Cabin fever was my primary concern when I received the invitation to sail seven nights on a luxury yacht around the Ionian Sea. Previously sailings on Cunard’s enormous Queen Mary 2 had suited me in the end because there were plenty of ways to roam and keep one’s mind occupied – but how would this exercise junkie go on a much smaller boat with a bunch of strangers? Led by Anastasis Kokkinos on his debut voyage, I join the travelling group, nine in total – three couples and three other women travelling solo, some of whom already know each other through their Greek connections – on the mainland at Paleros. Instantly, I feel myself reset.
Time is not just slower but different. This town oozes sleepiness and simplicity – in a good way. Its charms are immediate.
Fireflies accompany me on my stroll home after a first evening spent drinking ouzo and watching the bright moon rise from behind the neighbouring island’s mountains. As some of us baked sourdough during lockdown, Kokkinos, a Melburnian, reached for a more exotic dream and started up his own travel company, Luxe Sailing, wanting to show more Australians this lesser-travelled side of Greece. About 100 or so small islands dot the Ionian Sea lapping Greece’s west coast.
If, like me, you’d never heard of the Ionian Islands, you will most certainly have heard of its calling card – Corfu. But leave the crowds to Corfu. The Ionian islands are best discovered by boat, the smaller the better.
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