My background of working with maritime attractions means that I know my port from my starboard and my
heads from my toilets but I’m more accustomed to referring to sea-faring vessels as ships and the only
spinnaker I know is a viewing tower.

Club Vounaki

I had got pretty bored of lazy holidays – sunbathing really isn’t my thing – and not being able to refuse
a last-minute bargain, I decided to take the plunge and go for a sailing and watersports holiday at Club
Vounaki in Greece. Slightly nervous about what to pack, I apprehensively ditched the heels for aqua
shoes, swapped the sarong for polarised sunnies and substituted the bikini for something a little more
sporty.

A smooth flight and short 45 minute transfer from Preveza airport and we were there at the beach club –
greeted by a swarm of staff and a welcome drink. We were given time to chat to the friendly staff about
the activities on offer and find out about the week ahead, before settling in to a comfortable night in
our spacious room.

On our first morning, after a hearty breakfast, we headed straight to the beach and took out a couple of
kayaks to get a feel for the water. I’d kayaked before (in the…ahem…girl guides) so I actually felt
quite smug as I cut through the water’s smooth surface.

Dinghies at Club Vounaki

We were a bit more nervous about the dinghy sailing. We attended the free clinic with a member of the
beach team on shore but found it difficult to grasp how things would work actually on the water. 
Finally we plucked up the courage to go it alone. I quickly realised that I wasn’t nervous about
capsizing – that was inevitable – but more about being out of control and perhaps ending up out of the
sailing area, or worse, into the rocks! After a couple of hours I realised I wasn’t a natural but it was
fun all the same. And better to learn in the warm waters of the Ionian than the chilly Solent!

So we decided to join one of the free Wayfarer Sailaway days, taking a trip across the water to the
gorgeous Church Bay, as a compromise. Luckily, by putting our name down early we were able to join
others who could actually sail – a bonus – and learn a bit more while we were at it.  Although the
‘experienced’ sea-dog we put our trust in did get us into trouble with the Beach Team, who had to chase
us on their jet-ski to make sure we weren’t sailing off with their boat…

I was grateful for all the on-water activity, not least because of all the delicious food we had to burn
off.  It turns out you can have olives and feta cheese for all three meals a day when it’s
all-inclusive and Mr Southsea Wanderer – who knows a thing or two about calamari – claims it was the
best he’d ever tasted.

Plate piled high with Greek food

Another highlight was the coach trip to nearby Lefkas, with its Roman ruins and friendly restaurants,
where Mr SW took it up a notch and tried grilled octopus.  He enjoyed it so much that, on learning
that there was an octopus living in the marina at our resort he named Invertibrus Maximus and vowed to
catch it and eat it (luckily he didn’t succeed). We did, however, satisfy our respective curiosities for
religion and history when we found a beautiful Orthodox church which was open late and bought a very
detailed, carved icon.  Through the wonders of mime and loud talking we managed to establish with
the Greek nun that what we’d bought was made of wax.

Whilst we will probably never get to the stage of sailing solo on a top-notch 444 catamaran, we did come
away knowing the difference between a jib and a genoa and accomplished the mission of having a beach
holiday that offered some adventure on the water as well as relaxation next to it.

• Neilson now offer Beach Club holidays to Vounaki

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