Vessel: Caliber 47 Sailing Yacht

Name: Eclipse
Owners: Kate & Chris M.
Hailing Port: Newport

Kate and Chris bought their “retirement boat” in 2014, a 2005 Caliber 47. Though generally outfitted, the boat needed some work and many enhancements. In addition, they had a list of significant projects they wanted to takcle to prepare their boat for living aboard, full-time. After a lot of reasearch and checking with references, they chose to move forward with the team at GIBY.

“The project planning, estimating, and actual delivery to a schedule is unparalleled in our experience dealing with other boat yards, from Maryland to Maine. GIBY got more work done on our boat by December than other boat yards did all winter. The team was always willing to work with us, answering many questions and keeping a constant stream of communication going even though we were remote most of the time.”

Work Scope:

• Install new watermaker
• Install new washer/dryer, add shelving above & enclose with folding door
• Fabricate & install chain locker divider
• Install new windlass & anchor, replace chain
• Re-install wind generator
• Inspect steering system & rudder bearings
• Install Hydrovane auto-steering system
• Upgrade Garmin electronics package
• Replace radar
• Install AIS & Sat Phone
• Replace inverter
• Service HVAC system
• Inspect rigging, replace mast & boom sheaves
• Inspect & rebed chainplates
• Replace standing rigging
• Replace running rigging
• Install new Harken furler
• New plumbing, replace hosing & update fixtures
• Address diesel engine maintenance & repair items
• Service bow thruster
• Replace captain’s chairs with bench settee in main salon
• Custom interior cabinetry
• Hull repairs
• Remove hull decals, replace with painted boot & cove stripes
• New sails
• New cushions for salon & nav station
• New interior lee cloths for berths
• New canvas for cockpit – dodger, bimini & side curtains

“The work mentioned above was completed between the fall of 2016 and spring of 2018,” says Kate. “We left the boat with GIBY from October through May, and then lived on the boat, in Portland, from June through September. That gave us a chance to test, use, and learn the new items each summer.”

In June 2018, Kate and Chris moved onto the boat full-time. They spent a couple months doing final shakedown cruising along the Maine coast, working with GIBY on final preparations. In August 2018, they left Maine and sailed down the East Coast to Chesapeake Bay. The passage took about a month, avoiding the threat of hurricanes, and doing a combination of offshore and coastal cruising.

In November 2018, ECLIPSE joined about 21 other boats for the ARC Caribbean 1500 Rally, sailing from Chesapeake Bay to Tortola, British Virgin Islands. The fleet hit some significant weather and seas in their first 36 hours, and were later diverted to Turks & Caicos to avoid a developing low-pressure system.

Through it all, the boat performed as expected.

“We are pleased to report that the boat, and the extensive work that GIBY did for us over the past few years, performed really well. The quality of the work is excellent. We will be getting extensive use of the boat and all its systems in the coming years. We’ll be in the Caribbean this winter and back to the US East Coast next summer. We’ll repeat that pattern again next year,” says Kate.

“Eventually we plan to sail to South America and the Mediterranean. We aren’t sure we’ll make it all the way back to Maine next year, but we have said that if we need any major work done on the boat, we’ll go back to Maine, just so we can have GIBY do the work. They are the only boat yard we have ever said that about, having worked with numerous in the 20 years that we’ve owned boats. I just wish they had a location in the Caribbean!”