|
 Over
the past few years we have become hooked on sailing holidays,
especially in a warmer Mediterranean climate. The combine many
of the facets that we enjoy about holidays, ie, pure escapism,
relaxing, warm weather, good company, and most important of all,
the ability to be able to remove your clothes for the majority
of the day when sailing!
When we first embarked in such holidays, it was with some
intrepidation, as neither of us were experienced sailors. It
was further complicated by the fact that we did not fancy sharing
a boat with others, so it would mean just the two of us, sailing
our own yacht. We were encouraged to try it by talking to someone
who had been on a flotilla holiday by a company called Sunsail.
 One
of the good features about the company was that they graded the
sailing area by level of difficulty. We were convinced to take
the plunge, and booked a 27ft yacht for one week sailing around
the Saronic Gulf, just south of Athens in Greece. The Saronic
Gulf judged to be an 'easy' area, and the 27ft yacht (called
Kirki) was the smallest yacht available and just right for two
people. Our experience level was sufficiently low for Sunsail
to recommend that we went on a weekend sailing course at one
of their sailing centres.
 The
sailing course took place on a brand new 37ft yacht. During the
course we learnt many invaluable bits of information, like what
to do if someone falls overboard, how to navigate, how to flush
the toilet, etc. Unfortunately, there was very little wind, so
from a sailing point of view, it was not much good! We did get
a light breeze for about an hour or so, and actually got the
yacht to sail. This of course made the yacht heal over slightly,
at which time we both looked at each other, and thought the same
thought 'just how far will this thing lean over before it sinks',
and 'which one of us should ask the skipper such a daft question'.
Then came the holiday, we were introduced to Kirki, and were
given a detailed brief about how every aspect of how the yacht
worked. The flotilla skipper gave us detailed information about
the route to our first destination. The sky was blue with a  light
breeze blowing. However it felt like a gale to us, and we were
a bit cautious about attempting to take Kirki out for a sail.
We expressed our caution to the skipper, but he convinced us
that there would not be any problems. He just told us to motor
out into the centre of the big bay, and then put up the sails
as instructed.
Gulp, so that's what we did. We arrived in the middle of the
bay, decided which way we would try and sail just supposing that
we got the sails up. Up went the main sail. There was lots of
canvas flapping in the breeze. Not to be deterred, we raised
the genoa (jib), which resulted in even more sail flapping in
the breeze. At this stage, you just have to go for it! So we
pointed Kirki to the right of the breeze and all of a sudden
the sails filled, the flapping stopped, and we were sailing,
- pure magic!
From that point on, we have not looked back.
September
1998 - Southern Ionian, Greece
 The
following year, boosted by our confidence, we were sailing with
two good friends in the Southern Ionian Sea off the west coast
of Greece. Again, the holiday was organised by Sunsail, who supplied
us with a 32ft First 305 called Delos. Compared to Kirki, it
was like a greyhound, and would 'take off' in the lightest of
breezes. The weather was rather mixed with a selection of thunder
storms, strong winds and catabatic gusts. Compared to the previous
year, we did spend quite a bit of time 'hanging on' and trying
to keep the Delos vaguely upright. Again, we learnt an awful
lot, especially relating to 'reefing' and 'spilling wind'. Catabatic
gusts are local winds caused by hot air rising up the steep sided
mountains, which then becomes unstable and plummets downwards
at a vast rate of knots. The result on the ground (or sea) is
that the wind springs up from 3 knots to gale force in about
3 seconds. Fortunately you can see them coming as they whip up
the sea surface, sometimes reducing visibility dramatically.
June
1999 - Northern Ionian, Greece
 For
our trip to the Northern Ionian, we decided to go on our own.
We do enjoy the independence to just the two of us being together
and being able to make our own decisions and being able to go
where we want when we want. But it did mean going back to a smaller
yacht, preferable in a sailing area where we had not been before.
We chose a company called 'Sailing
Holidays' who cater for sailing around all parts of the Ionian.
They do flotillas in both the northern and southern parts of
the Ionian, with fleets consisting purely of Jaguar 27 yachts.
As their size suggests, they are smallish boats, but ideal for
two people. Consequently the flotillas tend to comprise mainly
couples, which made for a very social time most evenings.
