S/V L'ORIENT

A festive display of holiday cheer in Cartagena Happy holidays to our followers, even you folks from strange and unappealing cultures that we certainly won't visit in 2019 (or probably ever). Tis the season !!! Some problems at the nuclear power plan 20 miles north The much anticipated visit from Princess Emily was fun, fun, fun......and also quite useful for her as she now is an auditor of large international bank servicing loans to Colombia. We toured Cartagena- by bus, horse, and on foot. Is your horse safe ? Response- "This is not my horse" While Emily shared our amazement at the nice new condos and construction cranes everywhere, the look of revulsion on Emily's face is a, well, look of revulsion. Emily sizing up some unappealing lunch options... The 95 degree butchery in the Bazurto Market with no refrigeration caught her a bit by surprise. Ham and cheese on rye m'am ? Uh, no. Looking for Saks Fifth Avenue - you said we were goin...

Colombian jungle version of Jack and the Beanstalk (the mosquitos are oversized too) We've transitioned successfully to boat life after our trip to God's freezer (Wisconsin). It remains here, in a word........hot. Kirstin and I are both pretty fit but the heat here is so debilitating that you actually cross traffic to get to the shady side of the street, where it's a relatively cool 93 degrees. All around us Colombian women wear Levi's and long sleeves in the hot sun.......of course without sweating or ruining their uniformly perfect hair. Not sure how that works. Venezuelan money-purse workshop; low overhead in this sidewalk virtual sweatshop You can't choose your neighbors As we've made our loyal readership aware, sometimes the "haves" and the "have-nots" come in uncomfortably close contact. We may have mentioned the cramped, old 40 ft steel boat next to us with a mom, a missing father (back in Europe earning money), 6 childre...

Left my hat on the boat in Colombia Q1- Daughter in car accident (she is fine).......Q2- Tom has heart attack and gets a coronary artery stent (did we forget to mention that? - I am fine).......Q3 - son gets multiple skull fractures playing soccer (he made the save which is the important thing, right? He is better now). All quarters - Kirstin's mom has major health challenges. We've had quite the year in 2018, but to paraphrase "Deadmen Don't Wear Plaid" (I believe this is the first time it's been quoted)......"L'ORIENTs are never more dangerous than when they're dead (nearly)". The relatives congregate We've just arrived back on our dear yacht after a 5 week trip to the states, where we saw virtually everyone........you know it's been too long when baby niece Grace (now 5 ft 9) can spike a volleyball on you. Our trip started in Naples to visit Mom.......then on to Hilton Head for a family reunion. Kirstin and I decided w...

Did the narcos put down their guns and pick up paint brushes ? So, we've been in Colombia for about 3 weeks, arriving in Santa Marta and making an excursion to both Medellin and Jardin in the interior. It's totally interesting and nothing like we imagined, although we're not sure what we imagined (or have we been watching too much Narco on Netflix?). Imagine Vail with the per capita income of Bangladesh..... To prepare for our three months here Kirstin and I have vastly expanded our knowledge of Spanish (doubling our vocabulary from 25 to almost 50, often mispronounced, words) and we've read several books on that narco trafficking rock star Pablo Escobar. While he met his fate in 1993, the mayhem he unleashed didn't subside until relatively recently. Now that FARC (a Spanish acronym for the main revolutionary army) has taking a break also, tourism is growing exponentially. There are narco tours in Medellin for crime/history buffs, hotels opening everywhe...