Should you decide to embark on a vacation through the Greek Islands in general, or the Cyclades in particular, here are some tips based on my own preparations.

Among the popular guidebooks, The Rough Guide to the Greek Islands proved to be the most detailed and useful for our journey through the Cyclades. Lonely Planet also publishes a dependable, if less detailed guide called simply Greek Islands, and DK Eyewitness Guide's The Greek Islands has terrific photos and illustrations to get one primed for a Cyclades sojourn.

In Greece, keep an eye out for Cyclades: A Complete Travel Guide by Explorer Publishing. Written in English, this locally published, richly illustrated guide is perhaps the best single source of cultural and historical information about the Cyclades. Equally difficult to find in the United States is James Theodore Bent's The Cyclades, or Life Among the Insular Greeks. First published in 1881, this travelogue is an entertaining account of island customs and folklore.

SAILING SCHOOL

My flotilla sailing vacation in Greece was organized by OCSC Sailing, which is based in a 150-acre park at the Berkeley Marina, in Berkeley, California. In addition to sailing vacations, OCSC Sailing runs a sailing school that offers a wide range of courses and activities for all skill levels, and runs mentoring programs designed to help individuals become competent and confident sailors. OCSC sailing lessons, which fulfill the requirements of the U.S. Sailing Certification System, feature a low student-teacher ratio, and take place on the scenic and challenging conditions of the San Francisco Bay.

Each OCSC sailing flotilla features an "Environmental Give-Back Commitment," which donates 5 percent of flotilla proceeds toward local ecological projects. Our flotilla gave $2,500 to an organization called Archelon, which helps protect endangered sea turtles in the Aegean Sea.

For the Greece journey, OCSC chartered its boats through The Moorings, which is one of the world's largest charter companies and offers boats for sailing vacations in the Caribbean, the Bahamas, the South Pacific, and other parts of the Mediterranean.