Come you back to Mandalay
While it may be difficult for a superyacht to make it all the way to Mandalay, Kipling’s poetry still holds true in its underlying sentiment. This beguiling nation is opening its doors to the outside world after decades of isolation and brutal misrule, and this includes to superyachts. For Eric Merlin, the owner of Calisto, the lure of Myanmar has been too much to resist.…
While it may be difficult for a superyacht to make it all the way to Mandalay, Kipling’s poetry still holds true in its underlying sentiment. After decades of isolation and brutal misrule, Myanmar is on the brink of a renaissance. Beguiling, exotic and mysterious, this little nation is opening its doors for the first time in half a century to the outside world, and this includes to superyachts. For Eric Merlin, the owner of Calisto, a converted 42m 1940s minesweeper, the lure of Myanmar has been too much to resist. The Superyacht Owner spoke to Merlin about his love of Southeast Asia, his yacht, his family and why the chance to sample Myanmar’s charms should not be missed.
Built in 1944 as a YMS-1 class minesweeper, Calisto was originally purchased from the British Navy by Thomas Loel Guinness, a member of the famous Irish brewing family. “He transformed her from a minesweeper into a private yacht, but he did so with a great deal of respect for the vessel’s heritage,” says Eric Merlin, founder of one of South-East Asia’s leading travel agencies, Exotissimo Travel, who has been living in this part of the world for 20 years. “In some ways, Calisto is like a little museum of what yachting was in the Fifties.” Interestingly, Guinness also bought Calisto’s sister ship, Calypso, in 1950, which he leased to Jacques Cousteau for a symbolic one franc a year until 1997.
Merlin bought Calisto from a French family in January 2007. “Buying this boat felt like a responsibility,” he tells us. “I couldn’t imagine this vessel going off to be sunk as a dive site, or being dismantled for other purposes. When I thought about those alternatives, I believed that it was my responsibility to buy this boat.” Luckily, Merlin was in a solid position to be romantic about the idea of owning and rescuing a piece of nautical history. Not only was the majority of the refit completed in the more reasonable yards of Singapore, but also keeping her in South-East Asia long term has been much more affordable. Merlin puts it down to successful charter activity that a good part of the cost of ownership is covered but says that he is still a little way away from breaking even, especially since he is always improving his yacht and refuses to cut corners.
For the past two years, Calisto’s cruising waters have been the Andaman Sea off Phuket but Merlin has made the decision to turn her towards new waters and she is embarking on her first trip to Myanmar’s Mergui archipelago this autumn. “The demand for Myanmar is swelling like nothing I’ve seen since Vietnam opened in the early 1990s,” says Merlin. “For next season, I am already fielding many requests for charters in Myanmar. The Mergui archipelago is not far at all from Phuket, and easily accessibly by Calisto.”
“Myanmar does have a difficult reputation, but that is changing as fast as the political changes within the country,” he says. “In July, Aung San Suu Kyi made her debut in parliament. Two years ago, a development like that was inconceivable. We’re right now at the beginning of Myanmar’s future but still, when travelling there today, we’re overwhelmed by the country’s past. This makes the lure north irresistible.”
The Mergui archipelago is located at the southernmost tip of Myanmar in part of the Tanintharyi Region and was closed to the outside world by the Burmese government in the 1940s only to be opened up again just 15 years ago. Consisting of more than 800 islands scattered along 400km of the Andaman Sea, Mergui is an unmatched tropical haven.
The first stop on the proposed itinerary, the Similan Islands, is one of Merlin’s favourite South-East Asian destinations to take his family. “Almost every time we go [to the Similans], on the first morning, when we take our breakfast with my kids, a large sea turtle comes around the boat,” he tells us. "The experience of being a family is somehow heightened aboard Calisto. All of life is full of colour, but on board Calisto, it’s like we’re living in technicolour. Everything’s a little brighter, more vivid and more memorable.”
Calisto is available for charter through Fraser Yachts.
To read the full article, see Issue 5 of The Superyacht Owner. To become and member a receive future issues of the magazine, click here.
