We are happy to report that as of today the Reef Rescuers boat is back in the water after three and a half weeks of hard work.
We fitted the new 55 hp Yamaha engine, fitted the steering wheel, touched up the haul, painted with anti-fouling, fitted a new bilge pump, and made a sealed compartment for the bilge pump. We also had to fix the boat trailer, by fitting a new tube into one of the tires. The new canopy will soon be attached to the boat.
We now can continue with our underwater monitoring and maintenance work at both the nursery and coral reef restoration sites. The fieldwork has piled up but we are very excited about using our newly improved Reef Rescuers boat.
It takes a team of very committed people to fix a boat. Thanks to the administration team on Mahe – Dr. Nirmal Shah (CEO), Kerstin Henri (Director) and Eric Blais (Islands Coordinator) for our new boat engine and bilge pump! Thanks to April Burt (Conservation Manager on Cousin) who brought the bilge pump from overseas!
We thank Eric for fitting the new engine and steering wheel, and providing all the spare parts and other things needed. Dr. Phanor Montoya-Maya worked on the nuts and bolts of fixing and upgrading the boat.
A big thank you to Nigel and Jean Luc Hoareau from Indigo Seychelles for going the extra mile and selflessly giving us a hand with the boat, always available when needed to move around, and get spares and tools. And the many times the boat trailer had to be hitched, de-hitched, and fixed. Dr. Sarah Frias-Torres coordinated the effort.
Now, it’s fieldwork time !