Jennifer crew presentation 4

Lars from Ramlosa/Helsingborg, Sweden has a great motto: "Life should be meaningful and fun". He is a very active and energetic gentleman, always willing to give a helping hand. During his student years he was very active working as a volunteer for the student union of two institutions of higher learning, both located  in Gothenburg; Handelshogskolan (School of Business Economics and Law) and Chalmers University of Technology. Today he is dividing his time between two of his privately owned companies, sales of solar panels and import of tiles on one hand and volunteer work for the recently established Smaforetagarnas Riksforbund (Swedish Small Business Association) on the other hand. This association is serving its 23 000 members with financial and legal advice.

Lars started competion sailing already at the age of 11, often together with or against Christian (who is also onboard Jennifer) and he continued to compete until he turned 20. At that age he lost contact with Christian. Forty years later Christian contacted Lars via social media and asked him to assist him as a volunteer in a sail boat race in the Gothenburg harbor.  He happily agreed and these two old friends are now enjoying each other's company on and off the big blue.

Jennifer crew presentation 3

Jack from Montjavoult (pop. 473), France is a famous French cartoonist, musician, singer and composer. He was, by chance (or luck), born on the same day, date and year as me, Sept. 19, 1946. We are now trying to figure out our respective time of arrival on that historic day - but this question came up too late in time for us to find out for obvious reasons.

In his younger years Jack helped out as a junior sailing instructor in France. As a student he worked several seasons for Club Med and was well paid for charming vacationing ladies with his nautical skills. He has also done a bit of sailing in Sweden together with his friend Christian, who is also onboard Jennifer.

Jack speaks good German and he likes to practice his Swedish on his fellow crew members, sometimes with funny results. I tried a Swedish joke on him. He didn't get the point however, but the rest of the crew thought that his reaction was just as funny as the original joke.

Porto streetcar...

...or tram or tramcar, the latter term is used in Portugal for this type of rail bound vehicle. The first tramcar line in Porto was inaugurated in 1895. The network expanded rapidly to become the most important mode of transport until the early 1960's.

Today the Porto tramcar circuit is operated by fully restored vehicles of the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's on three lines, two circular lines in the oldest part of the city and one line that runs along Rio Douro. Yesterday I had a most enjoyable ride on this beautifully restored vehicle.