Dear Mr. President Ramaphosa
Today the number 1 was written in the steam at the shower door and tomorrow we should take the plane to Cape Town. We worked so long for it and looked forward to it for 830 days. And now we are not allowed to enter South Africa. Of course we would go into quarantine for 14 days, of course we have enough mouth and nose protection and disinfectant in our luggage. And of course we would like to fulfill the contract and take over our vessel. Just like us, the shipyard hopes for this moment. Because they will get a large remainder of money only at the handover. Thats why, Mr. Ramaphosa, please let us in.
South Africa is doing a good Corona job and is more successful than comparable countries like Spain, Italy or UK. However, the expected lockdown level has not been reduced from 3 to 2. Therefore, we do not have permission to enter the country now.
Luckily everyone is working hard to get us an entry permit after all. Therefore we remain optimistic that our trip will only be delayed for a few days. We would like nothing more than to support the suffering South African economy by fulfilling our contract. We are not tourists, Mr President – it is just business.
Since we left home two weeks ago, we have been traveling around Germany, going from hotel to hotel. Perhaps we should write a hotel test. First we spent a few days at the Nürburgring in the Eifel – family visit. Then a short stop in Frankfurt. Afterwards we spent a week in Berlin. And at the moment we are in the “Rheingau”, always in sprint distance to Frankfurt airport. Traveling in times of cholera, äh Corona, is not pleasant at all. Not everyone has understood the now really simple rules.
But the side trip to Berlin was great. To experience Berlin as a tourist for a week was funny. After all we lived there for 10 years and from that time we still have some friends. It was great to see you: Joergen and Gitte, Bettina and Ernst, Barbara, Frank and Christina, Rie and Joosch, Tom, Sabine and Fritz.
But we still have a great longing for water. In the miserable attempt to soften it a little, we took everything that had to do with water. Rowing on the Berlin lake, Spreerundfahrt, Rhine Tourist steamer past the Rhine castles.
We try hard to stay optimistic and hope for a daily entry permit to Cape Town. Keep your fingers crossed for us so that our countdown does not count up again. We are counting on you, Mr. President. / Karin Binz, Holger Binz
Hallo ihr beiden
Wir fühlen richtig mit euch und haben uns auch schon öfters gefragt, wo ihr so dran seid. Diese ganze Coronazeit ist der pure Horror. Seine gewohnte Freiheit verloren zu haben, Pläne nicht leben zu können, auf Grenzöffnungen hoffen zu müssen ist einfach schrecklich. Wir drücken euch ganz fest die Daumen, dass ihr bald die Erlaubnis bekommt, nach Südafrika einreisen zu können um endlich euer Boot entgegen zu nehmen!!!
LG
Raymonde & Guy
Salut ihr zwei,
herzlichen Dank Euch beiden. Ihr kennt das ja, aber alles wird gut. Irgendwann.
Viel Freude in Holland
Hey, ich drücke beide Daumen, dass ihr 2 so schnell wie möglich zu eurem Traum-Katamaran kommt…. Was für eine Sch….😡. Liebe liebe Grüße aus Maacher. Pas & Family😘
Villmols Merci Pas, schön zu wissen, das ihr uns die Daumen drückt.
Passt auf Euch auf
Hallo
Macht doch einen Ausflug ins Salzkammergut.
Da habt ihr in einem Umkreis von 30 Minuten
mindestens 10 Seen zur Auswahl.
Natürlich wäre es noch besser, wenn ihr die Erlaubnis
bekommt in Südafrika einzureisen.
Liebe Grüße
Günther
Herzlichen Dank Günter. Gute Idee, aber ihr habt bestimmt zu viele deutsche Touristen 🙂
Viele Grüsse
Ah guys, I am soooo sorry that your trip has been delayed again, but glad to see that you are having happy times in Berlin. At least you are close to water. Hoping you get good news soon, lots of love, Jenny x
Hi Jenny, don’t you have any ZA connections to the president? Would be highly appreciated. You both take care in dangerous UK.
Hugs and kisses
Bonjour mes amis … quelle odyssée !!! Sagt man auch auf französisch
Also Daumen drücken und Tee trinken ….
Bisous
Merci Cherie, wir müssen aber was stärkeres trinken.
Bisou
Südafrika wird Euch nicht vergessen Money,Money.
Im schlimmsten Fall könnt Ihr ja versuchen zu rudern.
Wie auch immer Ruth und ich drücken die Daumen dass es klappt.
Keep your eyes and ears open.
Cheers
Gilbert Ruth
Merci Euch beiden. Hoffe es klappt ohne rudern.
Habt Spaß auf Eurer Insel
Hi you guys, WOW,WOW,WOW…what a pain… My friends on their 45 Leopard got quarantined on their boat in Papeete, Tahiti for 3 months and their visa expired and was not extendable, they had to leave their boat and fly back to the USA.
Good luck to you all.
Gary
Hi Gary,
I hope that we only have to wait for days, that’s long enough. But aren’t those regulations simply stupid? Cheers
Na dann drücken wir die Daumen für gutes Gelingen. Wie lange wollt Ihr in ZA noch bleiben bis es richtig losgeht? Uns wo geht’s hin? Klar, werden wir alles verfolgen , Ihr berichtet ja immer fleißig.
GLG
Irene und Horst
Hallo Ihr Beiden, wir wollen Mitte September los. Dann sollte der Passatwind stehen und wir kommen nach der Hurricane Season Anfang November in der Karibik an.
Herzliche Grüße und passt auf Euch auf
Oh no. Hopefully you will get permission soon to go. Must be very frustrating for you. We have a similar problem with Dee not being able to travel to France because she is from USA. But we have more time than you as we don’t have to travel until October. Good luck with the travel ban and can’t wait to hear how you go in South Africa.
Hola Steve, you‘re so right, it’s really frustrating. Great for the bars in the Rhine area. Lets cross fingers that we all make it to our next boats. Hugs to you both
Drück euch festens die Daumen dass es sehr bald losgehen kann!
Liebe Grüße, Nils
Merci Nils, können wir gebrauchen. Alles Gute