Sailing into the Aegean Sea

It had always been my dream to try one of the most exciting activities ever; sailing. I finally got the opportunity to go sailing on Naxos and I do not regret it. I will always cherish the excitement and the memories. Having friends who loved to sail and had done it on several occasions, either during a holiday or while at home, I was smart enough to take their advice before making any final arrangements.

My first and most important requirement was safety, since we are not fish and water is definitely not our natural environment. I do not care how many millennia humans have been at sea “carving” seaways; water is not my element, I was just too uneasy about it. So, I chose the most experienced captain. He was old enough to boast about decades of being a captain and willing enough to put up with me. So I finally made my booking!

The vessel was berthed at the port of Naxos, in front of the marina (to be more specific), aside other sailing boats. It is there that I met the captain in person for the very first time, on the evening before my sailing trip. He had just returned from a tour with several clients from all over the world and I was intrigued with how relaxed and happy they were. After that, all my fears were gone. The captain was kind enough to show me details of our trip to come and asked me to watch the video that was playing at the time on the screen he had put at his berthing spot right in front of his boat. During the evening, I hardly slept at all. Anticipation was too great!

Although having seen all these photos and videos, the next day was much better than I expected it to be. We sailed into the Aegean Sea, making several short stops so we could see as much as possible. We even visited a cave. We jumped from the boat to swim towards it. Entering the cave, everything was much darker and our happy voices echoed off the walls. We used our masks and our night lights to see the sea-bed. Some brave ones from the group climbed on top of the small hill covering the cave and jumped into the cool water. I was too afraid to follow them, which I now deeply regret.

I have made my promise that in summer 2016 I will make that jump. I have already booked my sailing trip, with the same captain of course and I just can’t wait for June 2016 to arrive.

I even learned the basics of sailing… go figure!

If you wish to learn more information, please visit the relevant page about Naxos sailing.