Tag Archive for: peruvian

INDEPENDENT PURSUIT ATLANTIC CROSSING 2018 (Part 4)

SEPTEMBER 3:

My big mistake last night when I was on the bridge was to have a cup of coffee before heading back to my cabin and I paid for it with a fitful and restless sleep.

Container ship artwork

During the night I had the impression that they were revving up the engines and, at one point, the noise was very loud.  Yesterday the ship switched from expensive low sulfur fuel to regular fuel. Because of environmental regulations only low sulfur fuel can be used in coastal and near coastal waters and, in order to save costs, the engines are not pushed at maximum performance.  Once the switch to regular fuel is done, the engines are revved up to gain more speed.

We are now cruising at 17.5 knots COG and have about 3 knots of current against us.

Overnight, we entered another time zone, two hours ahead of Chicago time which meant getting up earlier for breakfast.  Poor Emilio, the cook, must also have been suffering from a bad night as I only got a hot dog for breakfast.  Thank Goodness there is always Nutella to fall back on.

I already sent my Spot position out for the morning and checked my emails.  The “Admiral” confirmed that she does indeed receive my Spot positions.

One of my fellow members of the Rotary Club of Wheaton, IL, also receives the position and shares it with all the other members on a daily basis.

Current position as I write this is 3924.938N and 63◦14.799W.

Back from breakfast and the bridge but really tired from that lousy night, I decided to go back to sleep and woke up right before lunch, which consisted of some watery vermicelli soup followed by a rice and meat dish.  The meat reminded me of a bastardized version of Mila’s delicious Peruvian lomo saltado.

Back to my books and computer for the afternoon and time to think about doing the laundry.

Laundry done, I go up and down the stairs a few times to keep in shape followed by some more reading, trying in vain to access my emails and, after giving up on that, I go down for dinner.

What’s happening, Emilio?  Some dried out pieces of pork on a skewer with some potatoes swimming in olive oil?  It may end up being a forced diet after all.  I will have some salad and an orange, thank you!

Up the stairs to the bridge for the last Spot transmission of the day and a brief evening chat with the First Mate who wants to know everything about hiking the Inca Trail, which is on his bucket list. Having hiked the trail twice and being a regular visitor to Peru, where my lovely wife, “The Admiral” is from, I was able to share lots of useful information.  Back to my cabin trying to check my emails again and finishing the last few chapters of my first book of the trip.

I have been swearing and muttering all afternoon long because of the unreliable internet connection that prevents me from getting and sending emails.

Finally, around 23:00 local, I was able to get my messages.

Time to hit the sack.  Tomorrow is day four…….

WHERE I GOT MY ADVENTUROUS SPIRIT FROM

Most people in the USA have never heard of Tintin and his white Terrier, Milou, or Snowy (who looks suspiciously like my dog Sophie) as he is called in the English language versions of their adventures.

Even in Vietnam

Tintin, his sidekick Captain Haddock and the other characters, are still wildly popular in Europe. The author, Hergé, happened to be a patient of my Dad during WWII in German-occupied Belgium and, as a kid, I grew up avidly reading all his adventures.

Did you know that Tintin was the first human to step on the moon, decades before the Americans planted their flag there? Check it out in Destination Moon and in Explorers of the Moon. Eat your heart out Neil and Buzz.  That young Belgian reporter beat you to it…

The ones that really left profound impressions on me were Tintin in America, which probably planted the seed of my desire to move to the USA from my native Belgium, King Ottokar’s Sceptre, which inspired the flotilla sailing trips to Croatia and Montenegro, but the adventures that impacted me the most were The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun, which brought Tintin to Peru.

I became fascinated by that country and it was on my bucket list ever since I was in my early teens. I knew the song “El Condor Pasa” years before Simon and Garfunkel decided that they would rather “Be a Hammer than a Nail”.

The Lovely “Admiral”

Not only did I finally make it to Peru (a business trip was the excuse to go) but I had the opportunity to get involved in humanitarian work there (which sometimes was quite adventurous too) and visit some fascinating places like Cusco, Machu Picchu, Paracas, Sipan, Kuelap and the Amazon jungle. I got to hike the Inca Trail twice and ended up marrying a lovely Peruvian, our flotilla “Admiral” Mila (itself an interesting adventure and the subject of a book that I am in the process of writing).

I am always looking forward to new discoveries in that country and have a long to-do list ready for 2021 but, in 2020, we are going back in March. Mila and I have organized a fascinating trip that we want to share with our friends.

We will publish the report when we return from that trip in future blogs but, if you want to experience it first-hand instead of living vicariously our adventures through our blog, you can join us on this fascinating journey. Check out the program and sign up as the space is limited to twenty participants.

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