Sailing Genevieve…

You thought we had forgotten you all!  Well, we are back, and so is Genevieve: better, shinier, more modern, and fully upgraded (just the boat, not us).

In February, we put Genevieve on the float-on float-off DYT yacht transport ship and had her hauled back to Fort Lauderdale to start the long and complicated process of repairs.

With the leadership of a great rigger, Brad Storm, we removed the kinked mast and all the running (lines) and standing (wire) rigging, took a circular saw (carefully) to the mast to extract the mainsail, largely unscathed. Then we chopped up the mast and rigging after reclaiming what we could and sent the bits off to the scrap yard and ordered a new mast and rigging.

She was hauled out of the water and a team of skilled guys started repairing gouges and scrapes in the fiberglass…within a week she looked better than new and her hull was gleaming.  We pulled off and repaired a long section of toerail and rub rail and replaced and ordered replacement stanchions, pushpit rail and other sundries from the Hylas factory.  A skilled welder came to address the dinghy davit, which was bent like a pretzel, and declared that he could fix it rather than us having to get a replacement (that saved us $10,000).  We had to have a window replaced that was broken, and then the woodworkers descended to fix some of the water damaged wood in the interior.

But…while we were at it we (well Martin) decided it would be a great idea to have a little upgrade session.  So we dove in and replaced all the electronics (yes, now we can sail the boat using an iPhone app), stereo system, added sexy mood lighting, mast up-lights (that serve no purpose except to increase the perception of glamor), solar panels, batteries, all new Sunbrella canvas including a large sun canopy, chic cockpit cushions, a fabulous new WHITE dinghy, and 300ft of new anchor chain.

We spend weeks cleaning the decks, polishing and then waxing every outside part of Genevieve to get off the accumulated grime and to protect her from the Florida sun.  In Mid May we surrounded her with fenders and lines and left her for the Summer hoping that no big storms will come her way.

Then started a busy summer back in Long Island: building a new deck, sailing other boats, camping, kayaking, partying!

Now we are starting to plan Genevieve’s return to the Caribbean to continue our exploration of the Windward and Leeward islands this winter.  We will go back to finish her refit in late October and make sure she is fully functional before setting off around January 1 for the 7 day, non-stop 1200-mile passage from Ft Lauderdale back to the British Virgin Islands.  Then we will  meander down the islands, entertaining a collection of guests as we go.

More updates soon…promise