Deep Blue II: 44-metre family yacht for Mediterranean charter

A 44-metre yacht built in 1996 and extensively refit in 2022, Deep Blue II carries a working crew of ten and sleeps ten guests across five cabins with a singular purpose: family cruising that actually works. The distinction matters. Most charter yachts are either racing machines stripped down to sail, or floating hotels where you happen to be at sea. Deep Blue II exists to move families and friends across the water as a unit, which means generous deck space, stability in open water, and the kind of comfort that lets children and grandparents coexist without tension.

The proof lives in the planning. The main saloon stretches across the beam with glazing that opens the interior to the Mediterranean light, cream upholstery arranged to face inward so guests can actually talk. Golden timber frames the windows and ceiling, warm and nautical without the cliché. The galley is separate, properly equipped, the bridge an actual command centre rather than a display. But the real work happens outside.

The sundeck is the beating heart of the vessel. It dominates the profile in the photographs: a full beam platform with lounging, a hot tub sunk into the deck, and dining configured to catch the light at every hour. This is where a morning coffee becomes the day’s first decision about where to anchor, where lunch stretches across three hours, where the children arrive sunburned and read quietly while the adults navigate the kind of conversation that only happens when you are moving slowly through calm water. The sea becomes the view rather than the subject.

The tender advantage

Attached to the yacht is a 12-metre Axopar 37, a chase tender that transforms the experience from passive drifting to active exploration. The Axopar is a serious vessel in its own right: fast, seaworthy, nimble. It carries you to the beaches and coves that mother ships cannot reach, to the underwater sites where the colour actually matters, to the restaurants in the villages that do not expect forty foot gin palaces. The water toys stored aboard mean that the sea stops being something you look at and becomes something you actually use.

Below decks, the five cabins are proportioned for a working charter: the owner’s suite naturally the largest, the guest cabins compact but fitted with the kind of joinery that makes small spaces liveable. Built in 1996 and refit in 2022, the yacht carries the DNA of its original conception but with modern systems, modern electronics, modern reliability. A crew of ten means proper provisioning, genuine service, someone who knows the coastline.

We understand the mathematics of chartering: you want the boat to be large enough that ten people do not trigger claustrophobia, but not so vast that the crew outnumbers the guests and you feel like you are touring a hotel. Deep Blue II finds that line precisely. The sundeck is the social engine; the tender is the adventure; the saloon is the refuge when the wind does change. Five cabins mean privacy when it is needed.

The configuration solves a specific problem in charter yachting. A yacht must be large enough that ten people do not trigger claustrophobia, but not so vast that the crew outnumbers the guests. The sundeck becomes the social engine; the tender opens the adventure; the saloon provides refuge when conditions change. Five cabins mean privacy when needed, and a crew of ten handles provisioning and navigation rather than becoming part of the guest experience.

At €140,000 per week, the charter includes the crew, fuel, insurance and systems. The Axopar 37 tender is included in that figure. Additional costs cover crew gratuities, provisions, tender fuel and special requests. Fraser Yachts manages the booking, scheduling and adjustments to weather. The yacht operates in Mediterranean waters only.

Imagery courtesy of Fraser Yachts (@fraseryachts).