There appears to be some sort of affinity between sailing
and being naked. In the normal world you would rarely see a naked
body unless you were on a nude beach or at a sun club. However,
the moment you 'set foot' on water the situation changes and
the sight of a nude body becomes a 'not uncommon' sight. I can't
think of any other activity that releases the inhibitions to
cause people to cast off their clothes. In retrospect, given
the starting point of being somewhere generally hot and sunny,
and spending the day in a swimming costume and doing a fair bit
of swimming, then many of the seeds of being naked are already
sown. But never the less the apparent ease at which people cast
off their swimwear under such circumstances does surprise me.
 Our
flotilla trip around the Northern Ionian, was blessed with hot
sunny weather, but we did have some windy weather that was sufficiently
strong to keep us in port for a few days. When we were 'storm
bound', our flotilla was not all moored together, but was dispersed
around a small harbour among local fishing boats. We were moored
next to one of our other flotilla boats, but other than that
we were pinned in by deserted fishing boats. While I can just
about survive being 'covered' during the early morning and in
the evening, I found it a struggle to remain clothed during the
day given the bright warm sunshine. So I decided to ask our flotilla
neighbours if they objected to me sunning my self on the deck
with no clothes on. They said that they had no objection, so
I was able to spend the day in port topping up my all over tan.
As luck would have it, at the following overnight stop, we
were able to moor next to the same couple, so I was able to remain
nude for as long as I wanted. The following night we were also
next to the same couple, but we were also next to a third boat.
So the obvious thing to do was to also ask them if they objected
to my nudity. Again, the answer was that they had no objection,
so much to my delight, I was able to remain naked for as long
as I wanted. The holiday progressed much along those lines, with
me spending most of the time nude, except that is when we were
not in a taverna!
June
2000 - Dalmatian Islands, Croatia
 In
June 2000 we embarked upon yet another two-week sailing holiday.
As with the previous year, we went with Sailing
Holidays who encouraged us to try Croatia. They have flotillas
that sail around the Dalmatian Islands in the vicinity of Split
and Duvbrovnic. The wind tends to be a little stronger than in
Greece, but to make up for the slightly 'hairier' conditions,
all the boats in the flotilla had 'in-mast' reefing as well as
the standard genoa roller reefing system. For non-sailors, it
means that you can get all the sails down without leaving the
cockpit. When you only have two people on the boat, such a system
makes life much more controllable, especially when the wind starts
to blow stronger than you might chose! We finished up on a Gibsea
29 called Pelagruza, which suited us to the ground. The flotilla
that we chose spent the two weeks sailing from Split to a marina
just north of Dubrovnic. During the  following two
weeks it then sails north back to Split, so in either the northbound
or southbound trips, you get to see a good variety of the island
and Croatian life. Contrary to the general impression given in
the UK press, Croatia, the Serbian / Croatian war finished some
years ago, and even at its height, it never reached the Islands.
The Dalmatian Island area is very unspoilt and not commercialised.
Croatia offers lots of opportunities for naturism, apart from
sailing. Croatia
Naturally , which describes naturim in Croatia is an excellent
webpage and well worth a read.
 As
with previous years, we were sailing with a group of about 12
other yachts. Based on my experience during the previous year
where were not that bothered by my nudity, I gradually built
on that experience to try any maximise my time spent nude, but
not to shock or embarrass anybody unnecessarily. When sailing,
nudity was standard. Initially, my normal 'dressed' attire in
harbour was my pair of tiny Kiniki
trunks. They hold all the dangle bits in, and are a bit 'cheeky'.
They are decent - just, but do not leave too much to the imagination.
Saying that, I flatly refuse to go swimming in trunks of any
description, even when moored in harbour. The yacht had a bathing
platform, so nude swimming was quite possible by slipping the
trunks off just before diving into the water. It did mean getting
out of the sea nude, but a towel was always nearby, so it was
quite easy to save the embarrassment of others by putting the
towel
round me to dry off. My problem was once my trunks were off,
I was very reluctant to put them back on! It was very pleasant
sitting in the cockpit with just the towel around me. The screening
around the cockpit was sufficient to let the towel slip to ensure
that an 'all over tan' was maintained. This then progressed to
going 'down below' to get a cold beer, starkers, and then returning
to my towel to consume the beer. As the holiday progressed I
became braver as it appeared that no one else on the flotilla
objected to my nudity. I declared the cockpit as an 'acceptable'
nude area, and became brave enough to wander around the cockpit
without the hindrance of clothing. As always, I took care not
to be too 'in your face' with my naked body when confronting
occupants of the boats that might be moored next to us.
