Early June commencement with Simon and Philippa sailing down to Frikes for their 10 day stay. The visit was quite symbolic for Simon since it was the village that he was based at, teaching wind surfing and dingy sailing some 35 years or so ago, and his first holiday with Philippa. Very special memories and still local people remain that worked with him.
To make their sail to Frikes more leisurely, I went ahead with their bags in Warrior Spirit, our ex RNLI Atlantic 21 B Class inshore rescue boat. For their stay they had our Lugger Angie. She was already rigged with the new Genoa foresail, batten-roached main with topsail and the batten-roached Mizen, all new this season from Dick at R&J sails, Clevedon.
Simon said, “The increased sail area provided by the ‘roller-reef’ genoa, the mainsail (with ‘inbuilt’ top sail) and larger mizzen, allowed us to make good pace in the wind range Force 1 to 3. A great improvement!”. You can read more in his full review.
In our area of the South Ionian Sea the light to medium winds are the norm, so this sail configuration is perfect and beneficial to get the most out of the sails. The Lugger sails to windward better and from both Andy Dean and Simon the boat is far better balanced. There will be 3 more units of these sails to be made this coming winter by R&J. Well done Dick for your high quality of sailmaking.
Simon’s return to Vliho Bay saw the departure of 2 Luggers, manned by Colin and Lizzie in Ellie with their great pals Chris and Janey in Clara for Frikes for the second week of their Drascombe experience in the South Ionian Sea. Both Luggers had very experienced and competent crews; Chris and Janey had been to Frikes many years ago when they chartered with Activity Holidays based at the Armonia Hotel Nidri.
They had a great time, sailed every day, swam in coves and off beaches and never failed to get the sails up if there was wind in the offing. I wish them well and maybe Colin will be enthused sufficiently with the Lugger’s versatility to look around to purchase a boat.
For Tim and Judith it has been a long 2-year wait for their visit to sail in the Ionian Sea. Originally booked early 2020, they felt unsure of restrictions last year and now it has actually happened. Whilst arriving late through flight delays at the airport, we were able to monitor their arrival and ensure the taxi collected them without a wait. As is the norm, they were brought to the Gialos Taverna were I met up with them for a Meza lunch and very welcome cold beer, as we sat and marvelled at the clear blue sea against the backdrop of the rising steep mountains from the shoreline of Vliho Bay.
Tim has past sailing experience and recently moved into small yacht sailing, whilst Judith has had no past sailing experience. This for her was a great challenge to sail and start learning the basics whilst crewing for Tim. As you can see in the photograph of them sailing on just their second full day, the Lugger is being sailed well!
So with their 10 day stay coming to a close, they split their day with motoring / sailing in the mornings to a very sheltered cove to swim, and returning to Geni Garden for lunch. Most afternoons after a swim in the pool they would go back out for a late sail.
We have all noted in the press the issues with flights, and for Tim and Judith in the early hours of the morning of departure this became their reality, albeit a small issue. Their midday flight was cancelled and a new flight was offered, but in the early evening. To accommodate this and not have Tim and Judith waiting at the airport all day, Sandra at Geni Garden made their room open to them for the day and I left the Lugger for them to have an extended sail in the late morning. It was an instance of how flexible Dragon Drascombe is combined with its accommodation providers in dealing with these unforeseen issues. In Tim’s words, “That’s very kind, thank you so much. With Sandra being so accommodating too we feel very looked after.”
All’s well that ends well, their taxi turned up at the rearranged time and we said our goodbyes after a very rewarding 10 day holiday, bringing another busy month to a close.
As of 1 July we will be offering paddle board rental and training all based at the Iris Hotel beach, very close and opposite the Geni Garden apartments. Our first family to have these boards will be the Scott family in early July. They will be based at the Villa Eleanor and I will be posting a review of how this went.
We also have a new adventure and destination for keen Lugger explorers. Kioni is a must-visit to stay and sail from. This is matched with the apartments and facilities offered by Tim and Sue at Pebbles of Kioni. There is still availability for late August and early September. The Island of Ithaca is a wonderful Greek experience.
For those of you out there who are still contemplating a sailing holiday in late August and September, don’t forget we are still operating up to 9 October, and there are apartments and sailing packages still available.
If this summer for you is now already fully arranged, we have started taking bookings for summer 2023. Very good availability at all our venues, with a fully refundable deposit of just £200. Please note our terms and conditions.
My thanks again to you all for your interest and support in Dragon Drascombe, “Luggering about in the sun”.
Phil. Osborne
M D
Dragon Drascombe Ltd