Thinking of hiring a skipper?
You have decided you would like a skipper on board, but you are not quite sure what that means in practice. Where does he sleep? Who chooses the route? Do we feed him? Can we still take the helm, or do we just sit and watch?
If it is your first charter these are fair questions, and nobody enjoys asking them. So here is how it works with us, plainly: what is included, how it works on board, and what a week actually looks like with a skipper aboard.
Our skippers work the Ionian every season. They know Corfu, Paxos, Lefkas and the mainland coast, they know which bay is sheltered when the afternoon breeze fills in, and they know which taverna in each port is worth the walk. You decide the pace of your holiday. They handle everything that would otherwise keep you awake at night.
Why people take a skipper
- Nobody in the group holds a sailing licence, but you still want the yacht to yourselves
- It is your first time in Greek waters and you would rather learn the area than guess at it
- You have sailed for years, but this once you would like to be on holiday rather than responsible
- Small children on board, and you want a second experienced pair of hands
- You want to sail properly, and you would like someone who can teach as you go
Planning a realistic route
A charter yacht does about six knots under engine. That single number decides your whole holiday.
Gouvia to Paxos is 28 miles, so a little under five hours. Gouvia to Ithaka is roughly 78 miles — thirteen hours, which nobody sails in one day. Split over two days, that is two of your seven days spent getting there, and two more getting back. Four days of the week gone, plus the fuel and the pressure of a deadline on the return leg.
So when a skipper suggests something closer, he is not being difficult. He is trying to give you a holiday instead of a delivery trip.
The most common friction on a skippered charter is a difference of opinion about the route, and it almost always comes from the same place: a plan made on a map, without the six knots in it. Tell your skipper on the first evening what you want from the week — long swims, good sailing, lively ports, quiet bays — and he will build a route around it. That conversation is worth an hour and saves the whole week.
Below are two real weeks out of Gouvia, one relaxed and one that covers ground. Both assume six nights aboard with disembarkation on the seventh morning, and both are calculated at six knots.
An easy week
78 NM · about 13 hours under way · roughly 40 litres of diesel
| Day | From | To | Distance | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gouvia Marina, Corfu | Lakka, Paxos | 28.6 NM | 4h 45m |
| 2 | Lakka, Paxos | Gaios, Paxos | 3.6 NM | 35m |
| 3 | Gaios, Paxos | Mongonisi, Paxos | 1.6 NM | 15m |
| 4 | Mongonisi, Paxos | Parga, mainland | 10.5 NM | 1h 45m |
| 5 | Parga | Sivota (Mourtos), mainland | 12.1 NM | 2h |
| 6 | Sivota (Mourtos) | Gouvia Marina, Corfu | 22 NM | 3h 40m |
After the first day you never move more than a few miles. Mornings are free, afternoons are for swimming, and you are tied up or anchored long before the evening. This is the week we recommend to most first-time guests, and to anyone travelling with children.
A fuller week
169 NM · about 28 hours under way · roughly 85 litres of diesel
| Day | From | To | Distance | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gouvia Marina, Corfu | Gaios, Paxos | 33.4 NM | 5h 35m |
| 2 | Gaios, Paxos | Vathi, Meganisi | 44.4 NM | 7h 25m |
| 3 | Vathi, Meganisi | Sivota, Lefkas | 6.5 NM | 1h 05m |
| 4 | Sivota, Lefkas | Mongonisi, Paxos | 49.7 NM | 8h 15m |
| 5 | Mongonisi, Paxos | Sivota (Mourtos), mainland | 13.5 NM | 2h 15m |
| 6 | Sivota (Mourtos) | Gouvia Marina, Corfu | 22 NM | 3h 40m |
This week reaches Meganisi and Lefkas, which is as far south as a Corfu week sensibly goes. The cost is days two and four: around eight hours under way each, most of the day at sea. Everything in between stays short. If you want the southern Ionian without those two long days, take two weeks.
Fuel figures assume motoring the whole way at roughly three litres an hour. Sail where the wind allows and you will use less.
What is included, and what is not
Most guests booking a skipper for the first time are unsure what the arrangement actually involves — on both sides. Here it is in plain terms, so there are no surprises on day two.
Where the skipper sleeps
He needs a berth of his own and somewhere to keep his bag. After a long day in the sun, handling everything from the anchor to the mooring lines to the weather, he needs proper rest and a little privacy — for your safety as much as his comfort. How many berths that leaves for your group depends on the yacht.
If you are a full group and want a skipper, tell us the numbers when you enquire and we will put you on the right boat. It is the easiest problem in the world to solve at the booking stage and the hardest one to solve on the pontoon.
Meals
The skipper’s meals are arranged by the guests. Three ways people usually do it, and any of them is fine:
- Cook aboard and include him. A proper meal, not a snack — if it is the main meal of the day, he eats what you eat.
- Invite him ashore with you. The option most guests end up preferring. He knows the ports, so ask him where to eat.
- Give him a daily allowance. €20–25 a day covers his meals and he will sort himself out. No offence taken.
Who decides what
The skipper has final say on anything to do with safety: whether to sail, when to leave, whether a bay is tenable overnight, and when a forecast means changing the plan. That is not a formality — it is the reason he is there, and it is what your insurance rests on.
