Offshore Passages
Boats have to move between bases at the turn of the season. We sail them properly, with a full crew — 300 to 600 miles, watches around the clock, and a place in the crew rather than a cabin on holiday.
Twice a year the Mediterranean charter fleet moves. Boats that spent the summer in Croatia are needed in Italy, Sardinia or Greece, and somebody has to take them there. Most of that work is done by a delivery crew of two, motoring, at night, as fast as possible.
We do it differently. We take a full crew, we sail rather than motor where the wind allows it, and we treat the leg as what it actually is: several hundred miles of open water with a watch system, a weather forecast that matters and a landfall at the end of it.
It is not a holiday and we do not pretend otherwise. There is no swimming stop every afternoon and no choosing the anchorage by the restaurant. You will be woken at three in the morning because it is your watch. That is the whole point — it is the only way to get the sea time that a week of island-hopping never gives you.
What a passage looks like
- Where
- The Mediterranean — between charter bases in Croatia, Italy, Sardinia and Greece
- When
- Spring and autumn, at each turn of the season
- Distance
- 300 to 600 nautical miles per leg
- Length
- A week to ten days
- Watches
- Round the clock, three to four hours on, six to eight off
- Crew
- Small — usually four to six, plus the skipper
- Price
- Per place in the crew, fixed before you commit
- What you need
- No licence. Willingness to stand a night watch and to cook for six in a seaway
Legs are published as they are fixed, because they depend on where the boats end the season. If you know roughly when you can go, tell us and we will put you on the list for the next one that fits.
Three reasons people take a place
You are building miles
Every offshore licence wants sea time, and most of it wants night hours and passages over a certain length — the two things a charter week cannot give you. One Mediterranean leg puts 300 to 600 miles in your logbook, most of it offshore, with several nights at sea.
We sign logbooks. The skipper is there the whole way and knows what you actually did, so what gets signed is what you sailed.
You want to do it once
Some people are not collecting anything. They want to know what it is like to be out of sight of land with the boat steering itself, to come on watch at two in the morning and find the whole sky out, and to make a landfall they earned rather than motored to.
You do not need a licence and you do not need experience. You need to be willing to be tired, slightly damp and completely absorbed for a week. Most people who do one come back for another.
You already sail and want harder water
If you have done your ten seasons of island-hopping and it has stopped teaching you anything, this is the cure. Weather that you route around instead of waiting out. Sail changes at night. A boat that has to keep going because there is nowhere to stop.
Crews are small, so you will helm, navigate, reef and cook — not watch somebody else do it. That is the difference between sailing on a passage and being a passenger on one.
How a day at sea actually runs
Once the boat is offshore the clock stops mattering and the watch bill takes over. Three or four hours on, six to eight off, round the clock. You sleep when you are off watch, not when it is dark.
On watch you steer or trim, keep a lookout, log the position every hour and wake the skipper if anything changes. Off watch you sleep, eat, and take your turn cooking — which in a seaway is its own skill and the thing new crew are most surprised by.
The boat is provisioned before we leave and we cook aboard. There are no restaurant evenings and no showers ashore. In exchange you get the thing the brochures never photograph: the middle of the second night, nobody else awake, the log ticking over, and the realisation that you are perfectly happy.
Tell us when you can go
Legs are fixed a few months ahead and places go to the people already on the list. Tell us roughly when you are free and what you are after — miles, the crossing itself, or harder sailing — and we will come back when a leg fits.
Questions we get asked
Do I need a licence or previous experience?
No. The skipper holds the qualification and the responsibility. What you need is to be willing to stand a night watch, follow instructions at three in the morning without arguing, and live in a small space with five other people for a week.
How do the watches work?
Round the clock, typically three to four hours on and six to eight off, in pairs. You sleep when you are off watch regardless of whether it is light. Most people find their rhythm on the second day and sleep better at sea than they expected.
Is it rough?
Sometimes. We pick weather windows and route around what we can, but a passage is not postponed indefinitely — the boat has to arrive. Expect at least one uncomfortable day per leg. If you have never been seasick you may be; if you have, bring what works for you.
What does a place cost and what is included?
A fixed price per place in the crew, quoted before you commit — no splitting bills at the end. It covers the berth, the skipper and the running of the boat. Food aboard is shared in a kitty, and your travel to the start and home from the finish is yours.
Will my miles be signed?
Yes. The skipper sails the whole leg with you and signs your logbook for what you actually did — miles, night hours and passages. We will not sign for anything you did not sail.
How fit do I need to be?
Reasonably. You need to move around a moving boat, winch a sail in, and cope with broken sleep for several days. Age matters far less than people think; willingness matters more.
Can I come on my own?
Most people do. Crews are put together from individuals and it works — a passage throws people together faster than any other kind of sailing. Couples and pairs of friends are equally welcome.
When are the legs?
Spring and autumn, at each turn of the charter season, because that is when the boats move. Exact dates are fixed a few months ahead. Tell us when you are free and we will match you to a leg.