CROATIA

Thirty-two metres of traditional gulet, launched in 1998 and brought up to date with a refit completed in 2017 — this is the kind of yacht the Dalmatian coast was made for. Broad in the beam, generous on deck, and unhurried by design: a 9-knot cruising speed is not a limitation here, it is the point. You move between islands at the pace of the coastline itself. Accommodation is arranged across seven en-suite guest cabins for fourteen guests, an unusually even spread for a yacht of this size. Four cabins are fitted with a double bed, the remaining three with twin beds — a configuration that handles a large family group or two or three travelling couples without anyone drawing the short straw. Every cabin has its own bathroom, which on a two-week Adriatic itinerary matters more than any single feature on a specification sheet. Gulets earn their reputation on deck, and the proportions of a 32-metre hull give you room to spread out: space to eat outdoors every night, to find shade in the middle of the afternoon, to swim off the yacht in a quiet bay before the day-boats arrive. This is open-air living rather than saloon living, and Croatia's sheltered waters and short island hops suit it exactly. A crew of four looks after the yacht and its guests — an appropriate ratio for relaxed, attentive service rather than formality, with the local knowledge that makes the difference between a route and an itinerary. Hvar and Vis, the Kornati archipelago, the walled harbours of the south: the crew know which anchorages hold in a maestral and which konoba is worth the tender ride ashore. Available for charter in Croatia.