TEN Reasons Why You Should Book with 45 Degrees Sailing

Here are TEN reasons why you should book a sailing holiday with 45 Degrees Sailing:

This is not just our summer job. This is our community. We work hard to maintain relationships all year round, sustaining connections with like-minded people all over Dalmatia so that we are able to extend these relationships to you as our guests when you come on holiday with us. You are welcomed into the fold and become an extended part of our 45D community.

Our knowledge of the stunning Dalmatian islands allows us flexibility.  The knowledge that we have built up over five summers of working and living here allows us to personalise your itinerary. We work with you to build your adventure as we go. We have no set itineraries. During the week, we will constantly be aware of the weather, of what ports will be more or less comfortable and what kinds of adventures suit your family best. We take all of these details into consideration, hand-picking the ports that we take you to, to ensure maximum enjoyment and comfort for all in the family.

Arriving in a new country and getting the lay of the land takes time. Creating meaningful genuine connections with new people in a new country takes time and effort and a little luck sometimes. So we do the groundwork for you! Having lived in Croatia for over four years now, we understand the idiosyncrasies of the locals. We speak the local language and can teach you some of it, if you would like to learn. We have already laid the foundation so that you can make meaningful connections with people that you meet on your sailing holiday. You also benefit from our relationships with the reassurance that everything you do has been tried and tested by us.

For seven years, we taught sailing in one of the windiest cities in the world, regularly taking the boat out in almost gale force winds. A normal day at the office involved teaching students how to change headsails in three metre swells! While we do not expect to encounter these kinds of conditions on your sailing holiday, this foundation in sailing and safety has more than adequately prepared us for anything the Adriatic Sea can throw at us. This means you can feel safe and comfortable in any condition that may arise during your trip on Adriatic. You can trust that your crew is able to be handle the yacht calmly, professionally and safely, ensuring a sailing holiday that you can truly kick back and enjoy.

We’re not just sailors. We both grew up with parents who owned their own businesses. We have both worked in the hospitality industry, Nick behind the bar and I worked front of house. We have over 40 year of combined customer service experience, which has finely honed our patience, diplomacy and time-management skills. Nick worked as an outdoor recreation instructor, which kickstarted his passion for outdoor activities such as rock climbing. And I worked extensively with children throughout my teen years and early twenties, including as a personal carer to differently abled children, both in their homes and in the classroom. We were lucky enough to work in leadership and cultural training with multinational corporations in both China and New Zealand, consolidating our skills in code-switching, creating cultural bridges and connecting with people from all around the world. All of this experience rounds out to how comprehensive a service we can offer you when you are on board with 45D.

We are true blue Kiwi’s and we LOVE to be exclusive! We love to find hidden nooks and crannies to share with you. We ourselves love to travel, continuing to explore locally in the off season, always on the look out for new connections to be made with interesting and passionate people who often surprise us. Whether it be a wine cellar in a cave that was carved out by hand (and a little dynamite to help!) or a preserved olive mill over four hundred years old that survived fire and desertion in WWII… We discover these hidden gems to share them with YOU.

We have sailed and taught sailing in New Zealand, Australia, the Caribbean and China. Nick was lead instructor at the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club in Wellington New Zealand for almost seven years and also worked at Pacific Sailing School (in association with The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia) in Sydney Australia.  Together, we ran a student racing boat in the CYCA winter series for two years. We also ran an advanced sailing course with Broadreach in the Caribbean, based in Saint Martin, with two boats full of teenagers, all of whom made it successfully to their destination in Trinidad! With over 30 years combined experience in sailing, much of our sea going experience has centred around teaching and instructing. So we are used to having non-sailors aboard and are able take pretty much anything in our stride when it comes to boat handling. We also LOVE to teach, whether it be you or your kids, and think that it’s a great family activity to get everyone involved in!

Not just about our clients and making sure that you have an unforgettable experience sailing in Croatia. We also care about the locals. The main reason that we do not offer dinner on board is that we want to support local businesses, we recognise the wealth of knowledge about their culture that our friends on the ground possess, and how delicious this often turns out to be! We care about this country that we have adopted, the Adriatic Sea that we make our living from and we are constantly endeavouring to be more environmentally friendly in our practices on board the boat.

Each day at breakfast, we take the opportunity to make sure that everyone aboard is across the plan for the day. This includes when swim stops are likely to be made, when lunch will be served, what time and where we will be docking at the end of the day, as well as what the plan for dinner is. We value feedback and encourage you to communicate with us if there is anything in particular that we can do for you. We feel that information is power, so the more we know, the more you know, and the better it works out for everyone!

45 Degrees Sailing is not just a company. It’s our passion. It’s our life. While we have a mountain of experience in everything from sailing, racing, service delivery right through to business and banking, our real expertise lies in our ability to connect with people and understand their needs.

We want to connect with you. We want to know what you need so that we can work with you to make a sailing holiday happen for your family.

Do not delay. Summer doesn’t last forever and the best weeks of summer are limited. Contact us here and let us know when would be the best time to arrange a video call with you and your family so that we can start planning that sailing holiday NOW!