First Impression: Blue Piranha

Date toured: May 2007

A gulet is a traditional Turkish motorsailer, a wide, heavy, slow-moving boat that has been used for centuries as a platform for commercial trade in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. Historically, gulets have been built of pine, which is inexpensive enough that the boats don’t have to be maintained very well. Commercial shippers can simply abuse the gulets until they crumble, and then go build some more.
     Gulets that have been converted for crewed charter vacations are a dime a dozen, as well, but newer ones built to more rigorous standards and of better-quality materials are becoming more common. Gulets didn’t become popular for charter until the 1980s, and the higher-quality standards have just begun to emerge in the past couple of years.  
     For this reason, the owners of nicer, charter-style gulets are still experimenting with pricing and crew standards, just to see what the evolving marketplace will bear. Price is often not a reflection of construction or service in Turkey, the way weekly rates reflect quality in other, more established charter markets. For instance, reputable charter brokers still attend the annual boat show in Turkey to step onboard each gulet and check whether it smells bad, even if it’s the most expensively priced gulet on the docks.
     Thus, I didn’t let the low weekly base rate of just 7,000 euros (just $940 per person for 10 guests before expenses!) stop me from checking out the 75-foot gulet Blue Piranha at the 2007 Turkey charter yacht show. Boy am I glad I did; she is, to me and to several reputable charter brokers I trust, one of the best-quality values for crewed charter not just in Turkey, but in the world.
     Blue Piranha is owned and operated by a British man who bought her six or seven years ago. He and his wife went cruising along the southwest Turkish coastline and quickly learned that what looks nice in a brochure often does not translate into true quality once you get onboard. 
     “As it turns out, she leaked like a sieve,” explains the owner’s sister-in-law, Kate McGovern, who manages the yacht for charter from an office in London. “He and my sister got to [the Turkish town of] Gocek and they were drenched. So they began a refit, tearing everything out, even the wood. They just gutted it.”
     The refit was completed in 2002, to a level that allows Blue Piranha to fly the British flag. The gulet started offering charters in 2002, with the same Turkish captain still onboard today and the rest of the Turkish crew returning from a 2006 season in which Blue Piranha was fully booked.
     “We try to offer the best value for the money in the Turkish charter market,” McGovern says. “Our calendar is fairly full for this summer, as well.” (The yacht’s calendar shows several open weeks in July and August 2007, which is the high season in Turkey, as well as some off-season weeks in late September and October, when you can get the lowest possible rates before the rainy season arrives.)
     One charter broker said Blue Piranha’s interior reminded her of “a tricked-out log cabin,” and I have to agree. The interior is done in eroko teak, which is light in color and creates a cozy instead of elegant ambience. There are proper bathrooms in each of the five guest cabins, with showers separate from the toilet areas (on some gulets, you simply close the toilet seat cover and shower in the same compartment, which is called a “wet head”).
     Four guest cabins are in the front of the yacht, while the master cabin is all the way in the back, separate from the other guests but adjacent to the crew’s quarters, which may mean a little bit of noise during early morning hours when the crew get up for work. None of the cabins have televisions inside, but Blue Piranha does have a few handheld DVD players as well as a good-size collection of DVDs and books for guest use.
     Interestingly, the galley is open inside the main saloon, which also doubles as the indoor dining area. It’s sort of like the setup at a hibachi or teppanyaki restaurant, where you sit at your table and watch the chef cook. Usually, meals are taken outside on the covered aft deck, but in case of bad weather, guests should be comfortable here indoors. All the flatware and silverware are by the Italian company Alessi, again a hint at the quality of experience this gulet’s owner is offering for charter.
     Also worthy of note is Blue Piranha’s foredeck (see the top photo at right), which is the outdoor part of the gulet nearest to the front. It is literally covered in sunbeds where all 10 guests can lounge either in open air or beneath a bimini that is loosely woven to allow a few of the sun’s rays to shine through (see the bottom of the two photos at right, which is taken while lying on a sunpad and looking up).
     “It’s great because you can get a tan without being directly under the searing heat,” McGovern says. “I’ve gotten a tan through this covering many, many times.”
     Blue Piranha’s lowest weekly base rate is 7,000 euros for 10 guests, or $940 per person, which includes just the yacht and crew. For an additional 2,000 euros (about $270 per person more for the week), you can have three traditional Turkish meals a day including wine with dinner for all 10 guests, or you can skip that charge and bring your own food and drinks onboard.
     There also are additional charges if you want to use the Jet Ski or Zodiac tender for things like water-skiing, and additional taxes will apply if you want to leave Turkish waters and visit the nearby Greek islands.
     Contact any reputable charter broker to sort out your options and ensure you will get everything you desire in your package plan, at a rate that suits your budget.—Kim Kavin