We had originally hoped that the Covid situation would calm down enough by the end of 2020 so that we can celebrate Christmas with our families as usual and say goodbye to friends and family with a clear conscience. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out the way we imagined. Because of Corona, we only spent the Christmas days with the closest family. The usual big Christmas parties with all relatives, acquaintances and their followers could unfortunately not take place.

2020, enough now!

In addition, everything was overshadowed by the sad news of my grandmother’s death. She had always diligently followed and commented on our adventure and had even learned to use Instagram to get everything. On top of that we unfortunately had to say goodbye to Bruce, one of the family dogs. The 12-year-old Big Swiss Grand Bouvier was a gentle giant who could always put a smile on our faces. Towards the end, his physical deficits simply became too great. 2020 you A!% + § # ¢ {°!.

Covid has come to stay

The new developments in the global pandemic gives us some concern. There’s a chance that due to the flight stop to and from the UK because of the new Covid mutation we will not be able to depart as planned. This time we are flying via Germany. We won’t believe we’re on our way until we’re actually on the plane to Mexico. Even so, we are preparing as much as we can for the start of the adventure on the 12th of January 2021. But there’s also a plan B, should the departure not take place as planned. We are mentally prepared for everything…

On to new shores

A decisive event – if you can call it that – was certainly that we both passed our final days at our jobs just before Christmas. We now officially no longer have regular working hours. This is a special moment because for me it is the first time since my bachelor’s degree at the end of 2010. But I am really looking forward to what is and may come. Cards are being reshuffled, old braids are cut off and anything is possible. Anyone who knows me knows: this is exactly my kind of thing. Some projects are already in the pipeline – how could it be otherwise? Before us lies the unknown, untrodden terrain, the risk of failure. But it also offers opportunities and enormous growth potential – both professionally and personally. We are excited!

The paperwork is done

At the moment we are on the last legs of preparations and the less pleasant things, such as putting on an emergency folder and writing our wills, are now done. Yes, that’s important – David and I are not married. According to Swiss law, we cannot decide the course of actions for each other in the event of illness and we would not inherit anything from each other. Still, it’s not nice to have to think about all these aspects now. Especially since we have such an exciting adventure ahead of us and we would love to experience it. But you never know…

What should we take with us?

The suitcases are not packed yet. Many things that we still need (e.g. a decent French press) we would like to get hold of here in Switzerland. But since all of this requires luggage space and could also easily be ordered from the USA (we’ll live about 1 hour from the US border), we will probably leave it be.

Wait and see

In the meantime, we enjoy the remaining weeks with friends and family as much as possible, mostly outside in a Covid-compliant way. We also baked Christmas cookies together. Anyone who has ever baked delicious sweets knows how it is. You put in half a day of work and they’re all gone in record time.

Are we ready?

Um, yes, we are as ready as you can be in such a situation – we are prepared for anything. And how are we dealing with the uncertainty? So far, we’re doing alright. Well, in the end we could postpone the start of our adventure as often as we want / have to. For that we’d have our plan B, which we could activate. Therefore: we remain optimistic and deal with the situation as it develops.

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Der Beitrag 2020 you suck! erschien zuerst auf Milagros.

Planning, planning, planning

After our return from Mexico, the final preparations began for our adventure, which was to start in May 2020. The plan was for the four of us to meet at Milagros in Ensenada, Mexico in the first week of May and get the ship ready for departure as soon as possible. We wanted to bring the ship to Guaymas in the Gulf of California, as Carmen and Iñaki were already there preparing their ship – now called Anila – as of mid-February. The goal was to put Milagros on the drydock there as well, to do all the necessary jobs and install upgrades. Then we wanted to “hide” from the hurricanes in Baja California and train with our ships in the wonderful landscape.

Hurry up

Since the hurricane season in the eastern Pacific officially lasts from May 15th to November 30th, we wanted to do the 10-day crossing from Ensenada to Guaymas as quickly as possible. That meant: preparations had to be made, an example are our steering cables. We had discovered over Christmas that they had fish hooks and were disintegrating in some places. They had to be replaced asap. So, we asked Raul to dismantle the cables and send them to the USA so that Colligo Marine could manufacture new cables from Dyneema, a synthetic chemical fiber based on polyethylene and fifteen times more tensile than steel. Unfortunately, the project was less successful than expected, but more on that later.

