News and Blog

Some trips are more challenging than others, and we wouldn’t be honest if we said everything was smooth sailing all the time! Our new girl Christiana VIII had her fair share of issues on this departure. The crew led by Marjorie and George had owned yachts so were accommodating of Christiana’s water pump breaking for 36 hours, her brand new engine not starting for a few hours and other mechanical issues that we encountered for the first few days! With the very hot weather still with us, in Poros a cold hose shower on shore turned into great fun – Marjorie and gang, we can’t thank you all enough for bearing with us while repairs were completed. Unfortunately, when guests aboard Margarita also started experiencing problems, we began to wonder if we had upset the Greek gods in some way with issues that were not so easy to resolve immediately as much as we tried. By the end of the two-weeks it turned into the most memorable of the season, not just because of the problems but more so because of the people sailing with us. A group of nearly 40 people came together from all over the world and had fun regardless. The effort put into pirate night by all the yacht crews will be remembered for a long time; Mary from Kentucky, your shining personality truly made us smile every day; Stan and Glenda from Oregon you are very special people and last but not least the Stolls from Australia, your third trip with us, you guys are like wine…you get better every year!! 

Each year at the end of August we sail a 1-week hop into the Cyclades with just our cabin charter yacht. This year Margarita headed out of Athens with an all American contingent of non-sailors. The week proved to be the hottest week of the summer with temperatures souring into the 40’s and that is Celsius! Margaritas 60ft deck sure came in handy for cooler sleeping spots – a highlight when under the stars at Kithnos! Leaving Cape Sounion on Friday lunch, it was the best sail of the year so far with all the sails up right back into Alimos marina. It was the perfect end to a fun week giving everyone the chance to take the helm and see what sailing is all about. One-week trips are always over so quickly but we had a great time – Paige, Ralph, Sherrie, Paul, Laurie and Fred, thanks for sailing with us.

This trip started with great excitement in more ways than one! We were already excited about having two birthdays aboard King and a wedding onboard SpongeBob, but what we didn’t anticipate was the weather excitement! Within an hour of leaving Split, the Gods treated us to roaring thunder and a spectacular light show for the short hop to Trogir – the only downside was the rain that came down in bucket loads! Arriving in Skradin that night, the rain subsided a little and we enjoyed our first birthday celebration for Geoff from the UK – mojitos all round was the drink for the day. A few days later in Dubrovnik ACI Marina, it was an unforgettable experience when the crew aboard SpongeBob, a Lagoon 450 invited us to their wedding. It was a very moving affair aboard the flower decorated deck when bride Andree and groom Pierre from Montreal said their vows with family and friends onboard and the rest of the family watching on Skype and facetime back home. The evening ended in a chandelier lit restaurant in the heart of Dubrovnik’s walled city – a truly memorable day for everyone. With the wedding celebrations over, we then enjoyed a chilled birthday for our ‘repeat offender’ client Karen from Ottawa, Karen’s day started with a relaxing massage at the marina, lunch by the pool and then a few drinks and a little birthday cake in Sipan! Ending just outside Split, the yachts had one final gathering for a 2-hour fuel stop line-up with 50 other yachts! This trip really was special with lots of celebrations. Thank you Pierre and Andree for allowing Poseidon Charters to be part of your very special day – we look forward to welcoming you to Greece for your anniversary next year!

For this trip, two British families now living in Switzerland were aboard White Lady II and on King, a couple from Wisconsin, USA. Barb and Wayne were old hands with us after sailing in Greece aboard Margarita just two weeks ago! After the first lunch stop at Primosten we headed up the Krka river to spend a fun night at Skradin – Connie, Lara and Zoe, the beautiful young daughters onboard White Lady II we’ll never forget your squeals of delight at the swans vying for ritz crackers!  An interesting mussel night followed where at midnight a storm arrived with up to 50mph winds, thunder and lightning – the skippers aboard the yachts didn’t sleep much that night…fortunately, the next evening was beautifully calm on mooring balls at Solta. One week trips are over all too quickly and this trip was no exception so after Solta we headed to Stari Grad, Hvar and finally Bol Beach, Brac followed by another great sail back into Split. White Lady II family, it was a wonderful week with you and your girls, their characters made it a perfect ‘little’ flotilla! Barb and Wayne, what a holiday for the Poseidon crew with just the two of you onboard – thanks for choosing to sail in Greece and Croatia with us…remember to let us know which one is your favourite!!

