Island Hopping - Seychelles Inner Islands

Planning a Sailing Trip on one of our Bareboat or Skippered options in Seychelles

There is truly nothing better than going on a sailing trip and cruising among the islands with friends! If you are reading this post, then our guess is that you are planning an epic sailing trip and we are so hyped for you. We have now sailed in Mozambique, Tanzania and Seychelles and we learn something new every time we plan a sailing trip. We would consider ourselves sailing trip experts at this point and have put this list together of our favourite sailing trip tips and tricks.

Some of these tips are specific to sailing and some are basic rules to follow for any group trip. A sailing trip is a completely unique experience and as long as your group establishes some simple rules in advance and follows these tips, we predict smooth sailing in your future!

Even if you have never been seasick, bring all of the seasickness preventative medicines.

We are both absolute boat lovers and hardly ever experience seasickness. If we could live on a boat, we absolutely would! With that said, I have also gotten seasick on a couple of sailing trips. When you combine living on a boat with partying and lack of sleep, seasickness could happen at some point. Be prepared for seasickness by wearing preventive patches and taking drowsy dramamine before you go to sleep. If you start to feel uneasy during the day, take the non-drowsy dramamine.

Make a copy of your travel documents.

We always recommend having a printed copy of your passport and travel insurance. Hopefully it is not necessary, but you will be extremely thankful you planned ahead if something goes missing and you need a copy of these essential travel documents!

Limit your water usage.

Most boats have limited fresh water for showering and washing dishes even if they are equipped with a water maker. Be prepared to limit yourself to one shower a day and it should be quick! We usually all shower off the back of the boat because the views are epic and it is fun.

Refrigerator Space is limited

 There is limited refrigerator space, it is important to efficiently grocery shop.

It is so important to think strategically about every food item that you order. Is there a different size or shape that will fit better in a small space? For example, if your boat has yogurt on the grocery shopping list, you should order the small cups that can sit on the shelf instead of in the refrigerator.

Make a one in, one out rule for drinks.

Most likely it is hot where you are taking your sailing trip! Make your friends agree to a one in, one out rule when taking drinks out of the fridges.

Keeping Towels and Bathing suits dry

Use clothespins to dry bathing suits and towels off the side of the boat.

Clothespins are essential for a sailing trip! You can hang your towels and bathing suits on the side and off the back overnight and while you are sailing.

Use a sharpie to label drinks and reduce waste.

Bring a YETI type cup on your sailing trip and have your crew agree to label their own cup – they really do help in keeping your drinks colder for much longer. Label your water / soft drink bottles. We have found that if you do not do this, there are half-drunk bottles all over the boat that end up getting thrown away because you do not know who they belong to. Hold everyone accountable for finishing their drinks so there is no waste by labelling them as they are opened.

Label cabinets in the galley with tape and a sharpie.

On our first sailing trip in Mozambique we realized that we forgot where so many things were in the kitchen. We solved this on our next sailing trip by labelling cabinets as we organized all of the provisions on the first day. It is easy to clean up by simply peeling the tape off at the end of the week!

Establish a no gossip rule.

Sailboats are small and voices carry very easily. Avoid any boat drama by making sure no one is gossiping about anyone else on board!

Pack in a soft sided suitcase.

Rooms on a sailboat are SMALL. If you pack a hard sided bag, it will take up so much space in your room. If you pack in a soft bag like a backpack, you can slide the bag next to your bed or in your closet and it will take up no space in your room at all!

Build your itinerary and meal plan ahead of time.

In our experience, the less planning you need to do during on the sailing trip, the better! Establish a basic route with your skipper and crew before you board the boat and also know your meal schedule. Obviously itineraries are subject to change but it is important to have a schedule in mind before you set sail. There are shops on Mahe, Praslin and La Digue so if you know where and when you plan to stop and go ashore you can pre-plan where and when you need to re-stock with fresh foods.

Teamwork makes the dreamwork.

Group trips can be a challenge in general if some folks in the group do more of the heavy lifting than others. It is especially important on a sailing trip that everyone pitches in on clean up and boat tasks. If you see a mess, simply clean it up right away. As long as everyone abides by this rule, there should be no conflict amongst the crew when it comes to boat tidiness.

Use Spotify / Deezer to build collaborative playlists

This is one of our favourite sailing trip tips! On our first Yacht Week in Seychelles, we set up a morning chill playlist, daytime sailing, and evening party playlist. We started by asking each person on board to add 5 of their fave songs to add to each playlist.  As the days wore on, we would each add more of our favourite songs to match the vibe the playlists to build an extensive collaborative playlist and then we established a no skip rule on board. This avoids anyone’s songs getting skipped that they may want to listen to!