S/V L'ORIENT

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...

Greetings from South America We've crossed that magic line in the sea......we call it "the Bonaire line".......the point from which getting back to the comfortable Eastern Caribbean becomes a major pain in the ass....as you are too far west. We're now in Santa Marta, Colombia after a 3 night sail that was blasé, boisterous, then terrifying. We've cruised the Eastern Caribbean for a long time. Everything was comfortable.........and armed with Kirstin's encyclopedic knowledge of where to find anything on any island, life was easy.....almost too easy. Rum punch and arepas on a Sunday afternoon on Bonaire - you got it! A gluten-free rum punch at 2:00 PM......accounting seems pretty far away We even know the right beaches to pick up family by dinghy from the airport. Pictured below is Emily and Kirstin (her driver) starting another fun week on the boat with us. Train (DC) to the planes (DC-Houston-Bonaire) and finally via dinghy to the boat...........Em...

Our first posting gap in a while........we hope our loyal Chadian, Malaysian, and Kazakh readers will be understanding. We know, we know........this blog really makes a difference. We'll try harder. Really. View from the bow So, the World Cup is over and Les Bleues were victorious. I have to say, it was fun watching although depending on who was playing, one of our favorite lunch places (El Mundo) was either empty or insanely packed with all tables reserved. Peoples of the world killing time watching football on a Tuesday morning And who knew that the Swiss had such a visible contingent.......although at first glance their fans still always look like a Red Cross convention. Kind of a "cat in the hat" look but at least she's supporting her team Kirstin completed a family visit to her parents' house in Wisconsin........and returned smuggling about 100 lbs of boat parts.....the final leg in L'ORIENT's complex supply chain. Parts ordered i...