If you decide to spend a week or more at sea, we think it’s a great idea to have some knowledge about how to plan it. If you want to charter a boat with a captain, then it’s easier to plan, but if you are the captain who wants to take friends and family on a sailing adventure, well, it’s wise to plan it in advance.

We have several sailing itineraries from where you can inspire for your next holiday, depending on your sailing preferences, experience, budget and boat type.

Let’s see what we need to plan for a perfect sailing adventure.

1. Where do you want to sail?

After you decide you want to go on a sailing holiday, this should be the first question, where do you want to sail. And the answer should take into consideration multiple factors, depending on your preferences, the experience of your crew, budget and more, but let’s break it down.

• Discuss about expectations and understand what each crew member wants. If all crew members have experience on water, maybe they want to sail more hours during a day so they can enjoy more the sailing part, and also manage to visit more places. On the other hand, with less experienced crew members, maybe it’s a better idea to sail less and enjoy more the sun, relaxing time, beaches and water activities.
• Discuss about the experiences they want to have during the adventure. If they enjoy diving or snorkelling, then choose a location teeming with marine life, or maybe others will enjoy visiting the towns, the islands or other tourist landmarks.
• Discuss about children onboard, because they would enjoy more calm seas, sandy bays and coves, swimming and other water activities. Calm seas with children onboard are more relaxing than rough sailing conditions.

2. When do you want to sail?

If you will sail with family and friends you need to decide when can you go, according to everybody's schedule, and also taking into consideration the best weather to sail. For example, Greece during summer is hit by Meltemi, which can cause some unpleasant surprises even for the most skilled skippers.

Another thing to take into consideration is that during high season, the marinas are crowded or fully booked, so it will be difficult to find a safe spot for your yacht. Another option is to consult the charts and find suitable anchorage points where you can spend the night.

If you love exploring new places, maybe it’s a good idea to travel during off season, when the prices are lower and places less crowded.

3. What kind of boat do you need?

Depending on the number of crew members and preferences, you can choose the correct type of boat for the sailing adventure. Some prefer the sailing boats, others catamarans, and others motorboats. The best choice is the one that covers your needs and expectations. Also keep in mind that you need a valid captain license that is accepted in the region you plan to charter the boat, and also, the type of boat you choose must be familiar to your skills and experience.

Speaking about size, you should consider that small harbours might be inaccessible for boats with a small draught. This concerns some of the marinas and harbours in: Greece, Turkey, Italy, France and Spain.

4. I’m the captain. How should I prepare for the sailing adventure?

Start with a Wishlist of what places you want to visit, what islands, marinas or anchorages are around and worth spending your time in those locations. Don’t take for granted an itinerary, especially if you charter the yacht. Depending on wind conditions and weather forecasts, the planned itinerary may change or vary accordingly. Be willing to adjust your plans following Mother Nature behaviour.

As a captain, it’s very important to learn as much as possible about the area you are sailing to. Buy some nautical charts and pilot books of the area in which you will be sailing, and pay special attention to the area’s prevailing winds, seasonable weather behaviour and navigational hazards of the area.

If you plan to stay in marinas, try to book in advance, because during high season might be impossible to find a free berth in many marinas.

Know your yacht’s cruising speed and try to calculate the distances in hours, rather than nautical miles, both under power and sail, in order to have a better understanding of times between two marinas, or if you want to move the boat to another anchorage point.

In the day previous to your departure, keep an easy to reach distance to your port of departure.

5. Let’s go and have some fun!

This is what sailing is about, fun. Having a great sailing vacation among friends and family is one of the best ways to spend the summer. Before departure, make sure everybody packed everything on their lists and we also recommend reading some of our predeparture tips "Essential things to bring with you on your next sailing adventure".

Sailing can be meditative, reflective but also fun and definitely will create unique moments with your loved ones.

Enjoy the time onboard and fair winds!