photo by Klearchos Kapoutsis

Many people wish to sail the Aegean sea in order to see the 2 famous islands of Myconos & Santorini.The following refers to those who…
plan to see the 2 two Greek islands/areas or just Santorini island within one WEEK CHARTER o­nly.
We welcome their wishes and in order we avoid any misunderstandings or non-feasible planning, we have to say in advance that in the Aegean Sea there are often N winds blowing with force 20-40 miles per hour.
For experienced sailors this can be “a piece of cake” but for others …no.

Another issue is the distance and the duration of charter:
Mykonos is WSW at 90 Nautical miles away from Athens and
Santorini is SSW at 120 Nautical miles away from Athens and
the distance between Mykonos and Santorini is some 70 miles or more.
A sailing yacht makes 5-8 knots (or nearly the same in miles per hour), and it is easy to calculate lots of hours o­nboard for a trip Athens-Mykonos-Santorini-Athens just in order to cover the distance.

Putting figures down it comes out about 40 hours NON-STOP sailing. No time spent for eating, swimming, hopping, relaxing, exploring, resting or sleeping. In general, it is all more reasonable for a duration of one week charter, you plan to see just one of 2 islands and especially Mykonos which is much closer to Athens. Athens-Santorini-Athens could be done within one week, but will surely create fatigue, and the plan’s success will also be subject to the weather conditions. After all, sailing upwind for 120 miles… is more like work than a holiday.
EASY SAILING has a charter base in Paros island right in the middle of the Cyclades islands.
Then why not charter a round trip out of Paros?
First thing is that people will have to run after taxis, getting to Piraeus port or Rafina, take ferryboats, check connections and time-tables both to reach and leave Paros isl. – many times a nightmare.
A second thing is that the little port in Paros can hold a small number of charter boats and availability is very limited. Most of the yachts are booked quite in advance in Paros isl., so do not be surprised if your suitable boat type will be only available from Athens (Alimos Marina or Lavrion port).
It is also expectable in the Cyclades area that when winds blow strong all smaller charter yachts up to 37 feet long, will have a hard time with waves of 2-3m or during maneuvering.
EASY SAILING may transfer the yacht especially for you to Paros base (for skippered charters can do deliveries to other islands too), though the “empty-run” time will be part of your paid charter time and an extra one-way fee will apply.
If you would consider/afford sailing holidays for 2 weeks or for a minimum of 10-11 days then there is ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM – just prepare your crew for the possibility of a bit “rough” seas for a while and set sails (!).
We feel your holiday time is very valuable….and thought sharing the above information with you.

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