Boat International - July 2018

http://www.boatinternational.com | July 2018

Be captain or chef for the day

Some charter yachts, like Starfire, are particularly obliging to younger guests. A chosen

child dons a captain’s hat and starts the main engines with the chief engineer then races

to the bridge to follow “orders” on how to manoeuvre the boat, says chief stewardess

Gemma Heyns. She has also had little ones in the galley rolling out pizza bases, making

fresh pasta or decorating cupcakes and cookies. Older kids can enjoy a more sophisticated

learning experience, accompanying the chef to the local market and preparing more

complicated dishes, or studying navigation and weather patterns.

Explore the depths

Kids as young as 10 can get PADI certified

as junior divers. If an instructor is not part

of the crew, dive shops in superyacht-

centric locations will have instructors

experienced in working with yacht guests.

The programme can be customised but

generally runs for four to seven days,

consisting of classroom study, confined

water dives and two check-out dives. After

certification, youngsters 11 and under can

explore down to 12 metres accompanied

by a certified parent, while 12 to 14-year-

olds can dive six metres deeper with

any certified adult. One caveat to that

minimum age though: instructor Ken

Medina, of Lauderdale Diver, cautions

that the course is better suited for mature

10-year-olds. On a diver’s 15th birthday,

the word “junior” automatically disappears

from the certification.padi.com

Surf, board and ski 

Sure, it’s fun to be on a boat, but it’s a lot more fun to be

behind it, says Zenon Bilas, seven-time US national barefoot

waterski champion and personal coach for superyacht guests

anywhere in the world. While barefooting is his speciality, he

enjoys doing and teaching all the wake sports, such as slalom,

wakeboarding and the latest trend, wake surfing. Anybody

can learn, he says. “The basics are the same; you have to

understand balance and how to stand over the board.” Bilas

has been coaching for 35 years, and at 55 last year, he won two

gold medals regionally and a silver at the national level. “Wake

sports are family sports. At any age you can keep learning. It’s

great to keep fit and great for the mind.” zenonbilas.com

Children can

learn to

dive during

acharter

family / activities on board

If you want to

learn barefoot

waterskiing, learn

from the best

PHOTOGRAPHY:BASEDONATRUESTORY;ADOBESTOCK;GETTYIMAGES;KARLSHREE

VES/PADI