# Ryujin - Voyage V28-RYU



## FrankAZ (Feb 19, 2009)

Starting this thread as the customary place for all fellow OCD 'festers to track the voyage of the Ryujin from Bremerhaven.

I dropped off my car in Geneva on July 13th. Today the E.H. Harms tracking system began reporting that my car is on the Ryujin departing Bremerhaven 8/5/09, arriving Port Heuneme 8/30/09.

Information about the Ryujin.

Track and position: here.

Frank


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## steves330ca (Apr 27, 2005)

After reading your thread, I got curious and searched E.H. Harm tracking system. I am on the Ryujin too!! 

I dropped off my car this past Saturday in Munich. Just arrived back in the states late Sunday evening.


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## FrankAZ (Feb 19, 2009)

*Present Position and Google Earth KMZ file*

Using data from MarineTraffic.com (and other websites) and transcribing it to Google Earth, with projected course and progress, we get:










Attached is a Google Earth KMZ file (rename it to '_Ryujin_Voyage_to_8-21-09.kmz_') which will let you add the voyage so far to your copy of Google Earth. You may remove other imported Ryujin files if you moved them from _Temporary Place_s to _My Places_. The latest file includes all previous and updated information.

Frank.


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## voltigeur (Jun 29, 2008)

FrankAZ said:


> Starting this thread as the customary place for all fellow OCD 'festers to track the voyage of the Ryujin from Bremerhaven.
> 
> I dropped off my car in Geneva on July 13th. Today the E.H. Harms tracking system began reporting that my car is on the Ryujin departing Bremerhaven 8/5/09, arriving Port Heuneme 8/30/09.
> 
> Frank


Frank, you lucky bugger: you had a mth longer over there than me!  Also glad you had a safe ED.

Best of luck w/ getting your car through Customs in an expeditious manner.

-- V


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## FrankAZ (Feb 19, 2009)

voltigeur said:


> Frank, you lucky bugger: you had a mth longer over there than me!  Also glad you had a safe ED.
> 
> Best of luck w/ getting your car through Customs in an expeditious manner.
> 
> -- V


Thanks for the good wishes. I was sorry to read of your customs issue. That is exactly the sort of thing which would send me over the edge! You've been a model of tranquility by comparison.

Yes, I was lucky with my big trip. When I get back next week I'll have been away from home for 9 weeks, 50 days of which have been gallivanting around Europe in 11 countries/principalities. Highlights (for me) were Women's finals at Wimbledon where we drew seats 5 rows from the court and level with the baseline in the ballot. We also lucked into being in Siena for the Palio (big surprise when we rolled into town, despite my otherwise anal planning) and we found a killer position in the square for a good view.

Of those 50 days we were only 'rained off' for 1/2 of one day. The rest of the time was perfect weather for what we wanted to do. Sure, it rained the other side of the hill, or where we were yesterday, or where we would be tomorrow, but nary a drop on us. Incredible good luck. What with fortunate underground parking the first time the car got truly wet was when I ran it through a car wash after 49 days on the road.

Of course the real highlight was the car and getting to know it on some of the most memorable roads under the happiest circumstances imaginable. 3360 miles worth!

The problem with such a wonderful trip is that work re-entry on August 3rd after an absence of 72 days is going to be a killer. Either I will come in too shallow and skip off the work/fun boundary to spend years not quite 'getting it'; or I will come in too steep and suffer burn-out within weeks. I fear the perfect trajectory will elude me.

Frank.


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## term56 (Feb 17, 2009)

Thanks for posting this FrankAZ...we dropped our car July 23 in Munich, and it just came up on the Harms site as scheduled for the Ryujin. Can't wait for Port Heuneme on 8/30/09!


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## mooneydriver (Feb 16, 2004)

Another Rjuyin customer here! We dropped off our 335i in Frankfurt on 7/22 and it's scheduled to be on the Ryujin departing 8/5.

Our route is here.


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## FrankAZ (Feb 19, 2009)

*Getting closer to Bremerhaven*

Our ship is nearly in port. Check out the latest position maintained in the 3rd post of this thread.

(OK - this is just a shallow way of bumping this thread into the first page again).


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## livermore525 (Aug 22, 2006)

I dropped my car off on July 27 and made the RYUJIN as well so I am happy to be leaving Germany also on the 5th.


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## FrankAZ (Feb 19, 2009)

*Now docked in Bremerhaven*

I suppose around about now that our cars are being driven onto the ship at 100mph by guys who have an acceptable accident quota and who are protected by German labor laws anyway.

Check out post #3 (as always) for latest.

Frank


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## FrankAZ (Feb 19, 2009)

*Ryujin now in the Osthafen dock and in view of a webcam*

Today the Ryujin relocated across the port to the Osthafen dock and is now within sight of this webcam. Right now the view of Ryujin is:










Ryujin is the black/white ship dead-center, confirmed by reference to recent other pictures. From other posts including the excellent guide to tracking posted on these forums recently this is one of the port areas most likely to load BMWs. So, watch for your car. 

