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This Blue Life

Travel and Yachting Journalist Helen Iatrou and Photographer Carlo Raciti We also offer copywriting, copy editing and proofreading services.

Tourism and yachting content marketing writer Helen Iatrou and photographer Carlo Raciti produce inspiring travel, lifestyle, marine, sailing and yachting content for leading travel and lifestyle industry brands, forward-looking organisations, tourism organisations, DMOs and digital, PR and content marketing agencies. We specialise in content for the tourism industry and fast-growing leisure marin

e sector. We provide content marketing services including blog posts, articles, profiles, photography and video content, newsletters, email copy and social media content. Clients include Marriott International, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, The Luxury Collection and Design Hotels. On the editorial side, Helen and Carlo produce news and features for media titles including Lonely Planet, Conde Nast Traveller, National Geographic Travel, National Geographic Traveller, The Telegraph, South China Morning Post and The National (UAE). Their editorial work covers travel destinations, sailing, yachting, lifestyle, culture, personalities, food, environmental and wildlife conservation, sustainable travel, soft adventure, fitness and wellbeing.

04/12/2023

With their sleek teak decks, opulent staterooms and billowing sails, I've long admired traditional windjammers navigating the high seas, from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean and the South Pacific to South America. So, when Travel + Leisure commissioned me to review the 136-passenger Sea Cloud Spirit, Hamburg-based Sea Cloud Cruises GmbH' newest tall ship, I leapt on board before you could yell "Mutiny!".
Images by Carlo Raciti, naturally.

The new Sea Cloud Spirit will sail the Caribbean this winter, and then cruise the Mediterranean for summer 2024.

19/09/2023

**NEW** video: Antigua Sailing Week 2023, held April 29 to May 5, served up six days of exciting coastal racing, with low and high winds, in the royal blue seas off the Caribbean twin-island nation's south coast.
Antigua-based race yacht charter company Ondeck Antigua hosted us aboard Spirit of Juno, the pride of their fleet. Not only was it our first taste of yacht racing in the Caribbean but the 65-foot Farr design racing thoroughbred was the biggest boat we had crewed on to date. We joined a 16-strong team of British, American and Antiguan sailors for the 54th edition of the historic race. Among crew members was San Franciscan Ryan Thompson, who had never before stepped foot on a sailing yacht, while up-and-coming young Antiguan sailor Emily Gaillard made a star appearance, taking the helm at times.
With his lilting brogue and understated humour, Irish skipper David Hanks kept us on our toes but made sure it wasn't all hard work and no play. There were jokes aplenty. His trusty sidekick, first mate Michelle Franklin echoed David's instructions in a voice that boomed across the deck no matter how hard the gust.
Those famed Caribbean trade winds showed their mild side over the first couple of days of racing, but they swiftly picked up, as if to gradually test our skills. From day one, we were hooked. But on a boat this size, with sails that easily outsized the floor space of our Athens apartment, it required multiple pairs of hands to letterbox the billowing raspberry-hued spinnaker. One of the hardest jobs on board was, undoubtedly, the coffee grinder.
But it wasn't all work and no play. Mid-week, we wined at Reggae In The Park Antigua, headlined by prominent Jamaican artists Protoje and Lila Iké.
Antigua Sailing Week proved a challenging, deeply enjoyable learning experience. Hopefully, we'll be back again soon, harnessing those east-to-west prevailing winds with an equally spirited crew.
Videography and editing by Carlo Raciti carloraciti.com
Antigua and Barbuda Tourism

https://youtu.be/cN19qFZt6_0?si=Lu9EKVN8ya2fFWj2

Antigua Sailing Week 2023, held April 29 to May 5, served up six days of exciting coastal racing, with low and high winds, in the royal blue seas off the Ca...

25/01/2023

2022 was a truly epic year of travel, for work and play, for us and we're only just catching up now on putting together some videos of our experiences.
In August, we made the first of what we're sure will be many pilgrimages to Hawaii, a destination we've dreamed of visiting ever since we grew up glued to the small screen watching Elvis movies.
Here's the Garden State of Kauai as seen through Carlo's eyes, including a close shave with a pair of rambunctious Hawaiian monk seals while we snorkelled off a rock islet on the Na Pali coast. If the soaring, wave-like mountaintops look familiar, it's because several Jurassic Park films were shot there.

I'd dreamed of visiting Hawaii ever since I used to watch Elvis movies as a kid. So, when my brother invited us to celebrate his birthday with him and his wi...

