True Perry Style

Unfortunately, launch day did not happen as we had hoped on Tuesday. The travel lift that hauls the boats got a flat tire just as our turn came up. The fellows needed to spend the rest of the day getting it fixed with the forklift. It was probably just as well, since we still had plenty of odd jobs to complete but at the time the cup is half full attitude was not happening!

So, on Wednesday we all arrived before 8 with all of our duffels bags in toe. We were moving on regardless of launch or not. Luckily launch did happen right before lunch. In true Perry style though anything that could go wrong pretty much did.

Once we were in the water but tied up to the dock we noticed that we could only go in reverse, forward was not happening. Of course when anything like this happens there is always a time pressure involved to. They needed us to clear the dock so they could launch the next boat since they were behind schedule. Graham and the mechanic got to work on it. I filled the water tank while this was happening. I kept saying to Graham, geesh she seems to be taking A LOT of water......he would check every so often that all was well in amongst all the other things he was doing. Amelia came running up on deck and was shouting, stop the water, stop the water. She had noticed down below that under the one floor board we had pulled up it was full of water! Needless to say the boat launch manager was not a happy camper because it took us a few hours to get organized and get ready to cast off.

Once all had been fixed there was the problem of actually backing Artemo out. Artemo does not like to back out and especially in really tight spaces. We recruited a fellow cruiser to pull/ guide us out with his powerful dinghy and we also had a bunch of yard hands on the various lines letting us out slowly. There was a lot of yelling and shouting and near misses but WE DID IT. We had finally escaped yet another boat yard.

Away we went for what we thought would be a nice calm 1/2 hour motor. The wind unfortunately was fierce and even with absolutely no sails on the boat, Artemo was healing over. The forestay was not attached because we had to take it off for the travel lift and with the high winds it actually got picked up and started to hit the main mast. I was at the front of the boat and fighting madly against the wind to move the forestay forward away from the mast. Graham finally gave the helm to Captain Alex and came and got the forestay under control. I made my way back to the cockpit and let Alex bring us in to the anchorage.

Anchoring went nice and easy. We got it on the first try, thank god! The unfortunate part was that due to all the chaos on launch the boat looked like a bomb had went off inside.....there were no cervasas for us for quite a few hours after arrival but let me tell you, when that moment arrived it was sweet.

Fast forward to 9pm..... sitting in the breezy cockpit, watching MASH and all so happy to be back on water and excited about tomorrow!

SIGN A RAMA

(Ignore the parts about no pictures...I was finally successful!)
Ok, so I didn't want to post this blog until I was able to successfully upload some pictures but unfortunately due to internet issues there will be no pictures....you will have to use your imagination!

Tomorrow Artemo finally goes back in the water!!! Can I hear a whoop, whoop?? Todomar boat yard has been really great. They completed all the work and you will have to imagine the gleaming white cockpit with no rotted holes in it. Absolutely beautiful. The new cabinets down below also look great. Graham has mounted his brand new radar screen on the new cabinet and he is like a proud papa. Artemo's paint job is so shiny. They gave her a good polish once they were done. You can see your reflection in the paint. We have cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and finally Artemo is looking like home again.

The final job prior to launch was putting our brand new "Artemo" signs from SIGN A RAMA (Bay Street, Toronto) onto all sides of the boat. Again you are going to have to use your imagination but it was really quite a moment. The signs totally rock and the white lettering against the shiny blue hull looks REALLY good. The globe inside the O totally makes it. We have already had many people stop by and ask who designed the logo. My turn to look like a proud mama....toot, toot! We are also so happy to finally proudly display our home port sign "Toronto, Ontario"on the stern. The world is awesome but Toronto is our home.

Prior to us leaving Toronto the guys at SIGN A RAMA made us 3 signs for the boat and a bunch of boat cards.........for FREE!!! They just offered to do it for free? How often does that kind of thing happen? If you get the chance stop in and see the guys there, tell them "Artemo" sent you. They are at 873 Bay Street and their website is http://www.signarama-toronto.ca/. It would make me really happy to send some business their way.

So, tomorrow Artemo hits the water after 8 months on the hard. I am not going to lie to you I am pretty nervous. I have pretty much imagined every possible terrible scenario that could happen and it is only about a half an hour motor to the anchorage. LOL. Our plan is to stay in the anchorage til Sunday and then push off to the Rosario islands of Columbia and then onto the San Blas Islands. The Rosarios are only a few hours away, so they will be a good shake down sail for us. The San Blas unfortunately are overnight sail. Oh well, nothing like just jumping in. Another interesting tid bit for you all is that Graham turns the big 4-0 on Sunday, Feb 7th! I can't think of a better place to be spending his birthday than on the sea living his dream.

Ok, I will stop writing here.....even though I have so much more to say. I am sure there will be lots to write about after our adventure tomorrow. Everyone think tons of positive thoughts for us and don't forget to pop into Sign A Rama!

