BLUEMOMENT

I hope I'll get a good response from here (rather than TOP) so here goes:I'm definitely planning to move from stinky to sailing, so I'm already convinced. What I need to do is show SWMBO that it can be fun and enjoyable AND we need a holiday, so two birds with one stone etc. What I'd like to do is say go on a holiday with something like ' an intro to sailing' ie, a couple (or more) days in a yacht with other things to do as well (or in case). We'd like some guaranteed sun and about 10 - 14 days away and most important, we are limited on budget. OK that's the brief, any ideas about where and how much would be incredibly gratefully received.

Flotilla Charter in Turkey or Croatia? or BVI if you prefer the Caribbean & have a bigger budget.

Ideally, as charter boats are generally 6 berth, take a couple (or 4) GOOD friends to share the cost, the work & the fun! I'd avoid just taking 2 berths on a Sunsail type yacht unless you have the whole boat to yourselves. I mean, what are the chances of living in harmony for 2 weeks with 4 strangers in very cramped conditions?

Pal of mine went with a group of mates 10 years ago - all pretty well none sailors, & have been going every year ever since.

I'd suggest the Ionian for it's gentler and more predictable winds and if it was me I'd go at either end of the season rather than in the middle when it can be very hot.

The Sunsail base at Vounaki can offer various packages but how about spending the first week at the centre (where you can sail dinghies off the beach or day-sail yachts from the marina and brush up on your skills) and the second week on a flotilla?

We spent a very enjoyable bareboat week there in October a few years ago as guests of a friend who has a boat in charter with Sunsail.

The Daily Mail had a good article yesterday (sat) about Sunsail holidays.

I've done a share a boat with Sunsail when I was first divorced. It was good, 4 blokes sharing a 6 berth yacht. Everyone tends to be on best behaviour and you only have to last 2 weeks so it's easy to bite your toung and not rock the boat too much if someone is being a little iritating.

It's also fairly easy to desert of an evening and socialise with another crew, or several.

It was harder with 3 companions from the local sailing club, a couple and an older bloke. It was the older blokes last fling, end of life savings splash before his body gave in, so the responsibility to make sure he enjoyed it was high. It didn't help that the couple split before the trip so it was 3 blokes in 3 cabins and the lass in the saloon, she insisted. I couldn't even go for a nocturnal widdle without shorts!

The social life on a flotilla is grand if you can put up with being told where you will go every night even if you don't want to move that day. But get a boat to yourself, or go bare boat.