Relax

When considering our summer holidays during the winter we were keen for sun, day sailing with plenty of places to visit and a relaxing place to come back to after sailing. The holiday delivered all of this and much more!

The Boats. Phil takes real pride in ensuring his boats are immaculate, well prepared and fully kitted out with all you need. In addition to required safety equipment, pilotage book and charts, Phil also provided some additional luxuries (seat cushions, bimini that can be set between main and mizzen and a picnic set (cool bag, cups plates, storage etc). These little comforts proved a big success when anchoring or beaching in remote locations. Phil would make a point of checking over the boat daily, topping up fuel, providing a summary of the predicted wind conditions for the day and making helpful suggestions around where we should consider going. On our arrival Phil took us out in the boat and give us a quick refresher on how the boat was rigged and how the outboard was operated.

The Sailing Area. After our planned week of sailing we were fortunate to be able to extend our trip by a further 2 days and still had not exhausted all the beautiful places Phil had suggested we visit. A typical day would start around 10am, find a quite beach or cove for swimming then either picnic or go to one of the many small islands for a taverna lunch and then a relaxed sail back to the apartment for 4pm. Having a small boat means there is always space in harbours or as we often did, just pull the boat up the beach (no tide to worry about!)

The Accommodation and neighbourhood. We stayed at Geni Garden and it was idyllic. Our boat was kept a pontoon at the bottom of the garden so just a short walk from the apartment. Returning from a day sailing it was great to have the pool to swim in and plenty of quiet places to enjoy the late afternoon and early evening sun. The accommodation was simple, clean and had very effective air conditioning. Lots of quite seating areas in the garden. As Geni Garden is on the other side of the bay from the town it is very quiet and has a good selection of lovely restaurants just a 15-minute walk along a quiet road. For shopping there is a small supermarket on the other side of the bay, a couple of minutes in the boat and 5 minutes walk at the other end. Phil keeps a small trolly at the landing point to help transport your shopping to the boat which we were most grateful for in the heat of the day.

The Logistics. Phil organised transportation for us from the ferry port we arrived at (from Corfu) and back to the airport on our departure. All went without a hitch.

In summary we had a fantastic break and would definitely recommend Dragon Drascombe to anyone that is thinking of a sailing holiday but would like the luxury of a swimming pool to come back to, air-conditioned bedroom every night, and no mooring or passage planning stress!

Another successful and enjoyable week sailing for Chris and his family. This is the second summer that Chris, from Oslo in Norway, has visited with his family and sailed with Dragon Drascombe. So look to book early for the 2026 summer season

A week well spent in Nidri, Greece

Chris

We have just returned from a fabulous fortnight sailing the beautifully restored Tiki during the day and staying at the beautiful and comfortable Geni Garden apartments.

Our Lugger had everything we could wish for with a cool box, Bimini and all the safety equipment required. We headed out with a picnic most days and either anchored up or pulled up to a beach in a secluded bay to swim. The wind was light most days but we had several days with more exciting sailing. We sailed over to Little Vathi one day and managed to moor up and have a wander around the village- so pretty.

Being on a Lugger was a wonderful way to explore this area of the Ionian. The area is very mountainous and having this back drop to the crystal clear waters and blue sky was stunning.

There are 3 tavernas about 20 minutes walk from Geni Gardens which were all very good. In our second week we decided to explore further afield in the evenings and took the boat across the bay (5 minutes) and walked into Nidri. The restaurants and Tavernas we tried there were also very good and there is a lively night life. It was great to have a drink at one of the many places on the front and watch the world go by and the boats come and go.

We would like to say a big thanks to Sandra and her family for being so welcoming and we really enjoyed the baked goods we could order for the next day.

It was a magical fortnight and many thanks to Phil for all his advice and care, and all the work he puts into making sure you have the best time. We will definitely be back!

We enjoyed our week of day sailing and relaxing in warm, sunny Greece! Thanks for taking care of all the logistics, equipment, grocery shopping, and introductions. We had a lovely time sailing Jojo in the unfamiliar steady breezes and warm waters of the Ionian sea. We decided Jojo was named in honour of the terrific Jump-on-jump-off vacation format you’ve created. The Lugger was a dream to sail, and the motor was easy and very reliable. The Geni Garden apartment was very comfortable with made-to-order fresh pastries every morning! Plenty of local tavernas offering a healthy Mediterranean diet of Greek salad, lamb souvlaki, grilled octopus, fish, gyros, beer, and ouzo. What a great way to drop into Greek sun, sea, and sailing!

This is Helen and Michael sailing on their final day. After heading back home I was delighted to receive a message from them.

“We’re back watching concrete being poured!! Many Thanks for our lovely week which we really enjoyed. You have a great setup there and we appreciate all your hard work making it all run smoothly.“

Although they are Drascombe owners who live and sail in Pembrokeshire, sailing in such a wonderful and beautiful setting as the Ionian sea can really help you recharge your batteries and improve your mental health amongst other benefits. Especially if your going home to watch concrete being poured.