Concrete Conundrum

Many of you who love the Mandalay have been asking for details of her restoration. We're excited to kick-off a new series we're calling Restoration Notes, where we'll share what's happening below deck and beyond.

Today's topic is CONCRETE!

We've heard stories about the excessive use of concrete in the Mandalay's hull since we purchased the ship. While concrete is sometimes used as a "quick fix" form of ballast, it's far from ideal due to the unnecessary weight it ads to the ship. Unfortunately, this solution was used decades ago on the Mandalay.

That "quick fix" is now nearly 40 years old and it's about to be corrected!

When we were in Portugal in October 2024 looking at the Polynesia, her current owners — a Portuguese cod fishing company — introduced us to a heavy, granular mixture that is now considered state-of-the-art ballast for working ships. This will be the new ballast for the Mandalay, and we can't wait for the switchover.

But, we've since learned that concrete use aboard the Mandalay wasn't limited to a quick-fix ballast. It was applied liberally — throughout her cabin floors, bathrooms, and many other sections of the ship. It seems the weight of all this concrete wasn't accounted for in the last restoration.

The previous restoration team told us that at the end of the process, they were summoned to look overboard. What they saw was the Mandalay sitting significantly lower in the water than she should have been. It's been that way ever since.

Now we know why.

That said, we're not here to pass judgement on that restoration. It was a different time, under different financial constraints — a time before the advent of lightweight synthetic materials and the modern advancements we now have access to. But we will admit: Boston and Mashup have been absolutely shocked by the amount of concrete coming off the ship. Truly ridiculous amounts.

So what does this mean? We have the rare opportunity to do everything anew.

With today's lighter, more efficient materials and technologies, the SV Mandalay is going to skip across the Caribbean. She'll soar.

Captain Julian says the Mandalay was already a solid sailor. But now things are about to get quantum times better.

There's much more technical detail involved in this process, but we wanted to give you a concrete overview (ha!) of this recent discovery. And this is just one of the many reasons why our beloved Mandalay has needed a comprehensive restoration for decades.

Stay tuned for upcoming Restoration Notes — we'll be sharing more discoveries, decisions, and details very soon.