Happy Birthday S/V Veiviseren!
Februrary 28th, 2021
Year 2020 has passed to the world history as an infamous year: the COVID-19 pandemic had catastrophic effects in human health, global economy, social relationships and mental health, just to mention a few points. For us, it was quite an unexpected year, as for everyone else.
On February 27th, 2020, at 17:00 hrs, I signed the documents that put me in charge of the soon to be S/V Veiviseren. After years of search, my happiness was impossible to describe if not for a big smile on my face. That smile was erased by the news given by Mexican authorities next morning: the first COVID-19 case was detected in Mexico.
10I faced a difficult decision: should I leave the sailboat at the marina or should I take her out of the water to start working on repairs and refitting? I chose to start working and took her to a small and hidden dry dock not too far from the home marina. Ten days later, we were following Europe with the lockdown and mobility restrictions.
The vessel proved to have a very good star from Day 1. When my initial team flew away fearing COVID, I got all the help needed from very good friends. The sailboat got a new look, the engine was semi-repaired, radio was installed and then, back to the water to get locked down at the marina during the rest of the confinement.
A few weeks later, two tropical storms hit the coast and several yachts and sailboats were partially sunk, as people couldn’t mobilize to get them out of the water. The S/V Veiviseren got some water inside, but only because the automatic trigger of the bilge pump failed. Only 10 cms of water inside that were taken out quickly after manually activating the bilge pump. A good clean-up. a new automatic trigger and we went back to lockdown.
Three months later, a hurricane… and the S/V Veiviseren was floating comfortably at her slip at the marina, no damages, no water ingress, only crying for love and care. Since that, we have been working on her: We finally could do a sea trial before the end of the infamous year, then we passed the safety inspection with no issues and we got our register on the last working day of the year.
2021 started with a celebration: the Naming Ceremony. Due to still ongoing COVID restrictions, the S/V Veiviseren couldn’t have the big party we wanted for her, but in exchange, she got a godmother and two godfathers to name her.
Now, on February 27th, 2021, we are giving her the final touches to set her ready for her new purpose: to research marine megafauna in the Yucatan area.
– Diana
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