An endless to-do list

A lot had to be done at home too. On the seemingly endless list of preparations there were things like: giving up and leaving an apartment, quitting jobs, finding a place for our cats, obtaining all the necessary exams and documents for the offshore license, organizing a farewell party, making new passports, booking flights, sending a pallet to Mexico, order various building materials and tools in the USA and so on.

The unpredictability of being a sailor

In the middle of the last preparations, however, it became apparent that COVID-19 would thwart our plans. The unpredictability of sailing life began in Switzerland already. Inevitably, we put our plan on hold for the time being – with one crying and one laughing (yes, really!) eye. Although we were of course disappointed that the adventure couldn’t start yet, we saw the many benefits of this delay. Since we had already given up our apartment in January 2020 and moved to my parents’ farm, we were not left without a roof over our heads.

4 advantages of a delayed departure

Friends and family

Unexpectedly, we were able to spend the whole summer 2020 with friends and family (compliant with COVID-19 measures of course). Some even confessed to us that they were actually quite glad that we couldn’t travel.

We enjoyed some really nice summer weekends in our second home, a stationary caravan next to a river in St. Ursanne.

Enjoying the summer presented me with some minor hurdles, as for example all my bikinis (except one) were already on the ship and my sandals were so well stowed that I had to borrow shoes from my mother when it got really hot for the first time. It’s a hard knock life for Pati.

Money

With money the following rule applies: more is more. I was able to extend my job at Weleda by 3 months (and then again by 6 months until the end of 2020) with a capacity reduced to 60%. David was also able to agree with his employer on continued employment until the end of 2020. And all we earned now was more than planned.

Preparations

These unplanned months due to Covid-19 in Switzerland gave us additional opportunities for preparations. David also could to do all the necessary exams for the offshore license, which was not originally planned.

Time

By reducing the capacity, working from home and lockdown, I unexpectedly had a lot of time for things for which I had no time (anymore) before – so I could, for example, sew tool bags for combination wrenches (and a dress for myself). I also enjoyed life on the farm: making jam from our own cherries and plums, looking after the farm shop, expanding my kombucha breeding, and much more.

And what about Milagros?

Well, our ship was in Mexico. Fortunately, in Raul we had found someone reliable to make sure everything was going well. This included regular photos and updates. It’s just not easy to organize everything from Switzerland with a language barrier and time difference. Why exactly can be explained very clearly by using the example of our steering cables.

Do we now have new steering cables?

We gave Raul the order to photograph, measure and dismantle our steering cables and send them to Colligo Marine in the USA with FedEx. So far so good. The original steering cables made of steel cables arrived at Colligo and the new cables made of Dyneema were to be manufactured according to the offer based on the measurements and photos by Raul. But then Colligo noticed that somehow a part had to be missing because the individual parts of the cable didn’t quite fit together. Oops – a section was probably forgotten. Raul then had to send it to Colligo, too. When the missing part was there, the new cables were quickly ready and on their way to Mexico via UPS.

A minor disaster!

Then it happened as it had to: the package was lost. A minor disaster! Not only the new cables, but also the old ones were in the package. We then alternately received emails that the package was stuck at the Mexican border, or could not be found, or was stuck at the Canadian border (!). Our contact from Colligo worked hard and four long weeks later the package could finally be accepted by Brent in Ensenada, of course not without hefty customs duties.

And what now?

Raul was on fire and wanted to install the new cables immediately. But it didn’t work out as the attachments for the cables on the steering quadrant were not sent to Colligo for some reasons. So, the ends were spliced without the attachments and now the cables may be too long. Fail. We then decided that he shouldn’t install the cables and that we would do it ourselves as soon as we got back to the ship.

Our ship is now in the marina and de facto unable to maneuver!

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Der Beitrag How to make the best of Covid-19 erschien zuerst auf Milagros.