Everything else is yours. The pace, the stops, how long you swim, whether you eat aboard or ashore. If the weather forces a change he will offer you alternatives rather than simply announce a new plan.
One thing worth saying clearly: the skipper is not a cook, a host or a cleaner. He sails the boat, keeps you safe, and knows the area. On a crewed charter you would have a hostess or a cook as well, and we can arrange that if you want it — just ask.
Will we actually sail?
Honestly? Some days, yes. Some days, no. Here is why, so you can plan around it.
To move a loaded charter yacht properly under sail you want at least 12–13 knots of wind. In the Ionian in summer that is not an everyday thing. Mornings are usually calm. The northwest breeze fills in during the early afternoon, builds through the middle of the day and fades towards sunset. So the best sailing hours are roughly between one and six in the afternoon.
Which creates a choice, because that is exactly when the ports fill up. You can have one or the other on a given day, not both. Most weeks are a mix, and your skipper will build the route around whichever you tell him matters more.
If you want to sail, say so on day one. Some guests are keen to work the winches and learn to tack. Others are perfectly happy with a book and a cold drink while the engine does the work. Both are completely fine, but the skipper cannot guess, and a crew that wants to sail gets a different route from one that does not.
When we do sail, everyone has a job — genoa winch, mainsheet, someone on the helm. The skipper calls it and the boat comes alive. It is the best part of the week, and it works far better when the whole crew is in it.
Want to sail?
Plan to anchor for the night. Leave late morning, sail the afternoon breeze, drop the hook in a bay in the early evening. No pressure to be anywhere.
Want the port?
You will motor. Leave early, arrive before the berths go, and take a long swim instead of a long sail.
Food and provisioning
Really one decision made in advance: how many meals a day will you eat aboard, and how many ashore?
In our experience most weeks settle into the same pattern — breakfast and lunch on board, dinner ashore. Whether you are in a port, a marina, or anchored in a bay with the dinghy in the water, there is almost always a good taverna within reach.
Where to buy. Do the main shop in Corfu before you leave — Gouvia and the surrounding area have full supermarkets and the prices are better. After that, top up as you go. Every port and marina has a supermarket and a bakery. Many of the smaller bays have a dock, a grocery or a kiosk — and Greek kiosks often carry most of what a small shop does.
Bring cash. Small tavernas, kiosks, harbour dues and fuel are often cash only, and cash machines are not on every island.
We can also arrange provisioning before you arrive, so the boat is stocked when you step aboard. Send us your list and it will be waiting.
A day on board
Coffee in the cockpit at eight, while the bay is still glassy. Breakfast, then away by ten for a short passage — two hours, maybe three. Anchor somewhere quiet for lunch and a long swim off the back of the boat. Under way again in the afternoon, sails up if the breeze has filled in. Alongside or anchored by four, showers, a drink in the cockpit as the light goes. Ashore for dinner, and back aboard under the stars.
Six days of that, at whatever pace suits you, with someone who knows the water taking care of the rest.
Best tips for a relaxed, well-planned sailing holiday
A few things we have learned from skippering these waters every season. They apply whether you sail with one of our skippers or take the boat bareboat.
Keep the daily passages under three hours
At six knots that is about 18 miles — enough to change island, not enough to spend your holiday watching the chartplotter. Almost every week that goes wrong went wrong because it was planned on a map instead of on a clock.
Ports fill up early
In high season the good berths are gone by early afternoon. Ask the question the evening before: do we actually need a port tomorrow, or would a bay do? Half the time a bay does, and the day is far more relaxed for it.
Know the wind, and plan the day around it
Calm mornings, a northwest breeze from early afternoon, easing towards sunset. That is when the sailing is — and also when the berths disappear. Trying to do both in one day is how people end up frustrated on a beautiful holiday.
Sail in the shoulder season if you can
June and September are the best weeks of the Ionian year. The sea is warm — September is warmer than June — the ports are not full and the tavernas are still busy. July and August are hot and lively, and book first.
Provision in Corfu, top up as you go
Do the main shop before you leave Gouvia, where the supermarkets are big and the prices are better. After that buy little and often — every port has a bakery, and the bread is better bought fresh anyway.
Bring cash and soft bags
Cash for tavernas, kiosks, harbour dues and fuel. Soft bags because there is nowhere on a yacht to put a hard suitcase — pack in holdalls that fold flat and stow under a bunk.
Ask about mooring before you need to do it
Med mooring — going in stern-to with the anchor out — is the single thing that makes first-timers nervous. It is not difficult, but it is much easier the second time than the first. Ask your skipper to talk it through on a quiet afternoon rather than learning it in a crowded harbour at six in the evening with an audience.
Planning a week in the Ionian?
Tell us what you are looking for and we will suggest a route and a boat.
Tell us what you wantYour skipper
Potis
Potis took his first offshore sailing licence in 2000, before he had a driving licence. He likes monohulls and long distances. In 2016 he sailed his first transatlantic passage, 3,000 nautical miles in 25 days non-stop. Experienced in heavy weather and, more usefully for your week, in the local weather. He is a non-smoker, and he has a particular knack with families sailing with children.
He has worked as a charter and base manager for twenty years, and he maintains the fleet himself — so the skipper handing you the boat is the person who knows what every noise on it means.