Bubalo grew up in the historic town of Split, the largest coastal city in Croatia, whose centre is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Living so close to the country’s famously beautiful waters, and with a family holiday home in a small bay near Rogoznica on the Dalmatian Coast, he spent his childhood years messing around on the sea – including on board various small motor yachts that his family occasionally chartered in the region’s islands – “just dreaming of having a big one…”

And yet, for aspirational teenagers looking to fuel their yachting passion, there wasn’t much to go off at that time. It was an age before the internet – or at least, before it was readily available – but that didn’t stop Bubalo from pursuing his dream.

“I used to write to magazines all the time – including BOAT International – sticking small pictures on my letters and asking them all about yacht building or bits of equipment,” he smiles. They’d sometimes reply, offering up valuable nuggets of advice.

Meanwhile his family business provided plentiful opportunities for research. His parents imported fine foods, such as Parmesan cheese, milk and meats, from countries in Europe including Italy, Austria and Slovenia.

He grabbed every opportunity he could to conduct business trips abroad, exploring the marinas while in town. Amels, Benetti and Royal Huisman yachts ranked as his favourites, and he’d frequently walk the dock, asking owners if he could come on board.

“I don’t know why they said yes,” he laughs. “I think they saw my passion and liked that I was honest. One of them was one of the most powerful businessmen in Croatia, and I told him, ‘One day I’m going to build a similar yacht, can I come in and see the lights?’ He said, ‘Come in,’ and soon I was writing down in my notebook all the details, different engineering solutions...”

It might sound absurd in retrospect, but Bubalo’s notebook of suppliers later stood him in good stead – after all, there’s no substitute for seeing things up close and personal, rather than via your MacBook screen. “I was deeply focused on quality,” he recalls. “That was what was most important to me.”

As Bubalo entered the final year of his economics degree, a fortuitous opportunity came up. His father was given the chance to buy a former fishing vessel from Norway, from a company that had suddenly gone into administration.

“It had a strong hull structure, which was great for the Adriatic Sea, but aside from that we needed to completely rebuild her,” Bubalo says. The offer was too good to turn down, so Bubalo and his father bought the yacht, while Bubalo opened his own company in order to manage the project. “I felt secure having family support, but I handled it all by myself,” he says.

At first, Bubalo was somewhat daunted at the prospect of taking on such a task at a young age, and it was perhaps a strange purchase for the import/export food specialists. “Sometimes parents know their children better than we believe,” he smiles. “I think they knew I was going to make it. They’ve always been a huge support.”

On his first day in business, “I was the king!” he laughs. “Then they put the money in my account – even better! But then I needed to get an office, hire some staff, pay some people…”

The honeymoon period was already over, yet Bubalo’s family business experience played a vital role. His sister was an accountant and both parents were economists, so talking shop at the dinner table was common when he was a child.

It gave him an innate sense of good business practice, whatever the industry – but too much work chat is something Bubalo struggles with in his own home today.

His wife, Vinka, was also the child of a family business which she now runs, importing European luxury clothes and accessories into Croatia.

“We catch ourselves talking about [work] too much, and we need to cut that,” he says. “As a parent you need to teach your children, but you’ve also got to give them freedom [from that side of things].”

Refitting La Perla to own her not only as his personal boat but also as a luxury yacht for charter felt like a huge risk at the time. “The Croatian market was quite behind,” Bubalo explains.

Service levels were questionable, and the only yacht charters were going to large groups of young Australians and Europeans paying rock-bottom prices. He didn’t want to go down the same path.

“If you ask me, every business should be part business, part dream. What could be more amazing?”

“I wanted a yacht that I could use, that represented me and my life,” he says. “But I also wanted it to be a business success.” He was a total novice in the yachting industry. “But my parents always taught me, if you don’t know something, you need to learn from the best. And that’s what I did, step by step.”

The yacht underwent two refits, in 2019 and 2023, one structural and one for the interior, at a shipyard in Trogir and under the guidance of DWG Interiors.

The hull was painted a tasteful pale beige (as per Bubalo’s notebook – similar to a Benetti that had once caught his eye), while the interior and exterior lighting was replaced and new teak decking was added throughout, along with a new spa and massage space.

When it came to the interiors, everything was replaced – from bathrooms and carpets to curtains, cushions, and all furniture – following an aesthetic inspired by the iconic 1920s hotel in Zagreb, Esplanade.

“La Perla is like a vintage boutique hotel, but cleaned up to make it a touch more modern, and with a colour palette that works with the sea,” explains Bubalo. One of the yacht’s key features is her surprisingly large windows, while an impressive wellness space out on deck is also a welcome addition.

“The deck is wooden so I didn’t want plastic or metal equipment – I wanted a wooden exercise bike, a wooden rowing machine… We found them in Norway and they’re really like a work of art,” Bubalo says.

A spacious new beach club with a lounge and new swimming platform completed the look, with a bespoke electric surfboard designed by graphic designer Mate Zaja to fit with the yacht’s style.

As the phrase goes, “build it and they shall come” – and with La Perla that certainly held true. Bubalo explains that the first couple of years were slow and that, before the refit, the yacht was chartered by an American company, where it reached a maximum of 35 charters.

The yacht’s popularity means there’s less and less time available for Bubalo to enjoy the new-look La Perla himself, but nonetheless he manages a few family holidays each year together with the whole family – his teenage stepson and stepdaughter, seven-year-old son, wife, parents and in-laws. “Being all together at sea is just fantastic,” he enthuses. “It’s part of my identity.”

“My parents taught me, if you don’t know something, you need to learn from the best. And that’s what I did”

Of course, all big family gatherings have their tensions. “On the first day it’s always a competition – who will be the leader?” He says.

“But the rest of the time everyone is just completely happy. When we were gathered around the Christmas table this year, all anyone wanted to talk about was La Perla – they’ll be so sad if we sell it. I remember one time, we all went out in the tender apart from my father and mother-in-law, who stayed on the stern waving to us all,” he remembers fondly. “They seemed so proud.”

Bubalo often settles into a comfortable routine when on board. “I wake up early in the morning and jump in the sea, or ask the crew to take me to the shore so I can go for a run. Then I’ll take a coffee outside, perhaps do a little reading and then drop anchor in a calm bay and do some watersports like kayaking, playing with the water bike or the e-foil or something like that with the kids. When you’re with the children, it’s good for them to burn off a little energy.”

Afternoons are reserved for more precious family time, before dinner on deck or at a new location. Bubalo admits he is somewhat hard to impress on the restaurant front. “When you’ve grown up surrounded by quality food, it’s hard to go back,” he says. For him, he is permanently torn between chartering La Perla and keeping her for himself.

“When I’m on board there’s always a hard fight within myself. It’s just so beautiful, I’m permanently thinking about how lucky I am, thanking God, my parents… but then the next minute I’m thinking, ‘OK, I need to sign another charter now.’”

Not that he feels resentful of the fact he has to share his transformed yacht with others. In fact, he’s looking for further projects to take on, from more new build projects for himself, to managing them for other owners. “If you ask me, every business should be part business, part dream,” he says. “What could be more amazing?”