Sails Pitch

Patti Seery, a longtime American resident of Indonesia, always wanted the world to share her love of the archipelago. There was just one snag: hopping between Indonesia's 17,500 or so islands usually involved taking rickety local boats or squeezing onto impossibly crowded ferries. So she came up[an error occurred while processing this directive] with Silolona, www.silolona.com — a two-masted ship of ironwood that she commissioned from the Konjo craftsmen of Sulawesi. Taking two years to build, the vessel is a replica of a phinisi, the type of sturdy cargo boat that plied Southeast Asian trade routes for centuries.

With its distinctive silhouette, Silolona lends an incredible sense of romance to sailing around far-flung Indonesian islands. But its traditional style doesn't mean any sacrifice of mod cons. Five staterooms are decorated with rare Indonesian textiles and crafts from Seery's collection. Guests also enjoy a library, a sizable sundeck, a full range of diving equipment and a dining area where chef Bill Collier's superbly executed Western cuisine — with Asian accents — is something to look forward to after a day of diving or excursions on shore.

As well as cruising Indonesian waters, Silolona sails to Malaysia and Burma and accepts private charter. Aside from superb diving, itineraries can include trekking, lavish beach barbecues and strolls through nutmeg plantations. Once you've seen Indonesia this way, climbing aboard a dilapidated interisland ferry can barely be contemplated.