The Internet has been abuzz this weekend with articles like this one, all bearing headlines that scream a “luxury yacht” was taken by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen. I even saw the news on CNN yesterday afternoon.

I’ve written on this topic before. Any time I see the word “yacht” and “pirate” in the same sentence, I am skeptical. In 99 percent of the cases the boat turns out to be a small cruise ship traveling in an area where proper charter yachts simply don’t go.

My first clue that this was the case yet again is the fact that this boat was seized between Somalia and Yemen–not exactly a hot spot of yachting activity. In fact, if you read the interview I posted last week about the Dubai Boat Show, then you know proper yachts are just now finding their way into this region. Charter isn’t likely to happen for another year or two, at least.

My second clue that this boat was not a yacht was its size: some 288 feet long, with a reported 30 crew members. Yes, there are charter yachts that big, but they are a rarity. And they rarely carry so many crew.

I did a bit more digging and found out that, indeed, The Ponant, as this boat is called, is in fact a small cruise ship. She has 32 cabins, and she takes 56 guests. She accepts by-the-cabin bookings at a price of about $3,500 per week.

In the world of private yacht charter, 12 is typically the most guests a boat can take. Rarely does a proper charter yacht have more than six or seven cabins, and they must be booked in their entirety by one charter party, not by individuals booking each cabin separately.

So again, I say, all these stories going online about a yacht being seized by pirates are not about a yacht at all. And I encourage you to be skeptical if you see a similar story in the future. Most often, the ships being seized in places like this are, in fact, cruise ships.

There is a style of yacht called a “mother ship,” which means that the yacht itself serves as the main vessel during a charter while carrying lots of “smaller” boats to get you from here to there. The expedition yacht Latitude, which I am onboard right now in Panama’s Las Perlas Islands, is a mother ship. Like most expedition yachts, she carries an unbelievable number of tenders.

And boy are they fun to have. Today, for instance, we went fishing in the 43-foot powercatamaran (I landed a 12-pound jack) while the 27-foot center console was available to take other guests snorkeling. Later in the day, we used the powercat to get to the local town, anchored in the harbor, and got picked up by Latitude’s 18-foot dinghy to take us right up onto the beach. A dinghy for our tender. Unbelievable!

This mother ship concept is something that more and more yacht owners are finding attractive, and I can certainly see why. For a charter, it is definitely hard to beat having so many toys at the ready.

It’s a balmy 78 degrees Fahrenheit this morning here in western New Jersey, but the morning newscasts are blaring scary graphics about the heat wave expected to start this afternoon and last for the next few days. “Stay inside!” “Extreme weather warning!” “Limit outdoor activity to swimming!”

Now, I don’t have a swimming pool at my own home, but several of my neighbors do have pools, and they’ve graciously invited me to come swimming anytime I’d like. That’s about as good as access to the water gets here in the countryside, and water access is definitely key when it comes to beating the heat.

That’s true onboard charter yachts, too. Because all yachts are different shapes and styles, they all have different kinds of water access. Some, like catamarans, have dual step-down platforms that make getting into the water about as easy as it can be. Large motoryachts, too, typically have proper staircases leading to swim platforms that let you jump right into the sea and cool off whenever you’d like.

Water access becomes a bit trickier onboard monohull sailing yachts, some of which have ladders that you have to climb down–making water access tricky for people who are mobility impaired or who are just plain klutzy.

Some sailboats overcome this inherent design challenge by adding “trap doors” that lead to proper staircases below. Here, for instance, is the view from the deck of the sailing yacht Stenella, looking down through its “trap door” to a swim platform:

If you’re chartering in a place where half the fun is going to involve beating the heat by swimming, make sure you ask your reputable charter broker how your yacht is designed for water access. This is especially true for monohull sailboats.

Think of it as your own, personal heat advisory.