20/07/2022

*NEW VIDEO*: Greece's famed meltemi wind, which powers through the Aegean Sea in summer, delivered plenty of heart-pumping competition for 40 boats and their enthusiastic crews in this year's Cyclades Regatta.
In its 28th year, the annual week-long offshore sailing race, which calls in at a handful of the Cycladic islands, saw us join the crew aboard Metatron II, a feisty Bruce Farr-designed Beneteau first 44.7 2008 cruiser racer skippered by Nikos Anagnostou.
The 2022 edition, held June 26 to July 2, consisted of four race legs: Kea-Paros, the longest at 72 nm; Paros-Kimolos, 37 nm; Kimolos-Serifos, 23 nm; and Serifos-Kythnos, 22 nm. Winds proved so strong that race organisers, the Nautical Club of Tzitzifies and Kallithea Ν.Ο.Τ.Κ., decided to cancel the last leg for fear of smaller boats facing rough conditions and forecast gusts of up to 40 knots.
Wind speeds throughout the regatta remained remarkably regular, ranging from the high teens through to the mid-20s, with gusts of around 30 knots not uncommon. It was the perfect opportunity for Nikos to put carefully-refurbished Metatron II, fitted with fresh carbon sails and an asymmetrical spinnaker literally the night before the regatta, to the test. Equally new to both Nikos and the crew, the yacht not only revealed what adjustments are needed ahead of its next race but revealed a glimmer of its considerable potential. We achieved two respectable fourth places and fifth place overall, among a total of nine boats in the performance class.
A passion for all things Pythagorean prompted owner Nikos Melas to name the gutsy boat after the mysterious, little-known Metatron cube linked to the philosopher and mathematician. What's also impressive is that the boat is surprisingly quick when working to windward, thanks also to its deep draft, in spite of its weight. Excited to have played a role in Metatron II's shakedown, following its return to Greece's race circuit, we look forward to seeing what is next for this spirited yacht built for both thrilling racing and comfortable cruising.
Videography and editing by Carlo Raciti & Helen Iatrou https://www.carloraciti.com

Greece's famed meltemi wind, which powers through the Aegean Sea in summer, delivered plenty of heart-pumping competition for 40 boats and their enthusiastic...

08/10/2021

VIDEO: Sailing yachts, high-powered RIBs and elegant motor yachts from a wide range of boatbuilders featured in the first Olympic Yacht Show, held at Olympic Marine in Lavrio, southeast of Athens, from October 1 to 5, 2021.
The new premium in-water yacht show, organised by ONDECK Events and Olympic Marine, showcased new and existing models from leading yacht brands including X-Yachts, Pardo Yachts, Solaris Yachts, Dehler Yachts, Hanse Yachts, Jeanneau, Riva Yacht, Nautor's Swan and Axopar Boats. Greek boatbuilders, such as Technohull, whose powerful RIBs are making serious waves abroad, were also out in force.
Join us as we tour the show and inspect a couple of X-Yacht Pure X performance cruisers, including the X4⁶. Click on the link below to view the video.
Olympic Yacht Show
Skipper OnDeck
Videography and editing by Carlo Raciti carloraciti.com

Sailing yachts, high-powered RIBs and elegant motor yachts from a wide range of boatbuilders featured in the first Olympic Yacht Show, held at Olympic Marine...

04/10/2021

*New YouTube video*: As diehard sailors, we never thought we were the cruise ship types. But then we took a week-long cruise in Greece's Saronic and Aegean Seas aboard the good ship Galileo with Greek boutique cruise operator Variety Cruises. While we'll never give up the old stick and rag, we're most definitely small ship cruising converts.
Join us as we cruise on this classic three-masted 47m (157ft) motor sailer from Piraeus port to the Saronic isles of Poros and Spetses, followed by the historic port town of Nafplio and then on to Cycladic superstars Santorini and Paros, with a couple of swim stops at remote bays in the Peloponnese thrown in for good measure.
We had an absolute ball and met some extraordinarily wonderful people from all around the world, both passengers and crew. It truly felt like we had chartered our own yacht with a big group of new friends.
Click below to view the video of our cruise experience.
Videography and editing by Carlo Raciti https://www.carloraciti.com

As diehard sailors, we never thought we were the cruise ship types. But then we took a week-long cruise in Greece's Saronic and Aegean Seas aboard the good s...

19/08/2021

Our love affair with Mykonos is one that never ends.
We took a whirlwind one-week trip to the island in early July to research and shoot a number of stories for US and UK media.
It was a busy week of work for us and, some days, we didn't even manage to dip a toe in those aquamarine waters (yep, absolutely no one feels sorry for us😅) but it was huge fun.
And, once again, we confirmed our limitless love for the Cycladic wild child™ (I coined the term years ago and trademarked it, so if you see it elsewhere...).
Special thanks to Emilia, Angela and Stathis for your warm hospitality and on-the-ground support.

Our love affair with Mykonos is one that never ends. We took a whirlwind one-week trip to the island in early July to research and shoot a number of stories ...

10/02/2021

One of the things that has kept me going in these trying times is reminiscing about places I've visited and to which I plan to return.
Destinations that have a place in my heart, like the Italian Riviera town of Camogli. It's a half-hour drive away from Portofino yet feels like a part of Italy that has changed very little over the years. And Italians know it. If you visit, you're likely to be dining alongside elegant Milanese, or catching a ferry to San Fruttuoso beach with chatty Romans.
It was there were I had a life-defining culinary experience. Carlo had just finished photographing the pastel-coloured trompe l’oeil facades for which the fishing settlement is known, awash in a dreamy sunset. We were starving and popped into the closest seafront restaurant, where our barefoot server advised they were closing soon but that "the chef could whip up a pasta". His was with local sea bass, mine with clams. Both were unbelievably good. As the last patrons that day, it felt like we had this surreally beautiful location to ourselves.
Here's to living moments like these in the future. For magazine, I wrote about Camogli and other small European towns worth visiting.
Read the story via the link below

Here are five enchanting small towns in Europe to discover while visiting five big cities in the Old Continent.

