Yes, another tropical storm is heading our way! I am writing from the sail loft of Steve and Suzanne Hollis; Ocean Sails in Bermuda. Jim Antrim, the deisgner of EVEREST HORIZONTAL, is with me, having flown from California to help assess the damage to the boat and help to plan getting her back in the water. This storm is unlikely to do the damage that Hurrican Fabian wrought on the island and on EVEREST, but the rain is complicating work.

The damamge is not trivial. There are various gouges and rents in the carbon skin of the boat. The worst is on the starboard side of the boat, where she originally went on shore. A large section of the boat is damaged, from the waterline all the way around the curve of the deck. Over the past two days, Jim and I have ground out the damaged parts of the boat, cleaned them up and filled them. Today we will fit planks underneath the boat and jack up the keel in preparation for refloating her. The plan is for TENACIOUS, the same boat that we went out and found EVEREST with, to pull her off the rocks near high tide. Now that the holes are all filled, it will be safe to do this. We’ll probably tear up the port side a bit in doing this, but she will be afloat.

It is incredibly hard to see EVEREST in such a state. But even on shore, her size and power are evident. Jim assures me that the damages is all repairable. My plan remains the same as it was before the hurricane; in November, after hurricane season, I will erect a jury rig and sail her back to the US. There is no quit in EVEREST; there will not be any quit in me either.

Wish us luck. The photo below shows me glassing the hull in a rising tide. The next photos will be of EVEREST floating again.

Tim Kent

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