 We
had a great holiday, and even won the regatta for our class of
boat. I was quite literally able to show them by backside as
we sailed past the opposition. At the end of every flotilla holiday
there is always a prize giving session for memorable events that
happened during the holiday. We won three prizes, a bottle of
wine for winning the regatta, a certificate for 'Public Display
of Absolute Bad Taste in Swimwear', and the banana man award
which consisted of a banana, inscribed 'Banana Man', I can't
think why! The prizes were awarded by the New  Zealand skipper,
who commented that was very impressed with my 'fiddles', which
it would appear is the New Zealand expression for the 'dangly
bits'. From a sailing point of view, the most memorable event
was the dismasting of one of the Gibsea 302s during the regatta.
Every flotilla acquires a nick name, and and maybe it was no
surprise when ours was called 'The Naked Motorboat Flotilla'.
If you want to see mostly non- nude photos of the flotilla, have
a look at the webpage
created from photos of the other characters on the holiday!
June
2001 - Kornati Islands, Croatia
Sunset over the Kornati Islands
In 2001 we returned to Croatia. Again we went with Sailing
Holidays, but this time we joined a flotilla which went north
of Split to explore the Konati Islands. These are a very beautiful
part of the Dalmatian Islands, so much so that the islands and
the surrounding seabed have been declared a national park. Again
we hired a Gibsea 29. They are ideal for two people and have
been modified to give the added advantage of 'in mast furling'.
This make taking all the sails down very easy, a job which can
be a 'handful' especially if the wind is blowing.
 Again,
Croatia, in particular the islands, was stunning, the weather
was great and we had 'good winds' throughout our two week holiday.
The only real difference compared with previous years was that
we were with a different crowd of people who made up the rest
of our flotilla.
There was a slightly unusual mix of people on this year's
holiday compared with previous years. Of the twelve boats, three
were a group of close friends who were reluctant to mix with
the rest of the crowd. Four of the boats where heavily into getting
'smashed' each night. One boat just sailed off and did its 'own
thing'. This left one boat, which was full of delightful Germans
who spoke good English, and the remaining three boats. All the
last four boats were all quite content to have a great holiday,
have a good sail, see the sights and enjoy the local atmosphere,
but would preferred not to do it through an alcoholic haze. This
is not a criticism of anybody, 'each to their own', and enjoy
what you are doing. It did split the age group, with the 50+s
comprising the last four boats. We were a bit like 'Cardigan
Country' boats, you might only understand the expression if you
who listen to Terry Wogan on BBC Radio 2! (For those of you not
familiar with this expression, Cardigans are worn by boring sad
old gits, but said with an Irish sense of humour).
From the point of view of a nudist on a 'textile' holiday,
it was very much a case of picking up from where I left off last
year. In port, the cockpit was declared a nudist zone, which
was made possible by strategically hanging towels over the side
rails of the yacht. Once out of port, then again, nudity was
the norm and made no pretence at 'covering up' at all. One great
thing about Croatia is that it is full of nudists! Chances are
that if you see another boat, then the crew will be naked. Similarly,
anchored in bays etc, a good half of the people on the boats
will be naked. With so many other nude bodies around, you do
not even think about the fact that the sight of my nude body
might shock others.
 It
probably comes as not surprise that we were in the felt more
at home with the last group of four boats. We would quite often
finish up mooring up next to each other, and would be quite happy
sharing a table in the many restaurants that we visited. They
soon realised that I did not often wear any clothes and it did
not seem to cause them any embarrassment at all.
On one evening, the plan was for the flotilla to 'raft up'
in the middle of a deserted bay on one of the Kornati Islands,
eat on board and then have a 'party'. Three of the Cardigan Boats
immediately looked for alternatives! One went to a marina, and
another boat and ourselves found a delightful bay a mile or so
further along the coast, where we just dropped anchor and spent
the night 'swinging' on the anchor. A magnificent sunset was
followed by a 'very' windy night. Even though we were at anchor,
the boat was tossed about enough to tip over an empty bottle
of wine!, but that is another story! The following morning, we
were still in the bay roughly where we dropped anchor, the wind
had dropped, the sun was shining and the seagulls were waiting
for their breakfast. Due to lack of sleep, nobody was in a hurry
to go anywhere.
