Number One Question

The Number One Question comes in different forms.

How do you live in such a small space?

How do you not kill each other?

How do you live together in such a tight space and still talk to each other?

Are you not sick or tired of each other yet?

How do you put up with Faye? How do you put up with Ken?

How do you make your own space?

There were others but I do not want to put them in print!

Unfortunately we have witnessed many couples not making it in this enviroment. They split up or endure what must be. Their goals started out the same but their reality became different from the dream.

Ken and I went into this with a couple of rules or things we follow, that so far has worked for us.

1) If for any reason one of us feels uneasy about leaving an anchorage or moorage we voice our opinion and we respect the reasoning. We never leave if we don't both agree on leaving.

There have been times that my gut feeling was not to go and there have been times when Ken's gut feeling has had us not leaving. To date we have never regretted our choice.

2) There are no silly questions. (Sometimes this gets ignored).

3) We divided our jobs into pink/blue jobs so that we each feel that we contribute equally in what we bring to the table. There are crossovers and things that we both participate doing. The idea that everyone can do everything to me is quite nieve. There are physical jobs I cannot do and I am not mechanically inclined. That does not mean that I should ignore the engine. My smeller plays an important engine room check. Ken has learnt not to ignore "I smell something or something doesn't sound right".

I plan the route but we have determined a rough agenda, where we would like to be and the determining factor is weather.

Do we get tired of each other. Not that we admit too, around others! We do travel together and do things together but there are times we hang out with other people.

The living accommodations are more spacious than one would expect and there are spaces to be by yourself. Ken can always go to the engine room and "no I won't look for him there". I am sure he would like more head room down there.

One problem that I do see in us and most married boaters is that we finish each others sentences or stories. Something to work on.

Me I read for awhile and just disappear. It works and we can still brag that we have never had a fight. Not bad after 30 years.
All and all we work together.

Were Taking a Vacation

Preparing to go home is no small task. Stan and Lynn Hommer joined us to help navigate the very shoaled area into the marina yard that will keep Genesis safe.

Genesis was put onto the slings of the travel lift and gently lifted out of the water and moved to her temporary spot. The bottom had some growth but not much for a year in the very hot tropical waters. Seems the hot sauce added to the paint really works. We will definitely try it again. The damage to the bottom from the reef was non existent.

The temperature on the hard was 110F with no breeze. We ran the 3 fans inside getting the temperature down to around 90F feeling much cooler but not enough to stop the puddles from appearing beneath our feet.

We spent the week with our lists. Ken with his blue list me with the pink list. Every inch of the inside of the boat had to be washed down with a bleach solution, all linens washed and put away, the exterior had to be stripped and put away and inventoried, freezer and fridge emptied and cleaned. The food was given to our new Colombian friends. The engine oils needed to be changed (and a bunch of other engine stuff I didn't pay attention to but knew were important.) I do know however Ken's list was longer than mine. The final task was to plug all thru hulls so no insects would make their homes in our boat.

We got a quote for the work we will want done when we return and have decided to go ahead with the work . Very reasonable. Marina Manzanillo was extremely helpful to us and I would strongly recommend any boaters looking for a haul out to consider this yard.

The heat was getting to us so we decided to take a room for the week with a pool. A decision we did not regret.

We were fortunate enough to get flights from Cartagena to Seattle for $329.00 plus taxes. We couldn't believe it. We would have to overnight in Miami but even with a hotel room it is still very inexpensive. We took our first ever flight on LAN. It is the Chilean National Airline and the best I have ever been on. The seats were comfortable and spacious, the flight crew wonderful, they served FREE meals with real plates and cutlery, free drinks including alcoholic drinks if you wanted one, snacks when you wanted them, blankets, pillows, tv, music and all for free. It was like we were in first class.

We were picked up in Seattle by Pam and Stu on a beautiful summer day. This however was not our final destination. Together the four of us continued another six hours to Kelowna, where the following day we would attend a family gathering. We surprised everyone as no one knew we were coming.

What was going through both our minds were the changes. Vancouver has a lot of much needed road and bridge construction finished and being completed. (Government incentive money).It must have employed or kept some employed. The most important thing we saw however was the beauty. The mountains with glacier snow, the flowers and trees all in their spring splendor. I could smell the pine. Yep we were in Canada. No noise. No honking car horns.

