February 8, 2024
There are times when you have a good day, and times when you feel truly special. Today was a day to feel truly special.
As I have mentioned in my previous posts, we have been lucky to make friends with a number of officers in the Colombian Navy (Armada Nacional de la Republica de Colombia or ARC). Sometimes people think my boat is very cool and so a number of Colombian naval officers, active and retired toured my boat earlier this week. It’s a small boat, but in return, I won the lottery and had another opportunity to tour a navy vessel of the Colombian Navy. Two actually. Two submarines.
I felt special from the moment I stepped onto the base. One of the guides who was escorting me through the boat told me it was very unusual to receive guests. Then I was given a special medallion to commemorate my visit. I was later told that the officer who set the whole event up had never received such a gift. Do I feel special? Oh yeah. But let’s go back.
Arriving on time at the base, there was a slight delay for security reasons, but soon we were able to make our way to the submarine docks and took an amazing tour of first, ARC Tayrona (209 Class submarine) and then ARC Indomable (206 Class submarine).
The 209 is the larger and newer of the two machines with much more space, a larger armament, newer (and more automated) equipment and let me just say, pull your blinds if you are renting an AirBNB along the Manga waterfront. The periscope is really, really, really good.
The Indomable is the smaller submarine in the back
The 206 Class is significantly smaller but also very interesting to see. The Indomable has been modified for ARC (I am purposely not highlighting the details), and living conditions would be difficult for normal mortals when at sea for long periods. On my short visit it was tight with just a dozen crew on board. When active, the crew would double and they would have to be the best of friends. It’s tight.
During the tour of Tayrona the head of the submarine naval command, Captain Murcia took time out of his day to welcome me to the boat, ensure that my tour was in English, and then offered me a medallion to commemorate my visit. I cannot say thank you enough to all of the members of the navy who have been so thoughtful and gracious on this visit. It has made it special.
After the tour, Carlos, Jose, Marcela and Carlos Jr. took me to a wonderful restaurant for lunch where we continued to talk about our lives. Notably, Carlos runs an import/export business here in Colombia and his son, Carlos Jr. works with him. Carlos Jr. has spent some time in Toronto learning English, and then six years in China where he earned his degree and became fluent in Mandarin (oral and written). An exceptional accomplishment!
As some of the conversation was in Spanish I was also able to increase my vocabulary and improve my comprehension, in a way that I would never be able to in a classroom.
It was another very good day in Cartagena.