Sailing gently into that good night...

I love night sailing. I find it pretty unique every single time that red sun slips down beneath the horizon, and you're suddenly alone out there in the big, huge nothingness. Often, the wind will die down, but sometimes a breeze will sail you all through the nigh. And if it's dead calm out there, it is great just to drift slowly along, allowing the crew to sleep (those who want to). There is usually no rush to get anywhere.

Dolphins seem to be creatures of the night. Many nights, when we've been drifting along like this, we've heard their charactheristic breathing sounds, right beside the boat. Sometimes you can see them in the moonlight, as they roll in the surface with amazing grace. It is something you'll never forget.

This picture is taken just outside the island of Kithnos. We have a long stretch of approximately 150 nautical miles up to Skopelos ahead of us. Then we're going to sail the short distance over to Skiathos, were the boat is to be returned.

We don't normaly sail distances that long. Legs of 10-40 nautical miles are the usual thing, taking 2-8 hours. But that's up to the crew and their interests. Some don't consider it sailing unless you cover at least 100 nm's per day, other prefer an average of 10. The good thing is - you do as you please!