2013 Antares 44i “Adventure” — Phuket Refit and Upgrades

We are a family of four and SV Adventure has been wonderful to us, exactly what we had wanted. In terms of what is it that we wanted, when we were on the market to buy a vessel each member of the family discussed what we were seeking. Our kids wanted battery powered air conditioning running all night in all cabins so that everyone can sleep soundly (without any generator noise). My wife wanted the galley tucked away so that none of us could see dirty dishes following a meal but at the same time she wanted whoever is doing the cooking to remain part of the family’s chat and board games in the salon (not isolated). I wanted seamless wifi so that I could have fret-free Zoom calls with the office without any fear of glitches (and we all wanted family movie nights with Netflix anywhere, anytime). Lastly, we all desired a boat in South East Asia so that we can cruise the hundreds of sandy islands and bays which litter this part of the World. It took a bit of work but Adventure became exactly what each of us wanted.

The Antares brand of boats are famous for being well made and ideal for couples or families. There is no creaking or groaning whilst underway, the woodwork is solid, the varnish shines, and she is just really well thought out in ways I had not originally considered.

To the original layout we have added bits and pieces to make life more comfortable and sailing more convenient. So, for example, there are fresh and salt water hoses right next to the anchor locker to wash down the chain as it comes onboard, all the heads are fresh water so there are no weird smells, there is a hookah so I can stay submerged and buoyant if I want to scrub under the hulls in a bay, there are multiple fresh water filters (including UV lights) which result in drinking water even purer than in our house, there is a big canvas awning which covers the entire foredeck so that our family can loll around at anchor on lazy chairs with the canvas roof gently flapping. Over the years a lot of thought has been put into Adventure. For instance, in order to rapidly fill the huge battery bank (to power everyone’s a/c every night) we decided to add extra inverters (enabling us to rapidly charge from the large solar array), to ensure the Zoom is seamless we installed not just the ‘high performance’ version of Starlink dish but we combined that with a fancy Peplink router so that the signal automatically ‘bonds’ with the local 5G networks, to ensure we can always sail in light air we added a large Doyle Screecher onto the bowsprit. She was a good boat when we got her and she is an absolutely great boat now (I actually can’t think of anything more I could do to improve her). All this work has paid off, with a very happy family filled with bright memories of our wonderful times on SV Adventure.

I would also like to give a shout out to Mark from Antares. Mark has been a font of knowledge to us over the years, us being first time yacht-owners. He and his family live and sail in SE Asia ‘just down the road’ from us on their own Antares and he is testament to the strength of the community of Antares owners worldwide. The Antares community is justly famous as being very supportive (sharing tips and information across the very active Antares owners-only forums). SV Adventure is a beautiful vessel and we have loved all the time we had with her. We are very sorry to say goodbye to her. For us, life moves on and it is time to part ways with a boat (with a hiatus of only a few years, I hope). For the next family or couple, I can’t imagine a better memory-maker located in Asia.

Jeremy