Leaving Cartagena and going home!

We have had such a wonderful time here in Cartagena. We arrived over a month ago and the time has gone by so fast. After our first few days at anchor we moved into our slip at the Club Nautico Marina and "Scott Free" will remain there in our absence. On the left our boat with our day glow orange kyack on the bow is at anchor while a tall Argentine training ship passes before us (we're just to right of his stern).On the right is the view from our cockpit over the dock and the harbor towards Boca Grande, the wealthy residential high rise district along the beach. Club Nautico is the cruiser hangout here and we've made many good friends and renewed our friendship with others.

We had planned to haul the boat and leave her "on the hard", but the extensive festival holidays made that difficult. We've settled into a daily schedule and will miss particularily the walks in the city every morning. Still we are so looking forward to seeing our family and friends back home. In just one week we will celebrate Thanksgiving with many of them at our new home in Vermont, the Hundred Acre Wood.

Getting the boat ready to leave, even in a slip, is still several days work. All the fresh food needs to be thrown or given away and the frig emptied and cleaned. The beds stripped, linens cleaned and put in plastic. Scott had last minute repair jobs and the new wind generator to install on the radar arch. We also put the "winter" canvas cover over the whole boat at the last minute. Terry and Chuck from "Maker's Match" next to us (shown here) gave us a hand that last day.

And, of course, we look forward to skiing (and for Heather, teaching). We plan to continue our Spanish lessons in Vermont and will be looking for a tutor as soon as we get back. Our teacher Amaury is shown here to the right with Scott and I. So tomorrow we fly to Panama City, stay one night and then fly to Boston on Friday. In January we'll spend 10 days in California seeing our our daughter Zoe and her family - husband George and two sons, Nicholas and Thomas. And then on February 25, after a few days in Panama City, we'll be back home on "Scott Free".