The good and the bad - and the ugly!!!!!

Hi to all,

We are so indebted to Janet and her husband, Hugo, for allowing us to stay in their apartment which is in the same apartment  building as ours - Edificio Jardines de la Maria 1.  Most of the time we are with Janet as Hugo works in New York and it has been such a welcome relief after the events of the last 4 months or so. Janet is very kind and treats us like parents, solicitous of the oldies' on-going well being. She is studying finger nail art and nail care which has a huge following here in Medellin. Some designs are outlandish - others very elegant. 

She has just performed some of her nail art on Jean's toenails ahead of her departure for Miami. Los nietos will be impressed!!

Hugo came back to Colombia on a flying visit at the end of August and it was great to see him again. It was a long weekend in the US (Labour Day) and so it gave him marginally more time here. He hired a car while here and one day we all went to Guatape - our 3rd. visit there to date. But it was good to wander the narrow streets again with their Colombian decoration - very traditional. The lake front is a bit of a mess because evidently there is a new beach being created along the lake front of the town. But it will be an asset once completed. On the way there we stopped for lunch at a traditional Colombian country restaurant at the turn-off to Guatape. With Hugo's encouragement Jean discovered the delights of Colombian tripe soup - Mondongo - which she enjoyed very much. Jim declined because he has an aversion to tripe dating way back to childhood in NZ! But maybe in time he could be persuaded. It seemed very different from the horrible stuff of memory. Jim had Chicharones which is pork crackling - delicious!!

However, since then we were invited to lunch at the apartment of other acquaintances (Edgar and Patricia), and 2 friends of theirs from one of the 3 small cities (Pereira) that make up the coffee triangle were also there. Patricia had made Mondongo soup and with it we had a very delicious Chilean rose. The soup was tasty and nutritious and Jim is now converted!! We had great conversations about Colombia and its recent history and we are now much better informed as regards the land grab scandals of the past which also involved many thousands of people being killed over many years of bloody conflict. We can only hope that since the FARC peace accords, some justice is gradually returned to the descendants of those displaced people. Long way to go, but after 50 odd years of civil war, one cannot expect a quick fix overnight. Recently however, there is disquieting news with recent statistics indicating that Coca production for the manufacture of Cocaine is now at an all-time high and a large number of people pressing for land justice have been murdered. Some 300+ this year!! One young woman in her 20's was tortured and then bludgeoned to death. No worries in cities, or as long as you stay on the straight and narrow out of the cities, but there's no doubt that there are certain areas that are definitely "no-go" zones. The new government says it is committed to stopping Coca production (by aerial spraying of herbicides!) and righting the land injustices, but so many of them have connections with the land thieves and so much corrupt baggage from the past, that one wonders just how committed and determined they are.  

Now it is being said that the original estimate of some 40 odd billion USD to fund the peace process is way underestimated and in fact they need another 25 billion USD to complete the process. And that there is no hope that the Colombian Judicial System can come anywhere near being able to cope with the volume of land theft claims and associated crimes.

On top of all that with the financial and humanitarian crisis that has resulted from Venezuela's crackpot socialist government and its destructive policies, it has been reported that Colombia and Guyana (Venezuela's other neighbour to the east) have quietly withdrawn their earlier general opposition to any plan to invade Venezuela to topple the Maduro dictatorship. So it could well be that in the near future there could be a US led invasion to get rid of the current barbaric Venezuelan government which is systematically starving its own population in the name of Socialism. Not the sort of outcome anyone wants to see, but maybe it just needs to happen. In the meantime there is an immigration crisis engulfing Colombia and other S American countries. At least it's not quite as bad as the situation in Europe because the forced migrants at least have a similar culture and speak the same language.

A side effect of all this is that we have noticed many more poor people begging on Medellin's streets. It is very noticeable after just 2 years since we bought our apartment.   

