Tilly's first holiday: sailing in Greece!

Well, we are back - and what an adventure! Tilly went on her first plane; first sailing boat; went to many tavernas and restaurants and met a whole lot of new friends! I have to admit I was apprehensive and couldn't work out of we were mad or stupid or worse to take her sailing but in the end we all had a great time and have come back thoroughly refreshed. Though to be fair it was made a whole lot easier by having Nina on board as that extra set of hands made all the difference at critical moments when we were actually sailing.

The boat was lovely - a Beneteau 361 - and we had tons of space. There were 9 boats in the flotilla and just 25 or so people so it was very friendly as we sailed round the Greek Ionian. We had a mix of weather and thankfully it wasn't too hot - in fact we had a couple of days when it was cool and rainy. Wind was steady and there was only one day when we couldn't get the sails up. Tilly had her travel cot in one of the cabins and a 'nest' of pillows in the main saloon during the day with all her toys (see pics!) so we could keep an eye on her from the cockpit. She was also often on deck as we sailed along and loved the wind and the waves - and the red rope that pulled in the main sail (we came away with one of our own) . There was just one day when the wind was very high and it felt a little risky with her on board - though she was of course fast asleep and wearing a life jacket while I was Captain Crumble! Tim went out later that day on his own and had a whale of a time :-) Her bath was a washing up bowl and at nigh she came out with us to the restaurants and tavernas and fell asleep under the mozzie net in her pram or car seat - after charming all the locals of course! The gang plank was a bit of a 'deep breath and go' job with her sometimes and we had one day in a dinghy but overall no dramas (thankfully).

Anyway - we all had a great time (including Nina for reasons that shall remain nameless in this public domain but may have something to do with an lead crew engineer called Andrew...) and may even consider it next year - though with her walking (hopefully) it may not be so easy!