Back in 2016, we posted about a new owner for the ex-presidential yacht Sequoia, which had been sitting, deteriorating in a boatyard in Deltaville, VA. Now, three years later, the 104′ long motor vessel has been loaded aboard a barge to be transported ultimately to Maine for restoration. The Sequoia served as a presidential yacht during the administrations of Herbert Hoover through Jimmy Carter and is a National Historic Landmark. 

The Waterway Guide reports that plans are to move the vessel to Cambridge, MD aboard the smaller barge that it is now loaded on and transfer it to a larger one for the trip up the Atlantic coast to a shipyard in Belfast, ME where it will undergo repairs. 

Sequoia was originally launched as a private yacht in 1925. She was designed by John Trumpy and built by the  John H. Mathis & Company Shipbuilders in Camden, New Jersey. She was purchased by the US government in 1931 after a brief stint as a naval vessel during Prohibition, became the official presidential yacht in 1933. 

After 46 years of government service, the Sequoia was sold at auction in 1977. Since then she has had seven owners. The current owner, FE Partners LLC, a joint venture between the D.C.-based Equator Capital Group and members of an Indian family with connections to the mining and shipping industry, acquired the vessel in 2016, after an extended legal battle with the previous owner.

Waterway Guide sums up the recent history succinctly: The story of how Sequoia ended up in Deltaville, VA and why it stayed so long is a tawdry tale with many twists and turns including loan default, a judge awarding ownership to financiers for one dollar, insurance companies battling it out, accusations of malfeasance, raccoons moving onboard, gossip and finger-pointing.

We can only wish the old yacht our best in her future renovation.