It has been tingling for a long time and what one hears is that Ponza is a beautiful island. 68 nautical miles away from us, but unfortunately unreachable for us at the moment.
The problem is our steering gear. The two hydraulic cylinders were a bit leaking and I had ordered a seal kit to prevent the hydraulic oil from seeping out. Unfortunately the cylinders couldn't be opened because a super designer had combined stainless steel with aluminium. Even with 2.5 tons of pressing force the cylinders could not be opened. Let someone say again that steel on aluminum can not be welded. So I sawed the threaded rods apart and there they are, now we get to the gaskets. Unfortunately I need new threaded rods and a new thread has to be cut into the end caps. Yes and that takes time.
In the meantime we have the chaos with our friends from DHL. The company is really growing on me. I just wonder how such an incompetent bunch can even survive in the marketplace. But that's probably because of the fact that the losses of these inadequacies are being recouped in the salaries of the employees. Dear DHL, it won't work in the long run, at some point it will simply be finished.
A parcel from Germany could once again not be delivered by DHL. Inquiries ran into nothing or were answered only with standard emails, a solution-oriented approach by far not to be recognized. Also telephone numbers which one leaves behind with the distribution of the transport order are not used by DHL, probably from principle. The package went back to Germany. For this one pays extra. You can also auction the package to save costs, horny business model dear DHL. Now it could be that the sender has made a mistake, so once again the whole game. Address once again specified, Google directions list added, and very important, Italian phone number given. Extract from the tracking:
Tue,03.03.2020 09:54 - The transmission is prepared in the delivery depot for delivery.
Tue,03.03.2020 10:33 - The recipient was not reached. Another delivery attempt is made.
Now you have to know that the depot is located in the north of Rome, we, as the recipient, are 30 km away from this depot. The driver has to cross Rome to the west. Even if the driver had left the depot immediately after the scan, he would not have been able to reach the recipient in less than 40 minutes. It's all fake. What DHL is trying to achieve with this is unfortunately beyond my knowledge, even a statement is unfortunately not available after several telephone calls. Easter is coming up soon and maybe DHL needs some gifts for there employees or a bigger auction is coming up and needs some more packages.
A parcel from Germany could once again not be delivered by DHL. Inquiries ran into nothing or were answered only with standard emails, a solution-oriented approach by far not to be recognized. Also telephone numbers which one leaves behind with the distribution of the transport order are not used by DHL, probably from principle. The package went back to Germany. For this one pays extra. You can also auction the package to save costs, horny business model dear DHL. Now it could be that the sender has made a mistake, so once again the whole game. Address once again specified, Google directions list added, and very important, Italian phone number given. Extract from the tracking:
Tue,03.03.2020 09:54 - The transmission is prepared in the delivery depot for delivery.
Tue,03.03.2020 10:33 - The recipient was not reached. Another delivery attempt is made.
Now you have to know that the depot is located in the north of Rome, we, as the recipient, are 30 km away from this depot. The driver has to cross Rome to the west. Even if the driver had left the depot immediately after the scan, he would not have been able to reach the recipient in less than 40 minutes. It's all fake. What DHL is trying to achieve with this is unfortunately beyond my knowledge, even a statement is unfortunately not available after several telephone calls. Easter is coming up soon and maybe DHL needs some gifts for there employees or a bigger auction is coming up and needs some more packages.
So we continue to wait for our parts and pass the time cleaning, maintenance and cleaning again. We have cleaned the dinghy twice now and checked the air. This week I put a video on the net, which was a lot of fun. Besides we have an oversupply of data volume at the moment. Vodafone, meanwhile only my second best friend, currently offers 50GByt for 5€. The snag is that it is only valid for one week. So let's have a look at everything that the German media libraries have released for us Germans living abroad. You hardly believe it but even 50GByt we can spend in one week. While I'm writing the blog, something has changed in the package. According to the internet it has been deposited at the post office for pickup. Carlo the good soul helps with the translation and went to the post office with Gaby. Thick iron bars seal off the complex, in the counter room the employees sit behind thick bulletproof glass. Only a small slit in the counter allows the connection to the inside. After Gaby had identified herself with her passport, the package was ready, but could not be handed over, since the issue is not scheduled until tomorrow. No, this is no joke! This is hard reality, now it is also clear why the postal workers are sitting behind bulletproof glass. Gaby came back empty-handed and will try her luck again tomorrow at the post office. Obviously all the objections, phone calls and emails have at least one effect, that the package can at least be picked up. Thank you dear DHL for this phenomenal performance. I don't want to use the word service in this context, for understandable reasons. Now we can fully concentrate on the rudders and hope that we can get the hydraulic system working again as soon as possible. The small island Ponza is waiting for us and I can already hear Capri calling. At the moment the sailing season hasn't started yet, which means there is still plenty of room in the bays. Of course we want to take advantage of this and the marina fees are not too high for our catamaran at this time, so that we can also visit a marina for one or two nights. In any case we will keep you informed and as always we wish you fair winds and keep your ears stiff.
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