Greece sailing vacation in Ionian Sea

Planet

We have been sailing and exploring the marine system of the Ionian Sea since 2009 and have therefore developed knowledge and experience of both the beauty and also the threats. This way we have seen the problems that human activities create to the sea. We have tried and done our best to minimise our impact and reduce our energy demands by sailing as much as possible, using environmental friendly materials, minimise use of single use plastic, minimise waste and use renewable ways to generate electricity.

During our trips, we introduce our guests to this philosophy by providing the skills and equipment to explore the same ecosystem and therefore see in first hand both the beauty and the threats to our environment. We encourage them to act when we see any plastic floating or lying on the seabed, and to collect it. We alert our guests not to disturb the marine life and ecosystems while diving.

Some of the skills that are introduced to our guests are relaxation and breathing techniques, finning, immersion and equalization techniques. The gear provided are wetsuits so they can be more warm and comfortable in the water, quality masks for best fit and vision, weights for buoyancy adjustment and fins. Compared to scuba, freediving needs much more less gear and is focused on the mind and relaxation.

We have witnessed that people, through underwater involvement and exploration, gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the marine life and ecosystem. This itself only raises awareness and helps the protection of it. You are more likely to support and care for something that feels familiar!

Land is also a highlight in the trip.
We will go for a walk or hike either by the sea or through the paths in the hills to get to know the flora and fauna of the islands. Always taking care not to leave litter, be gentle in the way that we collect herbs (e.g. we hand-pick sage or oregan but with care not to hurt the plant so it can continue its cycle).

So far we have allowed our guests to get to know a way of living that is closer to the sea and the environment and far away from consumerism.

- We eat local . Almost everything comes from local producers and farms. We use and strongly suggest season products.
- Our menu onboard is mainly vegan/vegetarian.
- We sail as much as possible and plan trip always to be wind favoured.
- The boat doesnt use shore power. We use solar power from our P/V system.
- We encourage minimal fresh water use for showers and washing. All the loads on board are designed efficintly for low power consumption ( eg. LED bulbs).
- We have a special drinkable water tank (BISPHENOL A FREE / PHTHALATE - FREE ) , carbon filter, and hand pump so we don't use plastic bottles onboard for drinking ( a huge issue on yachting) .

In general sailing life itself consists in low energy consumption way of living . That's the spirit that we want to commune with our guests.

People

We suggest to our guests specific local and family-run restaurants where we have been interacting with the owners and personnel for a long time. Local guides are employed for excursions to visit an archaeological site or for a guided hike or for other aquatic activities or even wine tasting.

There is also a specific issue that we highlight to all our guests, which is the sea farms. In our opinion they are extremely difficult to be really sustainable as they use both drugs and fish food with questionable origin. Instead, we suggest eating fresh fish brought in daily by fishermen (we can tell you which types of fish are likely to have been farmed).

We are sponsors of the Sailing Club of Patras in Greece who organise local sailing races and educate young sailors because we believe the more we get involved in the sea, the more we love it.

The trip is custom and personalised and, therefore, is against a major problem of Greece which is mass tourism. We don’t promote “all-inclusive” packages and do not organise massive flotillas (like many companies that work on the sailing vacations sector).