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Our contact cards.

It's hard to keep up with the situation. We were convinced that the recent announcement, by the French, to effectively ban Brits from travelling to France from May 31, would be in place for several weeks. To my immense surprise, we were wrong. Last Monday, the word was out that the restrictions would be relaxed on June 9th. And indeed, France has officially announced the new rules. From June 9th, the UK will be on France's ' amber list ' which will mean some restrictions are

M. Macron As of Monday May 31, all the planning we have done has been thrown up in the air by M. Macron. Up until that point, Brits were able to have a ' compelling reason ' to travel to France, which included the need to complete contractual obligations. The handover - to us of Missy Bear by Sunbird in Canet-en-Rousillon - would have constituted such a ' compelling reason ' and Sunbird/Beneteau were happy to provide us with the necessary letters to get through border control

This an email I have just written to all potential crew. " Dear all, I apologise for the generic nature of this email, but, if you are receiving it, you will have expressed an interest to me or Alix to be part of Missy Bear's voyage from France to Turkey this year. I wanted to give you all an update on our plans, albeit the numerous issues (post Brexit Long-Term Visitor Visas; VAT export requirements; Covid-19 travel restrictions etc.) continue to require a fluid outlook.

Chris has confirmed now by email that the Factory date is Week 25 (for factory completion). This is the week June 21st to June 25th. Sunbird normally allow three weeks for delivery and commissioning, so the worst case would be the Friday 16th July for Handover date. They normally like to try and handover on a Thursday, so allowing a working Friday to sort any teething issues. The date might be earlier, but assuming it is not, this would mean sailing Missy Bear across the bord