Chris Columbus – up close and personal

May 2007

By Tom Snyder

I recently caught up with Christopher Columbus, who agreed to be interviewed by Points East. I learned so much, but perhaps the most important lesson was that doing a good interview is hard. Not surprisingly, you have to ask good questions – tough but fair.

PE: Hi. I thought you were dead.

CC: I get that a lot. You miss one or two news cycles, and people assume the worst.

PE: May I jump right in with the controversial?

CC: Please.

PE: Do you owe the queen money?

CC: No.

PE: How is your relationship with Native Americans?

CC: Mistakes were made.

PE: I’ll say.

CC: No, I acknowledge that.

PE: OK. As someone familiar with the Caribbean, would you recommend it to a family of four with fair skin?

CC: Let’s not open that can of worms. Let’s just say that the Caribbean is a lovely place and you should use your common sense and swim with a T-shirt.

PE: Good answer. OK. Let’s talk about cruising. Did your family worry about your being out of touch for so long?

CC: Not really, Tom. Look, we were all grownups. They trusted me.

PE: Fair enough. If you did the whole thing again, would you charter?

CC: Absolutely. I’m not made of money, and owning is a nightmare. Just to repair a torqued shreve crump is a week’s salary.

PE: Did you ever worry about docking the Nina in front of a crowd?

CC: Depends on who the crowd was. You know who were the worst?

PE: The Caribes?

CC: Nope. The Flemish.

PE: That makes sense. They’re perfectionists.

CC: (laughing generously) You got that right. Tom, you seem like a great guy.

PE: Thank you. Chris, did you have enough room down below to just chill?

CC: Plenty. And I have long legs – a short trunk but long legs.

PE: That’s a marvelous story. Have you found a comfortable life jacket that let’s you feel both safe and free to be yourself?

CC: Not yet.

PE: So true! What time of the day was OK to have the first drink aboard the Nina?

CC: Half hour before sunset.

PE: I do that, too!

CC: We are very much alike.

PE: Chris, with this next question, I’d like you to give me your first reaction. Don’t think about it. Fair enough?

CC: Fair enough.

PE: Alright. Are you still convinced you found India?

CC: Yes.

PE: Positive?

CC: Absolutely.

PE: Take a minute to think about it.

CC: Nope. Still positive.

PE: Let’s move to something a little more personal. When you’re trying to sleep aboard, which do you hate more: hearing some impossible-to-find creaking sound or a mosquito in your cabin? Or peer pressure?

CC: I’d have to go with peer pressure.

PE: Before we go, any plans, Chris?

CC: I’m hoping, and this is real pie-in-the-sky thinking on my part, but I’m hoping to get down to my target weight by June.

PE: Thank you, Chris.

Tom Snyder sails Blue Moon out of Peaks Island, Maine.