Away

Away is a Sanlorenzo SD122 delivered in 2009, when she was called AWOL. Francesco Paszkowski handled both the exterior and the interior, and a year later she won the World Superyacht Award for the best semi-displacement or planing yacht between 30 and 39 metres. Her present name is meant to be read as an acronym, A Way Of Life, and that is the tone the crew aim for. A refit was completed in 2023.

What sets her apart today is where she stays. Most yachts of this size cross the Atlantic twice a year; Away is offered in the Bahamas in both summer and winter, cruising the Exumas, Eleuthera, Harbour Island, the Abacos and the waters off Nassau. For anyone flying in from North America that makes her an easy option at almost any time of year, and her stabilisers work under way as well as at anchor.

Indoors the feel is easy-going, with pale satin anigre, generous windows and bright paintings on the walls. She has two lounges, a formal saloon with the dining table on the main deck and a more casual skylounge upstairs with sofas, a desk and wide views. The owner sleeps on the main deck in a cabin as wide as the boat, with a small office of its own. On the deck beneath sit a couple of doubles and two twins where a fold-down pullman makes room for a child.

Outside, the aft deck has a lounge, the upper deck a long table for meals in the open with two corner sofas, and the sun deck a Jacuzzi, a wet bar and sunpads. Forward, a Portuguese bridge leads to more pads, small drinks tables and a sofa at the very bow, a quieter corner when the aft decks are busy. Paola Lenti supplied the outdoor seating. A couple of extras suit the islands particularly well: a floating pool with a net to keep jellyfish out, and electric scooters and folding bikes for exploring ashore.

Away is at her best with ten guests or fewer, a family or close friends, wanting unhurried days of beaches, snorkelling and short hops between cays. If you have your heart set on a Mediterranean summer you will need another boat, and the same goes for groups who expect a spa or the space of a larger yacht.