CAPTAIN'S CORNER

Bermuda - The captain called today from Bermuda.  It was so nice to hear his voice after what is actually not that long, but one week, sailing the seas just seems to be so far away…. Sebastian talks fondly of Bermuda.  He says it is beautiful, orderly and very British.  I guess he and the crew have been hanging out with the sailing crowd at the Dinghy Club Happy Hour.  The plan is still to leave this coming Wednesday in the a.m. after filling up the tanks with fuel. I
t is a small world and especially in these sailing circles… Sebastian ran into the folks from Tehani-Li…. A boat we met back in Culebra, off of Puerto Rico and had seen them at various ports throughout the US and British Virgin Islands.  Sebastian says he was approached by them on their dinghy passing by. This is a couple from Australia and Quebec who have been sailing for the last ten years.

Sebastian also ran into Aurora… the Argentinean woman who is sailing solo from St. Martin to Portugal, stopping in Bermuda and the Azores.  I am not sure I have mentioned her before but our sailing friend Alex back in Chicago had read about her on the internet and wrote to tell us that Aurora was in St. Martin preparing to cross.  We dinghy-ed over to the marina where her boat was parked on the Dutch side of the island and introduced ourselves and ended up spending about 6 hours with her drinking caipirinhas… (Apparently she is famous for her caipirinhas even though she is not Brazilian!).  What a fascinating lady…. She is 60+ and has sailed all her life in Argentina, participating in and winning various all-women regattas.  She has done one of the famous races in Argentina from Buenos Aires to Mar de Plata (a co-ed race) and won that too. 

We learned a lot about her in the afternoon we spent together, mainly that she runs her own shipping company in Buenos Aires, thus her boat’s moniker:  “SHIPPING.” She is a spunky woman and has a strong character… I wouldn’t imagine any less than that if she wants to cross the Atlantic! She shared some very interesting stories about travelling from Argentina to St. Martin and how as a woman alone you have to be STRONG.  While we were with her she received an email from a reporter in Argentina who had done an article on her and wanted to let her know that the article came out in El Clarín that day. (I am sure if interested in learning more you could Google “Aurora, Shipping, Argentina” and something would come up). She will be the first Argentinean woman who has done a solo crossing!  She will go down in the history of her country and we were thrilled to have met her.  She had left St. Martin about a week before Sebastian, and just arrived.  Total travel time solo: 13 days!!! The poor lady must be exhausted.  I think she is staying put in Bermuda for a couple of days to get her mojo back.  Sebas and crew went to one of Aurora’s friend’s homes for a BBQ on Sunday.

The guys are still looking for flights to return to Argentina, although they are not having any luck doing it not expensively.  Sebastian told me they may have to continue the trip after all???? Don’t quote me on this, as things seem to change daily.  Sebastian is looking forward to getting “on the road” again.

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FOUNTAINE PAJOT ATHENA 38 CATAMARAN FOR SALE – After our wonderful experience, BEGONIA is ready for its next sailing family – with or without children!  Please contact sebastiankoziura@hotmail.com for more information.