03/02/2021

If there has been one big takeaway from 2020, it's that we can no longer take anyone or anything for granted.
I know that I'm looking forward to spending more quality time with my family and close friends, spoiling them and creating wonderful memories that we can relive time and again. And I can't think of a better way to do that than to take holidays together, when the time comes.
When Carlo and I think back about the gifts we've given one another over the past 13 years, the ones that stand out most are the trips we've taken. A long weekend in Lisbon where we feasted on incredible seafood at Cervejaria Ramiro. The balmy summer evening on a road trip through Italy when we had the cobblestoned streets of Portofino almost completely to ourselves. The four days during which my Sydney-based sister Popi introduced us to the natural beauty of Jervis Bay on the NSW South Coast.
In my latest story for Marriott Bonvoy Traveler magazine, I outline a few ways you can make that European luxury getaway extra special. Here, I've covered Paris, Santorini, Venice, Barcelona and the Algarve. Until it's safe to travel, keep dreaming and start planning.
👇🏼Read the story via the link below.

Let Marriott Bonvoy Traveler help you explore cities in the Middle East and Africa that promise luxury vacations you won't forget.

24/10/2020

VIDEO - Hydra Race: Start of race leg one from Faliro to Hydra - 23.10.2020
Erytos 2 Cosmote Sailing Team Falirosailing Furuno Ondeck Sailing Team

Late afternoon northwesterly winds propel 36 performance and sport category sailboats in the start of the Hydra Race between Athens' Faliro Bay and the Saron...

15/09/2020

VIDEO: Blessed with long swathes of sugar-like sand washed by the aquamarine waters of the Ionian Sea, the northwest Peloponnese prefecture of Ilia has mostly dodged the tourist radar. And that’s probably a good thing.
In early October last year, we had the opportunity to experience this part of the country, and specifically the coastal area of Kyllini, for a few days of much-needed R&R.
We stayed at uber elegant five-star Grecotel Mandola Rosa Boutique Resort, one of four properties that constitute the Grecotel Riviera Olympia & Aqua Park.
Owned by Grecotel, Greece’s largest hotel group, the sprawling resort sits at the edge of a forest and is awash in Mediterranean vegetation.
Inspired by a specific villa in Marrakesh, Mandola Rosa is named after the pink flowering almond trees found at nearby Ancient Olympia. As in the Ionian islands – where the Venetians ruled for four centuries, mandola is the localised version of mandorla, Italian for almond.
Wrapped in eye-pleasing pale pink exteriors, the property comprising 29 suites and 26 villas sits prettily on a grassy slope above a private soft sand beach that stretches a generous 2.4km in length across the entire Riviera Olympia.
Couples, in particular, are drawn to this peaceful sea-front retreat where luxurious surrounds, thoughtful touches and genuine warm Greek hospitality go hand in hand.
We spent hours poring over each one of the carefully-curated curious antiques, including a vintage toy plane that once belonged to royalty, situated in the subtly-decorated foyer, dining room and lounge areas.
View the video and read our full review below.
*Make sure to dial up the view setting to 4K.
Videography and editing by Carlo Raciti Photography

Blessed with long swathes of sugar-like sand washed by the aquamarine waters of the Ionian Sea, the northwest Peloponnese prefecture of Ilia has mostly dodge...

10/09/2020

Taking advantage of smooth, steady early September northerly winds, the Erytos 2 Cosmote Sailing Team took to the water for the N. Sarikavazis-Korfos coastal day race and secured first place in the performance class.
Skippered by Kostas Manthos, we pulled off a good start to the September 5 race, despite the lack of wind early on. As true wind speed moved up to 16-18 knots, the boat reached a speed of 10.2 knots.
As tradition dictates, this is the first race we compete in - and on our home turf no less - after the summer regattas come to a close.
With just one regatta held this year, the Evia Regatta, we were itching to get back on board to flex our mind-muscle skills and feel Erytos 2 Cosmote propel us forward into the days of autumn.
We had the opportunity to test out a new mainsail for the first time and it performed well.
Organised by our sailing club, the Nautical Club of Palio Faliro in southern Athens, this race involves sailing from Faliro to the rock islet of Kasidi and back - short but oh so sweet.
It's just what we needed to get back into the swing of things as we ready for the final two months of training and racing for 2020.
Videography and editing by Carlo Raciti https://www.carloraciti.com

Taking advantage of smooth, steady early September northerly winds, the team of Erytos 2 Cosmote took to the water for the N. Sarikavazis-Korfos coastal day ...

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