boat yacht is equipped with a fridge ( box- shaped), kitchenette including gas stove, oven and cooking equipment. There are grocery stores at each harbor you will visit so you will be able to stock up whenever you wish and pick exactly the food you’ll prefer for breakfast and lunch at sea.

For dinner, you will have a great variety of  family-run taverns and charming restaurants. Most of the times it can be arranged that you arrive at the destination for the day in time to enjoy lunch on shore as well if you wish.

The skipper will be happy to recommend a great restaurant at each place you will visit.

Our base is in marina Alimos, Athens. Detailed directions to the marina will be emailed to you when you book your holiday.

Typically our cruises are 7 days- embarkation on Monday 11.00 a.m and disembarkation on Sunday 05.30 pm. Upon previous agreement, other days might be arranged. Contact us to inform us of your favorite departure date.

Coming from Athens center ( Syntagma square ), Marina Alimos is only 9 kilometers (5 miles ) from the center. The taxi ride lasts about 10 minutes and the charge is around 12-15 euro/taxi.

Coming from the airport , marina Alimos is about 30 kilometers ( 18 miles) away. The taxi ride  lasts about 40 minutes away  and the charge is around 40 euro/taxi.

Alternatively :

– from the center you can come by tram ( get off at Edem tram station -about 50 minutes ride).

– from the airport by bus X96 ( about 50 minutes ride).

Sure – the beauty of a sailing cruise is to experience a dream voyage tailored to your wishes. However bear in mind that sailing is about taking the wind and weather conditions into account. Your captain will advice you on the best sailing route.

Also sailing conditions vary greatly across different sailing grounds- there are areas with easy to moderate sailing condition year round ( take for example the Saronic island and the Peloponessus coast)  and there are areas that can sometimes can get very windy/choppy. Please feel free to ask us more details before booking if you would like to get to a specific island.

The key to a perfect sailing holiday is keeping flexible.

Sailing vacations are perfect for couples looking for a romantic week away and families or groups of friends wanting to do something completely independent and explore Greece in a different way. No sailing experience is needed .

A skipper will handle the boat for you, ensure your safety, recommend routes, places to visit and introduce you to the many islands and their secrets . You can benefit from the skippers’ knowledge – not only is he very well acquainted with sailing conditions in the area but also he will be able to suggest the most interesting places for swimming and exploring as well as best restaurants.

In addition to actually navigating the yacht, your skipper will handle all related duties including charting your course, monitoring weather conditions and ensuring the safety of all guests and the boat.

No previous sailing experience is needed for participating in a skippered charter.

However the guests (or one of the guests) will have the chance to be an active part in the sailing/docking. Because at times a sailboat needs more than one person in order to execute a maneuver , one of the charterers should be willing to help at each anchoring maneuver -docking / leaving- by working the windlass (laying/pulling up the chain) while the skipper is maneuvering the boat. Backing up in a crowded harbor especially if any cross-wind is a very difficult job (boats have no brakes- and are easily taken by the wind) . The skipper is   maneuvering the boat but somebody else has to be in the bow at the windlass to lay the chain (or pull it up at departure) and ideally another person in the stern (back of the boat) to throw the lines to the people on the dock. Any extra persons willing to stay on the side and push /help with a tight anchorage are highly appreciated. The skipper will inform you each time when/if he needs help and brief you on the action needed to be taken.

At times, help with hoisting/trimming the sails might be needed and always highly  appreciated.

It’s actually pretty exciting to be active and most people feel very rewarded after doing their part.

• – passports for all passengers
• – shoes with soft/non-marking sole for on-board use exclusively. It is highly recommended to bring an extra pair of shoes that you use on board only – different than the ones you use on shore; if you wear the same shoes on board and on shore you will bring lots of dirt,  sand and pebbles on board and later in the day when you’ll want to be barefoot the feeling on your feet will not be very pleasant.
• – beach towel ( on board you will find bath towels, but you will probably need a beach towel as well to wipe off the salt after swimming
• – windproof jackets – if any windy day during your trip you will appreciate the extra comfort a windproof jacket offers

