March 19 2006
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Om March 19 the cargovessel "Marcel" arrived in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Due to the bad weather conditions the ship needed 9 days to sail from Antwerp to Santa Cruz. The "Bottle", safely secured to the deck by the Antwerp port workers, was in perfect condition.
Thanks to the highly appreciated cooperation of A. Perez y cia, representatives of Boeckmans shipping in Atwerp and the Santa Cruz port authorities (Autoridad Portuario) t6he "Message in a Bottle" was unloaded from the "Marcel" and put ashore. After unloading other carge the "Marcel" left and the bottle was launched into the docks. The Autoridad Portuario had reserved a free place for the eye-catcher. Kee and fons who were already on the island for a few days will need more than a week to make the bottle ready for the first leg of the long voyage: Canary Islands-Cape Verde Islands (900 NM). However preparations are not going fast because many visitors who are interested in the project, visit the bottle and want to know everything about what we are going to do. Even busses with schoolchildren are passing by to wish us good luck. The even want to see the letters from the children but these are not on board yet because we get them in Senegal.
Putting the two long masts on the bottle went remarkably well even without the use of a crane. However the satellite cabel who runs through the hollow front mast and connects the antenne to the main computor unit was copletely cut through during the operation. First we thought to have a software problem in one of the units but after the assistance of Radio Holland in Antwerp Fons could solve the problem. We are lucky to find all the technical parts in Santa Cruz. Even finding fuel filters and electronic parts gave no problem.
Strong southern winds made a departure this weel also not a good thing to do. It is our intention to leve the Canary Islands on Tuesday 22. Destination: cape Verde Islands. Our next transmission will (we trust the sat system will work) come from the Atlantic Ocean!!
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29 maart 2006 : arrival Mindelo Sao Vicente
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On Tuesday, March 22, we decided to leave the Canary Islands and head for the Cape VerdeIslands. The always-present northeast trade winds seemed to be away for a while and left the Canaries with unstable winds coming mainly from the east. However, we...
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22 Maart 2006 : prepare for the ocean Santa Cruz de Tenerife
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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20 November 2005 :
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31 July 2005 :
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17July 2005 : Maiden trip
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Today is the day! Our bottle is ready to tackle the high seas and will be launched today (July 16) at 1.30 PM. Location: next to the "Mexicobrug" at the "Kattendijkdok" in Antwerp. Photographs will follow.
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3 March 2005 : Hydraulic coupling installed
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Today, Daniel and I installed and tested the hydraulic system. Everything seems to work fine.
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