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the insider
“Sherakhan emerged as a
gorgeous charter yacht able to take
26 guests—one of the few available
today in this charter class.”
over St. Barth’s, when Capt. Toine Van Sumeren, Verkerk’s
co-captain, personally handed me a cup of coffee.
It’s difficult not to feel as though you are the center
of the universe at such a moment, but it’s a different
sensation—of being larger than life—that is the heart of
the Sherakhan cruising experience. During one morning
at sea, I donned sunscreen and went up to the teakdecked
“observation balcony” forward of the wheelhouse,
which is nearly 33 feet above water level. Even while
sitting in a lounge chair, I felt I had a prestigious vantage
point for viewing the world. I watched the green hills
of St. Barth’s grow larger off our bow, and I felt we were
almost of a size to stand right alongside them.
That sense of grandeur continues in the destinations
that Sherakhan allows guests to access. Instead of dropping
us at the same shops and beaches that welcome
cruise ship passengers throughout the northern Caribbean,
of even charter yachts of lesser caliber, this yacht
made good use of connections everwhere from the
Eden Rock resort and restaurant on St. Barth’s legendary
Baie de St. Jean to Anguilla’s Altamer, most recently
in the media as the “breakup vacation home” of Brad
Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. At Altamer, for instance, we
didn’t simply wander the grounds. We were greeted with
a private dinner inside one of the residences, prepared
specifically for us.
The best part of chartering a luxury yacht like Sherakhan
is that you have all the amenities of a five-star resort
hotel, including an ocean view from every room—not to
mention two personal chefs—and you can move it from
one spectacular setting to another at will, all the while enjoying
onboard amenities that other charter yachts simply
don’t have the space to offer. One night before dinner,
I slipped down to Sherakhan’s Spa de la Siréne, a fully
equipped gym on the lower deck, which has yet another
hot tub at its center. The spa is “self-service,” meaning that
the crew will come if summoned, but they typically leave
guests to work out in privacy. After a vigorous spin on
an exercycle and a stint on the Stairmaster while watching
one of the four flat-screen TVs mounted around the
room, I took a sauna, pouring water on the hot coals to
make steam. During another bit of free time later in the
week, I had a facial in the yacht’s full-service beauty salon,
which also has a tanning bed.
Sherakhan’s crew are equally adept at providing the
kinds of services for which top-notch luxury charter
yachts are known, from Jet Ski lessons to private excursions
ashore. One afternoon, we cruised to Prickly Pear,
an uninhabited islet that is a short distance from Anguilla’s
shore, and the crew ferried us to a secluded beach—
where we were met with a multi-course barbecue lunch
they had spent the better morning preparing for us exclusively.
One of the yacht’s stewards, still damp from wading
onto the beach from the tender carrying lounge chairs
for our relaxation, popped the corks on several bottles of
champagne as we reveled in the feeling of the warm sand
between our toes. After lunch, we laughed and snorkeled
in the turquoise waters, staying as long as we wanted. In
a way, it was as if we had found a way back to childhood,
romping in a grown-up playground on no one’s schedule
but our own.
For all of Sherakhan’s glamour and indulgences, I find
it interesting that the yacht was named not by Verkerk,
but by his daughter, who is smitten with the fierce tiger
named Sherakhan in the Disney version of Rudyard
Kipling’s The Jungle Book. This yacht is an ultimate pleasure
vessel, built not only to transport you to the experiences
of your dreams, but also to take you on a journey to rediscover
your inner child. LI
Camper & Nicholsons International, www.cnconnect.com
42 AFFLUENT PAGE LUXURY INDEX MARCH/APRIL 2009