The simplest way to enjoy cruising the Greek islands is renting a yacht with a skipper
Skipper is your host and the captain of your yacht. He is responsible for the crew’s safety, wellbeing, but also for the safety of the rented yacht. With a skipper, sailing the Greek islands is a great pleasure, but a successful and safe cruising requires team work of both the skipper and the yacht’s crew.
Cruising the Greek islands is quite relaxed, because it is a safe and calm sea area. Still, it takes some team spirit to ensure that all the maneuvers, like anchoring, rising the sails, or entering a marina, are done with maximum enjoyment and minimal stress.
Characteristics of a good skipper:
- Responsibility: they are responsible for all the aspects of ship’s operation during the cruising.
- Skills: he must master sailing and navigation skills. Give confidence to the crew. Communicate well. Assign tasks to the crew that match their experience.
- Knowledge: good knowledge of the Greek islands and the area that is sailed.
- Patience: must be patient with inexperienced crew members.
- Initiative: encourages crew members to get involved in route planning, navigation and other fine and more advanced aspects of sailing.
Renting a yacht with a skipper for cruising the Greek islands will make you feel safe, because before the departure, skipper does the following:
- Plans the route in detail.
- Organizes a crew meeting before departure.
- Shows and explains all the key yacht equipment to the less experienced crew members, so they can understand its use during the sailing.
- Explains all the safety equipment to the crew: how, where and when it is used.
- Makes sure that the crew is equipped with appropriate clothing and personal safety equipment.
What makes a good crew
- Key qualities: positive attitude, sense of humour, tolerating other people in an enclosed space.
- Willing to learn: have an active role in all the aspects of sailing that renting a yacht provides. You can always consult with the skipper and learn something new about operating a boat.
- Caution: carefully listen to skipper’s instructions. Ask if you don’t understand something.
- Team spirit.
