Home > What Is A Gulet?
A gulet is a traditional design of a two-masted or three-masted wooden sailing vessel from the southwestern coast of Turkey, particularly built in the coastal towns of Bodrum and Marmaris; although similar vessels can be found all around the eastern Mediterranean.
Modern gulets, some of them up to 50 meters in length, sport an aesthetic silhouette, large back deck, spacious cabin design and low board aboard. They usually travel on a motor but they can also sail. However, some may not have the sailing feature. One can easily call them floating hotels but with one distinguishing feature, a different view everyday with an active stay.
Gulets are categorized in terms of their structure, charter fees, luxury and comfort offered, water sports equipment etc.
The operation hours of air conditioning systems on board depend on the category of gulet. Luxury gulets offer 24 air conditioning services. Gulets of other categories offer up to 10-12 hours per day of air conditioning service.
Gulets are equipped to sail, depending on the wind and weather conditions. Naturally, their performance need not be compared to purpose built sailing vessels.
The opportunities for water sports whilst cruising differ from gulet to gulet. All standard category gulets have canoes, surfing equipment, snorkeling and fishing gear as a standard. Luxury gulets will have Jet skis, water skiing and wakeboarding etc. equipment.
Depending on the categorization of the Gulets, there is various water sports equipment on board for use by the passengers. Generally, almost all our yachts include a dinghy with an outboard engine, stand-up paddle boards, water skiing, wakeboarding, mono skiing equipment, ringo and banana toys, canoes, snorkeling, and fishing equipment.
Some of the luxury class gulets have Jet Skiis on board which is rented to the yacht passengers. Some also have sea bobs and big marble toys for rent. Please do let us know any such requirements for water sports equipment.
Blue Cruise can be as active as you like; from swimming in the crystal clear turquoise waters, snorkeling and diving to relaxing on deck with a book, savoring the next delicious meal and spending time with your party.
Life on a Private Gulet can feel timeless and wonderfully separate from what is going on elsewhere. It is just you and your party in your own private floating world, enjoying the simple but unbeatable natural beauty of sea, sky, sun, and an incredible coastal landscape.
The traditional luxury of the gulet itself, the spacious deck and cabins, the finest local produce served to you daily, and a meticulous crew will get you hooked to life on board and surely, it will be difficult to leave behind.
The cuisine on a Blue Cruise is definitely one of the highlights. Each day you are served with three fantastic mouthwatering meals and a welcome afternoon tea. Breakfast consists of the traditional Turkish fare, eggs, a selection of local cheeses, tomatoes, olives, fresh bread and a choice of preserves and honey. For lunch and dinner the chef will create delicious examples of Turkish-Mediterranean kitchen such as the traditional olive oil dishes, fresh fish and seafood, grilled meats, and inventive salads and rice dishes. A course of seasonal fruits is served with each meal.
Traditionally, Turkish cuisine is one of the most varied and diverse in the world. With inspiration from east and west, Turkish food today is often accompanied by rice, garlic and yogurt dishes, and features fresh local produce such as aubergine, green beans, okra, peppers, various herbs, lettuces, spring onions and many more delicacies.
Photographers, historians, sailors, writers, sun-worshippers and water babies, the young and old alike, will all find true inspiration on board a gulet yacht.
Along with the Captain, our experienced crews ensure you receive immaculate service, mouth watering Turkish-Mediterranean cuisine, and a fountain of local historical and cultural knowledge.
Your Captain will take you to the most unspoilt and secluded spots virtually unknown to others.
The crew work together seamlessly to make your Private Gulet Holidays go smoothly, enabling you to enjoy the pure pleasures of the sea, sun, the breathtaking Turkish coastline and the company of your party without even lifting a finger.
It is said that three major kinds of cuisine exist in the world; Turkish, Chinese, and French.
Turkey’s Blue Cruise fully justifying its reputation as a gourmet voyage is well deserved, with glowing reviews and dedicated fans from all over the world.
Variety is one thing we’re also not short on at Blue Fun Yachting.
Turkish Cuisine has a very pure quality and has always been a pleasant surprise for the gulet passenger. Our cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottomans, which is indeed a fusion and refinement of Central Asian, Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines, creating a vast array of specialties. Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighboring cuisines, including that of Western Europe.
Taken as a whole, Turkish cuisine is not homogeneous. Especially in the western parts of Turkey, where olive trees are grown abundantly, olive oil is the major type of oil used for cooking. The cuisines of the Aegean, Marmara and Mediterranean regions display basic characteristics of Mediterranean cuisine as they are rich in vegetables, herbs, and fish and the variety and simplicity of the recipes and the quality of the ingredients are guarantees of delicious meals.
