Gulet, the traditional Turkish sailing boat, now plies Aegean with tourists rather than sponges

When her silhouette appears on the Mediterranean horizon, you know you are in Turkish waters. Upright and elegant, with two tall masts and a wooden hull aglow, the gulet is a quintessentially Turkish sailboat. And where better to meet her than her original birthplace of Bodrum, on the west coast of Turkey, where the sky is crosshatched with slowly swaying masts, many of which belong to the world's largest fleet of gulets that moor there.

Gulets are about cruising and service, providing all the luxuries of a cruise ship but without the crowds. Because of their size, gulets and yachts have exclusive access to some of Turkey and Greece's most pristine bays and islands. For photographers, an adventure on a gulet offers a fresh aspect to the Greek and Turkish coastlines (should you pass a rugged volcanic island or an ancient Greek ruin) and is a more elevated and stable alternative to a yacht.

There are photography tours available, where a Fairfax Media photojournalist will provide regular photography workshops and help you capture the islands that have lured artists, sailors and explorers for thousands of years (see details below).

The first gulet I climb aboard is a gleaming vessel built of African mahogany. At the centre of the stern deck is a stately long dining table, bordered by sofas and a bar, just a few steps away from the bow deck where you can check out the panoramic view or recline on one of the sun lounges. When below deck, I forget that I am on a boat at all.

The interior has a wonderful Ottoman flair, with corridors of mahogany, Turkish carpets and hanging orchids. Not to mention the charming team on board: a captain, a chef and a team of deckhands. Who said adventure tourism couldn't be luxurious? Used for thousands of years for fishing and sponge diving, the wide hull and generous decks of the gulet offer ample space, once for the laying out and drying of sponges, now for travellers to stretch out in the sun or dine in the shade.

Until the mid 1950s sponge diving was a thriving industry throughout the Mediterranean and free divers would leap from a gulet with a large rock sinker and a basket. Now this stately vessel has been redesigned and hand-crafted to carry travellers across the Aegean Sea in opulence and style.

ELLA RUBELI

SAIL OF THE CENTURY: JOIN US

Join Fairfax Media photographer Wolter Peeters and Mariner Boating Holidays for their Greek Island Photo Odyssey, a combination of sailing, sightseeing and photography workshops. Prices start from $4195, excluding airfares. Readers of Traveller will receive a 10 per cent discount on the advertised price on these upcoming Mariner Boating voyages: Bonifacio Yacht Rally (August 28–September 12), Greek Island Odyssey (September 11-22); Tahiti Yacht Rally (September 26–October 10). To take advantage of this discount offer, call Mariner Boating Holidays on 02 9966 1244 and mention "Traveller".