Somehow this is a true aluminium-month, I guess: Another „alloy-story“ coming up for you here. A few days ago I happened to visit Blue Yachting of Bremerhaven again, the German dedicated dealer and importer for yachts made by the French Grand Large Yachting Group, of which Allures and Garcia are their best known (RM Yachts, Gunboat or Outremer are their other products). In this, one could say, Bremerhaven is Germany´s „home of the alumiunium boats“. And there we are, even before entering the premises, I could see something interesting …
On one of their external storage areas three most familiar hull shapes greeted me right at the entrance: An Allures 40.9, my favourite Allures 45.9 and the Queen of the storage, a Garcia Exploration 52. Blue Yachting´s staff members were buzzing about and diligently going about their work: This boat, as Nils Schürg, CEO of Blue Yachting told me her story in brief, became the focus of my interest. BLUEWAY, as her christened name was, just came back from a 5 year circumnavigation, having sailed a staggering 50.000 nautical miles. „You want to see how a boat looks like after sailing around the world?“, Nils asked. Well, yes, of course!
In this, you could say, what the staff of Blue Yachting technicians are performing right now and in the coming weeks and months on the yacht could be comparable to the notorious „D-Check“ for airplanes: The most detailed, intricate, extensive and thorough check, maintenance, refurbishing and upgrading plan you could have. So now is the chance to look at a yacht that has gone all the way around and had been subject to the elements for 5 years.
Meet SY BLUEWAY
Garcia Yachts of France is, one could say that with a high certainty, the synonym for explorer sailing yachts on the market. With some 40 years of experience in making this rugged, stiff go-anywhere boats the shipyard in Cherbourg has forged a legacy that is over and over again verified by the adventurs of their customers. BLUEWAY is a fine example: The boat belongs to a sailing couple dedicated to the „real stuff“. She is equipped with all the amenities you´d have when „going blue“, and that´s what they did.
Most sailboats aren´t used by their owners in the ways the shipyards and designers intended them for. Especially the true blue water cruisers, capable of sailing into uncharted regions, withstand the harshest conditions and provide a safe and comfortable platform to discover the world never really sail down to the icy growler-infested regions or tackle the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. Which is okay: Everyone should have the yacht he wants, no matter what he does with the boat in the end. But on the other hand: It always fills my heart with joy when I meet people, who really cast off, who really go blue, who really take their yachts (or their yachts taking them?) to the places we can only dream of. Just like BLUEWAY did.
An aluminium yacht after 5 years circumnavigation
The owner couple also attended the Grand Large Yachting World Odyssey 500, a circumnavigation sailing event staged by the shipyard for owners of yachts of their brands. The last edition took place in 2021 tillthis year, 2024. BLUEWAY was one of the participating yachts. A rally, helping the owners to go around our planet, see the most beautiful places and help them doing this in a safe, organized matter. A great idea that really works, Oyster for example has a similar event, the Oyster World Rally, that has become a classic. I go around the hull of BLUEWAY and take a closer look …
After five years out at sea, you can clearly see the tribute a boat has to pay to Poseidon, the mighty God of the Seas. The hull is covered with smaller and bigger scratches, dents and some buckling. That´s the clear advantage of having a metal hull: Bumping now and then into pontoons or bollards cannot be prevented, even more if you are sailing double handed. A GRP hull is much more fragile and I am sure, would look awfully different to BLUEWAY´s rugged outer shell.
Of course, the material aluminium comes, as every matter, with its own properties, advantages and disadvantages. The absolute stiffness, ruggedness and practical indestructibility of an aluminium hull comes with some downsides. For example, painting aluminium or even put stickers on it is a kind of annoyance: Due to the formation of a patina, a natural layer of protecting oxidation, practically everything you put on aluminium will come off over time. One can clearly see it: Trip strip, ship´s name and brand names are practically gone.
