All hands on deck
Fancy a sailing trip but can’t sail? No problem -- this holiday in Croatia comes with your very own skipper
SAIlINg can theoretically answer our family holiday brief — sunshine, beachcombing, local restaurants on a quayside, a sense of adventure. The only downer is that neither my wife nor I have a clue about sailing. So we decide that a Sunsail ‘Flotilla Hero’ holiday in Croatia with a skipper provided will fit the bill.
Hopelessly ignorant of what to expect, we arrive at the Agana Marina, a 20-minute drive from Split, where our hostess, Rebecca, introduces us to ‘Chilled’, a fully equipped 47 ft yacht.
Our temporary home is an instant hit with the children — Flora, aged eight, Celia, seven, and Tabitha, f our.
Yachts are l i ke playgrounds f or children — cosy cabins to curl up in, decks on which to scramble around, gizmos to play with, ropes to pull and loos called ‘heads’. What’s not to like?
There is a structured itinerary to flotilla sailing, with some evening social events, but there’s never an obligation to take part. Our flotilla is just five yachts, but there can be as many as 15.
Chilled is the largest in the flotilla and is the ideal size for a family of five plus a skipper. With four cabins, we have plenty of space.
The cockpit area converts into a dining table for eating outside, or we can use the table in the saloon. The boats come equipped with all the cooking utensils, crockery and cutlery required, as well as an ample range of flippers and snorkels to suit all sizes.
We also have a dinghy with outboard motor enabling us to drop anchor and explore.
Each flotilla has a lead boat that acts like a mother duck, making sure we leave one port and arrive at the next safely. On day one, we learn at our morning briefing that the winds are forecast to be light. The forecast is wrong. As we turn north up the coast, the wind is gusting to 30 knots.
Without our skipper, Paul, to keep everyone calm and safe, we’d likely be having a major morale crisis. He is brilliant, supervising us as we tack up-wind and giving jobs to all hands.
Celia stands on her tiptoes to see over the wheel as she tries to steer a steady course, while Flora radios our progress to base with the sign- off, ‘Chilled out’, not quite r ef l ecting t he mood on-board. Tabitha is kept busy looking out for dolphins.
Each day our task is to sail to a new port, but on the way we are free to find a bay in which to anchor, or take a longer route.
Usually our plan is to find a secluded spot for picnics, shell collecting, a swim and sunbathing on the foredeck — the holiday brief is more than being met.
THE Krka flotilla route takes us north from Agana, first to Rogoznica then onwards to Prvic Island and Skradin, from where we visit the Krka National Park with its impressive waterfalls. On the way, we all pick up new skills: reversing a 15-tonne boat against a quayside without hitting it; learning to tie a round turn and two half hitches, bowlines and clove hitches; how to drop anchor and raise sails.
Some evenings we eat aboard, other nights we join the group in restaurants and hear about sails collapsing, masts hitting bridges, collisions, running aground, getting fishing lines tangled in the propeller, arriving in the wrong port — it all happens.
This particular holiday includes an International Certificate of Competence course, which means my wife and I are now legally allowed to charter a yacht anywhere in Europe.
For anyone considering a flotilla sailing holiday, just remember: this is not a sun-lounger escape — t hose s ai l s don’t hoist themselves — but you won’t regret it for a second. TRAVEL FACTS SUNSAIL ( sunsail.co.uk) offers yachts sleeping up to six people from £476pp for one week at the Hvar flotilla in Croatia, including flotilla and skipper fees. A starter pack and breakfast on the first morning is provided. British Airways (0844 493 0787, ba.com) offers flights to Split, Croati, from £49 each way.