What's Happening at Sail Ionian this week?

Find out how pre-season preparations are going and what else we are getting up to...

 

I was trying to decide what the subject of today's blog post should be but then took a quick glance outside at the engineers, skippers, domestic team and other staff darting between yachts, offices, stores and realised that my blog post subject is right in front of me - there is so much happening here at the moment, and I'm sure some of you will be interested to hear about it..

Firstly we've got the café renovations in full swing. The Greek builders are moving the bar, inserting new walls, among other things - but it's rather loud (and very dusty) in there so we'll wait until they've finished to reveal our new-look Quay Café. If you hadn't heard, the Quay Café is being renovated so that we can extend the kitchen space meaning the chefs will be able to provide a wider range of hot and cold food. You can read my blog on that here.

Directors Neil & Di have returned from their winter in the Caribbean. Thankfully they brought the sunshine with them and we are currently enjoyed beautiful weather - I'm talking mid-twenties, glorious sunshine, long days and light evenings! What more could we want? We can feel an improvement in the weather every day now (touch wood) and can't wait for the season to get going.

I took this photo one evening last week along the front of Lefkas town by the lagoon. It had gone 8pm and the sun was only just going down - perfect.

A serene sunset with vibrant orange and yellow hues illuminating the sky, reflected in the calm waters below a traditional arched bridge, perfect for a tranquil Sail Ionian sailing excursion.

The weather brings me on to Easter. Most countries celebrated Easter last weekend, though I hear the weather was abysmal in the UK. Here in Greece we will celebrate Easter a week later, that's this weekend. It is tradition here to roast a lamb on a spit - tavernas, families, friends all get their spit roasts ready out on the street for an all day party, mainly involving eating copious amounts! We will be doing the same thing this Sunday, and are very much looking forwards to a pre-season social. I was searching for a picture of Greek Easter but I don't think I need to show you a picture of a lamb on a spit... The weather is due to be lovely again - yay :)

The boats are making their way back into the water, the pontoon is full again and the quay is filling up... we will continue launching the boats but things are slowing down now over the (very long) Easter weekend at the boat yard and the tools have definitely been put down for a few days. But we've got plenty to be getting on with with the boats we have already launched. Biminis and sprayhoods are being cleaned and put back on, cockpit lockers being refilled, sails hauled and checked and many other behind-the-scenes jobs...

We say goodbye to Sarnia Cherie this week as she leaves the rest of her Sail Ionian family and joins a new family in Athens! Sarnia has been a very popular boat over the years so we wish her well in her new life.

A white sailboat moored in calm, clear waters near a rocky shoreline covered in dense green trees. Sunlight filters through the foliage, illuminating the scene, capturing the tranquil essence of Sail Ion

We've almost got a full team of staff here now in Vliho. We welcome Gerry to the engineering team and our new skippers Kevin, Rachel & Sophia. Of course, lots of staff have returned to us and we have a very solid team ready for the 2018 season, with a couple more to join in the next month or so.

Selkie, one of the new yachts is still en route from Slovenia to Lefkas. The Easter weekend will hold them up in Corfu with the boat paperwork needing to be processed so the skipper and crew are taking a slow meander down the Croatian coastline. Selkie is a Bavaria Vision 42, very well equipped and available for charter from the beginning of June - she's going to be popular so don't miss out! You can view the availability & pricing on the website here. We will eagerly await her arrival next week, the champagne is in the fridge!

And lastly the countdown is on for the arrival of our first guests of this season. Our first charters start on Wednesday 18th April, with offers on from Weds 18th, sun 22nd and Weds 25th, we have got an impressive number of yachts going out over the first couple of weeks! As Preveza airport does not have a UK flight arriving until Sunday 29th April, our first few guests will be coming in via Corfu. There are some very good value flights in to Corfu from London so if you could be tempted by an early season offer, then contact me on info@sailionian.com and I will gladly assist with organising your holiday for you!

Thanks for reading, more to come soon!

 

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