Other than that, especially the submerged part of the hull, it looks abslutely fantastic! Given the fact that this boat has been going around the Earth for the past five years, just some of the antifouling has been peeled off, some dents are visible but nothing more. As Nils puts it: Some new underwater paint, a thorough cleaning and polishing (maybe sanding) of the hull, new stickers: That´s basically it. Another advantage of aluminium yachts: They are made to last.
High seas, tall waves: A boat made for the tough
The Grand Large Yachting World Odyssey may sound like an all-inclusive 5-star event where everything is prepared and pre-arranged, but don´t get me wrong: It is a hell of a challenge! Together with sailing legend Jimmy Cornell, who by the way has a deep connection with Garcia, the organizers developed a two-route itinerary which lead the participating crews to see the most attractive places when going around.
Route 1 was the classic Coconut-route, route 2 the more challenging course around Cape Horn. BLUEWAY went for the coconuts. Starting from Seville in Spain, passing the Canary Islands, via Cape Verde to Panama, through the canal, the fleet tackled the Pacific Ocean. Visiting Galapagos they sailed towards Tahiti, where they re-united with the Cape Horn fleet, that at the same time has sailed down South America, passing Rio and Buenos Aires, visiting Ushuaia and, of course, do a dash down to Antarctica. Coming up north via the Easter Islands, they also arrived in Tahiti. Sounds intriguing?
Oh boy, I can tell you, just by looking at the world rally routes map, I felt an instant boost of incurable wanderlust! Now that the owner couple sent me these nice pictures of their yacht mooring at the different locations – only a few of many hundreds if not thousands taking during their sailing adventure for sure. BLUEWAY is now back in Germany with her thorough check and refit ordered, the guys in the workshop had already started to get this job done. A huge undertaking. Clearing the boat and getting her empty is one big task, the normal winterizing of engine, generator, batterie banks, fuel and most of all fresh water cycles are among of the first jobs to be done.
Wear and tear after 50.000 nautical miles sailing
I crawl deep underneath the huge hull and take a look at the centerboard and the drop keel housing. Garcia yachts are made to fall dry on almost any underground, with a strong center „backbone“ and two massive, rugged rudder blades which can perfectly well take on the weigh and make for lateral support. I can´t see any wear and tear on both rudder blades apart from the antifouling paint that is missing massively here, no wonder, the rudders are the parts with the most friction in the water, hence most abrasion of antifoul paint.
Another interesting thing are the sacrificial anodes. Corrosion, especially galvanic corrosion and contact corrosion with other metals, is a big topic almost always in discussion when aluminium yachts are in the focus. Well. I´ve made some nice articles on this, but this put first: When electric and electronic installations aboard are made properly in a mass-less way, galvanic corrosion can only be induced from the outside. Mainly shore power-installations, neighbouring boats which „eat away“ your precious metals and very often also sheet pile walls which are used as base construction for pontoons and marinas can cause this nasty stuff happen. If monitored and taken care of, this is no problem.
As I can quickly see at the anodes which already had been dismounted from BLUEWAYs hull, those had been suffering and making their sacrifice for the boat pretty well. As an owner you should always be aware of the potential risk that is posed by galvanic corrosion to your boat: This is not an exclusive burden of aluminium-owners, but also very widespread among GRP-boats. Another nice detail was the anchor …
The poor piece of equipment has seen countless anchorages for sure. The anchor itself is covered in a thick layer of patina, but also with a quite thick layer of deep corrosion and rust at the tip: A testament to the forces and wear such a piece of equipment is exposed to. Maybe the owners should think of a proper stainless steel anchor before leaving for their next adventure? I would love to see how such a „luxury“ anchor would look like after 50.000 nautical miles indeed!
