The Bonus Miles Flotilla was completed once again with great success! This time Flotilla took place on 27.04-01.05 on the route Keramoti – Kira Panagia – Steni Vala – Skopelos – Skiathos – Trikeri/Agia Kiriaki – Volos.

On 27/04 the fleet departed from Keramoti, once all teams of 60 sailors completed the necessary preparations. The dawn found the boats with their crews near Mount Athos with the first night being magical. Immediately after passing Athos, north wind pushed the fleet, which opened its sails and reached the island of Kyra Panagia of the northern Sporades on 28/04 in the morning. The crews spent a beautiful day bathing and enjoying the tranquility and nature, and spent the night in Planitis bay.

The next morning, 29/04, the all the boats of Flotilla departed from the bay of Kyra Panagia with the ally the northeast wind, enjoying sailing with the opportunity to do many jibes. Arriving to Steni Vala of Alonissos, we “opened” the tourist season of the island that hosted us wholeheartedly. On the way the fleet passed the islet of Peristera which is located on the east side of Alonissos. In Steni Vala we met the other two boats, which started from Skiathos and Thessaloniki earlier.

On 30/04 in the morning the fleet opened the sails and traveled to Skopelos with the train running thanks to the northeast wind, and then to the beautiful beach Koukounaries in Skiathos where there was a stop for relaxation with the opportunity to swim in the crystal clear blue waters. Later we continued practicing sailing going with beam reach to Trikeri / Agia Kyriaki where we arrived in the afternoon of the same day for the overnight. Our friend Manolas welcomed us with the best mezes!

Throughout the trip we were accompanied by a large family of dolphins playing with the bows of the boats!

Finally on Sunday 01/05 with northwest wind and we traveled upwind from Agia Kyriaki to our finishing point, the port of Volos. In the course of the route the wind changed, making the boats go beam reaching and helping them to gain greater speed.

The crews returned to Keramoti late at night by bus. The students stayed for one more day to complete their education and take written exams.

Flotilla’s leader and instructor, Christoforos Gkritzelakis, congratulates all participants for achieving their goals. An extra “bravo” to the crews that made the boat transfer (Nikolaos Paschalidis, Angelos Tsolakidis, Konstantinos Tsioumbarakis, Anastasia Baltatzaki, Anton Catalyn, Iryna Catalyn, Borislav Raltchev) and returned to Keramoti in difficult sea conditions with the wind up to 25-30 knots.

It is our special joy to see the students who came once for the first time in Flotilla as a crew of a training boat and developing their naval skills have now taken over the skippering of an entire boat with their crews.

The VII Bonus Miles Flotilla was an exciting trip and, as always, we made an appointment for the next Flotilla in October.