September 1st, 2021

eWe finally set sails for our Maiden Trip on May 17th, 2021. I convinced Captain Alonzo to join Ximena and myself, as I thought it would be safer to leave the wheel to someone else while we were taking data. I made the right choice!

The engine started at first attempt (which made me really happy as I have worked long hours on it!). We started with almost no wind, sailing at a 2-2.8 kts speed. We saw a couple of dolphins and a sea turtle close to the shore, but far enough from the vessel to get a good picture with Ximena’s cellphone, as the camera failed as soon as we arrived on board. A couple of hours after leaving port, the weather changed, unexpectedly. White caps started dominating the view and it was impossible to see anything in the water. Ximena started to feel seasick, and moments later, things inside started to fall over. Not knowing what to expect from the weather, and with Ximena not feeling well (and me neither, an hour later), we decided to go back to port, tacking the wind to make it.

Since that day, things changed… drastically. It was kind of a rupture. I knew the vessel was not ready yet, but even worse, we were not ready either. I keep rushing things under Captain Alonzo’s enthusiasm and completely missed important things like checking radios and cameras (that I was sure were fully charged… but not!), or even preparing Ximena better for her first sail. Yes, I could have done much better, but succumbed to the pressure imposed by external factors and rushed things… and guess what? Veiviseren taught me the lesson: Sailing is not about rush!

I took some time to evaluate the situation and, over all, the conditions of the vessel. Safety is of utmost importance. While she was designed for not to sink, neglect may do the opposite. I can’t afford to take her out of the water at this moment, so I need to be extra careful. I ran new detailed surveys (to my own knowledge) and my list grew considerably. A lot of work is still needed, and a lot of attempts too.

A few weeks later, I found myself asking both Angy and Ximena what were their plans regarding the project. Angy just moved back to her place of origine and gave birth to a beautiful baby, so it is very difficult for her to come to Yucatan and sail with us. Ximena, on the other side, as the multifaceted woman she is, besides being an excellent biologist, she is also an amazing percussionist and dedicates her time to teach and play in musical presentations. She went through some difficulties to free her schedule and make time to sail, a sacrifice that she can’t make very often. They both told me they are willing to help, but they can’t commit at this moment to get involved with the repairs and sailing. So basically, Veiviseren goes back to be my own project.

I have taken the last months to rethink the whole project and to fall in love again with it. Have you ever heard that vessels have a soul? Well, I believe this is true, and Veiviseren’s soul has been speaking out and loud: she needs more care and work than I had provided so far, and I need to know her much better than I currently do. 

When I got the sailboat, I had a team to work with. We planned the project together, and we established the goals together. However, nobody was counting on a pandemic to spoil our plans against all our efforts, and I truly value the work my colleagues did within their possibilities. Now, I am by myself whit this, and I don’t fit in our previous project, which was conceived for 3-4 people. I just had to redesign my project to adapt it to the current circumstances.

September has just started, and it is a special month for me. Lot of good things use to happen on this month, so it is the perfect time to start over again. I accompanied this fresh start with a new image for the website with some improvements added, and I am working on new videos that I had delayed. Starting next week, my list of tasks has to start shrinking. This time I have no excuse: starting over again is always good!

~ Diana