August 21st, 2023
I woke up the other night to a symphony. Frogs, I imagine hundreds of them, making stereotyped sounds a la Karlheinz Stockhausen (like Model 1). Not a cacophony, there were patterns, a cadence, allegros and adagios. I understand this music is part of their courtship and mating rituals. Still, quite annoying at 03:30 in the morning. And I was not in the jungle or by a lake, but in the apartment in Bangkok. It remains a mystery where all those frogs reside.
I came back to Thailand on August 8th and have been alternating between Bangkok and Hua Hin, where Woland can stretch his legs at the beach. I haven’t traveled for the last 6 weeks and I don’t plan to do so before the end of October. Some stability is welcome.
The last time I updated this journal Sofia was still with us, but we were both getting ready to leave. On July 16 I flew to Paris and Sofia, a few hours after me, to Washington DC. For me it was the start of a 4 weeks-long trip that included Morocco, Ecuador, and France. July 15-22 I was in Rabat for work; July 23-August 3 in Quito to visiting my ailing mother and celebrating Juan David’s 34th birthday (I prepared crabs); and August 4-8 in Paris celebrating Marina’s 18th birthday and visiting my sister and brother in-law who just had their first child (he was born on July 23rd and his name is David).
I like my routine here. I usually get up between 6 and 6:30, prepare a French press and feed Woland, move to the balcony with my cup and make a few phone calls –usually to my mother and children, go for a walk with Woland, so some work, go to the dog park with Woland, do some more work, go to the gym, more work, go for a walk with Woland. By then is close to 6pm, Natalia is back from the office if she didn’t work from home and it’s time for a G&T followed by dinner at home or in one of the restaurants near-by. We sometimes have work related virtual meetings at night, if not we read or watch a movie/show and go to bed early.
The highlights since I came back have been two nights of classical music and opera, and a week-long stay in Hua Hin with Woland while Natalia was traveling. There is no opera house in Bangkok but each year they organize the International Festival of Dance and Music. Natalia bought tickets for a performance of the Symphony Orchestra of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino conducted by Zubin Mehta. They played Tchaikovsky’s Fatum and Pathétique symphonies, but we only stayed for the first because of the royal family. King and Queen attended the performance but arrived over 30 minutes late, the start of the performance was delayed (first time this happens to me), and we had dinner reservations. Mehta is 87 years old now, had difficulties waking on stage, and conducted while seated. Still, it was a brilliant performance.
I cannot say the same of the Russian Helicon Opera performing Aida. It might be that the war has forced the government to reduce its funding of the arts, but you could see that the production was done on a shoestring budget. It was a mediocre performance with an almost vulgar decor and a grotesque mismatch between actors/singers and their characters – starting with Aida. Worse, to be able to stay until the end of the opera we forgo dinner that night.
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Last week Woland and I drove to Hua Hin and stayed at the same place on the hills we had first discovered with Sofia. Similar routine than in Bangkok except that the 20 min morning walk and the dog park are replaced by a 2h walk on the beach or a 45 min run – off leash. I think Woland much prefers life in Hua Hin. Although he is now a regular at the beach we go to, the soi dogs still bark at him. They nonetheless respect him and I have the peace of mind that in the event of an attack Woland will be able to fend for himself. Unfortunately, that doesn’t apply to cattle. During our last walk there was a herd of caws and bulls eating their breakfast at the edge of a forest that borders the south side of the beach. Woland had the great idea to go and bark at them. They didn’t like it and soon started a chase. Woland could easily outrun them, but not me (these animals can run at 25mph). By chance, when they were getting close their owner showed up and took them away from us. Woland felt guilty and walked with his head hanging for a while. Then he saw a flock of birds and started his own chase.
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I now have children living in three countries. Juan David, 34 years old, in Quito-Ecuador where he is a professor of economics. Marina, now 18, who yesterday moved to San Diego-California to start college, a major in cognitive sciences. And Sofia, 13, who moved to Paris with her mum to continue junior high school. Sofia is now closer to me, just an overnight flight from Bangkok. Marina also, but through the east.
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Over the last few days, I have substituted work with boat/sailing related planning. I created this journal to document my travels in Antares, though most posts lately have been about my life in land. I hope this will be corrected soon. I have one more work-related trip to Morocco and Egypt in late October. After that, I will come back to Bangkok to spend some time with Natalia, her mother, his brother and family who are visiting us for a couple of weeks. Then, on November 26, I will fly to Paris to spend one week with Sofia, as her mother will be traveling, and from there head to Cartagena via Bogota. I have reserved three weeks to prepare BEHEMOTH for the ocean and sail the short passage to Panama. If I make it to Panama, from there I’ll fly to Ecuador to spend Christmas and New Year’s Eve with the family. Natalia, her mother, my daughters and, hopefully Woland are going as well.
The planning has been mainly about buying some gear and equipment that I shipped to Natalia’s brother’s house in Oregon; he kindly agreed to bring them here in November. The purchases include fans, a small inverter, a 220V to 110 converter (BEHEMOTH is an European boat wired for 220), head-lamps, a couple of dry bags, mosquito nets, and a knife. The biggest investment, which also required some research, is a Starlink , Eleon Musk’s private satellite system that offers high-speed internet while in the ocean. My Iridium Go survived the sinking of Antares and was good enough to download weather data and for the occasional phone call home. But I had to pay USD 140 per month to have unlimited data but at extremely low speeds.
The Starlink system requires an investment of USD 2,500 for the dish and a monthly plan of USD 250 (that you can cancel when not in use), but you get access to the internet at speeds that can be faster than at home. The package includes 50 GB of data, more than enough for me. There are other systems that can do the same today but the costs are exorbitant. Musks’ company has simply developed a much more cost-effective way of launching satellites into space and have them fly at a lower altitude. While coverage across countries requires the authorization of their respective governments, the oceans outside territorial waters are free from the coercive power of the state. I read an interview for the Lunch with the FT of Walter Isaacson about his new biography of Eleon Musk. He portraits a man who is bipolar, lacks empathy, and is “driven by demons.” But, maybe, with a different personality he might not have been able take the risks he has taken to create some of the most innovative companies that exist today.
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The pictures below are self-explanatory. The one before the end is that of Marina and great pianist who performs at Café de Paris in the Quartier Latin. Marina and I went there after her BD dinner at Gigi (an Italian restaurant that was chosen by Sofia). In France she can now consume ethanol.
Sailing to the Pacific 