What to take with you on a sailing holiday?
When you book your sailing holiday you will no doubt receive some information about your booking. However, you also need to think about what to bring with you on your break.
Even if you are sailing in the mediterranean where the weather is usually hot and sunny; it will get cool and perhaps breezy in the evening. So shorts and T – shirts or vests for during the day but also have sweaters and cardigans for the evening or when it gets windy.
Although bare feet are OK for wandering around on the yacht, it is sometimes advisable to wear deck shoes or sandels because you could easily stub your toe on a deck fitting! Painful!
Too much sun can make you unwell so take some caps or hats with you. These should be worn for two main reasons, firstly to protect you from the sun’s rays and secondly to protect you when the yacht’s boom comes across unexpectantly and hits you on the head! Watch out for that one!
Sunglasses with ties on them are another good idea to bring with you. Too many times I have seen people lose their expensive sunglasses over the side! It is usually within minutes of coming aboard. They bend down to release the mooring warp and off pops their precious sunglasses. Plop! into the depths. So buy some of these ties that you can attach to your legs of the sunglasses and put round your neck.
A Fleece for wearing at night or when the breeze picks up is a great thing. Several years ago my family were holidaying in the South of France near Canet plage. The place was called Cap Coudalere ( which should have been a hint to the weather!) and we arrived with our shorts and T- shirts, swim wear etc. That first evening we noticed loads of Dutch and Germans wandering around with these Fleece jackets on. We sort of laughed. However, when the sun went down we sort of shivered. The onshore breeze was quite cold and we really could have done with Fleeces to keep warm!
Gloves may be an unusal thing to have you pack but if you are going to be actively involved in sailing the yacht, you will be required to haul on the sail’s sheets. After a few hours sailing in strong winds, tacking to and fro, your hands will be in bits! If you do not wear gloves!
Take a pair of binoculars for looking around when onboard. It is amazing what you can spot. Once you see something of interest then use your digital camera or cam corder that you also have brought with you. This way you can have a record of all the interesting and unusal things that happened on your sailing holiday.
Finally buy a buoyant key fob for your keys. Too many keys have been lost overboard because they have slipped out of someone’s pocket as the move around the yacht! So buy one and use it!
