Ptarmigan

School is out, the children are old enough to snorkel, and the family wants a week on the water instead of another resort. That is the trip we picture for Ptarmigan. This 2023 Bali 4.4 has four double cabins and a private head for every one of them, so parents, children and grandparents can each have a door to close. She is also the less expensive of the two Bali 4.4s we book, and none of Abaco Sail's catamarans of 44 feet or more starts at a lower weekly rate.

What the Bali layout means for a family is easiest to see at anchor. The bow is solid deck with sunpads and seating rather than a trampoline, so the front of the boat becomes a place to sit, read and dry off, and nobody is balancing on netting. At the back, the saloon's glass door tilts up and joins the galley to the cockpit, so whoever is cooking is still part of the afternoon. A freshwater deck shower takes the salt off before anyone comes inside.

Ptarmigan carries what a family needs to stay out at anchor rather than head for a marina each night: air conditioning that works under way and at anchor, an onboard generator, a watermaker and a 227-gallon water tank. There is snorkel gear for everyone aboard and a stand-up paddleboard, and the Comfort Pack includes the dinghy and outboard for beach runs. Short passages suit children too. Hope Town's striped lighthouse, the reef at Sandy Cay and the beach at Treasure Cay are all easy legs from Marsh Harbour, so the sailing never swallows the day.

For whoever is skippering, Ptarmigan keeps the sailing uncomplicated. The headsail is a self-tacking jib, the mainsail is fully battened, and twin 57 hp Nanni engines do the work when the wind drops. She draws 3.9 feet on a 24.3-foot beam, which suits the shallow banks of the Sea of Abaco, with a rising tide for the tighter harbor entrances. Bareboat charters need a qualified skipper in your party; if you would rather keep both hands free for the children, a local skipper can be arranged through Abaco Sail.

Her weekly rate tops out at $16,995 over Christmas and New Year, and her two lowest rates fall in summer, when families travel: $6,695 from June 27 to July 31 and $5,665 from August 1 to 18. Add the mandatory Comfort Pack at $1,050 for the first week and $630 for each week after. Rates already include the 10% Bahamian VAT, and the 4% cruising tax is charged on top. The trade-off is weather: those weeks fall in the Atlantic hurricane season, and the boat is away for her annual yard service from August 19 to October 14. Against Exodus she saves $467 to $1,403 a week.