On a happier note, we must make mention of the 2018 Medellin Flower Festival. We again went to the Botanical Gardens but were a little disappointed with the standard of displays compared with last year. And then the classic car parade which Jim had been looking forward to with enthusiasm, also did not have the pizzaz that attended last year's event, although there was the usual carnival atmosphere. But there were no young chicas dancing on the backs of trucks and throwing flowers to besotted old grey haired whatsits! Still, a great collection of mainly American cars from the 50's which is an interest of Jim's - very nostalgic remembering his father's American/Canadian cars in NZ - which started with a 1956 Chev Bel Air. He had had a much earlier 1946 - 1947 Nash, a Dodge, a few Renaults, and in between a succession of British Armstrong Siddeley Sapphires - and an AS Whitley. Jim's family's business had the NZ agency for Armstrong Siddeley until 1960 when they ceased manufacture. The first car Jim "drove" was a '56 Sapphire sitting on Dad's lap when he was 9!! Great memories including in 1959 (59 years ago) driving over the newly opened Auckland Harbour Bridge (2 lanes in each direction) in the '59 Canadian RHD Pontiac Laurentian when this young lad was just 12!! Jean remembers a similar experience at the same time in her family's Humber Super Snipe! Good heavens - what if we'd met then? Only speculation of course as far too young at 12 (!), but there would have been some totally different nietos y nietas! How destiny can change on the spin of a coin. 

If we had the money we'd love to import a classic American car from the States. You can do this duty free into Colombia as long as it's more than 35 years old and has some classic and original status.. Something like a '59 Pontiac Bonneville convertible or a 1953 Buick Skylark, but you need megabucks to buy those these days.   

Jean had a particularly nasty accident a few weeks ago. She was returning from an early morning walk and chatting to some neighbours while still walking fairly fast - as she does! - when she tripped on a raised bit of marble floor in the covered carpark and crashed headlong on her right side. Lucky she has bionic hips. She hurt her arm badly but fortunately didn't break anything, but her arm was black and blue for days and she still has trouble lifting it above shoulder level. She had an Ultrasound scan which didn't reveal anything too bad but she has a ruptured lower bicep muscle and has damaged some ligaments. It's just a matter of time for healing but many of you will know that she is not renowned for her patience!! She has been sleeping with the affected arm up on a pillow which has been helping. 

We have also been fairly engrossed in obtaining our residency. This has entailed a few visits to Astrid (our lawyer), and Migracion Colombia, both here in Medellin and Bogota where we had to go to actually get the visas inserted in our passports. The visas themselves are the main thing, but the final act is receiving the Cedulars which are similar to an identity card. Previously we had been using laminated photocopies of our passports (which we'd had done in Langkawi) which you need to show in most retail shops when making a purchase by credit card. 

Update - on the 12th. we visited Migracion Colombia in Medellin again and now have our Cedulars which means that we are Colombian residents and can operate phone, TV, water, power and gas accounts in our own name as well as owning a car, health insurance,  bank account etc. A milestone indeed.

The hotel in Bogota was very modern and new and less than NZD100 per night. And only 150 metres from the Migracion Colombia office. We flew with Viva Air which was only mediocre and they charged us an extra COP93,000 because our carry on bag was one inch over length. And we only had the one bag between us. Never Viva Air again. We have been interested in buying a car here sometime in the future and to that end we visited the Skoda dealership in Bogota as there isn't one in Medellin. Saw a 2017 Yeti 4 x 4 with only 40,000 kms which appeals as a very practical and down to earth vehicle. There was also a 38 year old Mercedes-Benz 280SLC as a private sale (about the same price) but reluctantly Jim has decided that his ancient and classic Mercedes owning days must of necessity be over!  However, any decision about a car will wait until we're more settled and hopefully have received at least something for our old girl in Turkey. More about that soon.

We had also contacted NZ's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and NZTE about our Bogota visit because back in February, NZ opened its first embassy in Bogota. We wanted an appointment at the embassy because we thought it would be a good idea to introduce ourselves and also have a brief discussion about trade between NZ and Colombia and whether we might be able to be of assistance. However, in spite of contacting them more than once a good 3 weeks before our trip, all we ever received were 2 brief computer generated acknowledgements and no appointment. If that's NZ's attitude towards developing new markets, it makes one wonder why they're spending all this taxpayers' money on opening embassies.. However, we must add that finally, as a result of yet another email from us, MFAT did finally reply in a substantive way and gave us the embassy's email address. So, we have at least now initiated some contact. But that was after our visit to Bogota had come and gone.

