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BLOG: PIRATE ADVENTURE - CHILDREN CRUISE

PIRATE ADVENTURE FOR THE LITTLE ONES - CHILDREN FRIENDLY CRUISE

Living for the sea and from the sea...it is a saying you can hear even now on some of distant Croatian islands where traditional fishing takes place every evening and dawn. But not only that, local families have given some of the world’s finest captains. Some even sail on this day across our oceans on ocean liners or luxury megayachts. 

You should also know that Croatia has been a maritime force for centuries and well known for its pirates. In 12th and 13th centuries Omis Pirates with the leader dukes Kačić were at peak of their power and were even considered the most fearsome pirates on the whole Mediterranean not just the Adriatic. With their narrow rowing boats with shallow draft called Sagitta (Arow) they managed to attack papal galleys and merchant ships of mighty Venice, Dubrovnik, Kotor and Split. By the 15th century piracy vanished and the island life we see today started to take its form.

There are some smaller replicas of medieval ships that assimilate to our vision of how a pirate ship should look like. Mostly these ships are made for one day excursions and some emphasize the pirate theme making it a must hop on hop off for the little wanna be pirates.

However, the best multiday alternative to “real pirate ships” are wooden gulets. Although originally made in Turkey for commercial purposes, today gullets find their place in week cruising giving their party an easy going holiday on sea. There are several gulets that operate here in Croatia and some will deliver this “pirate” experience better than the others. But keep in mind that even if they look traditional these ships can be equipped with latest technology.

Being built mostly from wood you can actually hear not only the calming sound of waves burbling on the hull while being moored, but also the squicking of the hull while rushing through the sea. And then, there is also the most impressionable squick that will be produced on purpose once children discover it - when the little feet step on a certain board on the floor- realising that they can produce that sound, they just cannot resist the urge to do it over and over again and with each squick a smile on their face gets biger and biger.

And then the final touch, a wooden steering wheel, and the moment the captain sits you on his chair and puts you in charge of “your pirate ship”... we could only imagine what goes inside the little one’s heads...toddlers perhaps think of themselves as Captain Hook from Peter Pan, while the bigger ones could even be Jack Sparow from Pirates of the Caribbean...or perhaps they are explorers like Columbo or Marco Polo only this time discovering diversity of Croatian islands instead of new continents...options are endless – one’s imagination is the limit.

The thrill of being on board of such wooden beauties is certainly a truly lifetime experience. There is that special feeling we all sense (parents, cruise party and crew) once we see how little takes to see a spark in children’s eyes. Therefore, having children on board is a privilege as gulets get to become childrens’ time machine. 

Once again we should all cheer “aje aje captain” and set our sails to unexpected adventure...

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