Month: January 2006

All other events over the past couple of weeks have been overshadowed by the sad news of the passing of my grandfather, James Allison Cook. My grandfather collapsed and died from cardiac arrest while playing golf on January 19th. The shock of his passing has not yet set in and I am struggling to accept […]

It is strange that, during the past week spent anchored off of the tiny island of Porvenir, I have met more people than I normally do when I visit large cities. Despite only having four families residing on the island, a handful of visitors staying at the hotel, and less than five sailboats in the […]

The San Blas Islands might be the best kept secret in the Caribbean. It is difficult to imagine another place possessing more natural beauty. Instead of paying exorbitant prices to fly to Tahiti, where I understand that the local culture has been heavily impacted by tourism, a better option seems to be to purchase a […]

Several months ago, while discussing where to sail during my parent’s holiday visit, we considered whether we should stop in Cartagena, Colombia. On the one hand, cruisers raved about Cartagena and said that it shouldn’t be missed. On the other hand, it is Colombia and safety was a concern. After weighing the risks and rewards, […]