Family Flotilla

As others have said, there won't be that much to worry about. Cheap snorkels and masks will go down well with your kids I imagine (Decathlon, if you have one near you). Do make sure you're all lathered in sun block and, if any of your family are like me and attract every mosquito around, take repellent and bite treatment. People tend not to wear lifejackets on these, especially as the ones provided will be the massive foam-block ones as, apparently, the auto-inflatables ones don't meet with the Greek safety code.

Have a great time!
 
The first 'family' sailing holiday we did together was a flotilla with Setsail out of Poros in 2003. We did a circuit around the Saronic gulf in the first week, and one in the argolic gulf the second. My daughters were 11 and 10 years old at the time, and my wife was new to sailing (although she did go on a competent crew course in Brittany before we went so that she wasn't a complete beginner). I was very conscious of the fact that although I'd enjoyed being brought up sailing in the english channel, (often with white knuckles and gritted teeth) largely with my late uncle, that those experiences had actively put a couple of my cousins off sailing completely. I was determined therefore that the introduction to sailing for my own kids should be an idyllic one. Our flotilla holiday proved to be exactly that. We had a fabulous time and made some good friends with whom we still exchange Xmas cards. Our daughters enjoyed having kids of their own age on other boats with whom they could hook up in the different ports of call.

With a good lead crew, everything is easy and reassuring. There's not much to worry about, and it's lovely to be able to pootle into harbour quite late in the day knowing that a berth is being kept warm for you.

Since then we've stuck to bareboating, but that first flotilla holiday certainly achieved what I'd hoped, and laid the foundations for many enjoyable family sailing holidays. Both of my girls are now yachtmasters and charter boats themselves with their own friends, as well as occasionally with their aged parents.
 
Captain Seapig said:
Mrs Seapig and I are taking our seapiglets (boys 6 & 8) on the south Ionian flotilla with Neilson at the end of August. We might have the right bits of paper from RYA, but we don't have a lot of experience to draw on. I am hoping this will be the first of many family adventures. Any advice on how to make it fun and comfortable?
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Did just that in the Ionian with Sunsail. The kiddies running the flotilla were great and the whole thing was fun. Lots of sun screen, games for the kids but make the little buggers work. Helming, navigating etc. That way they will feel they have achieved something.

You have far less to worry about than you think.
 
You'll have a great time,
Research and buy your own life jackets to take with you. The airlines are fine with it.
It is true that you rarely see them being used, but a kid overboard in a LJ is a crisis, without one is a disaster. I just don't understand the mentality of not using them. Your 6 year old will probably need a solid foam (Crewsaver etc), whereas the 8 year old should fit an autoinflator (Bluewave kids or similar). Make sure they have integral harnesses and take your own harness lines.
You don't have to of course, and many people will say it is OTT, but I disagree. I speak from experience of several flot holidays with the kids, and a whole summer cruising around Greece with kids when the unbreakable rule was "LJ on if the boat is not tied up or anchored".
Have a fantastic trip :-)
 
Mwinda said:
You'll have a great time,
Research and buy your own life jackets to take with you. The airlines are fine with it.
It is true that you rarely see them being used, but a kid overboard in a LJ is a crisis, without one is a disaster. I just don't understand the mentality of not using them. Your 6 year old will probably need a solid foam (Crewsaver etc), whereas the 8 year old should fit an autoinflator (Bluewave kids or similar). Make sure they have integral harnesses and take your own harness lines.
You don't have to of course, and many people will say it is OTT, but I disagree. I speak from experience of several flot holidays with the kids, and a whole summer cruising around Greece with kids when the unbreakable rule was "LJ on if the boat is not tied up or anchored".
Have a fantastic trip :-)
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Is that true - I was under the impression that the CO2 cartridges were not allowed in either hand or hold luggage?
 
NormanB said:
Is that true - I was under the impression that the CO2 cartridges were not allowed in either hand or hold luggage?
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Mostly true. IATA rules allow them in hand or hold luggage at the airline's discretion. There's a bunch of threads to search for about this. Most airlines if they have official rules will allow them but tell you to remove the cylinders from the lifejackets and inform checkin desk staff. And it's when you talk to staff who don't know the rules that the fun can begin. You don't want them in hand luggage because then you've got an extra layer of people who might not know the rules to deal with. I once got treated like a terrorist at stanstead for pointing out my disconnected cylinders to security after they'd been ignored by the x-ray people and then being told I "wasn't supposed to have that information because it's not public" when I showed him a printout of the IATA rules I carried with me (downloaded from spinlock's web site). Checkin desk staff had explicitly told me to take it in hand luggage on that occasion (it seemed to be the first time anyone had asked them, they were clearly confused, and it wasn't like I hadn't spent the previous week exchanging emails with turkish airlines customer services on the subject )

Best plan is probably to disconnect cylinders, put in bag you intend to check and print out any page the airline has stating lifejackets are allowed to show at checkin in case of trouble. As they never seem to treat a checked bag specially after you've told them what's in it I would take a guess that nothing bad would happen if someone forgot to mention their bag's contents
 
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Mwinda said:
Research and buy your own life jackets to take with you.
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I really don't think the OP needs to purchase and take his own lifejackets with him. Certainly not for the adults. The Neilson boat I had a fortnight ago had four gas jackets on board. Whilst I didn't inspect them closely, because I chose not to wear one, I would be astonished if a company like Neilson (with a reputation to protect) didn't take care to ensure they were safe.

Only one of the boats on our flotilla wore life jackets and that was the only one with kids - gas ones for the adults and foam ones for the kids. I'm not sure whether the parents brought the kiddie jackets with them, or whether they were supplied by Neilson. Surely a call to Neilson could clarify the options.

Don't forget that the Neilson base from which the OP will be departing (Vounaki) is also a beach resort with dinghies, kayaks, etc, and they insist that everyone using them has flotation aids, which they provide.

(And, yes, I do know the difference between a flotation aid and a life jacket. The point I am trying to make is that they do appear to take safety seriously, so probably do have the gear in the resort if it isn't in the locker on board).
 
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If Neilson provide adult CO2 jackets, then gold star for them. Sunsail don't (they suggest and demo the "titanic" jackets at briefing!). Dunno about the other charter co's.
I have never had a problem carrying CO2 LJs trans-Atlantic, Greece, Turkey. My usual process is to check the airline policy on-line (they usually say "allowed but contact us first") then phone the airline help desk who will be clueless - so tell them what their policy says. They will check with someone and say "oh ok". Then print out a copy of their own airline policy and take it with you. RYA has guidance:
http://www.rya.org.uk/knowledge-advice/boating-abroad/Pages/flying-with-lifejackets.aspx
 
Lifejackets and airlines. The IATA rules are pretty clear: lifejackets can be carried and up to two spare CO2 cartridges per jacket, at the discretion of the airline. Dig into the airline baggage policy and you'll usually find a repeat of the IATA rules permitting the carriage.
When I carry them, I remove the cartridges to prevent accidental inflation and pack them in hold baggage. That avoids the security guys who simply don't know what the rules are and can cause problems. However, a work round if you're not taking hold baggage is to carry the jackets with the cartridges removed and be prepared to loose the cartridges at security: buy new ones on arrival at your destination. Never bothered to declare anything and never had a problem.
 
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