Other than that, we have been getting out and about to the farmers market at Parque Presidentia in Poblado on Sundays and various exploratory shopping expeditions - all by the very cheap and efficient Medellin taxis. Although we have to say that in a number of cases the drivers do not know where they are going and we have to use the GPS on our phones to direct them!! We met a young lady at the market one day (Monica) who spoke excellent English as she had lived in the US for a number of years. She has been very helpful to us and now has gone back to Florida, where she has an apartment in Orlando,  for a few weeks and taken her aging father who is in his eighties with her. She had returned to Medellin to be a carer for him. One Sunday we met Monica and her father at the Otraparte Museum restaurant not far from our apartment and she also brought some friends, Edgar and his wife, Patricia. We mentioned then earlier in this blog. Edgar has also lived in the States for years and so also speaks excellent English. Since then we have met them a couple of times, the most recent on a visit to the Los Molinos Mall where there was a shop selling large size shoes. Both of us tend to tower over the locals and have a job finding shoes that will fit. Jim found a pair of closed in sandals which are excellent and may be able to get another pair of open sandals as all he has had so far, apart from shoes which need to be worn with socks which we bought in Germany, is a well worn pair of sandals from Thailand. Jean found a very reasonably priced pair of red sandals, Colombian made, which she says are the most comfortable shoes she has owned. So, life in Medellin is proceeding apace and we feel very settled, and grateful to Janet and Hugo. although it will be good to get into our apartment in about 5 weeks. 

On the 24th. Jean is flying to Miami (hurricanes permitting!!) to see her family, and in particular for Carter's 5th. birthday. Jim just wants some R & R after the last 4 months and so is going to Santa Marta on the Colombian Caribbean coast where we have booked an Airbnb studio apartment. After 2 weeks Jean returns to Santa Marta (via Bogota!) and then 2 weeks later we both return to Medellin. So, that should all be good and will be the subject of a later blog.

The boat saga is still running. We initially left Turkey 14 weeks ago because we felt at the end of our tethers in dealing with the crook who owns and runs the boatyard. We initially hauled out on April 25th. - ANZAC Day, and maybe that was a bad omen because of course that marks the anniversary of the invasion of Turkey by Britain and the Anzac forces in the 1st. WW at Gallipoli - and we all know what happened there! We are both 71 and were no longer prepared to risk our health or possible physical harm and certainly more cost by staying on indefinitely awaiting the pleasure of the above person. Good taste and decorum prevents us right now from giving true vent to our feelings about him but that will certainly be forthcoming in the future. And now from  a purely financial point of view, with the amounts that have been informally offered to us, it frankly is not worth the cost of returning from Colombia, the yard costs, the subsequent marina costs or on-going sailing and maintenance costs. It all needs to be undertaken by a younger and more energetic person than us and whoever that is will have a very cheap and well built boat which will be capable of much more world cruising. 

We had her listed with Classic Yacht Brokerage of Worcester in the UK and they had a buyer who was prepared to travel to Turkey to investigate the pros and cons. Unfortunately he was not able to travel until the end of August by which time she had sat out of the water for 4 months - the last 2 in punishing Turkish summer heat. Possibly the hottest summer on record. So, being Kauri of course she had opened up a little, but he was spooked - mainly we think by the yard owner - and started saying that she would have to be shipped to the UK and be splined - all at great cost which meant nothing financial for us. Splining involves inserting strips of timber along seams but is definitely NOT recommended for traditional carvel planked wooden boats. All sorts of complications can result. Almost certainly all she needed was to be soaked in salt water by holding her in the travel lift straps for up to 48 hours, then hauling out and new red leaded putty applied where necessary. Then of course antifouling and re-launching. But they appear to have done some cowboy work to some seams (we think) and then launched her without our permission and put her into the close by ECE Saray Marina. Apparently she was taking about a bucket of water a day (which she has never done before), but without knowing exactly what was done, we worried about something catastrophic happening with sinking at the berth with over 400 litres of diesel on board!! The Turks would love that with their draconian attitudes towards pollution from boats! We were being told that if anything happened, we would be liable as owners still, but we've told them to stop dreaming. She was dealt with entirely against our recommendations and instructions, so we would  have had no liability whatsoever. Anyway, we'd like to see them try and sue us in Colombia!! We have been so incensed and worried at this turn of events that we have initiated enquiries with our NZ insurance broker to see whether we might have an insurance claim for theft and possibly willful damage. Those enquiries have yet to be answered.

