Alexandra hartley

Flotilla holidays are well-known for providing all the enjoyment of a charter holiday whilst limiting the stressful aspects. Unknown harbours, idiosyncrasies of local weather patterns and, most importantly, the best spot for a sundowner – all of this seamlessly managed by your slightly weatherbeaten and cheery lead crew. 

“You are the Skipper of your own boat. You have trained to enjoy that responsibility, and being on flotilla doesn’t change that.”

The ‘summer’ season is really an eight month, season-and-a-half long marathon for flotilla crew. We love sharing our world with our guests, but even being on a yacht in Greece can become monotonous. For lots of reasons, we want you to have the best time possible, so here’s a few top tips to help everyone make the most of their charter. 

1. Teabags and Marmite

If you want to be in favour with your crew before you’ve even touched down, ask your flotilla crew if there’s anything they want bringing from home. You’d be surprised how hard decent teabags are to source, but less surprised at how devastating a morning is without a good cuppa. We once had guests bring us smoked bacon from the UK. We’re not biased, but if we were, that’s the sort of behaviour that would sway us. 

2. Incompetent Crew?

Take the time to teach your fellow holiday makers, otherwise known as your crew, to tie the basic knots, understand different sailing terms, and some fundamental do’s and do not’s. I love it when we get newbies out on the water, and all lead crew will be willing to lend a hand instructing. However, teaching that a cleat serves a practical function rather than an aesthetic one in the middle of a med-mooring with a hefty crosswind is not relaxing by anyone’s standards.

If you’re in doubt of your crews capabilities, let us know. We’re always more than happy to hop onboard and help out where needed, ideally before things start to go wrong. 

3. Home comforts 

Save precious luggage space for portable speakers, battery banks, fairy lights and cigarette lighter charging adapters. In my opinion, motoring on flat calm days with a good playlist in the background can be just as fantastic as those epic days beating upwind. Fairy lights can be great for darker evenings cosied up in the cockpit, and of course everyone wants their devices to be charged up. 

Bonus tip: gift your fellow sailors a small flag – their home county, local sailing club or something more creative to fly from the spreaders. It’s a great way to personalise your own yacht and pick it out amongst the sea of Bavaria’s and Beneteau’s.

4. Group dinners… 

If you’re having a group dinner, which I can almost guarantee you will, I can also guarantee that the crew aren’t paying for their own food and drink. Being bought drinks by guests is a lovely gesture, but it does feel unfortunately misdirected to us. If you would like to show your appreciation, save it for when you see us at a non-group event, or even better for a tip at the end of the week. Believe it or not, we sometimes do get bored of drinking beers.

5. Let me google that for you

A little bit of research into the area before you arrive will never be wasted. Greece, being one example, is hugely diverse and not every cruising ground boasts the same characteristics – don’t be disappointed because one area doesn’t have the same beaches or cruises as a previous one! 

On a particularly challenging day I once sent a screenshot of a google search page to one of my guests… not my finest customer service moment. 

6. Hot ’n’ Cold 

If you’re coming in the low season, it could be chilly at night. If you’re coming in the high season, it will be unbearably hot. Pack accordingly. Portable and USB fans are a great idea, and warm clothes to sleep in will be a great comfort, too. 

7. No one wants warm beers 

Frozen water bottles for your fridge are your best friend, bags of ice are your enemy – especially when your fridge doesn’t have a drain. Spoiler – many don’t have a drain. Lots of mini markets, supermarkets and kiosks will have iced water so keep an eye out, and stock up. 

8. Place for pessimism?

It’s easier to exceed expectations if they start somewhere realistic… Unless you are paying a premium price, I recommend lowering your expectations of your charter yacht by a smidge. They’ve had a longer season than us and could always do with a little extra TLC. Reminder that yacht quality doesn’t necessarily correlate with amount of fun you can have on holiday! 

9. “Zynobia Zynobia, this is Dimitra Dimitra, over”

A handheld VHF is a great investment if you’re a regular flottie. Most charter yachts aren’t equipped with them, and if you’re short-handed, skipping up and down the companionway to relay messages to the skipper will get very old, very quickly. Handheld VHFs are fantastic and we are rarely seen without ours. 

10. A Grecian Silver Bullet 

Backfilling or misbehaving heads are up there on the unpleasant-frequent matrix when it comes to cruising. What can I say, they get a lot of use and often it can be a day or two before the suspect parts are replaced. One trick which might alleviate some issues, or at least keep things working effectively, can be to put a decent glug of oil into the bowl and pump it through. There’s no harm in trying. Proper etiquette should always be applied – 10-15 pumps each way, please.

We love our job, it’s a fantastic life. But it can also be intense when you multiple one boat’s concerns and requests by 10 or 15 each week. One final note of wisdom; at the end of the day, you are the Skipper of your own boat. You have trained to enjoy that responsibility, and being on flotilla doesn’t change that. Here’s to good winds and making everyone’s experience the best it can be.