Above: The
beautiful Haida
in all her glory
Insert: life ring
with the yacht’s
new name
25
CLASSIC BOAT JUNE 2019
a reclusive Greek; the Japanese Isaka family
who kept her in Yokosuka; Cyprus-born
businessman Andreas Liveras, by coincidence
another baking tycoon, who brought her back
to the Mediterranean and also chartered her in
the Caribbean; Charles Grohe whose family had
owned the Grohe tap and shower company; and then
the owner of the J-Class yacht Endeavour, who planned
to use her as a support yacht for his racing programme,
cruised her in the Caribbean and Mediterranean, then
had a change of plan, laid her up on the River Fal and
put her on the market. During those post-war years
she has been called Sarina, Rosenkavalier, Haida G
and Dona Amélia.
The current owner fi rst saw Haida – in the Balearics
where his family have a house – many years ago when he
was a young adult, and he had always coveted her. He
was immediately interested when he heard she was for
sale and, after period of careful deliberation, he bought
her. He knew that she needed a signifi cant amount of
work done to her and, after considering fi ve
other yards, he decided to take her to Pendennis
Shipyard in Falmouth, Cornwall.
Haida’s pre-purchase survey revealed that a
certain amount of hull steelwork would have to be
replaced: about eight tonnes, it was thought at the time.
However, once it was possible to properly inspect the
inside of the hull – when the pipework in the engine
room bilge and 45 tonnes of lead ingots were removed
- a very different picture emerged. Not only were large
areas of plating severely corroded, but so were many
sections of frames and fl oors. In the end, something in
the order of 118 tonnes of steel, about half the bottom of
the boat, had to be replaced, and there is no longer a
single original riveted plate below the waterline. With
this work complete, several measures were taken to
minimise the risk of such severe corrosion taking place in
the future: pumps were serviced, propshafts machined,
and glands were properly packed to reduce the chances
of leaks. In addition, piping was renewed and rerouted
HAIDA
LOA
233ft 3in(71.1m)
LW L
180ft 3in (54.94m)
BEAM
30in (9.15m)
DRAUGHT
13ft 1in (3.99m)
GROSS TONNAGE
720