PPLAU
IN LATITUDES Re-entry to the 'real world' hasn't been without hiccups for Pamela Bendall of the Vancouver, B.C.-based Kristen 46 Precious Metal, who took off cruising with the Ha-Ha in 2008 and adventured as far south as Peru. For example, a day or so after she and her boat returned home to Vancouver, she parked her dinghy, locked it, and went to dinner. When she came back two hours later, it was gone. "After five years of cruising in waters and to countries that are supposedly rife with crime, my dinghy gets stolen in Canada," she groaned. An orange bag was found near the scene of the crime, and it contained a crumpled beer can, a battery-powered grinder, and a sharp rotary blade to cut the dinghy's lock and chain. In the better news column, the folks at Hub Insurance not only approved Bendall's claim — despite the fact she'd only taken out the policy the day before — they also waived the 30-day waiting period to pay the claim. "It's amazing how different our Canadian society has become in the five short years I was gone," Bendall continues.
"I was pretty hip and savvy when I departed, but while on my doggie walk yesterday I witnessed a scene that I wouldn't have seen five years ago: a lesbian couple getting married in a lovely public setting along the shoreline, with family and friends gathered around in delight. I appreciated the scene, too — until both women pulled out their smart phones to read their vows to each other! Yup, they scrolled down their gadgets as they read each passionate line." Not that there's anything wrong with it. Plan A for Jack van Ommen and his Gig Harbor, Washington-based Nadja 29 Fleetwood was to leave Amsterdam for England, Portugal and the Canary Islands, where he would make a December jump-off for the Caribbean and Cartagena, Colombia. From there, he would begin his explorations of South America. But a combination of not being
Sixty-five years old and unable to pay his rent in 2002, the amazing Jack van Ommen has now sailed over 40,000 miles and cruised to more than 40 countries — all on modest monthly Social Security checks. He's seen here with one of his daughters and his intrepid built-from-akit Nadja 29 'Fleetwood'. What an inspiration!
able to get everything ready on his boat after putting on new decks and doing an extensive refit, plus the onset of bad weather, put an end to that plan. "I was having trouble getting SailMail set up on my new laptop, I wasn't able to get the AIS working, and then the marina Fleetwood was in was hit by winds up to 53 knots. That humbled me back to
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