For eight years the ANTARNA suffered the destructive sun and high humidity of the tropics in the harbor at Colón – even for such a sturdy yacht as the ANTARNA, this was an unreasonably long time. But despite no longer being “in business”, she was not forgotten by enthusiasts of great sailing ships.
One of them was the German Hartmut Paschburg, a ship’s captain and economist, who had breathed new life into old sailing ships before. He recognized that the ANTARNA, despite her poor condition, could be freed from her agony. Together with a group of Hamburg-based businessmen, he acquired the luxury yacht – and at once gave her back her old name: SEA CLOUD.
- You can learn more about the history of the SEA CLOUD in the book “Legend beneath White Sails” by Kurt Grobecker and Peter Neumann. You can also order the book in our Boutique.
But Captain Paschburg’s most difficult task lay ahead: He had to get his new acquisition across the Atlantic. Mid-July 1978, Paschburg and 38 other adventurous men and two women flew to Colón. Together with Panamanian helpers, they worked the next months to make the rotting yacht halfway seaworthy. Mid-October came the call, “Cast-off!” – and the SEA CLOUD set course for Europe. And on 15 November 1978, the time finally came: The SEA CLOUD sailed into the Hamburg harbor, where she was greeted by thousands.
The new owners were emotionally torn when they saw their yacht. It soon became clear that much more money would need to be invested than they had planned. In February 1979 the SEA CLOUD was taken to Kiel, and at the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG, the successor to the Germania-Werft shipyard, the extensive repair and reconstruction work began. Eight months later the SEA CLOUD took her first cruise under a new flag. And the magnificent diva has been at home on the world’s oceans ever since.
Top