Boat Selection

One of the fun parts of a sailing charter is picking out the boat. These days, all the boats are nice. The major issue is around how many crew you have and where you are going. For sheltered waters (like the Abacos and possibly Vounaki) and smaller groups the 36s are fine. I like to have two heads at a minimum. For most of our trips with groups of six-seven friends we like boats around 41-43 feet. This is a good minimum size for open ocean conditions and is still easy to dock. The 50+ foot monohulls are great for large crews and passages like St Martin to St Barths, but are tricky in smaller marinas and ports. One struggle for us- we like as many cabins as possible as we travel with groups of friends and not generally couples. One boat we used to like some years back was the 45, which had four actual cabins. I think a lot of cabins is a problem for resale, where a non charter second owner might like fewer, larger cabins.

Our current two favories are the Sunsail 423 (three heads) and the new Sunsail 41. We are not catamaran people, but I have chartered a cat and they are just fine. I am very used to deep draft boats, so can work with that, knowing a monohull is easier to find dock space for.

Loutra - All Good

A friend of of ours, David Donnelly, is a charter skipper in the Lavrion area. We met him on a Sunsail charter in the Bahamas, and when we heard he was over here now we kept pestering him for his notes on the area. He did send along the handbook he wrote for his crew. He likes Loutra and so do we. One of the advantages of travel by chartered yacht, is you can see a lot of places, and when you find one you like you can stay a while. Following his suggestion we had dinner at the Yacht Club/ Sofrano, and the seafood dishes were fantastic. There was on octopus with honey which was new to all of us, and a seafood risotto that was just right. A guess would be one could stay here a week and not try all the dining choices. Being protected on essentially four sides in the new inner harbor means in many

instances wind and swells outside can be ignored, and one can fully concentrate on the waterfront dining experience.

Loutra - Port Perfection

We pulled into Loutra, and decided whatever we sought in the Greek Islands we had just found. The town is pretty with the whitewashed buildings and the harbor is excellent. Dimitri the Harbormaster came out and said we can have showers, and laundry and there was power and water on the docks. We are planning to explore the hot springs next.

We need to have dinner, and I am lobbying to stay here another night. We found WiFi in Xerolithia Taverna, and were reminded that in in terms of our route, we, like Greece are a Democracy.

Postcard Sailing

After some rain and wind the forecast called for calm winds. It was wrong- the sailing was perfect- a light chop and a steady NW breeze. The Sunsail 41 is a nice boat - and handles well to windward- fast and flat. Our next port was to be Loutra.

Greek People are Nice

The next morning after the drama we found a nice coffee shop, Me

lipputo. Linda there gave us WiFi, dried our coats and suggested the excellent Yalos for fish dinner. Everyone was so nice. Around lunch time, we observed a large boat of men (it seems this happens to men) approach the pier in high winds at high speed. We closed our eyes. Soon his crew hopped off and he backed away from the jagged concrete pier. He then turned, and headed at equally high speed for the shallow water near the beach. We again closed our eyes, and he ran hard aground. He ran up and lowered his anchor (at least) and his crew ran down the dock and around the corner toward the boat. One stripped off his clothes and waded out to the boat. Soon the local fishing fleet sprang into action, and a small trawler was on the way with a towline.

Fishermen to the Rescue

In a dramatic and skillful operation, local fisherman expertly pulled the grounded 43 foot yacht off the beach. First, a small boat approached, and three lines were tied to the mast of the grounded vessel. Then a powerful diesel trawler backed up and tied on. Then, the boat was flipped toward the sea, taking advantage of some bouyancy. Then the trawler pulled from the top of the mast to free the boat. I was expecting them to pull from the bow, but this way they got help from the side of the hull, now in the water, and put no strain on the rudder or keel. The boat, from an area charter company, was in reasonable shape afterward. The salvage cost a reported 1100 Euros. As we watched the grounding happen, there are several lessons to be drawn. One, is to drop your anchor. The second is to try a spare anchor, including putting out two at once.  The third, failing those steps, is to kedge out an anchor right after the grounding, to keep the bow into the waves and provide a possible way to tow the boat off more easily.   If this had been a rocky coast and not a beach, the outcome would have been worse.

Greek Food- Don't Over Order :)

Hopefully we have explained we like to eat, and are fond of the Greek Taverna cuisine most of all. But in our excitement twice in a row we have gone back to the kitchen and somehow given the impression that we wanted not just what we wanted for six of us to share but actually wanted all the food they had left. In Kea we got every fish in the place on Sunday, and Monday somehow ordered every entree they had. Tonight, we are cutting back.