A positive part about the cruising life is that you meet
people along the way. Loads of them. With at least one thing in common: a
passion for the sea or for a life on the water. Still, it is pretty hard to
find like-minded spirits, sailors and travelers, who you can laugh and cry with,
share stories and experiences with, have fun and a cocktail with, and exercise
and explore with. When these matches happen and you actually get to hang out
for months – or years – together, bliss and awesome times result. The need for
social contact is fulfilled and not just with the random cruiser. The downside
of all this happiness is the inevitable moment to say goodbye. While friends
“at home” will always be there, the cruising alternates go their own way (or
you do), in different directions. Who knows when and where or - even worse –
whether you will ever see them again?
About one year ago, Mark and I had our last drink with Sim
and Rosie on SV Alianna, after being great friends and around each other for a
couple of years. That happened in Grenada, when we decided to head west for new
horizons and adventures. Fortunately, we have been in email contact frequently
and we still share our stories and rants, but not in so much detail and without
the facial expressions. We wish they would still be with us, though. They
decided to stay in the Eastern Caribbean, which they love and cherish. And,
they’ve been in our neck of the woods before. I hope that we can keep our
friendship going, as we further the distance between us.
Just before leaving the San Blas, Mark and I had a last
dinner with Mark and Michele on SV Reach, good friends whom we spent a few
months with this year. She and I did yoga almost every morning and we went
snorkeling when the weather and desire permitted. My Mark sometimes joined her
Mark to go fishing and he learned a lot from him. We didn’t go hungry thanks to
his fish supply! Many evenings were spent in each other’s company with good
food, drinks, stories and laughs. They
were the first to learn about our big decision to transit the Panama Canal and to
go sailing in the Pacific Ocean. With all our new plans, preparations, research
and tasks, the moment to part ways came quicker than anticipated. But, we are
not on “the other side” yet and Mark and I both hope to make one more trip to
the beautiful San Blas islands towards the end of this year. Hopefully Michele
still has some champagne left! :-)
Saying goodbye to Michele (and Mark) with a glass of champagne. The color coordinating was not planned!
Forward bend at our daily yoga spot on BBQ island in the Holandes Cays
A beautiful pigeon by Michele
It has already been a year: saying goodbye to Rosie and Sim in Grenada
It is with sadness, some apprehension and big sighs that - on July 3rd,
2015 - I bid a final farewell to Irie, my beloved and reliable floating home
and means of travel for eight years. After cleaning her inside and out, packing
up our personal belongings and leaving her in a very secure state in a well-protected
marina in Moorea, she is looking great, while awaiting new owners who will hopefully
love and respect her as much as we did. She has not sold yet, but we expect
this to happen pretty soon, based on her market value. She is as good as ready
to go sailing and cruising again and continue her epic travels!
It was almost equally as hard for me to leave Moorea and
French Polynesia after two years of exploring the islands, enjoying their
spectacular beauty, discovering the intriguing culture and meeting some of the
nicest and most hospitable people in the world. This place has captured my
heart and spirit, and I truly hope I can return one day. After getting a ride
from Coco, the harbor master of Vaiare Marina, to the harbor dock with all my
bags, my friend Pierrette joined me on the ferry to Tahiti. She brought me to
her Tahitian home to spend my last afternoon in typical Polynesian style. It
was her husband Thierry’s birthday and we had a lovely meal and pleasant time,
before they dropped me off at the Faa’a airport one last time…
The plane rides back to Boston, on the East Coast of the
United States, went relatively smoothly and I am now reunited with my happy
husband, who has had a productive and comfortable time being back in his home
country. Work on the Wirie business is much easier, industrious and satisfying
from here, we are catching up with friends and family, and I am trying to find
my own routine. Whenever Irie sells, this temporary situation will come to an
end and we will figure out what our future entails.
