Getting the Crew Together

On a family vacation in Croatia aboard a well-appointed gulet, Heidi Mitchell learns to go with the flow. Here's how you can do the same.

I'M THE FIRST to admit I'm a type A traveler. If there's an itinerary to plan, I'll stage-manage everybody out of the way in order to coordinate it myself. It's been my familial role for 20 years-and usually my siblings and our spouses are happy to step aside. But last summer, I had no choice but to back off. That's because my big sister suggested my family join hers for a sail along Croatia's Dalmatian Coast.

Her husband, Sejo, is from Bosnia, and he knows this part of the world well. His advice: that the 12 of us spend the week aboard a traditionally styled teak sailing vessel known as a gulet.