After a separation of nearly a century, on Sunday ‘Elcano’ and ‘Gipsy’ met up in the waters of Cádiz.
After successfully finishing her 93rd voyage around the world, Elcano returned to her port of birth, in Cádiz. This year, the return of the training ship was special for us. At last Elcano was going to meet up with her little sister, Gipsy. Below is a short tale based on true facts, which is worth reading.
In the middle of the 1920s, Horacio Echevarrieta had a boat built in his own shipyard, Echevarrieta y Larrinaga, in Cádiz. The vessel was for his personal use. After building ‘Elcano’, the shipyard came to a standstill while it was waiting for the government to give instructions to build a new, modern, Spanish submarine. While they were waiting, they built ‘Marichu’, with the same manpower and wood left over from the building of ‘Elcano’. Thus, in 1927, the Cádiz shipyard saw the launch of the famous training ship ‘Elcano’ and ‘Marichu’, known today as ‘Gipsy’.
Gipsy and Elcano meet up after being separated for 94 years.
