Construction
Construction of Gerty started the beginning of February 2017. She was scheduled to take about six months to build and hit the water in early July.
A highlight of the build process was near the end of March 2017 when we first saw Gerty after her hull was complete. At the time, we were impressed with the yard and the quality and pride that was being put into the boats. We visited the completed aluminum hull at the factory in Conde-sur-Noireau and were thrilled with what we saw. This small factory only does the aluminum work. The workers seemed to take real pride in their work, and the management was very engaged. Our hull was so solid. It was so impressive. The curves were true to the design. It was a real work of art. It looked like no fairing would be required. All our custom requests had been implemented. We were walked through the aluminum fabrication process and shown how the integrity of the welds are tested. We were 100% confident that the hull was going to take us anywhere we wanted to go.
We then visited the main factory in Cherbourg, the next stop for our hull. This larger factory is where the hull would be painted, the interiors installed, the deck fastened, and the mast raised. While at the factory, we discussed open issues, made decisions, and toured the other boats in progress. We were grateful for their hospitality and really enjoyed our visit.
Our other experiences with the factory and build process were less favorable and included delays and poor communication. I will write more on the overall experience once the punch list is 100% complete. Until then, I don’t know how the story ends.
After about four weeks of delays, Gerty was substantially complete on August 20th, 2017 when we went back to France to take ownership.
The construction progress is shown in the construction photos, many of which were provided on a weekly basis by the yard.
