Life on Board

We take a maximum of 12 people for racing and usually 8 for cruising.

For racing and cruising, the cost per person includes all on board expenses for the duration of the trip, including food, mooring fees, and fuel. Nisida is run as a dry boat at sea, one safely tied up ashore we will typically have a kitty for any alcohol we want to consume on board. Dinners are not included in the cost, except for offshore racing during the race itself, as we will aim to sample the local culture by eating ashore.

You can usually arrive earlier and stay on after the official dates for no extra cost. Check with us that Nisida is going to be around. We'll provide breakfast on board. We may occasionally ask for help with boat prep/sorting in return for your b&b.

No damage deposit is payable

We aim to eat well at all times on Nisida - however rough the conditions. Typical breakfast is porridge or bacon sandwiches and there is always cereal (muesli and cornflakes) as an alternative/extra. Lunch, in the Mediterranean absence of pork pies and scotch eggs, is usually filled rolls and dinner at sea will be one large pot of a casserole of some sort with rice, pasta or potatoes. There will be a large supply of chocolates and biscuits especially for night racing, and we always carry a large stock of fresh fruit.

When racing we work a watch system with two watches, doing 4 hours on and off during the day (8 till 8) and 3 hours during the night. This means you switch hours every other day - seeing dawn one day and sunset the next. And share cooking and cleaning duties.

Responsibility for cooking during trips is with the off duty watch. This includes washing up and keeping the boat clean and tidy. At the end of the trip everyone is responsible for returning it to its pre-race/trip state.

We will try and cater for vegetarians and other special diets, but please be aware that this is not always easy given the constraints of cooking dinners at sea. Please let us know when booking if you do have special dietary needs.

Nisida has two water tanks and where the local water is drinkable we will fill these and fill bottles from them. We will buy bottled water where this is not the case (experience has shown us that bottled water is easy to obtain if the local water is not good and vice versa).

You will need to bring your own sleeping bag (only a thin one or sheet one for Greece in summer). We have 8 pillows on board - please bring your own pillow case if you'd like to use one. We also carry a spare sleeping bag in case you forget yours or someone leaves a hatch open at sea and it gets wet.

For deliveries, eating is very similar to the above and ditto re dietary constraints - but we do have more time on deliveries to be more imaginative with cooking and may even try baking. We divide up the on board costs and usually find it works out at about £50 to £60 a head a week. Our watch system will vary according to the experience and number of the crew.