Recs for bareboat charter in Med please

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MrsPB

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I'm looking at organising a weeks bareboat charter in the Med (Ionian, Croatia?) for my husband and me in late August or September. He's a former Challenge Business skipper so has lots of experience (and I've got my dayskipper!) It's meant to be a surprise so I can't ask him - so, what companies would you recommend to book with, and any places you would definitely (or definitely not) visit?
All advice gratefully received. It will be our first holiday without the kids so would like something reasonably restful!
MrsPB
 
Welcome Mrs PB

You cant go wrong with the Ionian, either Corfu or Lefkas where the main operators are based. You have all the biggies there Moorings, Sunsail etc, large Greek operators such as Kiriacoulis and Cosmos then a whole host of smaller companies mostly UK owned such as Sail Ionian, Nisos on Levkas Bobs Boats, Artemis, Pinnacle in Corfu. Odysseus in Corfu also has a good fleet.

Have a look in the back of PBO or YM, they all advertise there this time of year. You can book direct or you can use an agent who might be able to give you a wider choice. Suggest minimum of 34 ft, but as you are experienced you might appreciate a larger 36-38. Corfu is good because there are daily flights by Easyjet which despite the lousy departure time is better than charter flights that you will need to organise if you go to Levkas - usually cheaper, too. Have just booked for May at about £150 each return.

Hope this helps - whatever you choose you won't be disappointed.
 
The Ionian is extremely crowded at the time you are thinking of going. In August you will encounter hundreds (literally) of Italian charter boats, many large, with what appears to be several generations of families on board. As soon as they go home at the end of August, and all the kids go back to school, charter rates reduce a little, making September perhaps the most popular with UK couples. We find most of the popular places to be almost more crowded in September than they were in August. All of the main charter companies increased their flotilla fleets last season but the number of ports didn't increase at all!

In September last season we were in the east Peloponnese. It was superb, hardly another boat around, weather great and scenery just as good as it was in the Ionian. Not too far from Athens you will find plenty of chartering opportunities and you will relish the perhaps slightly more challenging conditions.
 
If your husband is that experienced he may want more of a breeze than the Ionian will provide.

We went to the Sporades the summer before last, in the second half of August. Brief account and some pictures here. Better winds and shelter from the islands provides exhilarating sailing and fairly flat seas - a winning combination.

We went on a flotilla with Setsail but they do bareboat as well.
 
Thank you all for your posts all of which is noted. I hadn't thought about how busy it would be, or about the breeze! Will have to do a bit more research. I vaguely mentioned sailing to him today (one day, might we go sailing together again....!) He said he was interested in Croatia or Turkey. We did a delivery from Turkey to Dartmouth, via Barcelona (and Crete, Rhodes, Sicily) and he'd happily go back to any, he said. He's not been to the Ionian. Overall he'd choose the Carribean and therefore I understand we'd be better to go later in the year (November/December at the earliest?) but I'm not convinced that it would be worth it for a week....
Mmmm, food for thought, many thanks...
 
jhr - lovely pics - thanks for sharing (at what age will we finally be able to take the kids with us?)
MrsPB
 
Our kids were 13 and 10 when we went. They've been boating with us for several years, but on our small powerboat in the Solent. They were both able to help (helming, taking lines ashore, using the VHF to call up the Flotilla lead crew and so forth) and they'd probably have been able to do much the same a couple of years previously. The important thing is to make sure that there's some entertainment for them, particularly at the end of the day. Ideally this means other kids to play with, which implies either that you take a couple of their friends with them, or - maybe - that you go on a flotilla.
 
That's an issue which came up many time on forum meets. Many offers were made to take kids on board much bigger boats, for passages and evenings, just for kids company for similar aged kids who got on well
 
We started taking our daughter sailing when she was small, and bareboat chartered with her in the British Virgin Islands when she was 3 years. We have just recently sailed to Lanzarote from France with her (now 12 years old). She slept alot, but enjoyed the experience. Have you cosidered Lanzarote for a charter. PM me if you would like to know any more
 
Hi,

I have been going to the Ionian for years. Relaxing? Yes. Friendly? Yes. Boring? No. Lots of nice places to visit and explore. Lefkas Nidri is a nice place to start. You can bang on upto Corfu or go south to Ithica Kefelonia or even Zikintos. Water is warm and normally a nice breeze in the afternoon which dies out about 18:30.

Have sent you a PM with more sugestions.
 
I've got a Greek friend, George Kaloudas, who charters out his own Beneteau 381 in the Ionian. As he uses her himself when she's not chartered she's well equipped and maintained. He offers a good service too...collect from airport and take to boat via supermarket etc, and gets lots (almost all of his charters in fact) of repeat business. You're not limited to whole multiples of 7 days either. Let me know if you want his contact details, or would like me to check if any particular dates are available.
Bill
 
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