commissioned in the D ominican Navy and manned by naval officers and crew. Trujillo quickly tired of his new yacht and lent it co his son, Ramfis, as a floating dormitory while he was enrolled at UCLA in Califo rnia. Ramfis, a playboy, hosted lavish parries, and his guests included H ollywood personalities such as Zsa Zsa Gabo r, Kim N ovak, and Joan Collins. The press dubbed the yacht the "Floating Funhouse," and one congressm an remarked that they could send the D ominican fo reign aid mo ney directly to Ramfis's Hollywood escorts and cur our the middleman. Rafael Trujillo recalled Angelita to the Dominican Republic in 1961, and shortly afterwards he was assassinated . Ram fis returned to the country and after an unsuccessful attemp t to seize control, the remaining members of the Trujillo fam ily left the country aboard Angelita on 18 November 196 1, headed fo r France. After rwo weeks at sea, a D ominican naval ship caught up with them and radioed that the ship sho uld reverse course and return to the D ominican Republic. W hen the ship returned on 29 November, on board were $4 million in cash , so me jewels, and the remains of Rafael Trujillo in his casket. The new government renam ed the yacht Patria and put it on the m arket. In 1963 the yacht was purchased by an American businessman and renam ed Antarna. She was sent to Naples, Italy, for a refit before returning to the US fo r use as a luxury charter yach t
As much as her passengers can appreciate the unique sailing experience they'll get when they j oin the ship fo r a cruise, it is her sailing crew that perhaps benefits even more. Sea Cloud sails with 60 crewmembers, allowing enough hands to man each mast and operate 32, 000 square feet ofsail and all the accompanying rigging and gear. To get this type of sailing exp erience elsewhere, they would have to join their navy or the coast guard and hop e to be assigned to that service's training ship. Sea Cloud carries a f ull-time sailmaker, and there is a rigger assigned to each mast. lhe deck crew handles all sail operations and maneuvers and maintains the ship constantly. When it's time to set or strike sail, the men and women scamp er aloft-the ship flies a main skysail at nearly 170 feet off the deck. lhe foredeck crew is also in charge of the headsails, and even her jibs require serious effort, strength, and speed to get the jo b done properly (see photo, right). lhe ship's crew is truly international, with most crewmembers hailing from Germany, Eastern Europ e, the Philipp ines, and the United States. Licensed mariners, and those seeking to sit fo r their licensing exams, will enjoy the big tonnage sea time that sailing aboard Sea C loud will give them.
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for Operation Sea C ruises. The business was unsuccessful , and the Antarna was then chartered to Stephanie G allagher fo r use in a seaborne education program called Oceanic Schools. Gallagher and the owners had multiple business disputes, and the owners tried repeatedly to repossess the yacht. They finally succeeded in 197 1 while the ship was anchored in Panam a, with a full complem ent of crew and students aboard. The father of one of the students was able to charter another vessel, and the students completed their semester at sea. O peration Sea C ruises never resumed operations and rhe yacht was once agai n back on the market. 1he Antarna was shifted to a Colon, Panama, anchorage, where she lay rotting under the brutal Caribbean sun for nearly eight years. Finally, German m erchant captain H arrmut Paschburg persuaded a group of H amburg investors and sailing enthusiasts co purchase rhe yach t fo r use as a small cruise ship. The yacht arrived in H amburg on 15 November 1978. She then returned to her birthplace in Kiel, where the HDW shipyard (s uccessors to Krupp) began wo rk co convert her in to a sailing passenger ship. Passenger cabins were built in superstructures where the smoking cabin had been and in other spaces on deck above the lounge and dining room. After the conversion was complete at a cost of approximately $7 m illion , she was re-flagged in M alta and renamed Sea Cloud. She began sailing as a passenger and charter yacht the fo llowing year. Today Sea Cloud still sails as a luxury passenger and charter yacht, spending summ ers in th e M editerranean and winters in the Caribbean . She has been m aintained to a very high standard, fully classed by Germanisher Lloyd and in compliance with all relevant SOLAS and IMO regulations fo r modern international passenger vessels. Sea Cloud w ill be updated later this year, m akin g som e modifications to comply with upcoming changes in the International Convention fo r the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulations. J, Cap tain Todd Burgman sails as master of Sea C lo ud six months a year. When not on Sea Cloud, he sails as a relief captain on sail training ships and super yachts and works as an adjunct instructor for various maritime schools. (For more information about Sea C lo ud, visitwww.seacloud.com.)
SEA HISTORY 131 , SUMMER 2010