Phinisi yachts say goodbye to hi-tech gadgets and hello to laidback luxury
Phinisi yachts cater to a new type of traveller who wants to explore remote uncharted territory
Erik Barreto had been living in Asia for more than 10 years, working in the corporate sector, when he stumbled upon the unlikely idea of building a boat. He and his friends had been heading off on intrepid trips to the most remote parts of Indonesia on their weekends – and it wasn’t long before they realised there was serious potential in the idyllic spots they’d grown to love.
“Most people think of Indonesia only as Bali,” he says, “but we were exploring all these fantastic isolated parts. We’d be staying in very run down local homestays, which was a great experience, but we thought there must be an easier way or even a luxury option. Eventually, we realised there would be no better way to explore than by boat.”
Lies Sol, from Northrop & Johnson, a leading charter broker in the region, claims that a boat called Silolona got the ball rolling back in the early noughties, and a slow but steady stream of new boats has been emerging ever since. “I think Silolona was the trendsetter for this kind of luxury charter,” she says. “Before this, Indonesia was being visited mostly by adventure travellers and divers who booked cabins [at low to medium prices] on board diving boats. There was nothing else available.”
Patti Seery, the owner of Silolona, was organising travel tours in Indonesia at the time and decided to bridge the gap with a 45-metre traditional schooner. “After a slow start, the fame spread and the rest is history,” Sol says. “The phinisi evolution is now comparable to the gulets in Europe, which are now a household name.”
