7-DAY SAILING EXCURSION IN CHALKIDIKI AND ΜOUNT ATHOS
SUMMER 2012

Chalkidiki with its three peninsulas Kassandra, Sithonia and Mount Athos is one of the most beautiful landscapes of Greece. It fascinates with its crystal clear waters (the sea and the many clean beaches receive every year more blue flags from the European Community than any other Prefecture), picturesque villages, deserted beaches and bays surrounded by tall pine trees. It also offers ideal and safe sailing conditions since it is protected from the occasional strong winds of the Aegean.
Our fully equipped yachts as well as our experienced skippers guaranty safe and unforgettable 7-day sailing vacation to Chalkidiki and Mount Athos, which for more than a thousand years has been the centre of orthodox. The unique combination of deep blue sea, mountains (to look at the 2033 m high-top of Mount Athos is breathtaking) monasteries and monk-villages is incomparable - a left over memory of the Byzantine.
Our well-trained skippers will show you the monasteries that we can see from a distance of 500 m. if women are on board (with men only on board we can go much closer). As one of the oldest rules of Mount Athos from the 11th century forbids women to get in the monks republic, this is the only possibility for you, ladies, to see the monasteries at least from the sea. For singles and couples we will try to find a matching crew.
Our boats depart every Saturday at 8:00 a.m. from the Marina of Thessaloniki and return on Friday evening.
The full excursion programme is as follows:

• Friday evening, we gather at our company’s office, where you meet your skipper and get acquainted with the rest of the group. You all together organize and buy the shopping-list regarding food and provisions and the skipper will give you all necessary information about the excursion.

• We depart on Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. from the Marina of Thessaloniki. After our first short stop for swimming - lunch - rest at Sani or Posidi (beautiful beaches on Kassandra/Chalkidiki), we arrive at Skioni late in the afternoon.

• On Sunday morning we set sail for the bay of Marathia (Sithonia) and in the afternoon we leave for Sikia or Sarti and spend the night there.

• On Monday we set off for the small island Diaporos, on which we find just a few private summerhouses, for swimming, eating and relaxing. In the afternoon we depart for the island of Amouliani or Ouranoupolis.

• On Tuesday morning we sail along the coast of Mount Athos, where we see at the Gulf of Siggitikos the 7 monasteries, Koutloumusiou, Zografou, Xenophondos Konstamonitou, Panteleimonas, Simonos Petras, Grigoriou, Dionisiou and Pavlou. With appropriate weather conditions we then sail to the cape of Akrathos where we can see the Monastery of Megisti Lavra. That night we spend in the natural harbor of Porto Koufo.

• On Wednesday we set out and reach the small beautiful bays close to Porto Carras and in the afternoon we arrive at the Porto Carras Hotel-complex. Here we find a modern marina with bars, restaurants and shops, a golf course, tennis, horse riding, a casino, any kind of water-sports and an open-air cinema. With a water-taxi or a taxi you may also visit the near-by village of Neos Marmaras.

• On Thursday we sail to the turquoise bays of Paliouri or Posidi (Kassandra) for swimming, lunch and rest and in the afternoon we leave for Porto Sani or Nea Moudania where we spend the night.

• On Friday morning we set off for Thessaloniki, where we arrive in the afternoon, after having a small stop for swimming and our last meal aboard in Epanomy.

The price of this 7-day excursion is 500,00 Euro per person and includes: accommodation on board, fuel and water for the boat, skipper and moorings. In order to register, a 50% payment in advance is required (250 €) while the rest 50% (250 €) should be paid –the latest- one day prior to departure.
Suitcases are pretty impractical on board, so you better use sport bags (please without wheels). Every participant should bring: two pairs of light-coloured rubber-soled shoes (not black because they leave marks all over the boat) and please no slippers or sandals onboard, warm clothes -just in case-, a jacket (oilskin), sun protection cream (high SPF), swim suits, shorts, lots of T-shirts, towels, sheets, pillowcases and a sleeping-bag (there are pillows onboard). But please take as little as possible, because there is limited storage space on the boat.
In July and August the boats depart every Saturday from the marina of Thessaloniki and return there next Friday. The rest of the months boats may depart as long as there is a group of minimum 4 people.
For further information and reservations please call: +302310-427.098, +302310-429777 from 9:00 to 14:00 and from 18:00 to 21:00 (Hellas time) on weekdays and +306944-439.514 on weekends. Fax: +302310-429.770, e-mail: mse@sail.gr   website: www.sail.gr

Below you can see the map with the routes described above.