Now we have been told that the original UK buyer may possibly still be interested, but he's yet to make a proper offer! There has been so much waffle and disinformation that it puts us in mind of Brexit. What a shambles that is. They need Boris Johnson, and so do we!!!

In the meantime we have another interested party who is knowledgeable about traditionally built boats like TT3. So, we have hopes still. But it's out of the question for us to return for all the reasons already stated. All we can say at this point is watch this space. But TT3 deserves better than all this nonsense and we hope that for her sake as much as anything else that the present very difficult situation can finally have a good outcome.

Well, our second possible buyer has just been  in Turkey (Fethiye) and we have negotiated an agreement, which he still hasn't signed. Quite complicated because it encompassed a 50/50 share of costs including the earlier yard costs plus the Turkish broker's costs. No commission because the enquiry came from a blog post that Jim had written on a yachting forum, so that's something. But the overall amount of money is very little and nowhere near what she should be worth, but we certainly don't blame the buyer for that because he has taken on quite a bit with eventually getting her out of the yard's clutches (where she has now been returned against our advice) and on-going costs. However, we have to remember the good times - the adventures from NZ to Thailand which we would never otherwise have had and the fact that we lived on her for 9 years. A lot of that is not quantifiable in financial terms of course. But it is nevertheless disappointing that unique and classic boats like her are not worth much more. We can only be glad that a younger and more energetic person is going to be her next guardian. He has had wooden boats before and is an experienced yachtsman, so we can be confident she is in good hands.There were only 2 Gauntlets built in NZ and many of them (including British built boats) are still sailing - some are now over 80 years old!!  However, the 2 NZ boats are the best in terms of build quality - mainly on account of the quality of native timber used and the universal use of copper and bronze fastenings. There's a provocative assertion for you!!

The only qualification to the above is that the agreement is yet to be fully consummated in the sense of money changing hands, and being signed by the buyer. Everything has been agreed - just a matter of the slow wheels of commerce grinding on!! But nothing is finished until money is in the bank.

However, we now have another interested party - a Turk who runs a sailing school in Istanbul. If the aforementioned deal fails then there is another possibility. But all of this interest only comes to the fore when the price is so low that it's a no-brainer.

We must also make mention of our indefatigable Turkish agent, Murat Toprak, who is based in Bodrum. Without him and his ability to deal with the yard owner, and marina manager and Turkish officialdom we would almost certainly not have come so far. We first met Murat before we left Turkey and he has been wonderful in gradually getting us to the present position. He has infinite patience! 

The whole business with the yacht has been an emotional rollercoaster. After 9 years of living on board and 16 years of ownership, to leave her as we did in Turkey was especially hard for Jim - and indeed for both of us. And at that stage we had no idea what was likely to happen, but at least we seem to be some way down the road towards selling her to someone who will be a caring owner. She has been a big part of our lives with Jim having owned her for 16 years. The money spent, the physical work sanding and painting, the discussions with our shipwright re such diverse things as mast fittings, the new bowsprit, the new deck layout and so much more. Then the voyaging - NZ to New Caledonia to Bundaberg in Queensland, then to Cairns via Townsville and many other places, up around the "top" at Seisia, Cape York, then across the Gulf of Carpentaria (3 days), Gove and then across the Northern Territory to Darwin and its 7 metre tides!. Then Indonesia, the highlight of which was Medana Bay at Lombok where we spent 3 weeks, and on across the Java Sea where just south of Singapore we learned by Sailmail of the birth of Jean's first grandson, Carter. Then about 4 months later the voyage resumed up the west coast of peninsular Malaysia to Langkawi and on to Thailand. Many great times there and in Langkawi and in 2014 we flew to Chennai in India where Jean had double hip replacements. Then finally the fateful decision to ship the old girl to Turkey and the total mess we completely unwittingly landed ourselves in. It's been a saga indeed over the last 9 years - now we wonder what we'll do for similar excitement!!