 The
second 'Cardigan Boat' in the bay was about 40 yards from us,
and before long they were swimming. They had obviously taken
a leaf out of my book as they were skinny-dipping. I could not
resist the temptation, so I swam over to join them. By the time
I got to their boat they were out of the water drying themselves
off. I was invited aboard and offered a drink. All three of us
finished up sitting nude on deck enjoying the sun. I obviously
thanked them for the drink, and before long the conversation
got round to my 'all over tan'. It did not come as a surprise
when I told them that I was a nudist! Before long, by chance,
the third 'Cardigan Boat' arrived in the bay from the marina.
In no time at all they had dropped anchor close to us and were
also skinny-dipping. I never quite worked out whether I was the
catalyst for all the nudity, or whether it would have happened
anyway.
 Eventually,
we all had to depart for the next evenings rendezvous with the
rest of the flotilla, which was another bay about five miles
away. It was called Opat Bay, it had two small outdoor tavernas,
a quay, some mooring buoys, and that is about it! It was absolutely
delightful! The taverna sold barbecued fish or barbecued fish!
So after a very nice barbecued fish meal, we staggered back to
out boat. We were just about to have a 'nude night-cap' glass
of malt whisky on deck, when the 'third cardigan boat' (who we
were moored next to) invited us across to join them for a 'wee
dram'. My response was that that we would be delighted, but could
I come as I was. No problem, was the response, so we joined them
on their boat clutching our bottle of malt. We had a couple of
glasses of whisky and talked about the stars, the bay earlier
in the day, skinny-dipping, and my nudity. It was all very relaxed
and pleasant.
 The
walk up to the top of the local hill had been recommended as
the view was superb. The following morning we had a delayed start
as the Bora was blowing rather strong, so it was an ideal opportunity
to explore the view. Some 50 yards away from the boat, my shorts
were off, and the rest of the return walk was done nude. Although
we walk reasonably fast, two young ladies, who seemed totally
unbothered that I was nude, overtook us. The view from the top
was worth the effort. On the way down we met one of the German
crew on his way up to the top. We chatted for a few minutes and
then carried on. That evening the flotilla was back on the mainland,
and by chance I was sitting in a bar next to the German. He was
quite happy to start a conversation by saying "So you are
a nudist?" (you will have to imagine the German accent).
We were both quite relaxed to discuss the subject at length.
You could not imagine an English person starting a conversation
in such a way, but his frankness was refreshing.
 The
following evening we were back on the islands. It was to be another
'party' in a large bay. So again the 'second Cardigan boat' and
ourselves party-pooped and found an alternative mooring. It turned
out to be a different corner of the same bay, but near a very
small taverna. A large old fort dominated the bay. We attached
ourselves too two mooring buoys, and rowed across to the taverna
in our inflatable dingys. It has to be one of the most basic
tavernas that I have ever been eaten at. The menu was fish or
pork, plus plenty of chips, salad and wine. It may have been
basic, but it was very tasty.
 The
following morning after we had deflated our dingy, the crew from
the other boat rowed past saying that they were going to explore
the fort, and would we care to join them. We could not resist
the opportunity, so we jumped into their dingy, with me just
clutching my shorts and camera. As we tied up near the taverna,
I did put my shorts on so as not to frighten the locals. This
lasted until we were out of sight of the taverna, when the shorts
were off again. The four of us then walked to the fort on the
hill, and nobody was at all bothered that I was nude. When we
got to the top we took loads of photos, and to my surprise, as
group photo was requested and to my delight I was not requested
to put my shorts on! The photograph of all four of us was taken
using an automatic timer on the camera.
All in all it was a most enjoyable holiday doing all the things
that I enjoy doing in lovely weather and magnificent scenery.
It will be difficult to beat!!
July 2002 - Southern Ionian, Greece
 In
the summer of 2002 we returned to Greece for two weeks sailing
around the Southern Ionian. Again we were flotilla sailing with
Sailing Holidays.
The flotilla consisted of the lead boat with 12 yachts in the
flotilla all about 30ft long. Our yacht was called Epidamnos.
