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.

A young English Captain approached me about a British Flagged yacht called "Lord Jim", which was leaving after three years, He then joined as a deck hand and ended up as the only person left on board after crossing the ocean.

The Boat was at Able Point Marina. Whitsundays, Queensland. It needed a available Yacht Captain to go to Phuket Thailand via Cape York, Bali ,Indonesian. Singapore and Malaysia. It had a brochure that looked fantastic.

It was an old Camper & Nicholson made in 1977 it had a steel hull with aluminum sub structure which was riveted together.

I submitted a CV and forgot about it till I got called from the owner who was in the performance coaching business . I was quickly convinced because of the owners skills.

After driving north for two days I arrived at the marina and saw the boat, I realized I'd been conned. The yacht was a mess.

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 Added to this, all the safety equipment was out of date.

The old Captain left two days later with the owners disputing his return ticket to England.

Being the relief captain Phuket I desperately started the rebuild paying bills using my own money to progress, the promised boat money and credit card never arrived.

Some 19 month later we arrived at Yacht Haven Marina, Phuket Thailand. I continued to restore the vessel to her former glory with all systems running with a limited budget and lots of mind games for seven more months.

I am very proud to rebuild a part of nautical history of this great boat.