:Daily Reports
Daily Report May 20, 2006
Dear Readers,
THIS IS THE LAST DAY.
It is May 20, 2006, 9:50 am local time, and after a last nap in the modified interior which has served us so well I am now back on the copilot seat.
We have 8 hours to beat the world record and 400 km left to go. The last few hours were great.
One after the other, the vehicles magically started running very well again. It was almost as if they knew what was on the line, felt our anger and frustration and decided to rid themselves of their electronic problems so that we were able to once again cruise along at the recommended speeds.
All fatigue had now vanished. The excitement to reach our destination and break the world record caused our bodies to produce large quantities of adrenaline which „adrenalized“ away our exhaustion.
The next awesome thing was the first Tierra del Fuego border. We are eternally grateful to Jana Ziegler and Andreas and all the other helpers for their help and commitment, up to the last moment, to arrange for the opening of the border at 5 am instead of the usual time of 9 am. It worked. Before we knew it we were on our way to the Strait of Magellan.
What followed was trule amazing.
We arrived at the Strait of Magellan in a storm. During the last 50 km, two of our tires had been totally destroyed. Debris on the road literally carved whole blocks of tread including the inner plies out of the tires. We continued driving with one bad tire all the way to the ferry docks where we changed the tire in record time, with the ferry already approaching the shore.
It was a scene straight from „Das Boot“. The ferry had come just for us and fought its way through the rough sea. The captain had a hard time keeping the ship’s gangway connected to land and we had to board very quickly.
The ferry ride was something else. The sea was so rough that the ship was lifted up or dropped down by 10 m (30 ft) not only lengthwise but also sideways. It was a lot of fun when the waves came crashing down on the deck. Whoever stood on the open deck in front of the bridge had to hold on with all their might and were soaking wet. The cars were washed as well, if only with salt water.
In order to reach the landing dock in the storm, the ferry fought its way toward land a little further up and then let itself drift down to our destination.
Now we are only 300 km from our destination and hope to break the world record.
I will say this again at a later time but must get this off my chest right now:
Many, many thanks to everyone who helped us.
Many, many thanks to everyone who worked, organized or established contacts.
Many, many thanks to everyone who invested in this project or believed in me.
Many, many thanks to everyone who crossed their fingers and kept us in their thoughts.
Many, many thanks to everyone who because of us did not go to bed at night or got up way too early and therefore was always accessible.
Many, many thanks to everyone who prayed for us and our safety.
Many, many thanks to all the country coordinators of the International University of Applied Sciencies Bad Honnef · Bonn, who did such a wonderful job:
Jürgen Malieske, Jana Ziegler, Anna Mailänder, Dirk Pätzold, Simon König, Eva Hasenbalg, Alice-Anna Oeter, Julia Hengstermann, Thomas Grüderich, Anne Schröder, Daniela Seiler, Jan-Philipp Rombolotto, Sebastian Thomas, Anne-Christine Maass and Press Officer Markus Stühlen.
Many, many thanks to Dagmar Nelson (Athens, Georgia) who did most of the English translations.
Many, many thanks to Andreas Dolz whose dedication and commitment made the record tour what it was and whose efforts we appreciate more than anything.
Many, many thanks to my beloved wife without whose love I would have never been able to realize such projects and who played the biggest part in the success of the Panamericana2006. Because she carried me.
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