Andiamo!

Not much to update about really. Andiamo has been docked at the marina here in Cartagena for the past month now. Not a big fan of marinas, but I’m getting so much done, and it’s nice to have 24 hour internet access without having to get into the dinghy. I’m doing my best work at later hours, so this has been a plus. I think I’ll be staying dockside a bit longer while I get a few projects sussed out.

I have some prior updates in draft, I’ll finish them up and put them on the blog shortly…

Other than that, all is good! 😉

It’s been strange days being in Colombia the past few. First, the Colombian National Police and Army issue a glowing report last weekend that they killed 2 major FARC (those are the leftist revolutionary rebels who have been trying to overthrow the Colombian government for about 4 decades now) leaders, along with 16 others in a camp close to the Ecuadoran border in deep jungle. Then, it turns out that the FARC camp was actually about a mile inside of Ecuador, and that the Colombian military did somewhat know, but bombed it anyway. (more…)

So if you remember, two friends that came to visit me, Miguel and Arcelia, and myself, got robbed on a bus December 2006 in Honduras. Since then, I’ve been back and forth with Hedman Alas bus line in regards to how its investigation was handled, and its horrifically feeble attempt to compensate us for our losses.

More than a year later, today, I get an email from one of the Hedmans, who attempted to respond to my posting linked above, which I posted almost a YEAR AGO TO THE DAY. I’m inserting his email, then I will paste in my email response to him that I just sent him. More on this as it develops…

—– Original Message —- (more…)

That’s right, after two long weeks in the yard, Andiamo is back in the water with a COMPLETELY new look. Long gone is the weatherbeaten blue. In its place is a beautiful light pearl grey paint finish that is just awesome, in my humble opinion.

There are nice new navy blue stripes and the lettering has been updated with a beautiful hand-drawn calligraphic face (good job Senor Picasso!). The boat is now much cooler too! Can you tell I’m really happy?

I have a few updates to put up regarding the project, and things that happened during that time. I’ll backdate to put everything in chronological order as much as possible. Read on, and you’ll see them. I also put up pics in the gallery of the whole project.

It’s just nice to be back in the water again, with Andiamo lookin’ sharp.

Now that the holidays are well passed, things are back to apparent normal here in Cartagena. People are ready to work again, and things are taking a normal pace and routine. The holiday hangover here lasted a good week before you started seeing any real normalcy again. In town the xmas decorations are slowly coming down, and you can tell that some people just don’t want to let go.

As for me, I’m back in projects mode and things are in motion. I’ve nailed down a good paint crew and yard time for Andiamo’s latest refit. This coming Monday, Andiamo should be out of the water, for the third time in a year. And for about the next 10 days, be getting a nice new paint job on her hull. It’s much needed, that’s for sure. It will be really nice if only because I will be changing the color to a lighter color that will make her a cooler boat. The dark blue hull now, while very attractive in its original luster, just absorbs way too much heat. The boat stays hot because of it.

I also think that Andiamo’s new look will be a refreshing change. Other projects are in the works, but I want to get the paint job done first. I’ll be working on some other things while the painting is being done, just general improvements and fixes.

It’s going to be interesting…