Appetizers, that is the “Meze”, composed of many small dishes made from fresh vegetables, cheese, fish and meat was enjoyed by the ancient kings in Turkey for millenia. Traditionally, mezes make up a full meal, although you can have it as ‘appetizers’ as well, accompanied by wine or “Raki”.
Eaten sparingly, they are intended to arouse the appetite before the meal proper. Soups come in a wide variety. These may be light, or rich and substantial. They are generally based on meat stock and served at the start of the meal. Lentil soup is the most common and best loved variety, but there are many other specialties.
Kebabs are dishes of plain or marinated meat either stewed or grilled. “Kavurma”, “Tandir” and different types of “Kofte” are typical meat dishes. The vegetables and some edible sea and/or land grass varieties are used in a wide variety of dishes and can be cooked with onions, garlic, spring onions, and a vast array of herbs, many of which are indigenous and organically grown or grow in the wild and picked by villagers. “Burek” are prepared of flaky pastry stuffed with meat, edible grass, cheese or potatoes or a mixture of one or more of ingredients.
Among the national drinks, Turkish coffee, Turkish tea, ayran/yoghurt drink and salgam should be mentioned. If you like alcohol you can try “Raki” (also called “lions’ drink”) made of anise seeds.
In the 1990s, after changes in the laws governing alcoholic beverages, small local wineries began to make varietal wines of good quality. The best wines are often from the well-run vineyards of wealthy industrial and commercial families.
Discerning Turkish wine-drinkers are only a small market, so the better vintages are more expensive than other good wines.
Good wine has been produced in Turkey for millennia. The peoples of the Byzantine Empire enjoyed their wines and developed careful cultivation methods for their grapes. Under the Ottoman Empire, the sultan’s Muslim subjects largely abstained, but his Christian and Jewish subjects continued to make and drink wine. With the fall of the empire and founding of the modern Turkish Republic (1923), many citizens of Greek heritage moved to Greece, but in the secular republic wine-making were encouraged.
Several of Anatolia’s climatic regions, including the Marmara and Aegean, the East around Elazığ, and the Southeast near Diyarbakır, some with volcanic soil, are suitable for producing wine grapes. In the past, the grapes have mostly been local traditional varieties such as Öküzgözü (Ox-eye) from Elazığ and Boğazkere from Diyarbakır, but Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Carignan and Alicante are now being used for premium wines as well.
Four seas (the Black Sea, Marmara Sea, Aegean and the Mediterranean) surround the Turkish landscape and residents of the coastal cities are experts in preparing fish. Every month offers a new delicacy of fish at its prime, served along with certain complimenting vegetables. For example, the best Bonito is eaten with arugula and red onions, Blue Fish with lettuce, Turbot with cos lettuce. Large Bonito may be poached with celery root. Mackerel is stuffed with chopped onions before grilling, while summer fish, which are younger and drier, are poached with tomatoes and green peppers, or fried. Bay leaves always accompany both poached and grilled fish. Grilling fish over charcoal, where the fish juices hit the embers and envelope the fish with the smoke, is perhaps the most delicious way of eating it, as it brings out the delicate flavors.
Along the Aegean, octopus, prawns, muscles and calamari are added to the meze spread. Your food on board will mainly consist of fresh seafood and vegetables as well as poultry products and red meat. Please keep in mind that it is customary to discuss with the cook the way you want it to be prepared. So the evening begins, sipping Raki in between sampling of mezes, watching the sunset and slowly setting the pace for conversation that will continue hours into the right. In Turkey, drinking is never a hurried, loud, boisterous or a lonely affair. It is a communal, gently festive and cultured way of entertainment.
Blue Fun Yachting is allergy and vegetarian conscious.
The cooks employed on board our yachts are extremely talented in preparation and service of regional food and are experienced professionals familiar to the demands of yachting clients, young or adult. Indeed, your menu can be shaped to your liking or needs.
However, we encourage our clients to disclose their likes and dislikes in terms of food. It will be possible to prepare different type of food for different palates, even for a group who have entirely different preferences.
Turkish natural yoghurt is justifiably renowned. Turkish sweets are famous throughout the world (e.g. Turkish delight, Baklava) and many of these have milk as the basic ingredient. Fresh seasonal fruit will be served at breakfast as well as dinner on board our gulets.
We are an agency with an experience of 30 years in the Private Gulet Charter sector within the Aegean and Mediterranean yachting hubs.
DISCLAIMER
The documentation in this website is not contractual. All of the technical information, namely the Gulet yachts, chartering and their particulars displayed in this website have beenobtained from the respective owners and controlled by the Harbor Masters, are displayed in good faith. Whilst the information displayed is believed to be correct at the time, are not guaranteed. Blue FunYachting does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy of details, Exact pricing and other details will be confirmed on the particular charter contract.
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