Kudanil Explorer

A 50-metre (164 ft) steel expedition yacht, laid down in 1978 as a safety-standby vessel and rebuilt for charter from 2016. Eight matching balcony suites, sixteen guests, twenty-one crew. She is not a phinisi. The hull is steel, the living is yacht, and the range is sized for Indonesia weeks rather than day trips.

They are not. All eight suites are the same size, all above deck, each with a balcony and daybed. Beds set as kings or twins. Three cabins can add a child pull-out, which is how the ship reaches sixteen adults plus three children. Fourteen is the more generous number if you want a suite left as a dressing room or nanny space.

Both. Private charter is the usual week, from $26,000 a night. Cabin berths open on a short list of published sailings, including Spice-to-Raja crossings and selected Raja Ampat weeks. We quote cabin rates per sailing rather than as a standing nightly figure.

Komodo in the dry months, Raja Ampat when the wind turns, and Spice or Banda crossings when the nights allow. Surf weeks in Sumba or the Mentawais are arranged when the swell and the calendar line up. Tell us the dates; the route follows the season.

A large family, two or three families sharing equally, or a dive- and surf-minded group that still wants a spa hour and a proper salon. She is a poor match for a two-cabin boutique week. Those groups belong on a smaller ship.