Y is for Yachting

Since word got out that Roberto Cavalli is working on boat interiors, gin palaces have gone from naff to jet-set.

Indeed, water-borne holidays haven't been this fashionable since Christina, the world's first super-yacht, plied the waters around Capri in the Sixties (the Onassis boat has recently became available for private charter).

In fact, if you just get the mooring right (Miami, St Barth's, St Tropez) - and stump up the cash - it's easier to join P Diddy's boating pack than it is to get past the red ropes of Bungalow 8.In the Med, consider Carranza, an 80ft Sunseeker Manhattan sleeping eight, which will set you back from £8,055 for a three-night trip.

This is what we did, a party of six, cruising the waters of the C?te d'Azur. Claude Challe beat out across the water, drowning the roar of the 1300hp engines. We sipped champagne, the longer-legged splayed out across the boat's tapering nose, others propping up the cherrywood bar.

We ate sushi and drank martini. The men among us eyeballed passing ladies. We sunbathed, drunk with sun and a two-hour lunch, while the defeated retreated to the master suite - all polished wood and suede with a TV you could watch from bed.

We took a spin around Villefranche-Sur-Mer, pausing briefly to stare at the few boats bigger than ours. Glamour unadulterated - if only I'd packed my Roberto Cavalli.

So it was that we set off on a 'two-island' Greek holiday. First, we flew to Zakynthos and the Peligoni Club. Run by an English couple, Vanessa Goldie and John Alexander, this sailing haven for 90 or so guests is so laid-back it's almost horizontal. Laser Pico dinghies are available from the clubhouse whenever you fancy a quick sailing lesson around the bay; or there's windsurfing tuition, tennis tournaments, any number of other watersports, backgammon and a well-stocked bar.

Zakynthos is a rocky outcrop in the Aegean, so the 'beach' at Peligoni is a series of wooden platforms built into the coast, giving each person an individual and rather chic little island on which to sunbathe. The teaching is from gap-year students with a passion for the water. I was a complete nautical novice, with a mental block when it came to the wind and its effects, and a social block when it came to the yachties I had encountered in the past - all of whom would foghorn about halyards and mizzen masts until I wanted to whack them with a gaff hook.

But here, relaxation is of the essence. Guests stay in individual houses or villas scattered in the hills (a hire car is essential). The best time to go is May or September, when the weather is a peach and Vanessa runs 'restoration holidays' - the sailing and tennis supplemented with yoga sessions and massages. The island is quiet, picturesque, and the attention you'll get at Peligoni beats a mass-market holiday hands down.

Armed with my new wind and wave knowledge, we hopped on a ferry the short distance to Cephalonia. Here, we joined James Hobart and his Sea Trek Adventures team for the more active part of the holiday. We four rookies were to learn to sail the 31ft yacht Avra. From scratch. After three days of tuition, we were set to take the yacht out overnight on our own: Sea Trek being a rare charter company which will train beginners and then allow them to scoot off around the coast alone.

Yikes. To a beginner, sailing even in a puff of wind in a protected bay can be hairy. But if you really want to learn to sail, you need to get over the fear. And Sea Trek couldn't be more reliable, friendly and fun. In three days, a woman such as myself, who can barely operate a video recorder, can learn to leave and enter harbour, tack, gybe, read the wind, come into port bows to quay, spring from a quay in a cross wind and make a decent Greek salad while the boat is heeling on a strong broad reach. The freedom is incredible, the sense of achievement amazing. I defy anyone to find a better summer holiday.

A-Z travel guide for 2002