Myconos & Santorini in a week Charter

Many people wish to sail the Aegean sea in order to see the two famous islands of Myconos & Santorini. The following refers to those who plan to see the two Greek islands/areas or just Santorini island during a one WEEK CHARTER only.

We welcome their wishes and in order to avoid any misunderstandings or non-feasible planning, we have to say in advance that in the Aegean Sea often N winds blow with a force of  20 – 40 miles per hour. For experienced sailors this can be “a piece of cake” but for others …no. 

Another issue is the distance and the duration of charter:

  • Mykonos is WSW at 90 Nautical miles away from Athens and
  • Santorini is SSW at 120 Nautical miles away from Athens and
  • The distance between Mykonos and Santorini is approximately 70 miles or more.
  • A sailing yacht makes 5 – 8 knots (or nearly the same in miles per hour), and it is easy to calculate lots of hours onboard for a trip from Athens to Mykonos and Santorini and back, just to cover the distance. Putting figures down it comes out about 40 hours NON-STOP sailing. No time spent for eating, swimming, hopping, relaxing, exploring, resting or sleeping.

 

In general, it is all more reasonable for a duration of one week charter that you plan and see just one of the two famous islands and especially Mykonos, which is much closer to Athens. Athens – Santorini – Athens could be done within one week, but will surely create fatigue and the plan’s success will also be subject to the weather conditions. After all, sailing upwind for 120 miles… is more like work than a holiday.

A first thing is that the passengers will have to run after taxis, getting to Piraeus port or Rafina, take ferries, check connections and time-tables both to reach and leave Paros islands, which many times could end up in a nightmare.

A second point is that the little port in Paros can hold a small number of charter boats and availability is very limited. Most of the yachts are booked quite in advance in Paros island, so do not be surprised if your suitable boat type will only be available from Athens (Alimos Marina or Lavrion port).  

It is also expectable, that in Aegean, in the Cyclades region, there will be rather strong winds blowing for all smaller charter yachts up to 37 feet long. Those will have a hard time with waves 2m – 3m high or during maneuvering. Sailing in Blue may transfer the yacht especially for you to Paros base (Skippered Charters can also be delivered to other islands as well), though the “empty-run” time will be part of your paid charter time and an extra one-way fee will apply.

If you would consider / aford sailing holidays for 2 weeks or for a minimum of 10 – 11 days then there is ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM – just prepare your crew for the possibility of a bit “rough” seas for a while and set sails (!!)

We feel your holiday time is very valuable….and thought that we should share the above with you.