Half the people who join the Cyclades week have never slept on a boat. They ask the same five questions on the quay, so here are the answers before you pack.

The boat is small, and that is fine

Your cabin is a bed with a door. There is room to stand in part of it and a shelf for a soft bag. Hard suitcases do not fit anywhere, so please do not bring one.

You will not be in the cabin much. Life is on deck and in the cockpit, under the shade, with your feet up. By the second day people leave their shoes in a basket and forget them.

The toilet has a pump and a short list of rules. The skipper explains it once, with a straight face. Listen.

You do not have to do anything

Nobody has to pull a rope. If you want to, you will be shown how to steer, how to take in a sail and how to tie the three knots that hold everything on a boat.

By Wednesday someone who had never sailed is at the helm, and the skipper is asleep with one eye open.

Feeling ill

Some people do, on the first long crossing, for an hour or two. Stay on deck, look at the horizon and eat something dry. Take a tablet the night before if you know you are prone. It passes, and it rarely comes back after day two.

A few last things. Water aboard is limited, so showers are short and mostly off the stern in the sea. Bring a hat with a strap. Bring less than you think. And when the anchor goes down in an empty bay at five in the afternoon, be the first one in.