“Are you sailing yet? When do you sail?”
That’s the #1 question I hear from family and friends, many of whom are starting to doubt I will ever get out of Belfast. No, we haven’t sailed yet.
It turns out that resurrecting a ship that hasn’t been in the water for over 4 years is no easy task. There are thousands of items that need repair, replacement, testing and re-certification. Over the last couple months, I’ve learned way more than I ever wanted to know about the inner life of ships. I can tell you the right way to do a blue test, what rudder stocks do, how many engines and generators the ship has, what penetrations are, what a sea trial is, and an alphabet soup of acronyms (PSSC, DNV, MCA, USPH, HVAC, MPX, P&I).
Villa Vie (the cruise company) has been bringing us along for the ride as they test, modify, inspect, and prep. We are on board the ship during the day, so we have a front row seat to the happenings.
My fellow passengers and I (or residents, as we are called) are more than ready to get out of Belfast. We’ve all had our moments of frustration and discouragement with the delays. But we are ever so slowly inching toward the finish line (or I should say, the start line).
So the answer is, soooooooooon.
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