The restoration work was carried out from the keel up at the request of owners Ahmet and Cigdem Ongun. The elegant wooden exterior was left largely unchanged, save for the hull sides: The original two-tone finish was replaced by one navy blue hue. This gives the vessel a slightly more modern feel but doesn’t detract from her charm.“During the rebuild we went to great lengths to not change the exterior dimensions by an inch,” the Onguns said in a statement.
The new interior was designed in a traditional British colonial style for a little added nostalgia. Cigdem sourced a range of vintage furniture and beautiful Italian fabrics to ensure the decor was up to snuff with the rest of the vessel. The layout was also tweaked to improve the flow between cabins.’s engine was completely rebuilt to improve performance on the waves. She now offers a cruising speed of nine knots, a top speed of 11 knots and a range of 750 nautical miles under the mill alone.
Over the past three decades, the yacht has successfully served as a honeymoon charter yacht in the Caribbean and carried out luxury cruises for a high-end hotel in Turkey called Sabrina’s House. The Onguns purchased the vessel from the hotel in 2017, then changed her name from. Ahmet felt the schooner’s classic, colonial design was deserving of the British explorer’s name. No doubt the Captain would be proud.