Welcome to our first newsletter of 2007!

Visit our website

It's been a few months since we last gave all you folks an update of what's been happening at Admiral Yachts, although I think we may be forgiven as we undertook in the last quarter of 2006 the mammoth task of completing our magnificent new factory as well as relocating our entire operation. More on that later.

With the regards to the Miami Boat Show, we will have the full team attending which will include, David, Craig, Wendy & Shirley. We look forward to seeing you there. We have a limited number of complimentary tickets that we can pass onto you, so please let us know if you would like us to assist.

Lilyanna, adventures of...

Mark and Gingah Milnes took delivery of their boat in late December 2006. Mark is currently enroute to the USA. We have included a humorous email (at right) that he sent to us of one of his crossing experiences, which we thought everyone would appreciate. We wish them good weather as they set about discovering the real rewards of yachtsmanship.

The new manufacturing facility

Well … the good news is that we have moved in, we have electricity (that in itself is a great feat here in Africa) and we are fully functional.

The factory took nine months to build. The move was spread over a period of two weeks with a large portion of the transportation being done late at night with police escorts. This was necessary due to the size of some of the moulds, as well as the incomplete boats that needed to be moved to the new premises.

The majority of the other items were loaded onto a large rental truck and brought through on a daily basis. All of this without interfering with our production schedules. By the 13th December, we had managed to move everything out of the old premises into the new factory, but still spent the first two weeks of this year straightening everything out. We even managed to have our end of the year party at our new home. Wendy has also been on a spending spree purchasing a new computer system, which will enable us to increase our response times to client queries.

Warranty Claims

For those of you who are currently sailing and enjoying our boats, please be advised that it is important that you adhere to the correct procedures when having a warranty issue attended to. As always, we try to assist you as quickly as possible when rectifying any warranty work, but need to have the correct procedure followed. If in doubt, please refer to your purchase agreement or contact our offices.

Performance Bond

Admiral Yachts now offers a performance guarantee for all future clients. This guarantee is issued by a major South African insurance company with a view to safeguard funds paid by clients to Admiral Yachts.
This is a first in South Africa and the performance guarantee brings complete peace of mind to all future clients.

February 2007

• sails@admiralyachts.co.za
• call 27 21 577 3400

Lilyanna, 18.01.07
Lat 4 26N Long 49 14W

Hello Yall, Just before going on watch last night at close to 2100hrs I heard what I thought was rain beating against the bulkhead next to my head near where I sleep. Well, when I arrived at the cockpit I was greeted with a face full of rain driven by 35kts of wind and a sense that we were moving faster than we had gone the whole trip. Once my eyes adjusted to the dark I could make out this figure at the helm wrapped in what looked like a wet shiny shirt and a baseball cap pulled way down to the ears look!!! Of course, it was Mark, and he appeared to be having the time of his life. The boat was doing a steady 11 to 12 kts. by itself and riding like a out of control cookie on a greased cookie sheet. I told him that I wasn't going to relieve him if the weather was going to continue to blow and he looked at me like he couldn't care less. What fun the little storm cloud gave these two old warriors. We both agreed that the conditions that we briefly had were what we expected to have the whole trip, not the smooth ride that we have had.

Today total mileage reached 218miles which is our record, Yea!

I woke up for watch this morning a found a flying fish in my shoe on the sole of the stbd. hull. HA!HA! after interrogating the rest of the crew, I found out they did not do it, during the storm last night the flying fish apparently flew out of a wave across the cockpit, into the open door, past the nav. station, down the stairs and came to rest in my shoe. Jon also had a visitor last night, a booby landed right next to him at the helm seat, slept for a few hours and at first light this morning, preened himself and flew away. We also saw whales yesterday just before sunset and skipjack tuna being chased by something big. Wild Kingdom. We are half way to Trinidad and have sailed over one thousand miles in five days. Incredible.
Cheers,
Dennis and Mark

To read more about Lilyanna's ocean crossing adventures, visit www.admiralyachts.co.za/lilyanna

VISIT our NEW LOOK WEBSITE! www.admiralyachts.co.za

BOATS FOR SALE!

www.admiralyachts.co.za/forsale.htm
"Garuda" 2yr-old 38 sailaway on offer
Also a brand new 38 seeks an owner...