22 Maart 2006
On March 3thd the cargovessel Marcel arrived in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Due to bad weather conditions the ship needed 9 days to sail from Antwerp. The "Bottle," safely secured to the deck by the Antwerp port workers, was in perfect condition. Thanks to A.Perez y cia,sl and the Autoridad del puerto de Tenerife, the Bottle was launched into the docks and got a special reserved free place into the harbour. TV and Press were there and they called us "el matrimonio jubilado (retired couple) fons y margaritakee.
Fons and Kee tried to work hard to get the finishing touch ready. But onforseen things and to find the technical shops did cost a lot of time. To recieve a lot of interested visitors was very nice but they also costed a lot of time. Even busses with schoolkids passed by to wish us good luck and the kids wanted to see the letters from the poor kids, but they will come aboard only in Senegal.
These last days will have thrilling moments for Fons and Kee because the final tests have to prove the mechanical value of all components involved. On tuesday 21 march they will leave for Mindelo on the island Sao Vicente (Cabo Verde). May be a 14 days sailing trip?