CT Scan in Cartagena

Alex brought in 2010 this year by ignoring a "CAUTION" sign on the slopes of Silverstar and proceeding wildly down a path and through some trees that came to an opening and then a jump and then....nothing but air......and then life flashes before eyes and then hitting the ground and then wondering how he survived.....wondering what he had broke......scared, dazed confused.

Graham and I were the lucky recipients of the phone call at the bottom of the hill letting us know that he was coming back to the paramedic trailer by ski doo and would be there shortly and that luckily he seemed to be ok. Longest 20 minutes of my life. He arrived all bundled up on a stretcher pulled behind the ski doo. I unwrapped the tarp from his face to find a HUGE smile and a shiner on his left eye. He thought he had just been treated to the coolest rescue ever. Since the part of the hill that he landed on was so steep the rescue team had to take him part of the way on a sled by hand and then the second half on the ski doo stretcher/sled. He felt like a king.

The paramedics checked him all out and the good news was that he hadn't lost consciousness and that he seemed to remember the accident. He had a thorough examination and then due to my concern the fellow checking him out had another senior paramedic check him out again. Thumbs up from everyone. Chalked it up to a lesson learned and a frightening experience.

About a week and a half ago Alex complained of a bit of dizziness. It came on while we were doing a 700 piece puzzle together. He felt like he couldn't focus and it also gave him a bit of nausea. Over the past little while he has had 2 bouts of dizziness, 2 headaches, nausea a few times off and on, a couple of times of wonky vision and most recently vomiting. Since his symptoms didn't all come together and really weren't that severe, it took me a while to put them together. The vomiting was the tipping point. He had no other symptoms like you would get with a stomach bug or food poisoning, etc......so here this story begins.....after that very long lead up (sorry)..

Sunday night Graham and I went back over everything that Alex had been experiencing and we both agreed that it would be a good idea for him to see a doctor. At each port when we arrive we always either ask other cruisers for health care information or in most cases there is a document of info made by someone with all important numbers and contacts. This is the case for Cartagena. The dock master at Club Nautico had made a small guide and had the names of several doctors he recommended. Under the advice of one of our new friends here (Kathy on Seastar) I call Dr. Jaime Ambrad at 8:50am on Monday.

Dr. Ambrad picked up the phone himself?? He spoke English and asked what time would be good for me. We arranged an appointment for 10 am. I wrote out the address for the taxi driver and away we went. We knocked on Dr. Ambrad's door and his nurse let us in and we were then led into his office with no wait. My first impression was how kind, genuine and warm he seemed. He was probably in his 60's and he isn't a family doctor. He is a specialist dealing with cardiovascular and thoracic complaints but he is also a fellow sailor and willing to see cruisors with other issues. He treated our appointment as his top priority. He heard the symptoms and also agreed that the nausea/vomiting would have other symptoms associated if it was a bug, etc. He said that he wanted to call some of his contacts who were neurosurgeons and get us a referral. He said that he didn't want us to have to wait and that he would call us with the information but that he would like to arrange for an appointment for this afternoon. He said he wouldn't be charging us for our visit.

Within an hour of being home Dr. Ambrad called and asked us to come back for a CT scan and then a follow-up appointment with one of the top neurosurgeon in Cartagena. We arrived and were taken directly to the lab. Amelia stayed upstairs and waited with the doctor. Alex was thinking that it was pretty cool that he would get to see pictures of his brain. He climbed up on the table and they put his head in the apparatus and after about 10 minutes it was done. We waited about another 10 minutes for the pictures to be developed. During this time the doctor brought Amelia down because he wanted to see the pictures and evaluate them with the specialist at the lab before we went to the neurosurgeon. He came out and gave us the "Thumbs Up" and called us in to look at the pictures. He translated for the specialist and she let us know that there was no internal bleeding or blood clots. All good news. He then offered to drive us across town to the neurosurgeon, since he was done for the day??? You can imagine the SHOCK on my face! He still hadn't charged us and never did and we only paid $110 for the CT scan.

He dropped us off and asked me to call when I left the office and let him know how things went. I was blown away by this doctor. Since we have never been able to get a family physician, I have taken the kids too many walk in clinic doctors in Canada and I am sorry to report that most do not even make eye contact with us. They have been quick and abrupt and we are made to feel as if our concerns are of their last priority. I remember on one occasion even leaving the office crying after the doctor chewed me out for questioning his diagnosis. Ok, so this is why I was shocked by the warmth, caring and sincerity of this man. He was everything I had always thought that doctors should be.

We had the same experience at the neurosurgeons office. We were taken directly in and he evaluated the pictures. He gave Alex a series of tests. He agreed that there was no bleeding, clots or skull fracture. Alex had no problems on all of the tests. Dr. Luis Yarzagaray (Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Illinois at Chicago) said that he has seen symptoms such as Alex's and that they are a normal effect of the trauma and that they should last for 2 to 3 weeks once they begin and that he would fully recover. He said that Alex should refrain from too much physical activity or anything that will shake things up. He gave me his personal cell phone and said to feel free to call if I have any follow-up concerns.

