Tambora was built by traditional boat builders on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, in the centuries-old tradition of a wooden Phinisi. The design and materials used guarantee immense strength and resilience of all key structural elements, especially the keel, hull and decks. Slight adjustments have been made to the original design, which was geared rather for cargo ships ferrying goods and commodities across the Indonesian archipelago, as compared to a modern liveaboard carrying passengers. Among others, they include a double keel and relatively smaller beam, to minimize rolling of the vessel in heavy seas.

Tambora has been entirely constructed out of iron wood and chosen Javanese teak. While her hull has been painted white, the superstructure, decks and roofs have all been finished with a view towards preserving the natural beauty of the teak wood. All decks and the salon rooftop feature teak parquet flooring. This way, the rustic charm and warmth of a traditional wooden vessel has been preserved. All guest suites and rooms on board have been designed by a renowned Indonesian interior designer, and built-to-design by an experienced interior architect. Guest suites are well appointed and tastefully designed in a perfect blend of traditional Indonesian motifs and modern functionality.
 
The traditional Phinsi-style arrangement of the sails has been kept unchanged. Experiencing Tambora under sails, with a good wind blowing, is an amazing sight and a great way to travel through the Indonesian islands.

Great care has been taken to optimally combine the space and atmosphere on deck with the activities of liveaboard diving. Dinghies are equipped with customised racks to store diver’s gear in between dives; tanks do not need to be carried back and forth but can be re-filled directly on the dinghies. At night and during longer periods of sailing, all gear is stored away from the elements in the dive station. No dive gear is left sitting around on deck.


Spacious ...
Tambora has been sized and configured to comfortably accommodate a maximum of 16 divers:

• Eight spacious guest suites, each at least 15m² in size, and with a large en-suite bathroom
• Choice of double and large twin beds (no bunk beds!)
• All beds longitudinally aligned with the vessel, so our guests sleep in the direction of the vessel movement
• Each guest suite comes with a writing desk. If you like, you can fill in your logbook or review the shots from the day’s diving in the privacy of your own suite
• Ample storage space for clothes, bags, books, magazines, etc.
• Large salon with separate dining and relaxing sections, offering enough space during mealtimes, as well as for chilling out over a chat and drinks with fellow divers, with a book in your hands, or working on your laptop
• Three separate lounge decks – bow, aft and salon rooftop – provide enough space and privacy, and can be fully shielded from the sun

Well appointed ...
Guest suites and the large salon make life on board as easy as possible:

• Showers in all en-suite guest bathrooms come with individually adjustable hot and cold water
• Separate shower and hand towels for each guest
• Each guest suite comes with a writing desk. So if you like, you can fill in your logbook or review the shots from the day’s diving in the privacy of your own suite
• All guest suites are equipped with individually controllable air conditioning
• Individual reading lights above each bed
• Plenty of power outlets (European 220V type) in your suite and throughout the vessel
• 2-4 portholes per guest suite for natural light, as well as a fresh sea breeze when opened!
• The large salon is well ventilated at most times, but also has its own air conditioning for those rainy days
• Large flat screen TV/DVD with home cinema surround sound in the salon
• Satellite-based communication for phone calls, your personal email and internet access


Quiet ...
Noise – as such, or as a consequence of excessive vibration – can seriously spoil life on board. Noise has also been proved to contribute to fatigue and seasickness. Tambora has been designed and built to keep excessive noise under control:

• Throughout the entire vessel, separating walls have been soundproofed with noise absorbing materials. This helps mitigate noise, as well as guarantee the privacy of our guest suites
• Engine room bulkheads are extra thick to absorb engine noise
• Similarly, all ceilings and decks have been soundproofed to mitigate step noise
• Tambora’s power train employs a flexible coupling to reduce vibration and thus structure-borne noise
• Her five-blade propeller is made of a special, very stiff alloy, minimizing internal vibration of the blades which are a key source of structural noise
• All engines under deck sit on flexible, shock-absorbing mountings
• Our “silent” water-cooled air conditioning system does not need noisy radiator fans

Cool ...
Among the natural luxuries of travelling at sea is enjoying the breezes when sitting out on deck. Conversely, inside a vessel, and especially under deck, temperatures can be too hot for comfort. Wherever possible, Tambora has been designed to mitigate this:

• All ceilings and decks have been thermally insulated, to prevent the rooms underneath from heating up under the intense tropical sun
• Tambora’s hull is painted white to reflect sunlight. As trivial as it sounds, this makes a huge difference to temperatures inside!
• All guest suites as well as the large salon feature individually controllable air conditioning

Savory ...

• Tamboda's Chef serves a menu of tasty Indonesian, European and Japanese specialties, freshly prepared in the boat's well-equipped kitchen. Five meals a day mean there is a tasty bite awaiting you when you surface.
• Snack prior to the first dive of the day: coffee, tea, fruit juice, milk, toast, selection of biscuits
• Breakfast after the first dive: choice of omelet, scrambled eggs, bacon and eggs, pancakes; also toast, marmalades, and fruits, served with coffee, tea, fruit juices, milk and soft drinks
• Lunch: served, soup and main course, kept rather light!
• Afternoon snack after the third dive of the day: variation of cakes, fruits, and Indonesian specialties, with coffee and tea
• Dinner: buffet-style, with a different theme every evening
• Drinks are on a help-yourself basis available in the salon: drinking water, a broad selection of local coffees, tea, milk, a range of soft drinks soft drinks and beer are all included in the cruise fare
• Wine and liquor are charged on a separate basis

Lowest Possible Carbon Emissions
For the time being, there is no way to operate a ship like Tambora without burning fossil fuels – by the ships’ main engine, to thrust the ship forward when there is not enough wind, and by its auxiliary engines to generate the electric power required to illuminate rooms and cabins, keep food fresh, prepare meals, fill dive tanks, and many others. While the usage of diesel cannot (yet) be avoided, Tambora's crew go to length to keep it as low as possible. This means lower carbon emissions into the atmosphere. It also means no need for fuel surcharges.

Tambora’s propulsion system has been engineered for maximum fuel efficiency. At the heart is a new, genuine marine engine, which is significantly lower on fuel consumption. The five-blade propeller has been custom-designed and fabricated from a special, stiffer alloy, minimising power losses due to both internal vibration and unnecessary slip.

The electrical system, too, has been designed end-to-end with a view towards maximum fuel efficiency, including:

• A range of genuine marine and industrial power generators with different output, allowing us to always choose the most suitably sized engine under different load conditions
• Capacitor banks to smooth power needs and curb peaks
• Over-sized marine cabling throughout the entire vessel, resulting in lower distribution losses
• The exclusive usage of power saving lighting throughout the entire vessel; searching for a conventional light bulb is a futile exercise on Tambora!
• The thermal insulation of all decks and ceilings, and the usage of a white, reflecting paint on the outer hull above the waterline, avoids the vessel’s interior from heating up too much under direct sunlight, so that air conditioners do not need to run so hard to keep temperatures comfortable