A brief read on international protocols for heads of state shows that a head of any friendly nation may enter another friendly country under one of three types of visits: a state visit, an official visit or a working visit. The first two require an invitation and involve the usual pomp, ceremony and events one sees eing held in D.C. for such occasions. The third, a working visit, is unofficial and does not involve the usual obligations of the host country for transportation, security and the like. It occurred to me that this third type of visit, if made by one of the Norwegian royal family, would make the plight of the Draken Harald Harfagri a bit more significant with our otherwise engaged members of Congress. It is admittedly short notice and with the constraints of time due to prescheduled visits by the longboat -- many that may not otherwise come to pass -- along with the inevitable prior obligations the royal family must honor, it may be difficult for them to respond. But it strikes me as both a way of honoring the Draken's crew and organization, of showing the significance of the voyage and of raising the profile of the matter in America's eyes to have someone of such a notworthy position participate and actually be on board, whether for the hoped for continuation of the Great Lakes itinerary -- or for her sad return to friendlier waters on the East Coast. With the signers of this petition now totaling near 11,000 this can't be viewed a some "fringe" affair of little importance! Perhaps if enough of us were to submit requests to the Norwegian embassy in Washington, there would be a way to bring such a visit about. A staff listing of the Norwegian embassy for Washington can be seen at: http://www.norway.org/embassy/washington/staff1/#.V4kXraJBk-o -- and for Toronto, while there is no such staff listing with email links, a general embassy email is: emb.ottawa@mfa.no While these emissaries are no doubt already aware of this unfortunate potential diplomatic black eye on the U.S. and Canada, they may be able to encourage the royal family to help reduce it to a minor contusion. Whatever involvement there could be can only improve the ever increasing self-induced embarrassment our respective governments have put on our countries.