For the pessimists amongst us it is also good to see that thus far the ship is right way up and afloat.

Frank.


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## mooneydriver (Feb 16, 2004)

Nice job finding Ryujin on a webcam. I happened to fly over Port Hueneme yesterday - here's a shot. Obviously, Ryujin isn't there yet ;-)


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## aandjw (Mar 15, 2009)

Dropped in Frankfurt on 17JUL. Confirmed on Ryujin today via EH Harms on the telephone.


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## FrankAZ (Feb 19, 2009)

mooneydriver said:


> Nice job finding Ryujin on a webcam. I happened to fly over Port Hueneme yesterday - here's a shot. Obviously, Ryujin isn't there yet ;-)


Private or commercial? We're going to have to recruit you for flyovers starting August 30th.


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## mooneydriver (Feb 16, 2004)

Private. Yes - I'll make sure to do another pass over the port around the 30th!


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## FrankAZ (Feb 19, 2009)

Ryujin still in port, but due to depart later today. Looks like the marshalling yard is much more clear than previously. We now have the tug 'Innovation' alongside so I anticipate activity soon. Chug Chug!

Our colleagues on the Fedora will note that their ship is the green/white one to the right.










Frank.


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## FrankAZ (Feb 19, 2009)

*We're off!*

The Ryujin left port at 15:55 local time this afternoon and is presently steaming westward towards the English Channel. Check out the 3rd post of this thread for updated positions and charts as the voyage progresses.

E.H. Harms' tracking website is not yet showing a bill of lading for my car but I am sure this is bureaucratic lag and not an indication that it somehow missed or fell off the ship already. Anyone else?

Frank.


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## mooneydriver (Feb 16, 2004)

Same here - no bill of lading yet. The bookkeepers must be on a smoking break.


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## FrankAZ (Feb 19, 2009)

*Ryujin approaching Emden. Live webcam possibility.*

Live news.

Check out Ryujin's current position. Follow along with this webcam. If I have this right we ought to see the Ryujin in less than an hour.

There is a large VW facility in Emden just to the west of the harbor mouth. My guess is we'll load on some of those to supplement the MB and/or Porsche cars which were loaded before us in Bremerhaven.

Update: Boo! the Ryujin moored in the roads to the SWW of the harbor mouth and out of sight of any webcams I can find, except perhaps the zoomable one on the windturbine which won't see anything until daybreak.

Update #2: We're underway once more... Looks like either (a) the steersman is drunk; or (b) we'll be mooring outside the harbor immediately adjacent to the VW facility, but the Wisaforest cargo ship will have to get out of the way first.

Update #3: Check out this webcam which is atop a windturbine in the farm just north of where the Ryujin has come to rest. It's dark, but there is a great blurry lit up thing just where I would expect to see the ship. I call success! By triangulating on the distinctive buildings and parking lot at the VW place I think the camera is on the windturbine furthest east and closest to the water in the windfarm.


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## FrankAZ (Feb 19, 2009)

*Course to date: August 5th*

Check out Post #3 for the latest chart and a Google Earth importable KMZ file which I'll keep current as Ryujin journeys to Port Hueneme.

Frank.


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## FrankAZ (Feb 19, 2009)

I begged visitation rights to go and see my car at the dealer tonight. Ostensibly to OK the repair to the front bumper before the car went on for paint surface treatments but of course I took the opportunity for a thorough reacquaintance.










As promised both plates are still with the car. Whew! The bumper has been repaired magnificently, even better than I hoped. A wheel that I slightly scraped on a curb in Provence has been replaced with a new one, and a few small scratches I think may have been with the car since the Welt have been polished out. In short, the car is in A1 concourse condition and much better inside and out than any car with 3373 European miles with my family deserves.

My car has an extra 13 miles since drop-off in Geneva, which I consider very litle all things considered. US maps are installed, and interestingly my _Previous Destinations_ at first listed all the stops I'd programmed during my ED. When I returned to that page moments later they had all gone. Poof! I guess the system realized it couldn't map them and forgot them. My actual programmed address book was still retained though and I'll probably keep those entries forever as a souvenir.

Next up is window tinting either tomorrow or Monday. Then I expect to have the car home for a week before returning it to have the paint treatment applied after the new paint has had a time to bake-in and harden.

No mention from the dealer about Allianz insurance claims, asking for policy details, or anything like that. I guess they must be able to prosecute a claim or absorb repair costs without customer engagement at all. Nice!

Almost there. Mentally I am counting tonight as my redelivery event.

Frank.


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## RoBMWED (Aug 3, 2007)

*Congratulations and pleased to hear Progress !*

frankaz - I really like you paint and interior selection ! I anticipated the inaccurate info on the BMW owner's page - but my car is in the middle of the Atlantic - afloat for a week ! I went back to review your ED experience.

Seems like the best laid plans go astray. Similar experience with a scrape.