• –  12 volt car chargers  four you electronic device :  USB cables and 12Volt car chargers for charging your electronic device (like the ones in the picture- exactly what you would use in your car to charge your phone ,tablet, etc). .  Vitamin Sea has four 12V socket-plugs. In order to make sure the charger will work for your device, it’s advisable to test it and try charging the devices you are travelling with in your car before leaving home – if it works in your car, it will work on the boat as well. Note: invertors are NOT allowed as they dry out the batteries.
• – your toiletries ( shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste, sunscreen, lotion)
• – sunscreen ( cream is recommended-  spray is impossible to apply even with a gentle breeze) .
• – clothing: –in the summer months, you’ll spend most of your time in shorts, swimsuits, and t-shirts. You might want to add a lightweight jacket in case it’s breezy.     -in spring/autumn the evenings can get coolish. We suggest you bring a couple of long sleeve tops ,  a jacket and a sweater .

– at least two bathing suits
– international driving  license– it is highly probable at a few islands you will want to hire a car/moped to explore the beauties inland.
It’s recommended to pack light and bring everything in a soft, fold-able duffel bag that is easier to stow away on a sailboat. Boxy suitcases are to be avoided and can be stored in Athens before heading to the marina.

The sailboat is equipped with a HiFi car radio / player. So bring along your favorite CDs , mp3 player so you can run the music through the boat’s sound system. Also most phones and mp3 players can be connected through a 3 mm mini-jack cable ( AUX) . For I-phones you will need to bring along your small adapter.

Just make sure to download your music and store it on your phone/ mp3 player before arriving in Greece ( as trying to play from the cloud or Spotify,etc  will not work).

Sailboats have autonomy with 12 volt DC power -just like a car or camper van. So you will be able to charge your phone/I Pad at any time – all you need is a car phone charger and your USB cable to plug them into the 12 Volt cigarette lighter on board..

While at the dock, at some places there is the option to connect to the islands’ power supply and get 220 volt power on board if you need . The harbor master will charge you a small fee for this service – which is usually around 8 euro per night per boat (paid by the charterer ). This way, you can sometimes use the normal 220Volt plug on the boat just like you do at your home.

Each afternoon/evening when you go on shore to explore you will find many restaurants, taverns and bars that offer Wi /Fi so you can keep up with friends and family, surf the web or simply upload picture while enjoying your meal or drinks.

If you want to be able to access the web  while on board as well-  we can provide you with a local SIM card for which you can buy credit from the kiosks at the islands to activate a data package if you want to check emails, etc. One you have activated the mobile data package, you can make a hotspot from the phone so more devices can  connect simultaneously.

Data packages are pretty un-expensive in Greece and you should expect to pay around 5 euro/ 3 Gigabytes. Minimum top-up card costs 10 euro. This is usually a good idea for people that need to work while traveling. But all the others are too busy exploring, swimming an admiring the  scenery in order to care about internet access while at sea.

Spaces on a sailboat are limited and you can not fit  2 persons and a suitcase ( nevertheless 2 suitcases ) in a sailboat’s cabin. Thus it is highly recommended you pack light and bring all your belongings in soft- luggage (duffel type bags, backpacks etc) so that you can place your things in the little drawer/cupboard in your cabin then fold up and store the soft luggage away. Whereas a suitcase would still take just as much place even after getting all your stuff out and you will have no place to store it.

      If your group is 2-4  persons you will  probably have be a bit of extra storage space (the unused berths in the cabins) for suitcases – provided they are reasonably sized and can fit through a sailboat’s door -40 centimeters-15.7 inch. No metal or reinforced plastic suitcases on board, please!
      However if you group if 6-8 persons, all the cabins will be taken with no extra storage – thus is it recommended to leave all suitcases and extra luggage behind and bring along only what you need from the trip in soft luggage.

Most of the people make arrangements for storing their suitcases in the center of Athens:

 – either  leave them at the hotel  they have spent the night before embarkation and simply pick them up upon return in Athens:

–  or use the service of storage companies similar to //www.athenslockers.com/home – you will find a variety of services and lockers in the center of Athens.

 Please note there are NO lockers at the marina so suitcase storage should be arranged before heading to the marina. Once you arrive at the boat, you won’t be able to store extra stuff if you decide you want to leave part of the luggage or the suitcases behind.