Yackt-i yacht, can’t go back

Did you ever dream about what it would be like to live a glamorous life where fancy yacht parties are the standard? Well, I’ll be honest: I do.

I recently attended the BIG BANG Entertainment’s Yacht Party… My friends simply had to mention the word “yacht,” and I was sooo there. Ok, not really, but still.

First of all, I should probably tell you: I’m Swedish. And my friends and I had a long discussion about how to pronounce the word “yacht” — “yackt” or “yatt”? In the end we decided we would stick to the German version: YACKT.

We were all super excited. We imagined ourselves on a yacht party —one of those ”fancy boat parties,” where we would sip champagne and live the life of a ”Gossip Girl” for one night.

We started preparing the evening before the big event when we bought the tickets from one of the owners, Adar Winreb. He told us there would be around 100 people on the boat.

But we had no idea that Ramadan would also bring a boatload of people into Yafo, which meant that traffic was ridiculous and many people who planned on coming to our yacht part simply “missed the boat.” Ha ha.

On the morning of the big day, my friends and I began the really important part: deciding what to wear to the party. After lunch, we got dressed and put on our lipstick and mascara, and did our hair, and we were ready. The BIG BANG Yacht Party was about to start. And it would launch an all-inclusive, totally revolutionary experience aimed at an international crowd.

Anyway, while we were in the  taxi we realized that we were running out of time, as there was a lot of traffic toward the Yafo port. But once we got there, we quickly realized that this event was running on Israeli time:  Most of the people — mainly students from Herzliya’s IDC College — were chillin’ and getting their drink on at the port and waiting for our ship to come in. Literally.

Well, we ended up waiting two hours. But waiting was fun — the party staff was pouring out the booze from the company promoters, and we were schmoozing it up, which was awesome. Unfortunately, only 60 or so people made it, because the rest were stuck in traffic

So, it turns out that the yacht wasn’t really a yacht. And I’ll be real: The boat looked like it had seen better days. But it was still awesome. The music was great, and the party was banging. We drank “fancy champagne” from plastic cups,” the bubbles tickling our nose and making us laugh. But then, while the boat bobbed in the waters, we started to feel sea-sick. And guess what we did to cure our nausea? We drank more! Not the best idea in the world, but carpe diem, right?

And while the boat rocked in the warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea, and while the music permeated the “yackt” (ha!) we decided that it was time to take the plunge: a friend of mine asked if I was ready to jump into the sea.

And so I did. The waters moved all around me, and I’ll admit – I was a little scared. It wasn’t easy getting back on the boat, but as soon as I did, I wanted to jump off the springboard again and into the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

This party was unlike any normal “club” party that I have ever attended. It was unique and exotic, and the experience of a lifetime. On the one hand, although we were out there on the waves almost in the middle of nowhere, we felt very secure. By having so much fun and getting to know each other, we were like one “BIG BANG party family”. On the other hand, we had a very rigorous security crew on board, with life guards who made us feel very protected. And this allowed us to test our own boundaries and do something thrilling like diving into the sea.

I had an amazing time, and it was great getting to know new and cool people. Although we were not really “Gossip Girls,” sipping from crystal goblets, we did get plenty of champagne.

While the party trip was not the boat ride that I was expecting, it actually exceeded my expectations. Yes, the boat was late, but that turned out to be a good thing, as it allowed us to get to know each other both on land and sea. Honesty, based on this event, I cannot wait for the next BIG BANG party.