Esma Sultan is a luxury ketch
A Five-Cabin Luxury Ketch-Rigged Gulet Cruising Greece And Turkey A Six-Cabin Ketch-Rigged Gulet Cruising Croatia and Montenegro A Six-Cabin Schooner-Rigged Gulet Cruising Greece and Turkey This page last updated on 01/18/2012 Dear Homo Sapiens, There is no need to continue reading this page.
What follows is intended for search engine robots and spiders and not necessarily for human beings.
Further information about cruising Adriatic Croatia and Montenegro may be obtained by clicking on
the blue links immediately above. Thank You. Could you be searching for the Ottoman Princess
Esma Sultan? The daughter of Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid I? Or might you be searching for a charter
sailing yacht? More specifically, might you be searching for a charter sailing yacht on which to cruise
Croatia and its Adriatic islands? Or could you be thinking of a charter sailing
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yacht cruising the Adriatic coast of Montenegro and
into its Gulf of Kotor? A yacht familiar with isolated coves surrounding crystal-clear seawater. A
yacht familiar with ancient and medieval locales of historic interest. A yacht with a gourmet chef
serving up the best of local seafood. A yacht catering to the every wish of embarked guests. If so,
if any, you have found an appropriate web page. While this page deals principally with a luxury
motor-sailing gulet called Esma Sultan cruising guest-selected routes along the coasts of Croatia and
Montenegro, it also and necessarily addresses the gulet's namesake. After all, who sails without knowing
why his or her vessel is named as it is? Princess Esma Sultan was born in 1778 to a period of revolutionary
upheaval in the Ottoman Empire which then included Montenegro, or at least principal Montenegrin towns,
and had once included much of Croatia. During Esma Sultan's lifetime the Ottoman Navy was to lose the Battle
of Navarino to British, French, and Russian warships, the Empire was to consequently lose Greece and Algeria,
and, under Abdul Hamid's successors Selim III and Mahmud II, the Empire was to introduce revolutionary
western reforms, including abolition of the trouble-making janissary corps or standing army. Esma Sultan
grew to maturity in the company of Nakshedil Sultan, the latter a favorite of Abdul Hamid said by some to have
been born Aimee du Buc de Rivery on the Caribbean island of Martinique. Also said to have been cousin to
Bonaparte's Josephine, Aimee was captured at sea by Algerian corsairs while returning from convent school in
France and purportedly presented to Abdul Hamid as a gift. It was Nakshedil who instigated many of the western reforms
implemented by Abdul Hamid's successors, and it was Nakshedil's then widowed companion Esma Sultan who instigated
further reforms during the 31-year reign of her brother Sultan Mahmud II, including western architecture,
attire, land reform, and law. That's Mahmud depicted to the left, a rather presentable fellow born to an
impossible task. The age of the Barbarossas and of Ottoman maritime dominance in the Mediterranean was a
distant memory when in 1827 his mostly Egyptian fleet was trapped at anchor in Navarino Bay on the western
Peloponnesus. Depicted below, the most lop-sided naval engagement in Mediterranean history ensued. More than
3,000 Ottomans lost their lives; British, French, and Russian fatalities approximated 180. Thirty-six
Ottoman ships went to the bottom, many of which may still be seen there today. No allied vessels were lost.
Twelve years later Sultan Mahmud II died in Esma Sultan's arms at the age of 54, much older than his years.
Esma Sultan carried on to the age of 70. Her namesake, the ketch-rigged yacht Esma Sultan, slid down the
ways in 2008 and is now a fast veteran of the sea propelled by twin 500 hp German M.A.N.
diesel engines. In spite of her 128-foot length she is
nevertheless able to navigate confined coves and to park stern to taverna promenades. So should you be
hoping to charter a luxury motor-sailer with executive accommodations to take you from Croatia byway to
Montenegro byway, Esma Sultan may be the most appropriate choice. You might charter Esma Sultan to cruise
Montenegro's Gulf of Kotor, pausing at Illyrian Queen Teuta's ancient Risan and at medieval Perast. Or to
cruise further south along the Adriatic coast in search of Skanderbeg, the Albanian superhero himself
once a janissary (Iskender Bey). Or to cruise north to medieval Korcula and Hvar. Starting in Split. Or
Trogir. Are you searching for Split in Croatia? For nearby Trogir? Well, we can meet you there. We can put
you aboard a crewed sailing yacht for the holiday of a lifetime. We can put you aboard a charter yacht with
an experienced crew able to show you Marco Polo's initial trek from Korcula to Venice, able to show you the
seaside palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, born Diocles in AD 245 of Illyrian roots. While you holiday
in luxurious comfort as did Diocletian. Would you like to cruise these scenically fascinating areas?
Discovering what fascinated Diocletian? Cruising to medieval Ragusa, modern Dubrovnik, with its famous
walls and marble streets? Well, Esma Sultan can take you to all of these places. Esma Sultan, a luxury
charter sailing gulet cruising the crossroads of history between
Croatia and Montenegro. Contact Blue Cruise Yacht Charters today at