Covid 19 coronavirus: father takes the longest way home for Christmas

By RNZ

A father has gone to great lengths to come home for Christmas and be reunited with his 7-year-old son, Andre, after being apart for almost a year.

With the closure of borders and the shortage of flights, Dmitry Pelevin decided to sail alone, 7000 nautical miles from the Caribbean to Auckland.

Pelevin cleared customs at Opua, where he passed a Covid-19 test, and because he was at sea for more than two weeks he was allowed to enter the country without having to go through controlled isolation.

Right after reaching the mainland, he told RNZ Checkpoint that the journey had not been easy, but that his son was delighted to see him.

“I was very excited … the last stage was quite hard, so I couldn’t enter the marina because the wind was very strong and … it took me a lot to get there.

“Some people were waiting for me here, my son and my friends.”

After persevering and docking in port, the family is now looking forward to a Kiwi Christmas together.

“Now everything is fine. I am with my son and now we are planning what we are going to do for Christmas.

“Andre will stay with me on the boat tonight and I’ll talk to him about the boat, about the trip and, starting tomorrow, we’ll probably … go somewhere and go to the beach.”

– RNZ