Dragon Drascombe

Lugger Sailing in the Greek Ionian

Learn to Sail

Sail Training in the South Ionian Sea

This sail training charter was a unique opportunity for both myself and Elspeth Rob, the following review is a joint assessment and review which highlights the value of my Sail Training   Programme.

To commence I will outline the background on what brought about this sailing programme for Elspeth and Rob.

Back last summer they  booked a week along with her sister and a great pal, so having 4 in the boat, this indeed for Elspeth was a ‘taster’ and much more of a holiday.

However, on returning to the  U.K. she went in pursuit of a Lugger to purchase, as a young woman her Dad bought an early Lugger back in the 1970’s and as a family they sailed this boat out of Salcombe.

So this urge for a Lugger of her own goes back many years

We have all done this, returned from a holiday and have this new enthusiasm forefront in one’s mind, exactly what Elspeth felt and within the winter she found the Lugger ‘ Nutmeg’ purchased her and had great work done to her ready for the summer of 2023

With Nutmeg now in the water on a swinging mooring at Salcombe she was ready to sail

However, this is were the Sail Training concept begins. 

It’s comes down to reality when the boat goes into the water and unfortunately the circumstances, weather and tides catch us out because of our lack of experience and sailing techniques, on a good day it’s good but when the prevailing conditions are not good it then becomes a serious issue

So confronted with these problems this summer with trying to sail with Rob at Salcombe , despite being a very motivated and determined woman , Elspeth could see her purchase of Nutmeg, it’s re firb and her determination to have great adventures with the Rob in the Lugger had been stopped in its track. Not a disaster but not feeling confident and so not enjoying the experience 

It’s a learning curve

So now I pass you over to Elspeth for her rationale on why she opted to take part in a sail training program in the South Ionian Sea.

I was so disappointed and frustrated by our experience with trying to sail Nutmeg this summer, I contacted Phil for his advise. The ownership of the Lugger was for a dream come true, it’s what I did with my family as a young girl and now I wanted to share this experience with Rob. 

The 10 day sail trading charter was formulated then by Phil at Dragon Drascombe.

All done flights booked and really looking forward to this event.

We were greeted on arrival at Preveza airport by our taxi driver Stathis, a very charming , polite  young man who engaged very well in English and drove us to the Gialos Taverna in a very safe manner

This was our first stop before being taken to the Geni Garden apartment and well worth the stop after an early Bristol flight. Yes, despite its magnificent outlook over Vliho Bay we were entertained with a Meza lunch, presented by Kostas and prepared by his Mum Arastaia, such a great Taverna , just 10 minutes approx walking from the apartment or a motor up in the evening in the Lugger

The food is just superb.

Rob and myself were eager to be coached in a one to one situation, starting with the very basics of Seamanship and sailing techniques.

It soon became apparent after the first day or so that we had picked up from others or along the way very I’ll founded  practices and techniques all of which had contributed to our frustration and anguish in trying to sail our Lugger during the summer

It’s a vicious circle, if you cannot cope with the Sailing and it becomes stressful between you both then it ceases to become enjoyable.

This is what I want to put right

Getting back to our first day and arrival at the Gialos. From our lunch Phil whisked us by his tender down to the Geni Garden apartment where we settled in, not forgetting the first of many dips in their pool.

Following a quiet hour or so to recover after the early morning start 

Phil took us over to the local supermarket to stock up with supplies.

The Geni Garden apartments are just outstanding, the rooms are as clean as a ‘new pin’ and with Sandra’s constant attention to detail all our needs were catered for, including the delivery of bakery products at 9 am for our breakfast on the balcony

First class service Sandra

Getting back to the sailing now, one aspect that struck me on just the third evening whilst we were having supper at the Taverna was Phil had updated us with sketches of boat sailing positions that related to the the different set of the sails for these sail positions. We soon discovered that this was not uncommon, Phil is just full on with his commitment to his clients and sailing

These basic line drawing sketches were very new to us, I didn’t realise from past sailing that the set of the sails varied as to what position of sailing you were on.

 It sounds logic now and what a difference it made to our approach when sailing.

In the past we just pulled in the bits of string and hoped we would sail, no more of that now it’s so logical to analyse the relationship between the point of sailing to the wind and the set of the sails

A big bit of progress Mr P.

