[chrondi]

Dear aaidonnow,
It is obvious that without any yacht experience you will not be able to sail on any boat and/or have fun close to what you have read or imagined. Let me give you some tips:
1. At least one of the sailing party has to possess a day skipper or higher qualification certificate.
2. Do not plan for more than a 300 M route to sail during a two-week time. A leisure pace means up to 30 M daily. In practical terms, don''t try to go beyond Ios. Forget about going as far as Crete: you will be exhausted and you don''t have enough time to come back. On the other hand, Crete is not interesting from a sailing point of view.
3. More probable than not you will encounter at some degree the dreadful meltemi wind. To play it safe and get to know your boat, at the beginning keep to the Saronic gulf islands (Aegina, Poros and Hydra). You can then cross over to the western Cyclades (Kythnos, Serifos, Sifnos). Avoid beating to the NW direction when sailing in the Agean. Return to your base marina by using the E-W axis while reaching, from Sifnos or Serifos to the southern tip of Hydra (a 45 M leg).
4. Get inspiration and ideas from the log of an experienced sailor at the following website: http://www.sy-thetis.org/
5. I suggest you consider roughly the following sailing route: Marina Kalamaki - Aegina - Poros - Apokrisi Kythnos - Livadi Serifos - Vathy Sifnos - Despotiko Antiparos - Schinoussa - Ios and back through Hydra (according to above point 3).
5. If you had more experience and knew local conditions in advance, you would arrange an exhilarating one-way trip from Athens to Rhodes. Never mind, maybe next time!
Ask for specific questions and I''m ready to provide you with answers, because I have already visited nearly all the islands in the region. Furthermore, I have no financial or commercial interest in the yacht chartering or tourist business!