SUNBAKING on the deck of my OWN yacht, sailing around the Greek Ionian Islands, I felt like I was living someone else’s life.
Because let’s face it, sailing is for the very, very stylish and the very, very rich, and I can’t claim to be one.
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You can cruise around the Greek Ionian Islands on your OWN yachtCredit: Shutterstock
But one thing I’m good at is finding a bargain, and just two days before my annual vacation I started looking for vacations and came across an ad for discounted vacations with Sail Ionian.
My boyfriend Chris has always wanted to sail and I liked the idea of visiting some of the islands in the Ionian Sea off the west coast of Greece, including Corfu, Zakynthos, Lefkada, Ithaca, Kythira, Kefalonia and Paxos.
So we decided to take a chance, so to speak, and found cheap flights through charterflights.co.uk from Manchester to Preveza. After a 45-minute taxi ride, we boarded our (OWN!) yacht, a Vision 42 called the Selkie, which had two large double cabins with a wardrobe, a spacious shower, two toilets, a galley with an oven, fridge and freezer and comfortable sofas and tables, all below deck.
But the best thing was the deck, where the cockpit table could be converted into a large sun lounger. I decided we didn’t need a table outside, sunbathing was much more important. We also found a paddle board that Chris had rented and a large welcome basket of fruit, bread, coffee, chips, nuts, olives, wine and water waiting for us.
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Chris loved helping Tatiana with the various strings and adjustments needed to keep her on track.
And there was one very important addition that we needed before we set sail, a skipper, because none of us were qualified to take over.
We were very lucky to be assigned to the knowledgeable and fun Tatiana, who has lived in the area for years. She sat down with us and drew a map (no doubt they told me it wasn’t called a map) and she plotted, time permitting, where we should go.
We received a security briefing and they told us how to take care of the yacht. And then we started. Chris loved helping Tatiana with the various strings and adjustments needed to keep her on track.
I, on the other hand, was just looking at and reading my book. And there’s not much else to do on a yacht.
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I was sunbathing and looking at the traditional view of the Greek coastlineCredit: Getty Images – Getty
As it gently sways it is completely relaxing so I spent a lot of time sleeping as well.
The first night we went to Mytikas on the Greek mainland, to a small restaurant called Cafe Ouzeri. They only serve the catch of the day, and you need to call ahead to make sure they had a good day of fishing and actually open for business.
It is so close to the pebble sea that I took off my shoes and dunked them in the water while we ate. There was no menu, but the waitress asked if we were vegetarian before serving fried fish, spicy cheese sauce and Greek salad.
YACHT ENVY
With a carafe of decent local wine it came to less than £15 a head. If you hired a skipper, you can just give her some money so she can go out to eat, but we ran into Tatjana and it seemed like she was on vacation with us, so we went out together.
The food was one of the highlights of the trip, as all you have to worry about is where to sail, where to swim to burn calories, and where to eat.
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We sail through the Ionian Sea and spend the night on the mainland of Greece
During the day we went cave diving with magical rock formations, swam for hours in crystal clear waters without seeing anyone and explored bays so unspoilt they had names like #7 Bay. We sunbathed alone on the beaches, and Chris spent hours rowing the yacht.
We also saw a super yacht. I loved finding out the name of the yacht and searching online to find out what country they were from, their value and size. I was often envy of yachts!
If we were afraid that the weather was unstable, we anchored in the port to protect ourselves. In the closed port of Sivota, many other tourists had the same idea, but it was a great way to see other yachts available for charter.
Sail Ionian is a British family business who pride themselves on keeping their yachts to a very high standard. And it showed in comparison to some ragged foreign mercenaries.
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Captain’s cabin on our yacht
In Sivota it was partying until the early hours of the morning and I found that jumping straight off the yacht into the icy sea in the morning can definitely clear your head. The Ithaca village of Kioni doesn’t have a port, so you use the “long line” instead, which basically involved Tatiana carefully steering the yacht towards shore, then Chris jumping with a rope and tying it around a rock to stabilize the boat.
Following Tatiana’s instructions, I dropped anchor with the remote control.
When towing a longline, you must use your boat to get to land. It’s a precise process of sliding into it to get it balanced before heading for land, then strapping itself into the rock, ready for your return.
GO: GREEK SAILING
How to get there: Return EasyJet flights to Preveza from Gatwick in April start at £74 per person. Visit easyjet.com.
SAILING UP: Seven nights for up to six people sailing on a Bavaria 37 including skipper costs from £2,830 total or from £471 per person. Based on April, May and October prices. Check out sailonian.com.
Kioni Harbor is surrounded by Venetian-style buildings that escaped the earthquakes that destroyed much of the region in 1953.
We went there for Chris’s birthday, so we booked a fancy restaurant called Lizzy’s, located on a hill overlooking the harbor. The food was fresh and delicious, with the best chocolate fondue I’ve ever had.
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Aerial view of the Ionian IslandsCredit: Shutterstock
It was the most expensive meal we had and came to just under £100 for the three of us, with wine, mains and starters.
Then we took a tour of the beautiful town with jewelry stores that sell exquisite silverware. I even convinced Chris to take the credit card out of him! The evening was fantastic until I managed to forget everything Tatiana had taught me about life at sea when we got back to the yacht. I literally got into a boat that was flying one way and I was the other and crashed into the sea.
The only thing that hurt me was my pride, so the next morning we found my silver ring at the bottom of the sea and set off just after sunrise before I met anyone who saw my misfortune.
The next night we decided to escape the crowds and dropped anchor on a remote beach off the coast of Meganisi, an island off the southeastern coast of Lefkada.
Tatjana is half Italian, so when she offered to cook pasta on board, I wasn’t going to say no.
We spent the night eating, drinking cold cheap Greek wine and swimming in the sea with nothing but stars.
I had never seen so many amazing, remote and unspoiled places in one week, seen so many super yachts or eaten so much delicious food.
It was a real experience of a lifetime and I discovered that sailing is not just for fancy people. I’m already saving to go back next year!
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: newstars.edu.vn