But we are philosophical and have accepted that, even though the situation has been forced upon us, at our age we are better to just accept things as they are, remember all the good times and the whole achievement, and get on with the rest of our lives.

We mentioned Boris Johnson just above. We would also like to again express our support for Donald Trump who in recent weeks has been the subject of the most vicious, lying and defamatory campaign in memory. All aimed at the mid term elections for Congress and the Senate of course. It is vital for the well-being of the free world (and that includes all of us) that the lying socialist Dems who continually defame Trump do not gain a majority in either Congress or the Senate and preferably that the Republicans increase their present paper thin majorities. The Dem's vile and illegal antics over the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Kavanaugh defy belief, and we can only hope that it all comes back to bite them in a very nasty and painful place! If, God forbid, the Dems prevail in the midterms for the Senate and the House, the consequences for all of us will be far reaching and destructive. These are one of the most important elections in US history. America MUST return Republican majorities in both houses otherwise we will see Iran and N Korea thumb their noses at the world once more and the spectre of world war will once again become real. The vile lying anti democracy Dems must be kept out of power. They are horrible, horrible people. 

We have reservations about Trump like most people, but he is like a shining beacon right now in a very murky and stormy night (bit like night sailing across oceans!!), and the alternative doesn't bear thinking about. We can only have faith that the American voters have enough sense to see beyond the defamatory fake news to the real truth, and ensure that the GOP and this President can continue to carry out Trump's overall policy of "making America great again". Which in the end and by extension, and whether we like it or not, means us, wherever we are in this so-called "free world". It also means without a doubt - DRAINING THE SWAMP!!!!!!! Hopefully the crocodiles will permanently vitiate all the former swamp denizens' future careers - apologies to Rudyard Kipling!!

Finally we must make mention of little old Godzone. The Kiwi dollar has declined around 10% against the Colombian Peso since we were here last year, but the USD is strong and so it's swings and roundabouts. New Zealand's relationship with Australia has deteriorated largely due to their draconian policy of deporting anyone deemed to be "not of good character". No need for any criminal conviction - just some arbitrary opinion. So far, over 1300 Kiwis have been sent home to nothing as a result of this criteria, as usually all their families remain in Oz. Even those with criminal records have no doubt learnt how to be bad during their time in Oz and in most cases they went there with their families when very young children. No mention of Aussies who might not be "of good character" and still residing in NZ!!  Australia's attitude in all of this is inhumane and it is doubly sad, given our 2 countries' shared histories.

On those controversial notes we will finish this blog - more to come from Santa Marta and Jean's time in Miami.

Hoping this finds everyone in the pink as always........................

With lotsaluv from us.............................

Jim and Jean

www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com

P.S. Jim is now finishing his 2nd day in Santa Marta and, although it's been better than the first, it still isn't great by any means. It's expensive, hot and dusty and as a city doesn't appear to have any redeeming features. The Airbnb accommodation is OK but very basic. But what one supposes can one expect for less than NZD30 per day? Compared to Bogota and Medellin, this an expensive place for no apparent good reason.

Jim might be a bit biased right now because of the usual run-around by Viva Air. The flight took off more or less on time but apparently due to some minor mechanical fault which could not be fixed in Santa Marta returned to Medellin. Only Jim, due to all announcements being made in indecipherable Spanish, wasn't aware of this and thought we'd actually landed in SM! It was only when he went outside to get a taxi that the situation dawned on a mind that had been up since 3 am and was a bit addled by lack of food and water. Makes one feel an absolute fool and the anger builds from there!! Anyway, we finally took off again 2 hours later and made it to SM. Thoroughly bad tempered and out of sorts and in no mood to appreciate anything that may have been good! It was HOT, Jim was tired and hungry and there was absolutely NOTHING in the apartment such as even water. So, had to sally forth again feeling like S..T and deal with the necessities of life and not knowing where to go. So, being a creature of habit, he went to a restaurant at the yacht marina which was CRAP! Even rivalled Charlies at the RLYC for that distinction. Now feeling a bit better, but SM is overall a disappointment. We'd advise anyone thinking of coming here to give it a big swerve. Cartagena may be better, but in all likelihood is just a bigger version of the same. More to come no doubt in an upcoming blog.