As apparently proper berths, marinas and even harbors with simple pontoons are a thing mostly common in Europe and North America, anchoring or belaying to a buoy is more common when sailig around the world. Even „shortly“ after leaving European waters, entering the Caribbean, a good anchor with grip and holding power is a necessity! After rounding the boat from the exterior, I climb up to the bathing platform, eager to see how BLUEWAY looks from the inside after 5 years at sea …
External refit: Just cosmetics
As Nils Schürg, CEO of Blue Yachting, tells me, the owners have ordered a complete fresh-up of the external appearance. I am surprised that most of the painted surfaces of the deck, deckhouse, dodger and such look amazingly new. The bright white when she left her building shed in Cherbourg has indeed received a slight yellowish complexion, I guess this is the work of a relentless barrage of the paint with heavy UV radiation from the sun.
Of course the stickers and the brand sign have suffered a bit, but that´s all but cosmetics. Nils tells me that the owners wish a refreshment of the white paint as well as a thorough refurbishemnt of the Cork flooring. This is most interesting for me, as the supplementation of real Teak for sialboat decks is a huge topic. I´ve seen many different materials and have also made my decision which one to go for in my own now boat, but Cork is a material I find particularly interesting.
It´s a naturally sourced product and not crude oil-based like so many other fake Teak floorings. It has also a nice feel on the feet. I must say, I personally don´t like the looks of it on classic boats so much (for me it is unthinkable to put Cork on my Omega 42) but I absolutely fancy this material on the Garcia! It really works for me here and „fits“ the idea of a go-anywhere yacht. And by the way: If this is the quality of this decking material after 5 years sailing – hats off! Hats off to the shipyard fitting it so nicely in the first place – and I am surprised to see literally no defects. It just needs a little sanding and will look like brand new!
Cockpit-life
Almost all of the time sailing is spent in the cockpit. As much as the cabin size, beds, galley and bathrooms down below are of course important – most frequently and heavily used location aboard is a boat´s cockpit. The Garcia Exploration 52 has a particularly big cockpit with a classy layout. BLUEWAY as a boat which is sailing in the warmer regions of the planet, is of course equipped with a full covering bimini (which is a absolute must-have, thinking of skin cancer and protection agains UV-rays!) and the nicely shaped dodger provides for at least a bit protection against rain and spray when sailing in bad weather.
The contrast between those two pictures couldn´t be bigger: Above, a nice scenic small pontoon at the end of an inlet, giving way to a breathtaking panoramic view. Best location to invite some friends or fellow sailors over to join you in the cockpit, enjoying an ice-cold beer. And below … the status quo: Interim storage for all the stuff that comes out from below deck to be put to a dry winter storage during refit works.
I take a look around in the cockpit, particularly interested in the marks that five years of true offshore blue water sailing may have left. But honestly, I can´t see any. Seriously: I´ve seen boats which had never left the Baltic Sea, let alone German territorial waters, which look much worse, worn down and neglected. The apparent state of BLUEWAY is, apart from some dust and crust absolutely great. I mean, look at this lever of the electronic throttle control of the engine …
Either the owners are particularly caring or this is a testament for the quality of the installed equipment. I guess, it´s a mixture of both. There is no rust whatsover, no corrosion, no flaking off of paint or damaged parts. I cannot believe that this boat just returned from five years at sea. From a trip around the world …
A big surprise under deck.
And it even gets better under deck. Of course it´s a big mess down here as the guys are still emptying the yacht, but as I stood there in the saloon and inspecting the details, I was puzzled. The leather cushions, true to the ship´s name in a nice light blue, were softened but like brand new. How does your central sofa at home look like after five years of permanent use? I mean, the owners surely have used the dining table and most of all the forward facing nav station on a daily basis. Yet, the cushions as well as the furniture look absolutely amazing!
The Garcia Exploration-series has a raised saloon which allows for an unobstructed panoramic roundsight of 360 degrees. The forward facing windows are negatively angled so that rain and spray as well as light reflections won´t hinder the view to the bow. She has a nav station with secondary displays and also controls for autopilot and the engine located here. That´s one of the details directly influenced by Jimmy Cornell, by the way.