Its no real surprise, but the pattern of the holiday was very
similar to previous years. One of the nice aspects of the Southern
Ionian is that the sailing distances are not that large, and
there was no rush to get to the destination port each day. This
meant that the days were quite relaxed. A daily routine son emerged,
with a 9.30am the group briefing, which was inevitably followed
by bacon and eggs and orange juice for breakfast. After a bit
of sight-seeing and a few photos, it was back to the boat for
the business of the day.
Start the engine, cast off the ropes, hoist up the anchor
and we were away. Once out of the harbour, any remnants of clothing
were removed, and on with the sun-tan cream. Once we were a safe
distance from the harbour, the sails would be raised and the
engine stopped. Although its great to turn the engine off, it
does power the fridge, which in turn keeps the beers cold, so
you have to be sensible about how long you run the engine for!
 Once sailing
we would inevitably be completely on our own and out of sight
of any of the other yachts. .Navigation was based on 'boy scout
principles' using the yacht's chart and a compass. This enabled
us to point vaguely towards our destination (wind direction permitting).
On most days we would be near our destination by about 3pm, so
the task was then to find a 'nice little bay' to drop anchor
and have a late lunch and a swim. Chances are that one or two
other boats in the flotilla would have had the same idea, so
it was not uncommon to meet up in some of theses bays. Needless
to say, it soon became apparent to the other boats that Epidamnos
did not were any clothes. There were no comments at the time,
but it was always likely to generate the occasional comment in
the taverna the following evening, for example 'I did not recognise
you with any clothes on!', to which the reply was ' any why not!'
- it was all very good light hearted banter.
Due to the relative close proximity of the islands there is
always the chance for some 'free sailing', which means just going
off and 'doing your own thing'. Near the middle of the holiday
we had two days 'free so we were able to leave the flotilla and
go and explore some of the smaller islands on our own. As it
turned out, two other boats had the same literary as us, so the
three of us set sail in the same direction.
Kastos was the destination for the first day. It was a bit
of a 'white knuckle ride', with a big swell and strong wind blowing
us along from behind. After about 4 hours we arrived just about
in one piece to find a delightful town, with a small harbour
just big enough for a dozen or so yachts. Out two   companions
arrived before us, so they were able to help us tie up etc. We
spent a while on the quay, with the 6 of us swapping white knuckle
stories while supping cold beers. Unfortunately, arrival in port
meant that I had to cover up, but only with the minimum, ie,
my yellow Kinikis, which
are wearing rather lace thin. Although they cover my penis and
a small amount of my bum, they are so thin that they leave very
little to the imagination, showing every vein and fold of skin.
They do not so much as cover, but just colour the' bits' yellow
Again, nobody appeared to object as the crowd of us stood chatting
and enjoying our beers. It was not long before even that minimal
amount of cover in such hot sunny weather was starting to make
me feel 'uncomfortable', so I asked the girls on the other two
boats if they would object if I discreetly sat in the cockpit
of Epidamnos with no clothes on alt all. There was absolutely
no objection, so that was the 'green light' for nude sunbathing
in port. Even so, I tried to keep it discreet as there were other
people around, but this was fairly easily achieved by the strategic
positioning of towels on the guard rail wires.
 The following
day the six of us moved on to Palermos, the highlight of which
was the recommended 'New Mill' restaurant. There was no menu;
the owner just asked how long we wanted to stay, so that she
could 'pace' the arrival of the courses. Before the first course,
a 6 litre bottle of wine arrived, which we managed to consume
with ease. I lost count of the number of courses that were served
up, but that evening we ate some of the best food that we have
ever tried in Greece.
That set the pattern for the rest of the holiday, nude at
sea, and mostly nude in port! After rejoining the rest of the
flotilla, the group destinations still consisted of some delightful
bays and small ports where the water was crystal clear and swimming
from the back of the boat was possible. Needless to say, there
was no way that I was going swimming in a costume, so I would
just throw myself over the side 'as nature intended'. There would
inevitably be others swimming around so it was a good opportunity
to cool off and have a chat. It appeared that they were unaware
that I was starkers, until that is, I emerged from the water
back onto the boat, when there would again be the odd light hearted
comment to the effect that 'Peter is skinny dipping again'.
