Marilyn and I, along with Roger and Kate, took a fabulous trip to Turkey this fall. I am sending this to a number of our friends who are interested in adventure travel to tell you about the opportunity to sail with the man who was our "skipper", and who was an important part of our experience.
One of the highlights of our trip was a two-week sailing trip on the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas on a 43-foot sailboat with just the four of us an our skipper. We sailed the coast of Turkey, and also visited some of the offshore islands, which are Greek.
The skipper is Yann Mauguiere, a Frenchman who lives on the Greek Island of Rhodes.
Not only is Yann an experienced sailor, who had spent his entire adult life sailing, he is a wonderful and warm individual, and a delight to travel with.
A sailboat is a very close and intimate environment. Suffice it to say that it is a challenge to maintain a happy ship, even for people who have been together as much as we have. Yann quickly became much more than just the skipper and an important part of our group and overall experience.
Yann has a great knowledge of Turkey and Greece, and was able to take us to places that the usual tourists wouldn't see. These adventures included anchoring in secluded bays with ancient ruins, visiting a Turkish hermit who barbequed a goat for us, and swimming in a sea cave with the rare and endangered monk seals.
A typical day started with breakfast on the boat, a morning of sailing, anchoring for lunch, a swim and nap, and then afternoon sailing before anchoring in a bay with a taverna for dinner and the night. The weather was wonderful and we also experienced great sailing conditions. Yann will sail, rather than run with the engine, at every opportunity.
I am sending this letter only because we all had such an incredible experience and we would like to share it with you.
Yann is very interested in visiting the United States, and will do so is there is sufficient interest n potential yacht charters with him. He can arrange trips in many places, with a sailboat that will accommodate various size groups and interests.
He also sails in the Caribbean. While we haven't been there with him, I am confident that sailing with him there would be just as much fun.
Please let me know if I can put you in touch with him.