It seems like just a few weeks ago that I wrote my editor’s letter “S.O.S Gulf Coast.” At the time that we were going to press with our November issue, Hurricane Katrina had just occurred and the complete ramifications of its devastation were not fully revealed. Here is the December/January issue of ShowBoats International, and Katrina and her sister Rita are still consuming our airwaves and our minds. This disaster seems to have affected Americans in a more profound way than natural disasters of years past. The pledge and rush to help from all sectors—national and international—has been outstanding. These testimonials of individual and group efforts renew my faith in humankind.

In our own small microcosm of CurtCo—ShowBoats and our sister magazines, Robb Report, Sarasota, Gulfshore Life, Motor Cycling, et al.—we decided to work toward one common goal. Our ad hoc hurricane relief committee initiated a drive from every single one of our 12 titles to accumulate and distribute not only money, but clothes, medical supplies, food, toys and other needed items to families of Trinity Yachts employees, a boatyard based in New Orleans. Many of its 500-plus workers have been displaced, and some have not yet been accounted for. Company executives Billy Smith, John Dane and Felix Sabates have been deeply touched by the offers of assistance pouring in from yacht builders Broward, Burger, Delta, Lazzara, Hargrave, Christensen and many others in our industry.

One month after the hurricane, I, along with seemingly everyone else in the megayacht industry, was at the Monaco Yacht Show. The hustle, bustle and glamour of the “big boat” industry in glitzy Monte Carlo is a far cry from worries about floodwaters. Billy Smith—as affable and optimistic as ever—was at the show to reassure customers and colleagues alike that the yard was still very much in business.

Very late one night after a long day pounding the docks at the Monaco Yacht Show and dining with colleagues, I was taking advantage of the Wi-Fi connection in the lobby of my hotel, compulsively answering e-mails, when Goeff van Aller, chief designer for Trinity, sat down next to me. Sleepless in Monaco—in his lilting genteel Southern drawl, he shared his personal story. He lost his home and every- thing he had in it. He, his girlfriend and her 9-year-old daughter had evacuated with a very small bag of personal belongings. With John Dane needed at home, Smith tracked down van Aller and directed him to prepare for Monaco. Amazingly, he had his passport, but that’s about it. He had to purchase clothes just to take the trip. So there, in the wealthiest enclave in the world, sat a newly homeless man and a barefoot editor, brought together by the business of boats.

We’ve heard that whole towns and communities were completely wiped out. While the entire coast of Louisiana and Mississippi took a beating, there has been a lot of focus on New Orleans—particularly after Hurricane Rita decided to finish what little Katrina had left behind. Louisiana’s Governor Blanco declared that New Orleans would be rebuilt. What does that mean? Will buildings be restored, refit or replicated?

Rebuilding is an integral topic to the yacht world. Rebuilding a yacht has several implications. There is the purist approach to restoration, using materials and methods akin to the original. Then, of course, there is the annual or regular refit—a coat of paint, an engine overhaul and perhaps some new carpet. Then there are the makeover refits where bulkheads are knocked down or transoms are chopped off to increase deck space.

Our cover features the yacht Attessa, a yacht that has been thoroughly RE-built, as in “built again.” Our veteran Marilyn Mower went to Canada to spend time on this “new” Attessa. She interviewed her owner, Dennis Washington, who heads a business empire of heavy industry and transportation. A self-made man—now chairman of the Horatio Alger Society—Washington knows something about overcoming adversity and rebuilding. In 2002, Washington purchased a 208-foot Feadship called Aviva, whose engine room and upper deck were damaged by fire. Through the pages of this story, we think you’ll see that Attessa isn’t simply as good as new, she is new and delightful. Rebuilding is an opportunity to take what is good and preserve it. It is also an opportunity to improve upon design and execution and to refine concepts. Rebuilding Attessa took three years. How long will it take to rebuild New Orleans?