After a full year of boat discussions, it was about time to visit the factory and meet the people who would be making our boat. I was very excited as I had never been to South America and I could now tie with Jason in the “how many continents have you visited?” race. I was also eager to test out my Spanish after 6 months of Rosetta Stone.
Oficina de Turismo
We landed on a Sunday so had a full day to explore San Isidro, where we were staying. We headed to the oficina de turismo where I proceeded to impress Jason by asking for a map, nodding my head during the torrent of Spanish that flew out of the attendant’s mouth and emerging with map in hand but not knowing a word of what she said.
The next day it was time for business and we headed to the North Sails sail loft. Amazingly, I was able to direct the taxi driver in the direction of the water and we found it. In the video below, you can see the scale of the loft. The sailmaker was very helpful in advising us on our sail decisions and we left for the 40 degrees North factory, where they will be building our boat. If it is possible, the boats look bigger on land, than they do on water. It is easy to see how they turn out so well, when you observe the meticulousness of all of the workers. Each specialty – fiberglass, wood, etc. – has its own team dedicated to their craft.
After a full day of factory tours and discussions with the guys in charge, we were really impressed with the operation. The fiberglass building holds 3 to 4 boats in various stages of completion. Once the boat is ready, it is taken to the finishing factory for final installations and preparations. I can’t wait to see all of the stages and am already thinking about my next visit.
After another day of work order discussions, I headed to Palermo Soho in Buenos Aires for some solo exploration.
Palermo Graffiti
It is great city for wandering around and window shopping. While most people rave about the quality of the beef, I
Helado Tasting
am not a big meat-eater and my primary goal was to compare helado (ice cream) at some of the recommended shops. For a bit of local flavor, I decided to stick to the dulce de leche flavor. All were excellent. I liked the Chungo store as a hangout location but preferred the creaminess of the Jauja flavor.
Enough eating, it was time to burn off some calories. I joined a Bicicleta Naranja tour and our excellent guide took us through the neighborhoods of Palermo and Recoleta. We learned about the history and of course, about Evita. The next day, I returned to the Museo Evita and the Malba, both are recommended. After a great visit, I was eager to continue to continue my musings so I read two excellent books: The Tango Singer and Santa Evita (this one is a bit bizzare). I also downloaded the The Aleph (Jorge Luis Borges).
Hasta la proxima.
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