We asked for you to send us questions and the first question is ...........

What do you miss about Canada the most after being gone for such an extended time?

The answer of course would be family and friends first, some types of food products, like pickles, some cheese's, blueberries, blackberries and brussel sprouts. We can find pickles but it has been quite difficult. Now there are 2 types of boaters; one who must have your typical brand names found in North America and the others who adapt. We are the adapters. People in these countries do eat. So as the saying goes "When in Rome eat what the Romans eat. I am sure that I will miss the fresh mangoes off the trees, the bunches of bananas turning in front of your eyes. As we drove through the Rockies I however realized that I missed the beauty of our country, the glacier topped mountains, rivers, beautiful trees, the valleys and all the spring flowers.

We are in BC for another week then will continue to Calgary where we will continue to see more family and friends. Our number 1 thing that we miss.

We are we Now?

We are still in Cartagena Colombia.

Monday we found ourselves in a situation that was bound to happen some day.

At 0400hr we were awaken to some people talking loudly. The wind had shifted and increased. A single hull sailboat had become unanchored and drifted down and ended up on the bow of a catamaran. The single handler of the catamaran was trying to dislodge the sailboat from its bridal. Unfortunately the 2 sailboats were both drifting towards us. The first sailboat had dislodged the cats anchor and now they were both drifting; because the cat was single handling he could not put the engine on to steer until he could get free of the sailboat.
Quickly Ken and I threw down fenders on the side of our boat that it would hit. We had extra fenders in hand to put where needed. Of course it is raining very hard, lots of wind and lots of adrenaline.
The cat owner managed to get the sailboat off of his just in time. The sailboat however, engine stalled and began the magnetic pull, back to the cat. The sailboats dinghy and motor were tossed wildly between the bow of the cat and the sailboat. Things looked bad but they seem to be behind us now and we should be okay. The sailboat kept drifting back missing other boats when finally it was able to start its engine.
It was about at this time the wind started to shift again bringing the cat closer and closer until we touched. Luckily there was no damage and we were able to get more fenders down until the sun could come up. The problem was that the anchor of the cat was now probably too close to us. Andy (the owner of the cat) would get some friends onto his boat and gingerly lift his anchor. When all was said and done there was no damage to anyone.
Meanwhile in the anchorage the same scene was playing out for up to ten boats. When the sun came up with all the movement it appeared that we had many new neighbours from around the world.

Tuesday we sat for an hour on the upper bridge watching navy maneuvers. It involved 2 Frigates, 2 fast Navy boats, a Navy helicopter and a bad ass drug smuggling fast boat. Two persons complete with pretend drug packages acted out a water pick up. The 2 Navy boats hid in the weeds watching the score. Then just like in Miami Vice the chase began. The Navy called in the helicopter and the Navy trapped the drug boat between the two boats. The Marines then went on to the boat an arrested the bad guys. They practise this for at least an hour. At first I thought it was for real until it happened over and over again. Not to mention they let the drug boat go home.

Now for the Boat"They Said Couldn't But Did"!

I have yet to talk about Genesis. She is a CHB Universal Trawler. She is 49.9 feet overall. Before beginning our journey we joined a group of like minded adventurers. They however didn't believe Genesis was the type of vessel to take us on our adventure. Little did they know that she is a sea worthy girl. She tracks true without touching the wheel. She takes heavy seas in stride. Following seas are like riding a magic carpet. Beam well ........... no one likes that!

She runs on two diesels and uses just 2 gallons an hour, helping us keep some money in the bank.

She is a tri-cabin. She has a forward stateroom with head/shower, galley with pull out couch and an aft a living room area and another head with shower. Up above she has two levels of outdoor living. Total space would be like an 1200 sq foot condo.

To operate daily we have a 25 gal/hr watermaker; making us clean drinking water and more than enough water to take continual showers to cool down.

We have both AC&DC electricity. The inverter takes our battery current and switches it into 120 volt. We have a genset to run 120V, plus shore power should we be at shore.

Genesis has been working hard for the last 2 years. Like a child that has tantrums, Genesis has alternator fits. (Similar to hissy fits) If Ken had hair to pull out he would be bald, so its a good thing he has none. He's in the same place without the pain.

We are traveling in an area known for its steep seas and high winds; however like everywhere there is a proper time to transit with the least effects. Here it is the end of April and May or September through November.