 At
Spartahori, we had a group meal which was washed down with the
usual beer and wine. As the evening wore on, conversation moved
round to the subject of Epidamnos's nude sailing. No one around
the table objected in the slightest. Two other couples admitted
that they also sailed nude on occasions, but were clearly more
discreet about it than Epidamnos. The flotilla 'engineer' who
was a young New Zealander thought that it sounded a great idea,
but asked the question bout what do you do when you see an attractive
woman and your 'old man' pops up. The light hearted answer was
that she would probably take it as a compliment! However chances
are that it would not pop up, and if it did, it probably not
last for long.
The general conversation went on along the lines that when
sailing, people tend not to wear much clothing, so what difference
does the removal of a small swimming costume make especially
if nobody else is around? Linda (who was one of the Kastos 6),
could not cope with that view. She was firmly of the opinion
that most bodies were unattractive and should therefore be kept
covered. Her age was 'on the right side of 50', she was not thin,
but certainly not fat.  She
always wore a one piece swimming costume and did not sound too
happy with her body. I mentioned that we had seen a lot of Linda
in her 'cossie', and that by removing that layer of lycra, it
would be unlikely to reveal anything that we did not already
know, especially as all nude bodies are basically similar. The
reply was 'No! No! No!, I could not inflict such a sight on humanity!'.
Her views on the nude male body were even more interesting.
Again, she was of the opinion that due to their size, most male
bodies were best kept covered. Her husband was quite thin, so
I'm not sure how he fitted into the equation. It was pointed
out that male swimming costumes were generally not very large,
and did not hide anything that she did not already know about.
She admitted that she could comfortably cope with a man in a
'cossie' and could talk to them as if they were fully clothed.
But a nude man would be completely different. The focus of her
attention  would
be entirely on one thing, and it would not be his face. It was
pointed out that if they were nude in her company for long enough,
then she would get used to the situation, but she very much suspected
that even with time, her attention would not waver from the man's
crutch area. The obvious question was then asked as to how she
coped with the sight of my nudity, and that according to her
definition, shouldn't I remain 'covered'. Her reply was 'Oh no,
you're different, you're body is OK. I did not have the nerve
to ask whether when she spoke to the 'nude' me, whether she spoke
to my face or my penis!
Linda was clearly happy enough with her lifestyle and opinions,
and good for her, at least she said what she thought and its
always interesting to get the views of 'textiles' on the subject
of nudity and nudism.
 At the group
meal on the last evening of the holiday there is traditionally
an award ceremony relating to events and happenings that have
occurred over the previous two weeks. We did not win the star
prize, which went to the boat that had a 'prop wrap', which seriously
bent the prop shaft and other bits. However, not surprisingly,
Epidamnos did win the 'Naked Sailing' award, much to the delight
and amusement of the rest of the flotilla. The award consisted
of a plastic 'g' string as shown in the photo, but it was far
too small to cover bits that it was intended to cover. And just
before you ask, no I did not try it on in front of the rest of
the flotilla!
 During
the conversation that followed, the 'skipper' told us a story
that he had heard about one of the Jaguar 27 flotillas on a previous
year. It appears that on one flotilla, some of the yachts were
hired by a group of nudists. This did not cause any undue problems,
but as the holiday progressed, the became so relaxed about their
nudity that they were arriving in port, still nude, again that's
not necessarily a big deal, but when attempting to help moor
the boat 'bows to', he did draw the line at being thrown the
mooring lines by a large nude lady. On subsequent occasions,
when giving instructions over the VHF radio on how to moor and
what lines and fenders to have ready, he also added, 'and put
some clothes on!' I don't think that he was too bothered about
it, but he did have to consider the Greek locals!
Once again, a flotilla sailing holiday produced two weeks of
relaxed naked escapism, together with lots of memorable moments
and delightful social company.
July 2003 - Northern Ionian, Greece
Our main summer holiday in 2003 took on the same form as previous
years, ie, flotilla sailing somewhere hot! We decided on the
Northern Ionian again. That's the bit around Corfu on the western
side of Greece. The sailing area includes the islands of Corfu,
Paxos and Anti-Paxos, plus the adjacent Greek mainland. Parts
of Corfu are busy, but they are easy to avoid, and otherwise
the area is very unspoilt with good sailing, pretty bays and
unspoilt harbours.
 |
A school of dolphins swam past just north of
Corfu Town |
Needless to say, the format of the holiday as far as I was
concerned, was to turn the 'textile' holiday into as much as
a 'nudist' holiday as reasonably possible! As in previous years,
once out of harbour, then nudity is no problem, so the only issue
is how to maximise the 'nude time' when in harbour.
The water in many of the harbours was clean enough for swimming.
Our flotilla invariably moored 'bows to', which meant that that
there was no problem swimming from the bathing platform on the
back of the boat, the only problem was could I get away with
swimming without a cossie.
In previous years, when necessary, I have worn my very old
and very thin Kinik cossie, but they are starting to look their
age, with little elasticity and they are starting to develop
the odd hole! So reluctantly they have been pensioned off and
replaced by a pair of red 'micro bathers', which just about cover
all the essential bits eg, my penis and parts of my bum. There
are times when even I admit that it is appropriate to cover up,
for example, when arriving or departing from harbour. However,
as far as I was concerned, wearing trunks while swimming was
not an option! So it was just a case of seeing how others in
the flotilla reacted to my skinny dipping.
 Invariably,
arrival at a port required lots of activity, with much rope pulling
and knot tying etc. This would be done in my red cossie. It would
then be time for a quick beer and a swim, so I would go to the
back of the boat, slip out of my cossie, followed by a loud splash!
Other than the splash, nothing attracted anybodies attention.
After the swim I would sit on the back of the boat or the bathing
platform to 'dry off' in the sun unhindered by a wet cossie.
For trips to the fridge to top up my beer, I just put a towel
around myself, and then went back to more sunning and drying
off at the back of the boat.
Not wishing to attract attention to my self, generally I would
just sit there soaking up the sun's rays and the beer. On one
occasion fairly early on in the holiday, we were moored next
to one the other flotilla yachts. It was crewed by a husband
and wife, the wife being very 'chatty'. She went on and on talking
about everything under the sun. Initially it was my wife who
was involved in the conversation from our side, but as it progressed,
I found myself being drawn in to the conversation. Sitting where
I was, the conversation was effectively going on behind me, but
as I became more involved, I found myself gradually turning so
that I could make my contribution.
 I'm
sure that it must have been obvious to them that I was sitting
at the back of the boat with no clothes on, but as I got drawn
into the conversation my total lack of clothing was there for
all to see. Although, I was enjoying the conversation, it was
going on a bit and I was half hoping that the sight of my penis
might have cut the conversation short. But not at all, my nudity
had no effect on the conversation at all!
I was surprised that my new red mini cossie did not attract
any comments. I started off thinking that they might cause the
odd comment, so tended to only  wear
them on the boat, but as time went by I became bolder and increasingly
wore them on the quay side. On arrival in port on the last day,
showers were available at a tavern several hundred yards walk
away. Once we had arrived had moored up and after a few beers,
we decide that it was time for a shower. The weather was stinking
hot, I was covered in sun-tan cream, so it seemed crazy to wear
anything other than my red cossie on our trip to the shower.
So clad in just my cossie and a towel over my shoulders, we walked
over to the taverna and the shower. I've no idea what the locals
thought, but I did not detect any gasps of horror!
To sum up, it was a most enjoyable holiday. I gained the usual
all over tan, we met some nice people, had some good sailing,
ate some good food and drunk some good wine.
During our days sailing, the lead boat came close enough to
be aware that both of us were sailing 'as nature intended', so
when it came to the awards ceremony on the last evening, it came
as no surprise when were both awarded the Adam and Eve prize
complete with fig leaves attached to an impromptu 'g' string.
The lead crew did say that they wanted to see us wearing them,
but I decided to spare the blushes of the taverna owner, and
kept the fashion parade for the following morning.
I was chatting with the flotilla engineer about our nude exploits
and asked him just how frequent nude sailing was on these holidays.
To his knowledge, we were the first this year, but then it was
fairly early in the season.
July
2004 - Central Dalmation Islands, Croatia
 June
2004 and we returned to the central part of Croatia with Sailing
Holidays. Needless to say I did my best to turn a textile holiday
into a nudist holiday. We had a 32 foot yacht. There were 12
other identical boats in the flotilla, with a lead boat just
to make sure that we all knew where we were going.
One of the great things about a sailing holiday is that you virtually
live outdoors for the whole 2 weeks, from drinking your first
cup of tea on deck in the morning, to the last 'night cap' glass
of whisky at night under the stars. The most I wore was during
the evening meal when it was tee shirt, short shorts, and flip
flops. On the boat in port I wore just my skimpy adjustable cossie.
Once sailing then it was as nature intended!
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An
early morning cup of tea |
 |
We
are heading for one of those islands! |
Although the boats do not necessarily sail that close to each
other, our paths did cross when tacking, or when anchored in
bays for lunch. So it was not long before it became common knowledge
that our boat was a naturist. One of my rules on these holidays
is not to get my swimming cossie wet, so that all swimming became
'natural'. Lunch time dips in our own private bays was no problem
as I could just throw myself off the back of the yacht. Many
of the harbours we stopped at were clean enough to swim in, so
skinny dipping became a frequent occurrence.
 |
Skinny
dipping off the back of the boat |
 |
Self
steer mechanism |
A group of us from five boats became good friends and we would
take it in turn to supply evening aperitifs. On about the fourth
evening I invited everybody onto our boat, and joking said that
it would of course be 'clothes optional'. There were jokes about
turning up wearing their best thongs. In the event, everybody
turned up in shorts and tee shirts (as normal). Maggie was not
too happy about me serving drinks in my birthday suit, so although
I served a few as nature intended, I got dressed to keep Maggie
happy.
 A
few days later the same five boats were moored side to side on
to a buoy in a pretty bay on an island called Mljet. Aperitifs
were going to be boat next door. I was sitting on our deck (nude)
with a beer. Maggie was having a shower, when the others started
to arrive on the boat next door. 'Peter, aren't you going to
join us' was the call, followed by 'it is clothes optional'.
That was all the invite that I needed, so I jumped onto their
boat, naked, except for the beer that I was clutching.
I was plied with more beer and wine, and everybody took my nude
body in their stride. After a while Maggie joined us, and she
was also very relaxed about it. The conversation could not escape
the fact that I was naked, and ranged from comments like 'I wish
that I had the nerve and courage to go nude' to a comment from
a fifteen year old teenager from one of the boats to the effect
that 'she could not conceive the idea of being naked in public'.
I mentioned that she was wearing a sight low cut tee shirt, showing
lots of cleavage, she was also pointing he belly button at me,
and that the shorts really did not leave much to the imagination.
Also everybody had seen her in her lycra swim suit, so everybody
would have every good idea of what she looked like nude, so what
was all her concern about? I suspect that her views will moderate
when she grows up and gets a boy friend! After the aperitifs,
we were ferried over to a small taverna in a rubber dingy. Just
before the dingy arrived, one of the crowd did say 'Peter, I
do hope that you are going to put some clothes before we go to
the taverna!
 |
Dressed
and ready for the taverna in the distance |
Other than in the evenings when I wore a tee shirt and shorts,
when I was not nude, I lived in my skimpy cossie. I had fun in
the cossie, as you could play games with it in an attempt at
maintain maximum exposure. When prating around on deck with ropes
etc, the curtain effect on the cossie would inevitably increase
the degree of skimpiness, as the  back would ride up the cheeks
of my bum. When sitting on deck and not nude, the front of the
cossie can be manipulated so that my penis and balls get dragged
between my legs, so as not to interrupt the all over tan. After
the first few days I plucked up courage to attend morning briefings
wearing only my mini cossie, but they were worn in 'modest' mode.
I've no idea what everybody else made of it all, but I had no
complaints, and I really enjoyed myself!
One novel story occurred one evening when I was on deck in my
mini cossie tidying up some ropes, a Croatian woman who was walking
past the boat asked in pigeon English, 'How ????'. I did not
fully understand her, but she was clearly requesting some information
about measurement. From her hand gestures, I thought that she
wanted to know deep the water was, so I replied "about 2
metres". "No" she said, "How large".
I realised that she was not talking about the depth, but a request
about length. I had this sudden dilemma. I did not know whether
she meant the length of the boat, or something else that was
fairly prominent. The answer she wanted was either 32 feet or
6 inches, depending on what the object of her question really
was. So I replied "32 feet". "I though so"
she said. She went away happy, but the recollection made for
a good laugh at that evenings aperitifs.
 |
Rounding
up dolphins. Guess who the figurehead is! |
On the final evening there is the usual prize giving party.
As usual my prize revolved around my lack of attire, as I won
the 'Golden Balls' prize. I'm not sure if the prize related to
the actual colour of my balls, or the colour of my minimal cossie!
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