Every year we come out our extended family just keeps getting bigger. The Dowman’s are on the second visit, while the Dunt’s are Vass virgins. Having been out her for a few seasons Pam is a veteran and was eager to get Nikey boy out here and back on the water, the flat waters should be the perfect testing ground for his multitude of injuries.

You can’t go wrong in Vass, the day’s starts off with the lightest of winds, the perfect introduction for the uninitiated, before building through the day to put theory into practice. The wind is sucked down the mountain and then out across the bay, it seems strange at first, but the closer you sail to the mountain the stronger the wind and flatter the water.

The small town of Vassiliki doesn’t seem to change. The harbour is ringed with restaurants, and as yet I haven’t found a bad one. There are plenty of bars but you’ll find the party going off at the Zeus bar most evenings, though I must confess to being a bit light on the beer front this trip.

The bad thing about Vass is can decimate the winter training. I’m taking a bit of stick this week for not hitting the bar full on, but its taken an age to get the weight down, now at its lowest since I had chemo, and I’m struggling not  to pile it all back on. Hopefully the sailing will lessen the damage .

The week couldn’t have gone much better, the wind only let us down on the last day, but even then there were the occasional planning moments, everyone was improving. While Julia and Jack Dunt were getting introduced to windsurfing, Mark Dunt was reawakening the past.

Last time marke windsurfed we used rope to tie our booms on, twenty years has passed and the kit looks a lot different today. It took a few days to start thinking in modern sizes and blow away the cobwebs, but it all started coming back, though it was good for Steve and I to see our younger friend stiffen  up as the week went past.

While Mark wanted to get reacquainted, Steve just wanted to progress. He’s really competitive, and was striving to be the best, but there are no shortcuts in windsurfing, if someone’s planning, you know they’ve put in the time. To be fair he was planning, not all the time but the end of the week we could see real progress even if he couldn’t.

A family holiday is all about the kids, they all had a ball, though as any windsurfing Dad will confess, there’s nothing better than sailing with them. Mine never sail at home, only when we come out here, Aaron spent a lot more time on the water this year; the instructors are so good with the kids, encouraging rather than pushing.

I had a few good sails with Aaron, but now his brother Reece is getting comfortable in the harness we could go for a proper blast. Ignorance is bliss, Reece has no idea what over powered is, I was looking for my 6.9 and had to take it off him, even then I was fully stacked. Its not often you can put a week down to one run, I would have paid anything for a picture of us blasting out to sea. Reece out front on a sail I’d have been happy on, really there is nothing quite like it.

Aaron wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t mention the water park at the top of the bay, though I’ll have to consider if I forgive Jack for pushing me off the iceberg. There’s a couple of trampolines on the water with a rolling log in between, apparently only Bubble has managed to get all the way across.

Aaron was way better than the rest of us, boosted by being ahead of the game he kept pushing and managed to get across twice, though he took a few slams along the way. Scarily Samantha was the next closest, normally super clumsy, but this time was finding a new balance.