Sun, sea and souvlaki
It’s become a bit of a family ritual that for one week every year, my dad, my sister and I go sailing in Greece. Sailing’s always been an enthusiasm for my dad and over the years the family has found itself on the water in some way or another – this year’s novelty was the canal boat! I realized this year that we have had this little summer ritual going on now for a decade. I thought I couldn’t let this anniversary pass without flagging it up (no boaty flag jokes!) so I’ve compiled a list of 10 top tips for enjoying a sailing holiday in Greece and a downloadable two-page guide to speaking Greek.
(I should point out that ten years of sailing really equates to ten weeks of lounging in the sun so I’m by no means an expert sailor but I have got enjoying mucking around on a boat down to a fine art!)
1. Eat Greek. Food is a large part of Greek culture and, luckily for us, Greek cuisine is delicious. Some Greek dishes have found their way to the rest of the world (moussaka, tsatsiki, Greek “Village” Salad …) but there’s plenty more to discover. Dinner is normally quite a late affair taking place around 10pm and if you’re eating out I recommend going for a stroll first and sitting down to eat when everyone else does as the atmosphere can be brilliant. If you want to find out more, check out these sites.
2. Poop deck. Greece and yachts have something in common – both have not brilliant, narrow plumbing which means toilet paper cannot be flushed but is instead put in a little bin beside the loo. The rule to remember: if it’s not been through you, it can’t go in the loo. Also, if you’re sailing you might find the toilet (the “heads”) is quite small, especially if you’re my height. My advice, if at all possible, is S.O.S. – sh*t on shore.
3. Take wet weather wear. The Mediteranean is famous for its good weather but it’s important to bear in mind that July is storm season. High pressure causes break outs of electrical storms. Generally around the Peleponnese (where I go sailing) the storms start and stop quickly but if you’re out on a boat its sensible to take a jumper and a waterproof as you can still get quite cold!
4. Wear sunscreen. It seems obvious but the breeze when sailing can be deceptive and you can get very burnt when you don’t feel terribly hot. Look after yourself.
5. Speak some Greek. English is spoken, and is spoken well, throughout Greece but you can’t depend on there always being an English speaker present. I think assuming people will speak English is just darn rude but, that aside, Greek is a fun language to have a go at and a foreigner speaking even a few phrases of Greek is warmly welcomed. See my downloadable phrase guide below.
6. Drink. We all know it’s important to keep hydrated, so do. More importantly, though, there are lots of tasty things to drink in Greece. I’m a big coffee fan but don’t forget Greece is also home to ouzo and Metaxa . Try a freshly squeezed orange juice (χιμό πορτοκάλις) and the ‘most famous’ Greek beer, Mythos.
7. Visit the port police. You should visit the port police every time your moor in a port. They will inspect your boat’s paper work, tap furiously on a calculator for a reasonable amount of time and then charge you very little. It’s quite entertaining.
8. Take a book. When you’re relaxing in the sun, it’s nice to have something to read. The week I go sailing, I probably read more than I do in any other week of the year. I love it.
9. Don’t be cool, be safe. So it’s windy and the boat’s lurching around a fair bit, wear your harness. Yes, you will look silly and it’s not the suave, bronzed sailing-in-the-Med look you had envisaged but it’s better safe than sorry.
10. Remember it’s a holiday. Enjoy it your way.
Speak some Greek
This two-page guide covers some useful phrases for getting around and eating out plus essential vocabularly for smokers (so often omitted!).
Download now. PDF, 102KB.
Lots of Brits go to Greece nowadays, it’s much more touristy than it was 10 years ago, but it’s still lovely; I know Fat Man on a Keyboard is a grecophile. If you have a tips you’d like to add, leave a comment. Or if your Greek is better than mine (not hard), feel free to correct me.
* σουβλάκια – skewered kebabs
Jon Pashley » Week 2 wrote:
25 July 2010 at 2:52 pm
[...] know that I’ve been lucky enough for family sailing holidays to Greece to have become an annual event. We sail around the Argolic Gulf and normally go to pretty much the same places because we love [...]