Ken and I have decided to give Genesis a much deserved rest, and much like the spa treatment. We are going to put her on the hard. Try to keep her dry for the rainy/lightning season and re-fit her with new decks, where the teak currently are. She will have new larger alternators put in and a total check up.

If we continued as planned to Trinidad/Tobago we would only have 1 month to see the ABC Islands, Venezuela and all things in between and that is weather permitting. We have also talked to other boaters and they say the weather here is less rainy and Cartagena has better security. Work is also much cheaper here.

So after almost 2 years on the water we are going home for 4 months. Prove we are Canadian, hug a tree (pine) update our health care and make some more dineros to pay for the trip.

I will continue to write and post blogs on subjects not yet mentioned, get after the photos and catch up. Now!

This Is Your Chance!

There are up to 180 people a week reading this blog. I want you to send me an email with questions you would like answered etc. Send the emails through the comments on this blog or calmh2o.genesis@gmail.com

Questions can be of any nature but please nothing vulgar.

Until next week we will be busy getting Genesis ready for her vacation.

Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas

In Cartagena there are a handful of impressive Spanish forts, including the 17th century Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, undoubtedly the greatest and strongest fortress ever built by the Spaniards in their colonies. We began our site seeing at the historical Spanish Fortress Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas. It majestically stands guard on a hillside overlooking the city and harbour.

Many Spanish Galleons, laden with riches from the new world, were attacked and seized by Pirates and English war ships. King Ferdinand ordered the city to be fortified to protect Spain's treasures. The fortress you see today and the Castillo took nearly 200 years to build and housed 245 tons of gold. Cartagena suffered invasions and sackings in 1544, 1560, and in 1586 (Sir Francis Drake). This fort is by far the most impressive fort we have ever seen. Massive.

We were guided through the fort by Edison, a local taxi driver/cruise ship tour guide. He took us into the bowels of the fort, down many levels of dark, musty, wet slippery tunnels and pathways. Edison explained that the Spanish built these long tunnels that wound and twisted through the dark basement so as when the British attacked, they could spring out of the cross channels and spear them to death. We walked all the way down until sea level. Yes we hit water.

Close to the fortress is the 150m high La Popa hill, which offers great views over Cartagena and the harbour area.

The 17th century Santa Cruz monastery is here, which has a beautifully restored courtyard and a fine image of the Virgin of La Candelarisa. The views were outstanding. This is the site that Pope John Paul held a Mass, in which over 1 million attended. Each Easter a procession of hundreds of thousands follow the cross being carried to the Cathedral upon the hill.

Cartagena is one of the most beautiful cities of South America. The city was formally known as Cartagens de Indias. Founded in 1533 by Don Pedro de Heredia, and named after the port of Cartagena in Spain's Murcia region, it was a major center of early Spanish settlement in the Americas, and continues to be an economic hub as well as a popular tourist destination.

Clock Tower in the Back Ground. (The Edge of Old Town.)

Old town consists of several public squares. The Plaza de Santo Doming; the church Santo de Domingo built in 1539 is the oldest in Cartagena. Legend has it the devil was so unhappy he tried to twist it off its foundation. If you look at the building it looks like it is not sitting square and it is one of the most attractive buildings in the Old Town. The square has 4 water features. The Plaza Fernanez Madrid; had its church completed in 1736. The Plaza Bolivar;is the place that the Holy Office of the Inquisition. The first execution was carried out on this site in 1614 and became the center for bullfights. Today it is flanked by restaurants, shops and the gold museum. Plaza de San Diego; was originally an orchard. It now houses the School of Fine Arts.

The Young Children Dancing Caribe

The Port of Cartagena is one of the busiest in South America, there are huge container ships being loaded 24/7. The major exports of Colombia are coffee, tobacco, petroleum products, cosmetics, fertilizers, textiles and coal. There is a Cruise Ship per day docking and the tourist flock to the old town, cathedrals and tourist sites. The largest shopping district is the Emerald area in Old Town.

The music of Colombia is a varied as the cultural dancing. We watched young dancers performing a very traditional Caribbean dance. Salsa music and dancing is everywhere. Ballet is common with children of all ages participating.

Yesterday being May 1st and a holiday afforded us the privilege of watching a waterfront fireworks show.