pier to peer
Moving from power to sail for a circumnavigation.
Salim Erdem moves from power to sail for a circumnavigation
Salim Erdem is an easygoing guy, somewhat shy, but at the same time someone who laughs a lot—and quite often at himself. He is precise and punctual without being pedantic. He does not affect any airs that one might associate with someone who was the CEO and founder of Merit, a shipping and trading company based in Turkey, and who owns three yachts in the 100-foot (30.5meter) range. At 58, he is happily semiretired and doing what many yacht owners wish they could do. He is cruising around the world on one of his boats.
Erdem hails from Turkey and has homes in Istanbul and Izmir. When he was 11, his parents sent him to an enlightened boarding school, the Tarsus American School. Founded in 1888 by Americans and originally established as a missionary school, it is a now a secular school with a strong tradition of having students take part in community service. Erdem is still very involved with the school.
While he grew up near the water, he did not have the opportunity to enjoy boating until the past 20 years. His foray into yachting started with what he calls smaller “plastic” boats: an Azimut and a couple of Ferrettis. He then moved to aluminum and built the fast semidisplacement 95-foot (28.9-meter) Nilo (his daughter’s nickname) at Moonen Shipyards in Holland. He took delivery of the well-publicized yacht with a stunning interior by Artline just prior to the economic crisis in 2008. He was happy with Nilo but concluded that to accomplish his around-the-world voyage, he needed a heavy-displacement, steel-hull explorer yacht. He built a second Moonen, a Vripack-designed 100-footer (30.5-meter) also called Nilo, tailored for the trip. Then, his whole master plan shifted gears. He decided to do his trip on a sailing yacht instead of a motoryacht.
I met and chatted with Erdem on several occasions in various ports of call. Most recently, I happened upon him on board his sailing yacht, Nilo, in Sint Maarten. He was in the midst of his around the world trip.
Jill BoBrow: You’ve had two Moonen MotorYachts: a 95-footer and a 100-footer. what Made You decide to get a sailing Yacht, and what will You do with the MotorYachts?
Salim ErdEm My captain convinced me I should do my trip in a sailing yacht. I am hoping someone else will love my motoryachts as much as I do because they are now both for sale. My 100-foot explorer yacht is like new. She is beautifully built. She is also very effcient, with a range of 5,000 miles at 10 knots. I conceived her to be the perfect around-the-world cruiser.
JB: You Must have a verY persuasive captain.
se: My captain, Willem Kalma, has been with me for nine years. He is more my friend and cruising cohort
than my employee. He convinced me that I would have more fun on a sailing yacht.
JB: Do you know much about sailing? Se: I am learning.
JB: i UNDERSTAND You’re a Hands-on owner.
SE: Very much so. A year or so ago, it was thrilling to captain my 100-foot Moonen explorer on a passage from Palma to San Remo. The week after I brought her to San Remo, I ferried my 95-foot motoryacht Nilo to that same marina. The dockmaster who greeted me said, ‘ Ah, the same captain for the two boats.’ I felt proud.
JB: you Built and highly customized your two motoryachts. have you made your mark on your sailing yacht?
SE: The Jongert was formerly owned by an American and called Half Moon of Sark. When I bought the boat, there was an empty display case in the main salon. I discovered that the owner had had a replica of the 1609 exploration vessel Half Moon owned by the Dutch East India Company and captained by Henry Hudson, who, as it turns out, was some distant relation of the owner. I was touched by the story and commissioned a model builder to replace the missing model with another one of Half Moon.
JB: what Does your wife think of your around-theworld plan?
SE: We have been married for 32 years. She is a woman of the earth and the soil. At this point, she is happy tending her 8,000 olive trees and leaving me to my adventures on the high seas. Naturally, some of the time we’ll mix and match and pop back and forth.
JB: what is your long-range program with the Boat? any must-see places?
SE: The Caribbean, then the Panama Canal, then up the coast from Mexico to Alaska, eventually to the Pacifc Islands and New Zealand. I don’t have a bucket list. I’ll just keep exploring as long as I am enjoying. I am pragmatic and a realist. I will just take it one step at a time.
JB: Do you prefer being at anchor or at a marina?
SE: I prefer to be in nature.
JB: what Do your friends know about you that others might find surprising?
SE: I was a professional basketball player. Oh, yes, and a professional drummer who played in bands.
JB: what kind of music did you play?
SE: Rock and roll, of course.
For more information: moonen.com, oceanindependence.com