Discovering that the hotel that we were going to use in Milano was closed for renovations.

Almost getting crushed by an Italian Firetruck in Milano at 11:00 at night. That, created hysterical, stress releasing laughter.

Sleeping wife missing high speed autobahn stretches.

But your car is safe at home (almost) - and you seem to have weathered the experience nicely !

And you got to tour CERN !!

Congratulations again - and looking forward to hearing of positive adventures (with functioning NAV !) as well as photos after you get your tinting done !

Cheers!


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## FrankAZ (Feb 19, 2009)

RoBMWED said:


> frankaz - I really like you paint and interior selection !
> 
> ...
> 
> ...


Thank you. Like many others I was dithering about a change to Space Grey right up to the point when it was suddenly being built a week earlier than I expected. It was good not to have to flip-flop on that decision any more. Having seen and experienced my car in the metal I am extremely happy with my choices.

My tour of CERN was one of the hightlights. As a tech-buff that was always going to be a satisfying finale the day before drop-off and it didn't dissappoint. They'd already begun to clean the main LHC ring of debris so I couldn't get down there but my friend gave me the full tour otherwise, including the control rooms where I had a good chat with the folks on duty. The other experiments were very exciting too, and because my friend is one of the muckety-mucks there I got a sort of busman's holiday event in the main Atlas data collection room which was stuffed full of high-end computers. Mmmmm.

I am looking forward to exploring all of the iDrive now it is home. The various BMW Ultimate accounts hadn't been activated last night so I was unable to use BMW Search or the other data applications. I'm really looking forward to sending info from Google Maps! It was great to see the navigation maps populating with traffic info though.

One thing I wasn't expecting: last night I had very strange dreams. I'm not so foolish as to describe them here lest my inner nuttiness is exposed too much (if that is still possible). But, the underlying theme was about my European life and US life colliding. I was meeting UK and German friends in shops here, etc. Seeing the car in Arizona when I have internally been assigning it to my European existance is disconserting. It's hard to describe, but even awake it feels very strange. Just the picture of my car at the dealership looks out of place and deep inside my head there is something tugging at my understanding of the universe.

I'll post more pictures as I get it home, and _Hayden_ has inspired me to attempt a more detailed travelogue. I don't expect to do it justice anytime soon so that will have to be categorized as a retrospective later in the year. I need to edit and filter my pictures to remove my extremely camera-shy and web-shy wife first.

Frank.


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## steves330ca (Apr 27, 2005)

My car is finally at the dealership!!! Photos provide by Philippe Khttp://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/images/smilies/thumb.gif


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## asaseaban (Aug 9, 2005)

FrankAZ said:


> No news yet about my car.
> 
> I surprised myself over the weekend by going a whole day without even thinking about it, but I am making up time for that this morning. For some unfathomable reason I am on edge and pouncing on my phone whenever it rings. My subconscious has decided, in the absence of any information, that today is THE DAY. Perhaps because I know that my wife will not be able to ferry me to collect my car either today or tomorrow and getting THE CALL today would maximize my discomfort.
> 
> ...


7 months? May i ask why such a long wait? Is this normal for ED or just special for you?


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## hayden (Jun 6, 2006)

steves330ca said:


> My car is finally at the dealership!!! Photos provide by Philippe K


Holy smokes that thing is dirty! :yikes:


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## FrankAZ (Feb 19, 2009)

asaseaban said:


> 7 months? May i ask why such a long wait? Is this normal for ED or just special for you?


Peculiar to me. I had been planning my ED trip for several years and by February this year I had already booked my transatlantic flights and several internal European flights using airmiles. A few must-stay accommodations including a return to our honeymoon villa in Tuscany were booked, and could not be moved unless I was lucky with someone elses cancellation. In short, I was committed on my big-picture itinerary and it was critical to my plans that I had an exact pick-up date and time at the Welt.

To be confident of that slot I initially ordered the car on Feb 18th. I was successful in getting my Welt time organized, and probably I could have been as fortunate if I had ordered the car in March or even April. But, for the sake of interest I might have earned on the $1000 deposit playing chicken with the Welt wasn't worthwhile.

So, my BMW purchasing experience was a 7 months and 1 day experience from order to redelivery. My window tinting was finished last Saturday morning so I was able to collect the car after lunch. It wasn't until today that I had an opportunity to sit in the car for some time and play with all the features, including some I didn't get around to in Europe.

On which note: I am still waiting for the BMW Assist to be activated. I made my Acquaintance Call yesterday but the agent told me that the dealer paperwork hadn't arrived. Nevertheless, sometime overnight the iDrive received an update and today the previously text-only BMW Assist menu pages are decorated with small thumbnail photographs, but as of 30 minutes ago I still didn't have 'My Info' as a menu choice and any data services fail. (No send from Google Maps, no BMW Search, and TeleService connection attempts fail with errors).

Even after 7 months I am still waiting for some of the features to arrive.:tsk:

Frank.


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