Every month, superyacht owners reveal where they are in the world and share their future plans with BOAT. After a summer voyage from Scotland to North America via Iceland and the Faroe Islands, Scintilla Maris owner Erik Vonk reflects on hosting a scientific expedition at sea – and charts his next course for the Pacific. We kept up with his journey on our live blog here and spoke to Vonk on our BOAT Briefing podcast.
Read More/Listen: A first-hand diary from Scintilla Maris’ Icelandic research voyageErik Vonk
Yacht: Scintilla Maris
Length: 45.7m
Year: 2023
Location: Brunswick, Georgia, US
Where has the yacht been lately?
Last summer, we went from Scotland to the Faroe Islands to Iceland, then on to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, with a couple of stops along the US coast to Brunswick, Georgia, where the beautiful Scintilla Maris is docked at the moment. We use this period to take a breath and let some of the crew take their leave.
What was the highlight?
In Iceland, we had an opportunity to work with a scientific team, which was a match made by Yachts for Science. We had Paige Maroni and her team from the University of Western Australia on board for eight or nine days doing research work off the western fjords of Iceland, and that was an absolutely terrific experience. Very little is known about this area – the biodiversity hasn’t been mapped. Watching how they do that and what they discovered in terms of new forms of life was remarkable.
What was hosting a scientific expedition like?
I’m a very curious person. What we did on board from early morning to late at night is follow them and ask them questions, and the team was so open and interested in explaining and sharing their research. It increased awareness of the fact that the oceans cover more than 70 per cent of the surface of the earth and we know remarkably little about them. They harbour so many answers to questions around how we as people on earth can be better custodians of the planet.
So it wasn’t an imposition?
They were the best guests one could possibly wish for – very considerate, very knowledgeable people who really appreciated the opportunity to use a boat. What we made available to them is the boat and, of course, tenders and crew. The amount of equipment that they brought on board was very little, just big suitcases with drones, computers, etc. When the short period was drawing to an end, I thought to myself, “What a pity. I wish it would be another month or so.”
Where are you going next?
Hopefully by early February, we will head toward the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, and we’ll use that as a base to cruise the islands of Costa Rica and Panama.
First published in the February 2025 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.