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Sailing around the Cyclades

Fancy an adventure vacation? Then I've got something for you! How about a sailing trip? Now you might be thinking that you can't sail at all. So what? Neither can I! But you don't even have to be able to sail. The skipper will do it for you! And you'll just have a great time...

30/08/2021

dear(travel)diary,

last year we went to Lake Garda in Italy with our friends Janik and Jenny and had a great time with them. So good that we decided to go away together again a year later. After we'd had our first bottle of wine, we decided that our next vacation should be a sailing trip. And of course, appointments made with a drunken head are kept!

So this year we went to Greece to explore the Cyclades by sail. However, as none of us can sail, we needed a skipper. While looking for a sailing boat with a skipper, we came across Join the Crew (JTC). JTC offers group sailing trips with experienced skippers in various areas inside and outside Europe. You can choose between sailing trips in small groups or trips in flotillas. As we originally wanted to sail alone, with just one skipper, we decided on a boat with 4 other participants plus skipper.

As JTC had planned everything for us, we only had to arrive at the port of Lavrion on the start day, get to know the crew and go shopping together for the week. The sailing trip couldn't have got off to a more relaxed start. Fortunately, we liked the whole crew from the very beginning, so we had a good rapport straight away. And I think that's pre-programmed. Everyone who embarks on a sailing trip like this is probably a very open person and therefore fits in well with a group.

After shopping together, we were finally able to get on the boat for the first time and explore everything. When we saw the boat from the outside, we wondered how we were all going to fit on it. But once you've seen the inside of the boat, there's much more space than you think. There were a total of four berths for two people each, two small bathrooms and a large living area with a kitchen. On deck, we also had a seating area with a table and an outdoor shower. You can also use the deck perfectly as a sun terrace. What more do you need?

Before we set sail, our skipper gave us a short briefing - both on sailing and on using the toilet, gas and other equipment. And then we were finally ready to go! Full speed ahead towards our first bay. Here we were able to get stuck in and gain our first sailing experience.

xx Chiara

What are you interested in?


What we did & see



HOW DOES IT WORK WITH THE FOOD



ABOUT JTC



I have put together a list of all the places on Google Maps.

You can find the list here.

Please bear in mind,

that sailing is not for everyone. That's why you might want to start by looking for a sailing area that is known for less wind and where you don't cover so many miles a day. That way you can find out for yourself how good sailing is for you. Unfortunately, we weren't that clever. Because the Cyclades are known for windy weather. The wind then creates high waves, which can of course contribute to seasickness. However, this affected us all differently. While I was only slightly nauseous on the first day, Bene even had to vomit once until everything settled down for him after two days. As the wind died down, we didn't really notice any difference to the land and just enjoyed our time soaking up the sun on deck. But things can go differently, so try to get used to boat life with a relaxed sailing trip first and then look for the exciting trips where you sail a lot of miles!

Another important tip: don't take too much Vomex! It will only make the seasickness worse in the end rather than better! It's better to wait it out for a day and then have a good time!

"Ummm, I think the main sail is torn!"

These are words that nobody wants to hear on a sailing trip. But we did. And it was true. On the second day of sailing, our main sail simply tore. It was super windy that day and we were all still learning how to set the sail correctly. Something must have gone wrong (although the sail was also old)... At first we were all a bit taken by surprise. But in hindsight I can tell you: it all sounds worse than it is! To be honest, it wasn't bad at all, we just had to adjust our plans a little. Because we could only have the sail repaired in Paros. But I mean, there are certainly worse destinations than Paros.

Now you might be wondering how we got to Paros without the main sail. We simply sailed on with the foresail and partly with the engine. That worked perfectly. So a torn sail sounds really bad, but in the end it's nothing more than a funny story that we'll be telling for a long time to come. The story becomes even funnier when we tell you that we had no wind after the sail was repaired. In other words, we even had to motor part of the way instead of sailing. Karma is a bitch haha.

More impressions

If you would like to find out more about sailing with Join The Crew, I have two more blog articles for you here:

Or you can visit the JTC website directly. Otherwise, I've put together a few pictures for you here for more impressions: