Seven Summits Sailing

A Review of the First Year Under Way

For Laura, Enrique, their daughter Aizea, and their dog Bandit, the adventure began in Barcelona. One year and 2,260 nautical miles later, here they are in front of the Acropolis in Athens, where they share their first year of family sailing with us.

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Published 05/06/2026

By Gilles Ruffet

Issue: 208

Published: aug. / sept. 2026

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Who: Laura, Enrique, Aizea (5 years old) and Bandit (4 legs)
Where: Athens, Greece
Multihull: Bali 4.2
Instagram: @seven_summits_sailing

During our first 365 days at sea, we explored magnificent ports of call: our route took us to Majorca, Menorca, southern Sardinia, northern Sicily, Puglia, Albania, and the Ionian Islands. We then circumnavigated the Peloponnese and explored the Saronic Islands. For us, as beginners, setting off outside the tourist season was an ideal decision: sailing from September onwards offered us calm, often deserted ports and anchorages, which considerably reduced the risks associated with crowds. We thus avoided the summer frenzy of charter boats in the Balearic Islands, making our experience more serene and enjoyable. If we experienced bad weather, finding a berth wasn’t a challenge, and the rates were more reasonable. We highly recommend that those wishing to begin sailing independently choose less touristy areas like Albania or the Peloponnese, where a peaceful atmosphere prevails, conducive to learning and discovery in complete tranquility. When we set sail, Aizea was just 4 years old. Many people asked us, “But how will you manage school?” The answer was simple thanks to the legislation in our home district of Vaud in Switzerland, which allows homeschooling. We remained domiciled in Lausanne so that our project would comply with legal requirements, and since then, our little school has been sailing along with the wind. Four times a week, we dedicate half an hour to formal learning, following the objectives of the French curriculum. We also enrolled our daughter in school twice in Italy for a few weeks. But the real learning ground is the journey itself: on the docks, in museums, through contact with the cultures encountered along the way. In Greece, for example, Aizea became fascinated by mythology: she now knows all the Greek gods by heart. Each port of call becomes a new lesson, unexpected, vibrant, and often far more impactful than a worksheet. We hesitated for a long time before taking Bandit, our 9-year-old golden retriever, on this adventure. Objectively, a dog doesn’t really belong on a boat: space is limited, movement is restricted, and the logistics become more cumbersome. For example, Bandit refuses to relieve himself on board, which complicates long passages. As for safety, he wore a life jacket at first but now seems comfortable at sea. The logistics require planning ahead: finding
25 pounds (12 kg) of dogfood and getting it to the boat, for example, or thoroughly researching the places we’ll be visiting because sometimes public transport and archaeological sites don’t allow animals. However, his presence reassures us and creates a bond with the others: it would have been unthinkable to leave without him!