Day Skipper is one of the most popular RYA courses as it leads to an internationally recognised certificate. I've found that people who passed their Day Skipper several years ago are unaware that the certificate has changed. This post tells you about the old and new forms of Day Skipper certificate [...]
General Interest
Choosing the right level of sailing course
One of the advantages of the RYA scheme is that you can enter at any point that is appropriate to you. You don't have to start at the beginning if you already have plenty of sailing experience. For example, George, our Principal, spent 35 years in the Royal Navy and first skippered a small boat [...]
In Memory of Ian Blayney and ‘Turkish’ mooring.
As you may know from my last post, I prolonged my recent visit to the UK so that I could attend the funeral of a dear friend, who was well known in sailing circles in Greece, Turkey, and beyond. Ian Blayney (‘Lord’ Blayney as he was known to his friends) and his wife, Bette, sailed [...]
A secret anchorage on Hydra
Most people who sail in the Saronic want to visit Hydra; few want the hassle that goes with it. Athough beautiful, it's a bit of a nightmare for yachts. A night spent in Hydra often involves fouled anchors, boats rafted up on top of each other, and generally some stress and shouting ... It's much [...]
What to do after Day Skipper 3: Yacht Charter
Here's my third post about what to do once you pass your Day Skipper course. For most people the end goal in learning to sail is to be able to charter a yacht themselves. Chartering is normally sub-divided into skippered charter (sometimes called crewed charter) and bareboat charter. I'll cover skippered charter in the next post. This is about [...]
What to do after Day Skipper 1: Mile-Building
Recently several people have asked me to suggest what they should do after completing their RYA Day Skipper course so I've decided to make it the topic of my next posts. There are three main options - mile-building, flotilla sailing, and bareboat charter. Each of these has different advantages and drawbacks and you may want to try more [...]
Learn to sail over the winter with our weekend courses
Learning to sail is a great way to meet new people and to explore the Saronic Gulf. Why not join us on one or more of our winter weekend courses and you'll be all ready to use your new skills next Spring? Our weekend courses run between November and March. The sailing courses will be [...]
Phoenix from the Ashes: The prettiest boat you’ve ever seen
I'm about to pre-order this book from Amazon. It's due to be published any day now. After a fire destroyed their house, Justin Ruthven-Tyers and his wife Linda decided to build a 15-ton classic yacht, as complete amateurs - starting with the trees. Working under the watchful eye of local sheep farmers who gave freely [...]
Follow the Sailing Princess
~ a non-swimmer's guide to adventures that are scary as heck, fun like crazy, & living to tell the tale! Princess Cox sailed with us in November 2011. Formally a self-confessed workaholic she was bitten by the sailing bug in the Netherlands, encouraged by us, and is now taking much overdue holidays on a quest to complete her RYA [...]
Flights to Athens airport
Finding suitable flights is an important part of making arrangements for your sailing holiday. Our base on the lovely island of Aegina is easy to reach from Athens International airport and I've gathered some information here to help you find the best flights. Athens International airport is called after Eleftherios Venizelos, who was an eminent Greek [...]