Home › Blog › Sailing Off the Coast of Southern Spain

I’ve been a bit remiss in not blogging every week. While I have done a few videos for FB live, now that we’re into a good rhythm of sailing every day from spot to spot, I feel like I can get back into it.

Finding a Rhythm

When we first got to Europe, it was madness to get the boat “commissioned” in a week. Again, that means setup, but also finding things they did wrong or that aren’t working as planned. We then had a week delay due to the US Hurricanes as the weather here was impacted as well. Hence, it was three weeks into a 6-week trip until we set off on our own from Gibraltar into the Mediterranean as planned. The first week was a steep learning curve because between “med-mooring” (something we don’t do in the states that involves backing into the dock and tieing up in front and back) and the tiny amounts of space in marinas, there was much to get used to. In fact, we were drinking from a firehose.

This week things have gotten into a nice rhythm. We get “on the road” at about 10 am and get the sails up most days when the weather cooperates. It takes 3-6 hours to get to the next port, which is pretty easy time as there’s stuff to do on the boat and a 5G router works well to keep us connected. We pull into port around 4 pm, just after the siesta is over. I’m getting better and better at med-mooring, but still very much a work in progress. I’m also still getting in synch with what the local “Marinero” (dock hand) wants me to do when.

Stuff I’ve Noticed from the Road

R3 “stem cell” is still advertising heavily on Facebook. Remember this is amniotic and umbilical cord tissue that based on the data we and others have published, contains no living and functional stem cells. Regrettably, an FDA letter hasn’t slowed them down one bit.

I was asked to speak at an upcoming conference on perinatal stem cells but had to back out. Basically, I put my foot down that the data was clear, that there is no such thing being sold in the US. Meaning the organizers wanted me to recognize that there was some “controversy” over whether amniotic and umbilical products had stem cells because the manufacturers are still selling these as stem cell products. When I told them that this claim was consumer fraud, I was “uninvited”.

Rick Jaffee, Esq, FDA lawyer extraordinaire and stem cell law commentator, did a nice piece on the recent Bernal decision in favor of adipose SVF being a surgical procedure and not the production of a drug. It’s worth a read. I haven’t yet seen any indication of an FDA appeal, but I like Rick, would bet that’s coming soon.

David Singer is still pushing his “hire a nurse practitioner” plan. Remember, this is the chiropractic practice consultant pushing these clinics to add “stem cell therapy” which is really, IMHO, poorly performed dead birth tissue injections.

I’ll Soon Be Back in the Real World Again

In a bit less than two weeks, I’ll be back in Colorado. At that point, I’ll be back to my regular blogging schedule, much more relaxed and refreshed.

The upshot. I’ve had a wonderful time off and finally am now just getting into a nice daily schedule. Hence, I should be able to blog more regularly.

Chris Centeno, MD is a specialist in regenerative medicine and the new field of Interventional Orthopedics. Centeno pioneered orthopedic stem cell procedures in 2005 and is responsible for a large amount of the published research on stem cell use for orthopedic applications. View Profile