Top five... highlights of a family charter

As the editor-in-chief of German superyachting magazine Boote Exclusiv, Martin Hager is often asked how family-friendly a yacht charter really is. With three children of his own, all under the age of eight, he finally decided there was only one way to find out for sure. He booked a Croatian charter on a yacht called Prewi II and headed to Split. Superyacht Life caught up with him to find out the high points of his family holiday.

1. The friendly crew

“Our skipper Zejlko and stewardess Andela gave us such a warm welcome, and got us all excited on the first day, telling us about the wonders that lay ahead in the region as they showed us around the boat. Zejlko knew every bay within a 200 nautical mile radius! In fact, they had already drawn up a suggested itinerary for us but told us we were welcome to change things around – we just had to ask for any special requests about places we’d like to visit or specific routes we’d like to take. Andela frequently offered to look after Bo, our youngest, which we gladly took her up on. And she was always awake before us, treating us to freshly made coffee in the mornings and the special Prewi II breakfast which we became very accustomed to. The food was excellent – one night, after a hectic day out on the water, we came back to a perfectly set saloon table with delicious freshly-caught mullet, salad and wine. We felt totally at home before we’d even been on board for 24 hours!”

2. The wildlife encounters 

“One memorable day, we sailed from the beautiful town of Primosten in flat-as-a-pancake seas at a leisurely twelve knots. After just a few nautical miles, level with the village of Rogoznica, a school of dolphins surfaced right in front of the yacht, leaping about in the bow wave and putting smiles on the whole family’s faces. Throughout all of this, our lovely stewardess Andela was looking after Bo in the saloon, so none of us missed a thing. We spent about twenty minutes watching these cheerful creatures play in the water. It was such a memorable part of the trip, especially for our children.”

3. Trying out the toys

“At Krknjas, a stunningly beautiful bay, we changed into our swimwear, while Zejlko launched the Sea-Doo jet ski and gave us instructions in how to operate this athletic personal watercraft. My eldest daughter Milla was so thrilled, she could hardly contain herself, as we scorched across the turquoise water at high speed. After half an hour of high octane fun, our 3-year-old was allowed to explore the bay with me at much more moderate speeds. They have both asked for their own jet skis as a result of this day! There was also a Seabob underwater scooter on board which was really fun. The water was chilly – it was April after all – but luckily we had bought our wetsuits so we could still try it out.”

4. The great indoors

“One day, it was too chilly to use the flybridge, so we all made ourselves comfortable in the saloon and everybody got to sit in their favourite spot. In the lounge next to the helm position Milla, our eight-year-old, listened to an audio play while sitting in the sunshine. Jumi, our three-year-old, sat drawing at the coffee table, and Bo, at two months enjoyed a nap. He often slept soundly and contentedly on board – a state that we are not at all familiar with! I was pleased to discover that life on board with the family could continue just as easily indoors. It was great to spend such quality time together.”

5. The sights and sounds of Croatia

“We visited so many incredible places on our trip, but as soon as we reached the south-eastern fringes of the Kornati archipelago, it was clear that we had reached the highlight of our cruise. The national park wowed us instantly. The many little islands that we passed were barren and uninhabited and we instinctively felt like explorers, who had just reached the beautiful back of beyond. We didn’t see any other yachts, any other people – just nature. That’s what we loved. One day, we moored at the Konoba Opat jetty on the island of Kornat [the largest in the Kornati archipelago] and climbed up to the highest point. The one hour scramble thrilled the kids, who were able to let off steam on dry land after two days on board. The panoramic view from the top was simply breathtaking and that alone would make a charter worthwhile. But of course, this was just one of many amazing days for us. At the end of the trip, we all decided that we wanted to come back – in fact, Milla declared she wanted to stay on board forever!”