MILEBUILDING TRIPS
Build your experience on a milebuilding week with us. It's a dream trip for anyone with ambitions to go blue water sailing. You'll learn what it's like to live on a yacht for extended periods and to sail in more challenging waters.
This is a chance to put hundreds of miles under your belt, improving your confidence and advancing your practical knowledge.
Intensive sailing
Our milebuilding weeks offer the perfect opportunity to build on your RYA qualifications. The crew is divided into watches, who take turns on duty. Advanced sailors are appointed watch leaders, but everyone in the team will take part in steering, trimming sails, navigation, catering, and using the yacht's equipment. There is an RYA Yachtmaster Instructor on hand to assist and advise if required but the crew do most of the sailing and decision making while on passage.
What to Expect
We normally use a yacht of around 50 foot for our milebuilding trips. This gives spacious accommodation and roomy cabins with their own shower and toilet facilities.
In the Spring and Autumn the mile builder is to the Cyclades, one of the world's most renowned cruising areas. At these times of year we usually avoid the worst of the Meltemi, which in mid-summer can keep yachts in port or create uncomfortable sailing conditions.
The yacht will leave Kalamaki Marina, outside Athens, by late afternoon on Saturday. The planned route is to sail South-East through the Cyclades, stopping at various islands on the way, until the yacht reaches the island of Naxos - the largest (and possibly the loveliest) of the Cyclades. Next, you'll sail west to the volcanic island of Milos. After a day spent ashore, there will be a long overnight sail west to the ancient town of Monemvasia on the dramatic Peloponnese coast. From here you'll make your way back through the Hydra Channel and Saronic Gulf to Athens.
You'll cover around 350 miles in all, including two night sails, and two Yachtmaster qualifying passages. As with all sailing, the route is weather dependent!
From time to time we offer other milebuilding trips in different areas of Greece and on different types of boat - including a catamaran. Sign up for our newsletter to be kept informed of the possibilities.
