News

The Greek saga rumbles on. If you’re travelling to Greece you can keep up to date with developments as they do (or don’t) affect you by clicking here; Greece travel news for sailors – latest

For many years, some flotilla companies priced by the boat, others per person. A couple of the 7 flotilla providers I offer have switched this year to pricing per yacht rather than per person which should reduce prices for larger parties, but may have the reverse effect for couples.

In a further change, these operators are only publishing firm prices for flight exclusive flotillas. Although they have published guide prices for flight inclusive options, they will custom price these, which of course makes it more difficult to compare different options. So treat the “with flights” prices in the Flotilla Price Finder as a guide only – sometimes prices will be higher though prices may also be lower, especially for early bookers.

For a more accurate comparison, contact me for a quote as I can work out the current “with flights” prices for you. Of course, if you decide not to book until later these prices will probably have changed as flight prices rarely stand still for long (and rarely get cheaper)!

It’s looking like some holiday flights are going to be in short supply this year, which means higher prices or, if you wait too long, maybe no seats at all. Prices from Gatwick for the South Ionian and Sporades in August are already around the £500 mark and options from regional airports are limited. So if you’re holding off booking in the hope of getting a cheap deal on a yacht charter or flotilla, you’re likely to find the extra cost of the flights far exceeds any savings on the boat.

At least one flotilla operator has also reduced their stock of seats. This reduces the chance of last minute flight bargains as they try to clear left over seats at below normal prices. So whether you’re looking for a bareboat charter, flotilla, cabin charter or training course the message is clear – your probably going to be much better of booking now rather than later.

Tied to school holidays? It’s not too late to bag some sailing. Lots of offers on bareboats, flotillas and cabin charter. Some flight prices seem to be falling so it might not cost as much as you think. Get in touch with your requirements, especially if you’ve some flexibility with dates.

Planning to wait until the kids are back at school? Don’t leave it too long – September is getting heavily booked, though remember the sun still shines in the Med in October.

After some technical wizardry, mobile and tablet users can now also enjoy the Sailing Choices website. Those of you who tried this before would have found it at times a rather frustrating experience – everything was there, but not necessarily in quite the right place! You will now find it looks pretty much like it does on any other machine.

With so many different devices and browsers in use, I can’t guarantee there won’t be the odd wrinkle that has evaded us so do get in touch if you find anything that doesn’t work as expected. And of course if you ever weary of staring at a screen, call or email to get advice or a quote from a real person!

At the risk of sounding a bit obsessed, I’ve just put up another load of great bareboat special offers for Turkey. If you’re worried about what you’ve seen on TV recently, take a read here. I’ve never known so many high season reductions so get in touch quick – the yacht prices are down but flight prices are going up so the faster you book, the better deal you’ll get.

The Sailing Choices Office is on the road, with a quick trip to Greece to visit a few suppliers and the chance to get afloat and prove I can still tell the pointy end from the blunt one! Normal service continues, such are the joys of modern technology, so if you want to pick my brains or book a holiday, get in touch.

About 100 new pictures have been added to the Carian Coast (Turkey) gallery.  Take a look.

How about a week in Turkey for just £300 per person including flights? All yours if you can round up 5 friends or family to take an Oceanis 343 (3 cabins) from Orhaniye to English Harbour.  And the price even includes airport transfers. Lots more great deals on the Bareboat Special Offers page, just updated.