For the first time this season we left the marina of ACI Split with our wet weather gear on – a welcome change after the heat of Greece! Our guests, a wonderful group of friends from Colorado rolled with it and enjoyed the first few days even though the rain didn’t stop! Picking up mussels while leaving the Krka river, we headed up to Kakan on a close haul, tacking every few minutes to get up the channel. For the novice sailors onboard, this was a great opportunity to get to grips with King’s rigging and learn a little about sailing. We arrived at Kakan just in time for sunset to enjoy a fantastic night of mussels and pasta – with a few good bottles of red wine on board, it was a night to remember. More great sailing followed each day and with perfect blue sky and wonderful winds we enjoyed every point of sail including wing on wing. Stopping at Vis, Hvar and a quick dip at Bol Beach the week came to an end all too quickly with a fantastic last sail back into Split. Thank you gang from Colorado you were a great group and so helpful with every aspect of life aboard, we hope to see you again in Greece.

New guests boarded Margarita and Christiana VIII in Ios and on Monday when the Aussie flotilla crews arrived back from Santorini we headed for a magical night at Skinoussa. The highlight was not only the delicious food at Deli restaurant where Dimitri treated us to local meats, cheeses and salads but there was also the yearly Fava festival! Skinoussa has a population of only 200 people and the whole island joined in for this yearly celebration. With fresh fava by the pot, wine, music and dancing under the stars – a fun night was had by all! Leaving Skinoussa we stopped at Paros for the night before heading through the Delos channel. The lunch stop at Delos was the best of the trip with Margarita and Christiana VIII rafted together for everyone to enjoy jumping and swinging off the bow of Christiana VIII into the crystal clear waters.  A short hop over to Mykonos followed where the crews partied into the early hours at Skandi bar. A tired but happy flotilla arrived back in Athens on Friday evening and we bid a sad farewell to our fun group before Poseidon’s crew headed over to start the Croatian flotilla program.

Seven yachts joined Christiana VIII and Margarita for our largest departure of 2014 with Canadians, Americans, South Africans, Australians and New Zealanders as crews. Perfect sailing conditions were with us as we left Athens in high spirits arriving in Poros in time for happy hour and our first fun docking experience with two catamarans, five monohulls and two 60ft lead yachts full of cabin charter sailors. Hydra, and a wonderful pirate night followed and then our passage to stunning Kleftico in Milos for a BBQ of fresh tuna we’d caught just 30 minutes out of Hydra. Due to heavy force 8 winds, the itinerary had to change so our one week flotilla yachts ending in Paros left us and headed to Kithnos while the rest of the flotilla headed to the safety of Ios a day early; in force 6 winds it turned out to be strong but fantastic sailing for everyone. The decision to head to Ios early was the right one when shortly after arriving we saw raging winds outside the harbour, we were relieved our yachts were moored uncomfortably, but safely! On Saturday, the flotilla crews headed for a well-earned rest on Santorini after a sleepness night in heavy winds. The good news is the winds are back to normal for next week and we look forward to more good sailing when everyone returns from Santorini tomorrow and we head to the Petit Cyclades and Skinoussa.

Led by Christiana VIII, our second flotilla departure welcomed Naias, Smaragda, Kos 39, Astria and Spicy referred to as ‘Spicy Boys’ with the all male crew from Northampton, UK. For the first time in our 23 years of sailing in Greece, we were surprised to get dense fog for our armada of little flotilla yachts heading from Athens to Aegina – we now know what the horn sounded like aboard the yachts! The fog cleared just in time for lunch to reveal a beautiful blue-sky day for the first swim stop of the trip in the crystal clear turquoise waters of Aghia marina bay. After great stops at Poros, Hydra and Milos the flotilla separated for a day and the smaller yachts enjoyed a solo sail to Folegandros for the night while Christiana VIII, Astria and the Spicy Boys headed to Ios. The first week ended on a high with a great night out to watch the World Cup in the bars of the hilltop Chora, Ios is famous for. 

It’s been a mixed weather week for our first departure of the year with Christiana VIII, Margarita and Alexandros on flotilla. We’ve seen a rare bit of rain mixed with sand from North Africa causing very dirty decks in Hydra and also wonderful broad reach conditions on the way to Milos. Christiana VIII on her maiden voyage with Poseidon hit 11.3 knots on the passage to Milos with Margarita coming in a close second. We couldn’t be more pleased with Christiana VIII – after a few hot water teething issues she is proving to be a beautiful proud leader of our flotilla. Yesterday we said a sad goodbye to the crew aboard Margarita – safe trip back to Canada everyone.