THANKSGIVING 2009

(When we last left Betsy, she was living in Paraguay with Marie and JP Dufour in a flat overlooking a casket factory adjacent the gigantic hangar where these industrious friends have built a state-of-the-art catamaran … Having left the south after discovering she is horrifically inept in absolutely all and every capacity, Betsy returned to a place where people love her despite her tremendous inadequacies, and she can live blissfully ignorant of her many faults, happily ever after… )

Any one of our adventures in the week leading up to Thanksgiving is worthy of a whole blog … here’s a synopsis:

Skinny dipping in Antarctica (or not)

Late Saturday night we loaded SCRAPPY – a dinghy made (lovingly) of leftovers from the construction of DOMINO – onto the trailer and early the next morning, before the sun had a chance to fire up the furnace full blast, we set off for her maiden voyage. JP drove the truck along the rutted mud path to the river, while Marie and I jogged along beside (allegedly making sure she didn’t slide off her trailer) and the dogs followed suit. SCRAPPY is about three meters long, designed by JP himself; so it was with eager trepidation that we slipped her into the Rio Paraguay and … she floated! Yes!! We fired up the outboard and all clambered in … zipping up the river, with the dogs swimming fervently along until they couldn’t keep up any more.

The river is muddy and swift – feeding into the greater Parana River system / Rio de La Plata which is the world’s fourth largest (by volume) – with a great deal of chop, so we veered off onto the smaller Rio San Francisquito, and took a leisurely ride up this lazy tributary. A few shanties lined the river, and the aroma hinted of cattle nearby. Murky brown water swept past dense greenery thick with birds, and the occasional illicit fishing trap that jerked in the current. Soon we were all swimming in the river – having tied up the boat along the shore – basking in the refreshing water. Would I be skinny dipping in Antarctica? I doubt it! We had loads of fun and the strong current provided a good workout ... but the sun was getting high, so eventually we jumped back on SCRAPPY and sped home to the astillero. Later we drove to a palapa where a guitar and harp duet serenaded us while we enjoyed a local fish stew (oh, and the guitar player asked me for my telephone numero, ha!). ‘A five-star Sunday! ;-)

Claudio the Italiano

Who knew land-locked Paraguay was such a hotbed for boat building?? For several years Claudio has been building his boat – a 30-some foot ferro cement double-ender - in a patch of woods across the rio from the city of Asuncion.

Claudio warned us of mosquitos and thorns as we picked our way to his boat tucked in the woods, on humble scaffolding, surrounded with barbed wire, awaiting the next infusion of funds that will allow him more progress. (Already he has the masts on hand: two telephone poles.) Waving his arm at, first, the city in the distance, and then, the rotting remains of an old wooden barge at his feet, he said, ‘Where else can you see the 21^st century alongside the 18^th century?’

Claudio is charming and intense, and tells us about all his tattoos: "This one I got when I met that rock star ‘Mike Yager’ (Mick Jagger) …" and enthralls us with tales. Back in the day methinks Claudio was quite the lady’s man …

Field Trip: Yerba Mate

To be continued …

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! May your list of gratitude be never-ending ...

PHOTOS: getting SCRAPPY poised for launch (photo by Marie); going into the rio - with Asuncion in the background; Claudio's workshop; mast & mizzen; Marie and Claudio share a laugh