Greece in the Ionian Sea is our first overseas trip where we join a flotilla sailing around the sunny islands of the south Ionian sea in Greece. Our accommodation is a 40ft Dufour yacht operated by Neilson Active Holidays. There will be plenty of time to enjoy all that the region has to offer and soak up the lovely Greek culture – we’ll be dropping in to Ithaca, Kefalonia, and Lefkada, and on your last day you will be able to enjoy all the facilities at Neilson’s sailing base at Club Vounaki.
Crew Report(s):
Mark Hague –
Ionian Flotilla report 2025:VISA goes on Ionian Flotilla with Neilson 28th September to 5th October.
On the afternoon of Sunday 28th of September the crew consisting of 4 visually impaired sailors, and 3 sighted sailors.
Our sighted crew were Skipper Peter Sandover, mates Nicki Bignall and Michael Hilder. We met at the Gatwick South Terminal to catch an Enter Air flight to Preveza. The journey went without hitch and the pre booked assistance at Gatwick worked extremely well.
By about 10.45pm we arrived at Vounaki Base and were shown to our boat Daisy a 40 foot Dufour 405. After stowing our luggage on the yacht we were just in time to catch a drink and snack before settling down on the yacht for the night.
The next morning was spent on various safety briefings, adjusting life jackets and meeting the crew of the Neilson lead yacht as well as preparing Daisy for an afternoon sail. As we would be mooring Rear on 2 gangplanks were used for getting on and off the yacht which worked out very well and no one fell in!
There were 11 yachts in our flotilla and we found the other yacht crews were very friendly and very interested in the VISA charity and I think we might even have recruited some new sighted crew for VISA. a lovely couple Steve and Sandy were on a small yacht by themselves and we saw a lot of them during the week.
Eventually we set sail to the Island of Kalamos. On arrival we joined in a flotilla social event which consisted of socializing and drinking lots of gin and tonics before we had our evening meal at George’s Tavern where I had a huge burger which I was unable to finish!
Tuesday we sailed to the island of Sivota, stoping at Sharon’s Bay, for Kastos and a swim off the yacht. Mike and I had a go trying to stand on the paddle board where we both struggled to stand up however it was great fun!
While swimming I made use of a fender with a line to the yacht provided by Peter to ensure i did’n’ drift to far away into oblivium. In the evening we took part in a flotilla quiz before eating at the 12 Gods restaurant. Wednesday we sailed to Big Vathy on Ithaca Island and we then took a walk to Dhexia Beach where we swam.
Afterwards we took part in a music Bingo extravaganza organised by the Neilson lead yacht which featured music from my generation, very enjoyable. We then had supper at Kantoyni. On Thursday the weather broke, this was at the same time approximately that Storm Amy was hitting the UK. Neilson command decided we wouldn’t be able to sail until the storm subsided, so we had to stay on Ithaca for Thursday and Friday.
This wasn’t too bad as we enjoyed a couple of long walks and had pleasant meals on Ithaca. The weather was extremely changeable with lovely sunshine one minute and monsoom conditions the next where the roads almost turned into shallow paddling pools!
Finally on Saturday the weather settled down and we sailed back to our base at Vounaki with a lunch stop at Nsis Thalia in the Megan’s Straight, in all we sailed 80 miles over the 4 sailing days. The sailing days were enjoyable and the yacht sailed well as the winds were relatively light and the sea state was steady.
All the Vis took turns to helm the yacht and having dual steering wheels and a generous cockpit made switching helms person much easier. All the VI crew were able to haul up and lower the mainsail, put out fenders, work the jib sheet and do miscellaneous rope work as well as helping down in the saloon preparing food and refreshments. The more confident VIs also assisted in dropping the anchor. On the Saturday evening we attended a flotilla barbecue generously paid by VISA, I particularly enjoyed the deserts especially the creme caramel, yum yum.
The meal was also a great opportunity to meet up with new friends we had made during the flotilla week. Sunday we woke early packed our belongings and did our best to tidy the boat before having a day at the resort swimming and walking.
I had a lot of fun with nicki as she assisted me with paddle boarding and paddling a double Kayak. Later that day we finally managed to fulfil our week long quest to find a restaurant that hadn’t just run out of lamb Kleftiko so gastronomes John and Nicki were absolutely delighted!
This was the first time I’ve been on a sailing flotilla for a long while and this gave me an opportunity to compare bare boating with being on a flotilla. Both are very enjoyable but on balance for me I think bare boating with 1 other yacht is preferable as the skippers have more control over the sailing and you wouldn’t be limited to the capabilities of the slowest flotilla yacht, potentially you would have more sailing time; however I definitely wouldn’t say no to another sailing flotilla experience.
I would like to thank our crew who made it such a wonderful trip and to Mihayl who indulged me by playing chess when ever time permitted.
Mark Hague, VI sailor.
John –
I have had several sailing trips around the UK with Visa and other sailing groups but This was my first flotilla holiday.
Sailing with the other 10 boats gave us the advantage of meeting with and socialising with the other cruise, assistance with securing the boat at the end of the day and access to the knowledge and experience of the locally based Nielsen lead boat crew.The weather wasn’t always ideal for rewarding blind sailing, but I enjoyed the time assure as this gave us the opportunity of a variety of holiday experiences:
These included several walks, swimming off local beaches and the opportunity to try many Greek dishes and wine at local restaurants.Being tied up on the island of Ithaca during the storm gave me the chance to experience The strong winds and heavy rain in safety, and this was a multisensory experience for me not to be forgotten…
On the last day, when we had to leave our boat at 9 am, gave us a chance to use the facilities at the Nielson Beach resort.
These included paddle boards kayaks windsurfers and the use of a safe roped off swimming area that allow me to swim by myself without getting lost or drowning…Our sighted crew were all experienced sailors and managed to assist VI without patronising or infantilising us and also had time to introduce us to several essential yacht tasks that will prove useful on future sailing trips.
John, VI sailor.
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