Our 10 days with Phil of Dragon Drascombe has changed and seriously affected our approach to sailing in a positive way

As a couple we now feel more confident together in the boat, each understanding 

what we need to do as a team in sailing the craft , safely and efficiently 

We both now mesh in together on practices without any formal commands, this has been a big issue in the past 

In summary, we had Phil’s undivided attention throughout the charter period, visiting Meganissi and the Spilia Taverna for lunch, further south towards the bottom of the island to see and sail in the area of Saint Nicholias caves and further east to Desimi Bay.

Great days out, good food and great sailing tuition

This experience was such a refreshing approach to sailing with the emphasis on technique and logic and being reinforced all the time so it became a standard norm , cutting out the obscure terminology and getting stuck in to the basics of how a boat moves through the water

Such a worthwhile and valuable experience for us both and I would instantly recommend it highly to those who are eager to get into Drascombe sailing but feel inadequate and lacking in confidence 

Elspeth and Robert Pinckney

John & Charlie

We also have a Drascombe Longboat in Corfu and Phil kindly helped us get reacquainted with sailing it using one of his Luggers. Invaluable experience, and I cannot commend Phil’s patience and teaching skills enough. Also the accommodation he arranged for us. He showed us some of the other places he uses for accommodation and they looked great too.

What he offers is excellent value, with or without lunch – strongly recommended.

Rob & Nicky

We had a great week with Phil in the last week of September, staying in Geni Garden apartments, with the additional benefit of three days’ tuition from Phil to get us going as it had been a good few years since we’d done any sailing.

Geni Garden apartments are very convenient and comfortable and Franz and his wife and daughter look after everything including providing croissants and other bakery items for the next day’s breakfast. The boats are moored at the bottom of their big garden on a pontoon which is very convenient for starting out each day at a time to suit yourselves. And they have a lovely swimming pool and garden if you’re not heading out for the day.

We concentrated on rediscovering sailing and learning about the Lugger, which is a super boat, perfect for local conditions, and hope to be back to sail further afield next year as well as enjoying some walking and more of the local tavernas.

The boats are all top notch, in excellent condition, thanks to all Phil’s hard work and dedication in setting them up. I’ve now read the whole of his blog and would recommend it to anyone interested in sailing and travel that wants to know what it takes to set up an operation like Dragon Drascombe with all the potential it offers for such a great holiday there.

Mid Summer Diary

Nidri, The Greek Ionian. It’s a sad day for Bengy today, he does not know it yet but the boat he uses for a day time shelter is being moved, I will have to make him another shelter out of a Lugger winter cover – with temperatures at around 33 he has to have shade and plenty of airflow.

July has been an interesting month in many respects, re-registering the Luggers from the UK SSR certificate to a Blue book Greek registration and forming a business in Greece for taxation purposes. These are all changes Greece has to make to comply with the 10 years of EU bailout finances imposed on them, this August seeing the end of financial support from both the IMF and the Euro-zone.

​On 2nd July Dave and Pamela Craig arrived from Arizona, USA for a 3 week Island Hopping adventure. Dave is a teacher at an outdoor centre on the Gulf of Mexico and they have several Drascombe Longboats which they use as a part of their outdoor programmes with children and young adults.

It was not a good start to their visit, they missed a connecting flight and got stuck in Chicago and arrived 10 hours late at Preveza, late in the evening, only to find that their luggage was not on the same flight! They only had the clothes that they wore for the trip, not even a toothbrush. Hey ho, that’s not good. The baggage handling company could not trace these bags immediately and it was not until the next morning that we discovered that one bag was still in Heathrow, and Dave’s bag was not traced! With 2018 technology it is frightening to think a bag can go missing and not be traceable. So it was a shopping trip to Lefkas for Pamela to buy some basic clothes, whilst Ionian Air got their act together and made the transfer of the one bag via Athens to Preveza which finally happened 3 days later.

In the hope that Dave’s bag would appear, they set off from the apartment at Poros to catch up with their itinerary of pre-booked overnight B&B’s, the first being on the island of Ithica in the beautiful village of Kioni. They had a 5-night booking at an Air B&B room called Theo Filos House, you must read Dave’s diary!

Alas, by the Sunday, just under a week after their arrival I had delivery at my base in Nidri of Dave’s travel dry bag. This was strapped up with a docking line, I added a spare fuel container and put it onto the car deck of the evening Frikes ferry, for his collection at the other end. This is a typical Greek way of transporting things around the Islands – a baker in the morning will arrive on his scooter at the ferry port and add his 10 trays of spinach pies and numerous bags of loaves of bread, all to be collected at the other end by the Taverna or hotel which they are meant for, no payment and no hassle. It works, this is the Greek Islands. Being American, Dave was amazed that this could happen ‘what if there was a bomb in that bag of mine?’ he exclaimed with incredulity!

