There they sit, well wrapped up, on their “Kiss”. Actually, Anne and Philipp Becker wanted to celebrate Christmas 2020 in Barbados. (Frank Thomas Koch)
–
The “Kiss” is still at the head of the Hohentorshafen. It was planned differently. Before Corona. Instead of the warm blue water of the Caribbean, the catamaran now has cold water from the Weser under the double hull. And his crew wears thick winter clothing instead of bikini and swimming trunks. “We would probably be right in the middle of the Atlantic right now – with the goal of Barbados,” says Philipp Becker. Okay, no blue water then. But by Christmas at the latest, the 33-year-old and his wife Anne (29) wanted to be at the first destination of their dreams.
Christmas should be so far anyway – just a year later. “Our plans are exactly what we planned for 2020,” says Anne. “We simply replaced the last zero in the year with a one,” adds her husband. That means: Everything that has to be tackled for the circumnavigation is on resubmission. The list with the termination of the apartment and the job, the sale of the car, the shopping for the tour and all the other necessities is processed a second time. In the hope that it will work out next May.
more on the subject
–
First dismantled all tents and then set up again
-Hohentorshafen instead of the Caribbean
They quit their job and apartment, sold their household effects: then thwarted …
more »—
The route is waiting to be finally taken. The families and friends may not be longing to say goodbye to the Beckers, but that too is part of this trip, which most people never want to tackle, but which the young couple would like to tackle at least once in their lives. For at least three years, or longer if you like, they want to live their dream of freedom and lightheartedness far away from home. “We don’t want to win a competition, we want to have a good time and enjoy the blue water,” says Philipp. It cannot be ruled out that he and Anne will one day return to Germany as a family with children.
Every time the weather in Bremen is bad, she thinks about the trip she prevented, says Anne. “Palm trees, 30 degrees and bikini: That wouldn’t be bad now.” But first of all, the “Kiss” has to get out of the Weser water. It is not winter-proof, frost would destroy the machines. After all, the couple was able to test in the summer that their boat is in good shape. The most important finding after a North Sea turn: the navigation devices that were purchased, which are supposed to make the trip in the catamaran safe at night, work.
Denmark instead of the Caribbean
Because the winds were bad, the Beckers didn’t come to Norway as planned. But they still enjoyed their vacation between the North Frisian and East Frisian Islands to the full. The corona pandemic even allowed them a second trip in autumn – this time with the camper to Denmark to go kitesurfing there. “We bought the kite especially for the circumnavigation,” says Anne. They actually want to use it in the lonely bays of the Caribbean – so now it happened in Denmark. “After all, we’ve been able to try that out well,” says Anne and laughs.
When Anne and Philipp are not on the boat or working at the Lürssen shipyard in Vegesack, they sit in their small apartment in Bremen’s Neustadt. Fortunately, her boyfriend didn’t have a tenant when the circumnavigation had to be postponed. Fortunately, their employer made it possible for them to stay with the company without further ado. One thing is clear: if they had already been on the road when Corona forced the first lockdown, it would have been much more difficult to continue living life in Bremen largely normally. “In that way, it was a good thing that it happened before,” says Anne.
more on the subject
–
Heiner Mattfeldt from Daverden
-Circumnavigation with obstacles
Swim with whales, anchor in beautiful bays: Heiner Mattfeldt from Daverden near …
more »—
The couple are currently as far removed from a normal life as anybody in Bremen. Anne and Philipp do not complain about the situation. You have got used to wearing a mask as well as to the many video conferences – professionally and privately. They maintain their contacts online, but miss the physical closeness to their loved ones. “I would love to hug my friends or go to my grandparents’, says Anne. She is sad that she and Philipp can’t even use the one more year in Bremen that they didn’t want at all. “We don’t have any of it,” says the 29-year-old, “I don’t really want to remember the city like that.” And then she says what others are probably thinking: “I’m curious whether Bremen will still be like this after Corona is like before Corona. “
The Becker couple want to set a course for the Caribbean from 2021. (Frank Thomas Koch)
–
Not driving is not an option
“I am grateful that we are so well looked after in Germany,” says Philipp. With a view to the further development of the pandemic, however, he is hinting at something that his wife does not want to hear at all. “If it doesn’t work out next year, I think the project has probably been postponed for the long term.” The objection follows immediately. “Not going is not an option,” says Anne so determined that Philipp immediately gives in with a “No”.
So the couple will do everything possible to cast off in May. To do this, they not only have their old to-do list in view, but also the corona conditions in addition to the entry formalities in the foreign countries. In the Caribbean, there are already amalgamations of islands whose travel to one another is possible without quarantine, says Anne. Even if staying at home is inconceivable for her, she is at least a little willing to compromise when planning the trip. “Should we find in the Caribbean that the South Seas are not working, we would just stay in the Caribbean for a year.” Philipp can only agree with that. “A year in the Caribbean wouldn’t be bad at all,” he says with a grin that is clearly visible despite the face mask. After all, a year in the Caribbean would mean that the “Kiss” finally has blue water under her double hull.
–
–
