Yacht Club.(M/V Aqua)(Product/service evaluation)

Byline: editor: Valerie Steiker

Richard Alleman sets sail for far-flung adventures aboard a fleet of smart new vessels.

Sailing out of the port town of Iquitos, the just-launched M/V Aqua brings luxury to the Peruvian Amazon. This stylish little riverboat has twelve spacious suites with oversize windows and sleek minimalist interiors by Jordi Puig, one of Peru's top decorators. Equipped with three launches, each piloted by a naturalist guide, the Aqua offers close encounters with hidden inlets and estuaries, remote jungle villages, exotic birds, and wildlife ranging from black alligators to pink dolphins. Back onboard, one of Lima's hottest chefs, Pedro Miguel Schiaffino, has designed the ship's nouveau-Peruvian fare. Itineraries--from three to seven days--start at $1,950 per person, double occupancy; aquaexpeditions.com.

On the other side of the globe, Atelier Egypt offers a voyage back in time, thanks to two exquisitely restored nineteenth-century dahabiehs ("golden boats" in Arabic), one of which belonged to a sultan. With Egyptologists onboard, these classic craft, featuring handsome (and air-conditioned) white cabins, crisp cotton bedding, and en-suite bathrooms with showers, ply the Nile between Luxor and Aswan on itineraries carefully plotted to avoid the big tour boats at locks and popular archaeological sites. At the same time, because of their small size--sleeping eight and eighteen passengers respectively--the boats take in a number of rarely visited villages and temples. At night, candlelit dinners on the kilim-covered deck bring back the romance of nineteenth-century travel. From $2,650 for an eight-day cruise; atelieregypt.com.

Over in the South Pacific, Tu Moana and Ti'a Moana, the posh twin yachts of Bora Bora Cruises, take sailing in French Polynesia to a chic new level, boasting glamorous staterooms with Swedish linens, Kenzo throws, Philippe Starck fixtures, and a portable spa. The onboard ambience is laissez-aller --no serious schedules, no fixed sittings for meals--as the two ...