Argentine travels 3 months on sailboat to reunite with his parents during COVID crisis

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Juan Manuel Ballestero arrived in Mar de Plata's port on Wednesday afternoon after having travelled for almost three months on a sailboat to reunite with his parents.

Ballestero, 47, was in Portugal when the pandemic started. After the borders were closed, on March 24 he decided to embark on a journey of more than 8,000 kilometres (4,971 miles) across the Atlantic Ocean to see his father Carlos and his mother Nilda, 90 and 82 years old respectively.

According to reports, it took him a month to reach Porto Belo in Brazil, where he had to fix his sailboat at sea. He continued his journey to Uruguay, and from there sailed another 500 kilometres (311 miles) to the Argentinean coast.

On Wednesday, Ballestero was seen sailing through the port of Mar de Plata. A group of friends who came along could also be seen.

After his odyssey, Ballestero will have to stay on board if his boat for 14 days to comply with the mandatory quarantine.

According to Johns Hopkins University, Argentina has recorded 35,552 cases of COVID-19 and 929 deaths to date.

Video ID: 20200618-053

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