“When you have 6-metre seas in the North Atlantic, this boat laughs. She tells you, ‘Hey, this is my weather, and you’re allowed to come along.’” Erik Vonk, owner of the 45.6-metre Scintilla Maris refitted at Damen Maaskant knows a thing or two about navigating rough seas. Following a 15-year conversion that saw an industrial trawler transformed into his dream superyacht with a Vripack-designed interior, he embarked on a 10-month shakedown cruise of a lifetime, crossing countries, continents and high water.
Setting off from the Netherlands in April 2024, the trip took in the legendary Cool Route, cruising from London to the Scottish Outer Hebrides, onto the Faroe Islands, and into the higher latitudes of Iceland and Greenland. They then crossed the North Atlantic to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and along the Canadian and US coasts, taking in Bermuda before returning to the shipyard in the Netherlands.
“Things have been shaken to the bone, so to speak. It was a great test to see whether the charter platform we had envisioned can truly go anywhere, in comfort and safety without restrictions, and the answer is a resounding yes,” says Vonk, who spent most of his time amidship with easy access to the water. “Clocking 11,000 nautical miles is quite something for non-stop performance, especially when traversing the unforgiving North Atlantic region, but the boat was a dream come true.”
Perhaps the biggest hurdle for most would have been their lack of an itinerary, with Vonk and his wife choosing to cruise from one location to the next guided only by whims and weather. “We didn’t know where we were heading, but to me it was medicinal,” he explains. “As an entrepreneurial business owner, I’ve been disciplined for so long that I was looking forward to just being on the boat and seeing what tomorrow brings.”
It brought adventures in the wilderness and encounters with local communities, far from the trappings of tourist hotspots. When cruising the Outer Hebrides, a small island called Rum caught Vonk’s attention, not least because he owns a rum distillery in the US state of Georgia. “I thought, you’ve got to be kidding, that’s my spirit!” An hour after spotting the isle on the yacht’s electronic chart system, they were anchored up in a tiny bay where they stayed for several days.
“We met a few of the island’s 14 inhabitants who told us about the 13th century Eilean Donan Castle that was deserted by the owner in the 1950s,” he explains. “It’s remained untouched ever since and is like a time warp inside, exactly as she left it, which, for me, encapsulated the sort of obscure discoveries you make when traveling without a plan.”
“Things have been shaken to the bone, so to speak. It was a great test to see whether the charter platform we had envisioned can truly go anywhere, in comfort and safety without restrictions, and the answer is a resounding yes.”
OWNER SCINTILLA MARIS
The Faroe Islands delivered savage beauty, where imposing 1,200-foot vertical cliffs soared out of the sea at 90-degree angles. The yacht docked at Tórshavn for two weeks, the largest port in the Faroes. They toured the land by car before returning to Scintilla Maris to cruise between islands, finding hidden anchorages for the night, often near small towns. “When we went ashore the local people were anticipating our arrival, having spotted us cruising and hoping we would visit,” he says. “We saw no other yachts for the entire duration, and word quickly got around that we were in town.”
They enjoyed unseasonably good weather in the Faroes, as well we strong winds and rain, where temperatures dropped to a frigid four degrees Celsius at night. For Vonk, it remained the most captivating of locations—“It’s between breathtaking and mesmerising every day,” he enthuses.
Other notable highpoints came with their arrival into Iceland’s southern shores and western fjords when they encountered hundreds of pilot whales that encircled the boat for weeks on end. “Their presence was a real source of tranquillity,” says Vonk. “We quickly realised that we were merely visitors in their world.”
Iceland’s outer peninsulas are often only approachable by boat, and the yacht cruised among high mountains and volcanic lands where trees were replaced with fire and ice, and the clear water took on a dark purplish hue reflecting the brooding skies above. “The whole environment feels like another world, with very few people aside from the inhabitants of small fishing villages,” says Vonk. “Those that we did meet were so hospitable that we ended up extending our stay to continue dining with the locals each night.”
As Scintilla Maris sailed further north skirting the east coast ice floes of Greenland, the temperatures plummeted and Vonk’s foresight to include a heat recovery system to warm the yacht’s exterior steel railings came into its own. “It was the epitome of luxury to be able to sit outside on the boat cruising under the midnight sun.”
In contrast with the commercial look of Scintilla Maris’ exterior, the Vripack interior, with its high ceilings, light colours and omni present daylight streaming through the skylights, enhanced the onboard experience. “It has a friendly, open and contemporary feel with brass portholes and deck light frames for that classic maritime ambience.” The country kitchen-style galley, complete with chef’s table, was a particular highlight with friends and family who were invited to join at various intervals.
Another area of interior refinement is the open bridge seating area, which is connected to the bridge deck salon. It encouraged guests to participate in the yacht’s navigation, particularly during the 700 mile open stretch of water when crossing to Newfoundland. “It was very much a transition going from the British Isles to inside the Arctic Circle and then across to the American continent,” says Vonk. “Canada’s verdant grass felt in stark contrast to the rugged, barren landscapes we’d grown accustomed to.”
The latter leg of the trip took them from the northern part of the US all the way down to Vonk’s hometown of Georgia, before the crew continued to the Netherlands to ready the yacht for her first Icelandic charter.
“I spent 15 years perfecting a boat that takes you places where few other people go,” he says. “Scintilla Maris combines battleship strength with the comfort and luxury of a boutique hotel. When you want to explore some of the last pristine environments on Earth, this is how you do it.”
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