FOLLOW THE VOYAGE - TS KENNEDY

Friday, February 7, 2014

FTV February 7

When we left Barbados, our ship’s Doctor, Dr. Cukor, also left to return home. Although we will miss Dr. Cukor we have a new doctor joining the T.S. Kennedy for the rest of cruise Dr. Laramore. We welcomed her with open arms as she begins to settle in.

While at sea a ship needs to be prepared for everything.  As I have mentioned in previous blogs, we conduct abandon ship drills to be prepared in the event of an emergency. Not only does practicing for these events prepare us for the worst we must also have the proper resources and maintain those resources. With the Kennedy we have six 76-person lifeboats, two 53-person lifeboats, and eight 25-person life rafts. Between all these emergency resources we have the capacity for 962 well over the amount of passengers on board. In addition to these vessels we have life jackets to provide flotation, immersion suits to provide flotation and warmth, and thermal protection aids to provide warmth. These resources are maintained by the ship’s crew but also by a group of senior rates including, Andrew Gregoire, Edward Kern, Matt Pelletier.

With the port of Barbados far behind us the Cadets are looking forward to our next port, Cartagena, Colombia.
    
 




Geography Friday:

Cartagena is a large seaport town on Colombia’s northern coast. It was settled in 1533 by Spanish conquistadors and was an important seaport during the colonial period. More recently Cartagena has become increasingly industrialized, though its tropical climate and extremely high humidity ensures that the city will retain its lush vegetation. Cartagena’s bayside location has also seen huge tourist development in recent years. Located on Colombia’s northern coast and facing the Caribbean Sea, it is the most visited city in the country by local and international tourists. The city has basically two main sectors to see: the walled colonial city (“Ciudad Amurallada”), and a long strip of the beach, known as Bocagrande.

Cartagena was built on several islands located at the end of a bay on the Atlantic coast of Colombia. The marshes that originally surrounded these islands were later filled, in order to link the land to the coast. The city, nestled in the bay, extends onto an L-shaped peninsula called Bocagrande. At the end of this stretch of land are two large islands that appear to be guarding the mouth of the bay: Isla Tierrabomba, a natural one, and Isla Barú was created when the Canal Del Dique was dug.

The Del Rosario archipelago lies off the western extremity of Isla Barú. Made up of a multitude of little islands, it has lovely white sand beaches and magnificent coral. Fans of marine life claim that this is one of the most beautiful places on the Colombian coast.

Just south of the downtown area is another island, known as La Manga. The only elevated points on the horizon are the Castillo San Felipede Barajas at the gates of the city, and the Convento de la Popa facing the island of La Manga from its perch atop a 100-metre-high hill.


Here are some Travel Phrases that would be useful to the Cadets or anyone visiting Cartagena.

Plan a class trip to Cartagena in this webquest

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