So, now with all their worldly belongings they were finally set for their adventure around the islands of Lefkada, Ithica, Cephalonia, Kastos and lastly Kalamos in Heulwen my 2017 Lugger. There have always been small boarding houses or lodgings available, but it has been mainly hotels and apartments were you stayed for the entire duration, but just this year the new phenomena of Air B&B has hit Greece and the Islands from mainland Europe in a dramatic way, with usually booking for a minimum of 3 nights and room prices around €70. Some were 45 and the most expensive 90, but still great value. Read more in Dave’s diary which is to follow.

For the End of Season’s Diary I will have done more research on more Lodgings, rooms and places that have flexible booking periods for you all to look at and maybe plan your 2019 Island Hopping Lugger adventure.

Arriving on 10th July for the week were the ‘Family Foster’, Simon, Louise and 11 year old Matthew, known as ‘Matty’, all total beginners to sailing, although Matty had done a little with his school. This was my first group of Family Sailing for Beginners, a feature I intend to push for future years.

Having this unique geographical position of Vliho Bay, some 3 km long, it is south of Nidri, with north and south prevailing winds, light in the morning with freshening winds later on; it is a superb ‘large pond’ to learn to sail on. In the past Lugger groups when faced with blustery conditions out in the Meganissi channel have used the bay as an alternative, being quite sheltered for half-day sessions and pulling in for lunch at the Gialos Taverna. Why be uncomfortable when you can have a few hours of gentle sailing and then lunch on the waters edge. You simply cannot beat it.

The Family Foster had specifically come to Dragon Drascombe to learn to sail as a family, and what better boat to have to learn to sail in. I go back to my sail training times of working as an instructor for the Outward Bound Trust, Wales sailing school at Aberdovey, Merionethshire, in the early 1970s.

So where to start and what will be the objective? A plan is needed and I set out with the following:

  • To introduce the group to theoretical aspects of sailing, how the wind on sail produces a reaction and forward motion.
  • The terminology used in sailing, quite important when communicating amongst a group sailing a boat. Everyone needs to understand terms like port and starboard etc.
  • The use of knots and how to rig the boat. I am aware that present sailing tuition does not enter into this field – it is all about putting people onto boats and using one sail, a rudder and a mainsheet, but this is not preparing young sailors in particular to move forward and understand the wider aspect of sailing.
  • The Lugger in the true sense is a proper boat, it has 3 sails, 2 masts, a centre board, a rudder, an auxiliary engine and lots of bits of string to pull
  • This set-up will provide the family group with all the tasks necessary to sail the boat as a group, each having the chance to Helm or to satisfy the varying functions of the crew, be it on the jib or main sheets or centre board duties etc, plenty to learn
  • Finally, my objective was at the end of the 7 days to have the family competent in moving the Lugger under engine safely and being able to sail on all points of sailing, that is, sailing a triangular course, fully rigged.

Was this ambitious? Yes maybe, but it was achieved.

We started by getting the Lugger moving under engine, picking up fenders that were thrown overboard, promoting manoeuvrability skill, coming alongside and very important being able to get back onto Geni Garden pontoon, bow to with lazy line safely. The days were split into AM and PM sessions with an important break at lunch time at the Gialos Taverna for a much needed Meza and Mythos beer, all except Matty who was stuck on Fanta. It was good to have this break and run through how the session had gone and we found that after the break the PM period went much better – not sure if the Mythos had anything to do with it?

From my position in the tender, observing the family group, they were learning a great deal from each other. Matty soon became very proficient on the outboard tiller, being excellent at coming onto a lazy line and judging distance and speed. He was quick to show his mum how to do things, whilst Simon his dad, once over the ‘hurdle ‘ of understanding the effect the wind has on sail and the various sail positions, became the boat Skipper.

What a successful week! Matty was presented with the Dragon Drascombe T shirt on the final evening in recognition of his outstanding progress. Well done to The Family Foster. I thoroughly enjoyed the week and their company.

Thanks to everyone so far this summer for making Dragon Drascombe very successful and enjoyable.

2018 is not finished yet, there are still good package deals on offer for late August at the Villa Eleanor, one week amazing deals for the last week in September and first week of October at both Geni Garden and the Gialos Taverna. Take an early winter break with me for the few vacancies left for the first and second weeks in October. Don’t delay, call to discuss on
+44 7812 562579