Boats breed intimacy. Confined in the tight spaces under the decks and between hulls, relationships flourish (or flounder). There is no privacy, there are no secrets, there is no block to walk around or bedroom to hide in. The pressure cooker makes us hold our boat friends very near and very dear. But we sailors are wanderlusts – we keep scattering further and further away from our dear friends.
Make New Friends
The best part about living a life cruising the Caribbean has been the great friends we’ve made. We’re separated from them for now, but we’re hoping to find them in an anchorage again someday soon, somewhere beautiful, with amazing stories to share. Since leaving Camp Grenada in November, we’ve been blessed to buddy boat with our besties Henry and Catherine on Mowzer and Dave and Janice on Livin’ Life. We also spent quality time with Stan and Lann on Barefoot Life, Jan and George on BBB Wild Cat, Susan and Tim on AlpenGlow, Tanya and Dave on Dea Latis, Dan and Melissa on Slow Dance, Ken on Sunshine, Robin on Sophie Ems and Mark and Fiona on Avatar. We just call out their names (over the VHF radio) and they come running (in the dinghy) with beers and rum in hand – these are my kind of friends!
But Keep the Old
The hardest part about leaving New York has been seeing our friends less often. We were blessed this winter with visits from several friends from the city (Kendra in the Grenadines; Jim and Sophie in Antigua; Amber and Clifton in St John; Arthur, Alexa and our Mississippi friends in BVI; the Cochrans in St John; Shannon in St John; Michael in St Croix; my parents in Puerto Rico; Ruben and Regina in Puerto Rico; and Deke in Puerto Rico). We had only 7 days to ourselves out of the last 53 – that’s a lot of beach towels to rewash! And we couldn’t be happier to have been able to spend such quality time with our friends, unplugged from work and mobile devices, enjoying the beautiful islands we call home now. We just call out their names (over email) and they come running (on the airplane) with all of our special requests from home in hand – these are my kind of friends!
One is Silver and the Other Gold
Because my computer is on the fritz and our internet connection is flaky, I am only posting a photo gallery instead of the video I’d hoped for. Thank you for being our boat buddies and traveling with us.
- Guests on s/v Blue Moon:
- New York Friends in the Caribbean:
- Camp Grenada Friends in the Caribbean:
I enjoyed seeing all your pictures with your parents and friends. I know you are having a great time cruising. Love, Aunt Ann
Beautiful! Hope I can join you someday.
Great Pics of everybody in the Caribbean. At least everbody who’s anybody! Carefree days!
I feel your joy and your sadness. Great pics. Nice to see a few familiar faces visiting from NYC. Looks like you are having a blast.