Built in 1944 as a YMS-1 class minesweeper, Calisto was originally purchased from the British Navy by Thomas Loel Guinness, a member of the famous Irish brewing family. “He transformed her from a minesweeper into a private yacht, but he did so with a great deal of respect for the vessel’s heritage,” says Eric Merlin, founder of one of South-East Asia’s leading travel agencies, Exotissimo Travel, who has been living in this part of the world for 20 years. “In some ways, Calisto is like a little museum of what yachting was in the Fifties.” Interestingly, Guinness also bought Calisto’s sister ship, Calypso, in 1950, which he leased to Jacques Cousteau for a symbolic one franc a year until 1997.
Calisto was originally a 1944 YMS-1 class minesweeper
Merlin bought Calisto from a French family in January 2007. “Buying this boat felt like a responsibility,” he tells us. “I couldn’t imagine this vessel going off to be sunk as a dive site, or being dismantled for other purposes. When I thought about those alternatives, I believed that it was my responsibility to buy this boat.” Luckily, Merlin was in a solid position to be romantic about the idea of owning and rescuing a piece of nautical history. Not only was the majority of the refit completed in the more reasonable yards of Singapore, but also keeping her in South-East Asia long term has been much more affordable. Merlin puts it down to successful charter activity that a good part of the cost of ownership is covered but says that he is still a little way away from breaking even, especially since he is always improving his yacht and refuses to cut corners.
“We’re right now at the beginning of Myanmar’s future but still, when travelling there today, we’re overwhelmed by the country’s past.”
For the past two years, Calisto’s cruising waters have been the Andaman Sea off Phuket but Merlin has made the decision to turn her towards new waters and she is embarking on her first trip to Myanmar’s Mergui archipelago this autumn. “The demand for Myanmar is swelling like nothing I’ve seen since Vietnam opened in the early 1990s,” says Merlin. “For next season, I am already fielding many requests for charters in Myanmar. The Mergui archipelago is not far at all from Phuket, and easily accessibly by Calisto.”
“Myanmar does have a difficult reputation, but that is changing as fast as the political changes within the country,” he says. “In July, Aung San Suu Kyi made her debut in parliament. Two years ago, a development like that was inconceivable. We’re right now at the beginning of Myanmar’s future but still, when travelling there today, we’re overwhelmed by the country’s past. This makes the lure north irresistible.”
Eric Merlin, the owner of M/Y Calisto
The Mergui archipelago is located at the southernmost tip of Myanmar in part of the Tanintharyi Region and was closed to the outside world by the Burmese government in the 1940s only to be opened up again just 15 years ago. Consisting of more than 800 islands scattered along 400km of the Andaman Sea, Mergui is an unmatched tropical haven.
The first stop on the proposed itinerary, the Similan Islands, is one of Merlin’s favourite South-East Asian destinations to take his family. “Almost every time we go [to the Similans], on the first morning, when we take our breakfast with my kids, a large sea turtle comes around the boat,” he tells us. "The experience of being a family is somehow heightened aboard Calisto. All of life is full of colour, but on board Calisto, it’s like we’re living in technicolour. Everything’s a little brighter, more vivid and more memorable.”
Calisto is available for charter through Fraser Yachts.
To read the full article, see Issue 5 of The Superyacht Owner. To become and member a receive future issues of the magazine, click here.
NEW: Sign up for SuperyachtNewsweek!
Get the latest weekly news, in-depth reports, intelligence, and strategic insights, delivered directly from The Superyacht Group's editors and market analysts.
Stay at the forefront of the superyacht industry with SuperyachtNewsweek
Click here to become part of The Superyacht Group community, and join us in our mission to make this industry accessible to all, and prosperous for the long-term. We are offering access to the superyacht industry’s most comprehensive and longstanding archive of business-critical information, as well as a comprehensive, real-time superyacht fleet database, for just £10 per month, because we are One Industry with One Mission. Sign up here.
NEW: Sign up for
SuperyachtNewsweek!
Get the latest weekly news, in-depth reports, intelligence, and strategic insights, delivered directly from The Superyacht Group's editors and market analysts.
Stay at the forefront of the superyacht industry with SuperyachtNewsweek