So that was our Monday. Alex is feeling better now and is only feeling nauseous but we would sure like it to end. We will let you know if anything changes. He is in good spirits and given that he has always wanted to be a neurosurgeon, he said that his day was very inspiring. Dr. Yarzagaray even pointed to a shelf full of huge text books he had written and then pulled one down onto his desk with a thud and said to Alex, "Someday you will read this text book and you will remember me". Very cool.

"Quatro Steaka Slice a"

Now imagine the above said by me with loads of animated sign laguage and with 2 kids standing beside me, copying my movements! Too funny!

Each day the kids and I go to the grocery store for dinner items. Amelia has made a game out of it and makes a list divided out into individual lists for each of us. They hit the door running and we meet back at the till with our loot. It is challenging because everything is in Spanish. We had difficulty today finding baking powder. We are definitely learning.

Today we decided it was time to tackle the meat counter and I am so glad we did. We got 4 steaks for $6.50!! As we walked away Alex said I hope they aren't liver. We haven't ate them yet so cross your fingers.

The past couple of days our kitchen has had a few unwanted house guests. The other night Alex went in and yelled the dreaded "Cockroach"! Quite a moment, our first cockroach since we returned. Graham ran in and being the tough guy he is, he squashed the roach with his barefoot! The kids screamed in horror and I listened from the other room. Then he stood on 1 foot while the kids ran around searching for paper towel. Oh what fun. Last night Amelia and I went down to the kitchen for a glass of water and there walking slowly across the counter was a lizard. So strange. We let it live and just got our water and left.

Work on Artemo is still moving along well. Each day Graham is surprised when everyone shows up when they are suppose to and works all day. They even worked on Saturday. Graham took Sunday off due to the great progress. We all went to the Spanish Inquistion torture museum. It was really gruesome but interesting. We also managed to get kicked out of a posh hotel. We had heard that you could swim for free in their rooftop pool but we found out otherwise once in our swimsuits and of course in front of a rich english speaking crowd. How embarassing! lol

On a final note...."Look out for falling mangos". The huge trees hanging over our place are ripe with mangoes. Amelia thought there was an intruder last night but it was just the explosion of falling mangos on the tin roof. We have a bowl on the table and each day I open the front door to more treasure.

Totally Different

We took our google translated letter of concerns to the boat yard and spoke to "Alex". He is this really nice guy who really wants to see everything completed as we had hoped. He read through the Spanish letter and looked quite perplexed. He finally asked if we had the English version :-)! I guess the translator made a mess of it. Anyway, in the letter we asked to speak to the Boat Yard Manager (Frank) who went to school in the USA and speaks great English to discuss our concerns. Alex read through the English version and got to the end and said (in pretty good English), "We will make sure that you leave here happy customers"!

By 2pm that afternoon Alex had spoke to the different trades people involved and brought us all together in Franks office. Frank is a nice looking, young, well spoken, reasonable man. You could tell that everyone in the room really respected him but he didn't seem to gain his respect the same way we had seen other managers in the yards get it through yelling and anger. I think he has a history of being fair and reasonable. We reviewed our concerns and he translated as necessary to the trade's people. We all then went to the boat and reviewed the problems. He apologized for the fact that the fellow we had dealt with originally had difficulty communicating our needs to the workers involved and that he had been let go due to this. We described what we needed done and Frank translated directly to the people who would be doing the work. At the end of the conversation I said that my last concern was timing. I let him know that we were targeting to leave Cartagena by the end of the month. He stopped me mid sentence and said, "The work will begin tomorrow"! My face broke with the first smile of the day.

We spent the day cleaning Artemo and hardly made a dent in the amount of dirt on board. The decks are covered in dust and dirt and inside is equally as bad. Luckily Amelia has taken to enjoying cleaning, go figure? I don't want to say anything to jinx it. Alex prefers to avoid us and hides out hoping to go unnoticed. I will be quick to change this!

Today Graham went to the yard on his own since the boat should have the workers on board fiber glassing the cockpit. He gave me a call when he arrived at 8:30am and sure enough they were already well underway, great news. Graham is supervising and working on a list of items that need to be completed prior to launch. None of them are too large but given the heat in the yard, I feel for him. He is the man!!! We took our cell phones from Canada to this guy on the street (Jose) and had him unlock them and set us up to be able to call each other cheaply. It is unbelievable for 40 bucks both phones are unlocked and we can phone each other unlimited for a year. It is nice to be able to be in touch.

Our place is coming together. Even though this situation is a bit reminiscent of Grenada, it is TOTALLY different. Our frame of mind is also TOTALLY different. This is just the way it goes and this is the life we have chosen and this time we have a better idea of what to expect. Living on or off the boat the adventure has begun again!