"I have a best friend." A dangerous statement, but indisputeable in my case. Of courseSyndi is my wife and my
closest friend and companion, Of course I love my brother-in-law Andy as if he was my own blood. But through an odd and turbulent
life of trial and separation my best friend for the past 35 years has been Richard Menides. My four daughter all refer to
him as Uncle Rich, and the feeling has always been mutual.
When ever I have needed a friend he comes through. When he is cut, I bleed. And he is hurting right now. In Lawrence
Hospital, recovering from a major surgery. And I am very happy to say he sounds like he is doing great. But I would
like to be there to make sure, and to tease him about his hospital gown and share some old stories, and make some new plans.
And bring him a Cadbury Egg for Easter, because that is his favorite that his Mom never forgot.
Get Well Soon Rich!
For the past 5 days I have been staying in a beautiful seaside town near Valparaiso, Chile called Vina del Mar.
We had notices some very strangley dressed young people, and wondered what in the world was causing their strange attire.
It turns out that each year at the start of school, the new college students are subjected to a clever ritual. March
in Chile is the end of Summer so school started this Monday.
The freshman are caught by the upperclassman who rip up/off and paint the clothing and bodies of the newbies. We
saw kids with one shoe off, and one shoe on. Boys with tatters of their shirts remaining and hair half shaved off. The
girls were always more tastefully decorated, never anything rude or too exposed. But lots of anatomically indicative
painting.
The kids are all in the streets and roaming the town and city of Valpariaso asking for donations to help rebuild their
wardrobe. This gentleman hopes one day to buy a shirt and new trousers so he can use his degree in advanced mathematics.
OK, probably nobody wants to hear about our little sailing expeditions. But we had such fun on Saturday last week
I just had to record it somewhere.
Kim from our Dutch office and Faith from Liverpool joined Syndi and I on board the "Blue Puffin" for an afternoon
at the mercy of the wind and waves.
Well the wind was a fickle friend that day it was supposed to come from the WNW and back around to the SW by afternoon.
A perfect design for going down South to the Islands on the Indian River. Wind behind us going and returning.
Kim and Faith brought a picnic of cheese and fruits, and we had a little wine onboard just to keep the natives happy during
calm airs.
We switched our plans as the wind did a 180 degree shift on us, coming out of the East North East. We headed
up river through the 192 Causeway and up onto the Western shore of the Island, where all the big homes are. We got to
see them from the water side, and were suitabley impressed.
On the way Kim and Faith laid out the food. Took their turns at steering, and sipped a bit of wine.
As we approached the shore huge flocks of migratory ducks covered the waters, we got to watch a thousand birds rise and
turn en mass, it was quite a site.
About 100 yards off the shore the water was about 4 1/2 feet deep and seemed very clear. So I got the idea of diving
overboard with mask and fins to see the bottom of the boat. I had this owned this boat for nearly two years and have
never seen the bottom. Well this was a great idea, certainly easy enough to anchor the boat. Although we had never done that
before either. I would just slap on fins and a mask and drop over the side!
Now I was not so dense as to miss the fact that I had no official way to get back onboard. I rigged a couple of lines
to hang over the side to help me back up into the boat. Again another untried exploit.
Over I went. The water was cold but not as cold as our pool so I adjusted right away. Much to my delight
the Freedom 21 actually does have a keel, albeit a baby one. About 1 1/2 foot extending from the bottom. But I
had been lead to believe their was no keel at all. So I was delighted, I swam up and checked the anchor, all was as expected.
Swam back and proceeded to attempt to get back in the boat.
None of my original plans were effective, after about 20 minutes Everyone started to wonder if they would have to tow
me ashore behind the boat.
Eventually I managed to rig a sling on the Starboard side, cram my left leg into the sling and launch myself up to grab
the hatch rail, in one huge burst of flab power I was laying flopping on the deck like an overaged Sealion.
After a few moments of recovery I was hauling the anchor and we headed down wind. Now coming from just South of
East. We raised the Spinnaker, just to show her colors, and headed back down to the Intercaostal Waterway.
From there we had to motor home, as the wind was continuing it's uncooperative bent. Syndi had to steer as I held on
to the outboard motor that kept wanting to veer off of the boat. We did see a couple of dolphins, but not up close,
I am sure they dislike the outboard.
After all we got back to the dock just about sunset, wrapped up with our friends and went out for a bite of dinner. A
very satisfying day of friends, sun and fun.
Sidenote: I managed to re-injure my left knee on this excursion and was barely able to crawl into the rental car
Sunday morning to head for Miami and an 11 hour flight to Buenos Aires. All together, I say it was all worth it.
Get your fun when you can, moments like these are the color of our lives.
Reporting now from Chile, my second stop on my 2 week Latin America trip. More on that to follow...