The cabins are relatively empty. I cannot spot wear and tear in the wooden joinery of this yacht. This, I am sure by now, is something that speaks for the care and caretaking for the yacht by their owners. I don´t know these people (yet), but looking at their yacht I am sure these are dedicated sailors, caring, attentive and thoughtful. There is no smell at all, no stains, no bruises, no defaults. Boy, have I seen literal stinking garbage pits, some of this completely worn down after just two seasons. This one, after a nice refurbishment, could easily be taken as a showcase boat for Cannes Yachting Festival!
Back into the saloon, right above the forward facing nav-station some of the roofing panels have already been taken down. A seldom view onto the insulation of a Garcia. One of the major differences of both aluminium yacht brands of Grand Large Yachting – Allures and Garcia – is the thickness of the insulation. Whilst the Allures „only“ features a single insulation, it´s doubled for the Garcia. Traditionally, the Allures is the boat of choice for circumnavigators mostly staying in the warmer regions, Garcias are often to be found in the icy areas of the planet as well.
Where possible, the crew of Blue Yachting had already been removing the access panels and floor boards which lead to the engine and auxilliary engine rooms underneath the saloon´s deck. That´s the advantage of having a raised saloon: Underneath is so much volume, you don´t have to take away space from the aft cabins but can fit a large engine room as well as a pilot berth underneath. You should check this article where I have a complete walkthrough of such a yacht with these details.
With Garcia, even the floor boards are insulated by the way. This makes sense: I vividly remember sailing in November or even December and even though the Diesel forced heating was actively working all day, the boat lost so much precious warmth over an ice-cold freezing floor. You can´t walk barefeet or on socks as the floor was permanently cold. Well, not in a Garcia, just look at the bare thickness of this insulation!
Upgrades for the next big project
As Nils tells me, the owners have not only ordered a complete „D-Check“ of their BLUEWAY but also some interesting upgrades. Their next adventure is on the horizon, this time it seems, the two want to take their Garcia to the higher lattitudes. The magic words are spoken: Northwest Passage! Yes, that´s a tour where a boat like this will show it´s true nature and what she had been built for. So, what´s in for the upcoming upgrades?
Nils tells me that next to a new set of sails the owners think of replacing the whole aluminium rigging with a custom made Carbon mast by Axxon. The Garcia Exploration carries a hefty displacement of almost 20 tons, I recall. So why go for this lightweight detail? Nils assures me: With a composite mast and new sails, she will definitely sail completely different, more vividly and nimble. Well, I hope I can make an article about that upgrade in spring 2025!
Some other details are also to be changed, certainly many of which are purposefully done in order to make for a safe passage through the far North. What a great project, I think! And what a nice story. I mean, most of us don´t even use 10 per cent of the potential that is build into our boats. This couple tastes the whole of it, and they are absolutely right in doing so! I say thank you to the owners letting me show their yacht and giving us some impressions into their journey around the world. I hope I can make another story about this amazing voyage soon.
That´s how you do it!
There´s nothing more left to say after I finish my little „inspection“. I am really surprised and this in a big time positive way of how good a yacht looks after 50.000 nautical miles rounding the world and being sailed for five years. Sure, that is mostly the credit of this apparently very special owner-couple, but also a testament to the building quality of this boat in particular.
I must say, I am more an Allures-guy, as I like the more lighter and performance-oriented boats. That is the nice thing about this brand: They offer a heavily for exploration adventures optimized yacht, the Garcia, and the more cruising, nimble, Coconut route-optimized boat, which is the beautiful Allures. I know that the owners of BLUEWAY are eager to have her back in the water next year, but I can´t wait as well to see her sailing again after this extensive D-Check.
Related articles which might interest you:
At Garcia / Allures shipyard in Cherbourg
A new Allures is in the making
Luxploration: Walkthrough of the new Garcia Exploration 60