A part of History - The refitting of Lord Jim

As a yacht Captain, returning home to Australia from the Mediterranean, Caribbean and the USA for the past seven years, I quickly found work at Brisbane Ship Yard refitting a large sloop.

I was approached to captain a ship the “Lord Jim”, that was leaving after four years, the fellow who approached me joined as an unpaid deck hand and ended up as the only one left on board.

The vessel was at a marina Marina in the Whitsundays, Queensland. It wanted an available Yacht Captain take it to Thailand via The Great Barrier Reef and Cape York. The brochure looked great, as they always do.

It was an old steel hull ketch with aluminum super structure, riveted together, and built in the UK by Camper & Nicholson in 1977.

I gave him a CV and forgot about it till I got a call from the owner who was psychologist in the performance coaching business .Of course he was a very convincing man. I took the job.

Going North north for two days I arrived at the boat and saw it was a mess and I had a sinking feeling that i had been conned.

It turned out it was completely un seaworthy and most systems broken down, With the Australian Cruise Permit expired, Ships Registration in Gibraltar expired, the hull and crew insurance expired, radio licenses expired. Added to this, all the safety equipment was out of date.

With the old Captain leaving two days later and the owners disputing his return ticket to England, this was a harrowing time for a new captain.

The Boat was desperately in need of repairs and I as the relief captain Phuket started on my own. I wanted to save face and get going but had no boat money or cards.

About 2 Years later I arrived in Thailand. I even continued to restore the vessel to her past glory with all systems running and on a limited budget and lots of problems for several more months.

Refitting this boat has bought great happiness to me and I am Proud of my efforts.

Tags: available Yacht Captain, charter, cruising, relief captain Phuket, Sailing