Have you ever been on a sailing holiday? Have you considered it before? What about a conservation sailing holiday?
I have been working with my friend at Sailing Escapes luxury sailing holidays to put together some conservation based programme’s. Weeks where you follow a conservation focussed itinerary, while enjoying sailing through some of the worlds most beautiful locations.
She is also the owner and skipper of Moonflower 3, an adventure sailing experience where you can participate in regattas, or expeditions between countries.
How it works.
We organise everything from arrival at the marina to departure. Spend 7 days sailing between islands, enjoying everything the Mediterranean and Caribbean has to offer all the while learning more about marine conservation and the local marine fauna, flora and environment. In collaboration with local organisations, charities, NGO’s and researchers, participate in activities contributing to local research and conservation efforts. Scuba dive to learn more about what’s beneath the waves, and support local marine conservation groups, or help record citizen science data for an ongoing project in the area. Learn about the local marine fauna and flora from our in house marine biologist, while enjoying the scenery and landscapes on offer in the beautiful islands of the Mediterranean or Caribbean.
Learn to sail from your qualified skipper, or just sit back and relax on a yacht while your skipper does everything. Otherwise if you have some members who are qualified and happy to skipper their own yacht we can help find the perfect boat for you!
Explore historic towns and experience local culture while enjoying the ocean from aboard your own yacht. With daily stops in secluded bays for paddleboarding and snorkelling, see what you can find hiding under the water. Or you can choose to sun yourself on a beach or keep the adventure going and take a hike or bike ride through the local countryside. You have the chance to experience something most people never will.
Trips are aiming to be as environmentally friendly as possible, with limited plastic use; as much sailing time instead of using the engines as possible; use of mooring balls where we can instead of anchoring; sustainable and locally sourced products; reduced chemical and energy use and participation in eco-tourism.
All skippers are trained in marine science basics, and doing everything they can to limit the negative effects sailing has on the ocean, as well as teaching you all they can about it along the way.
Conservation sailing week 2022.
This summer, we organised a week in the South Ionian, one of the most beautiful parts of Greece. We worked together with local dive shop Fiskardo Divers to organize diving in some beautiful spots around Kefalonia. They also work with an NGO called Kosamare so we visited their exhibition, and spoke with one of their founders about the work they are doing to research and restore seagrass habitats. These seagrass habitats are vital for biodiversity and are being destroyed by boaters, so at Kosamare they are also educating the public and raising awareness of this issue.
After Kefalonia we sailed out into the open ocean, to teach some sailing skills to our crew, but aloe to try and spot some Whales. We headed south towards the beginning of the Hellenic Trench, where there is a resident population of sperm whales, and where I have been lucky enough to spot these majestic creatures before. Unfortunately we didn’t spot any this time, the sea was a bumpy and the passage quite rough, but we got some beautiful sailing in! The upside of the day though was seeing dolphins at sunrise and passing by the famous Shipwreck beach on Zakynthos.
Once we arrived to Keri on the south of Zakynthos, we jumped straight in for a snorkel as this is the famous ‘Turtle Bay’ and guess what? We saw a beautiful loggerhead turtle, munching peacefully on some of that all important seagrass. In the we morning woke for sunrise again and headed over to Turtle Island in the middle of the bay. Hoping to see some baby turtles hatching from their nests, we just missed them. We could see lots of baby turtle tracks, nest sights and of course lots of rubbish, which we tried our best to pick most of it up. After a snorkel to see what was under the water, we headed back to the boat and set off for the day.
Once we got underway, we stopped again out at sea in the calmness, and dropped in the hydrophones (!!!) to try and listen for some underwater calls. Unfortunately all we could her was lots of engine noise. Later in the day on the way back up towards Ithaca we saw some dolphins, so dropped hydrophones back in for another listen (we could definitely hear the clicking and whistles this time)!
We ended the week with a beautiful sunset at the windmill at Kastos, returning back to Lefkas ti finish the trip where we began. It was an incredibly enjoyable week, so please stay tuned to hear more about future options for something similar!!