From the Arctic to the Tropics with SeaDek

We have some of the coolest customers in the world. Ralf Dominick, captain of Imvubu, is among them. He fitted out his 53 foot, steel hulled, Barens Seatrader sailing yacht with a combination of storm gray and cool gray SeaDek back in 2009. Since then he has traveled the world’s oceans from the arctic to the tropics and everywhere in between and the pads are still holding up! Here is a link to the original post from 2009: http://blog.seadek.com/?p=835

“Ralf has been fascinated by boats and wanted to sail since he was a small boy. First in Cape Town and then watching his dad build fishing trawlers in Luderitz. Imvubu is a labour of love into which Ralf has thoroughly enjoyed pouring his extensive knowledge of systems, electronics and mechanics together with many hours of sheer hard labour.

A number of friends have accompanied Ralf on various legs of the journey. Jenny and Earle crewed on the leg from Cape Town to Trinidad. Jenny continued all the way through the Carribean Windward Islands and back to Trinidad. Stephanie and Martin then crewed for the next leg of the voyage through the Leeward and Virgin islands. From the Virgin islands through to Charleston South Carolina Lucrecia and Martin manned the winches. Frans the joined the boat at New York and crewed together with Lucrecia all the way through the North West Passage to Nome, Alaska.

Imvubu is a 53-foot Barens Seatrader sailing yacht.  She is built for adventure and going to out-of-the-way places with a steel hull and two masts (called Ketch rigged for those more technically minded).  In car terms she is a comfortable, heavy 4×4 rather than a dainty saloon or a sports car.  Imvubu is Zulu for hippopotamus and like her namesake she is at home in the water, fairly broad in the beam yet can be ferocious when provoked. She weighs 35 tons un-provisioned and about 40 tons with water, fuel and provisions.

She was launched in June 2009 in Durban where she was built. Building her and launching her was an adventure all of its own.”

Please visit Ralf’s website and keep up with his “Captain’s Log” :http://www.yachtimvubu.com/

Order some SeaDek sheets for your boat today or contact us about custom pads as well.

SeaDek sheet material: http://www.seadek.com/c-5-sheet-material.aspx