New Friends from Far Away Places



Clive & Angie on the far left, Dennis & I are holding the flag

One of the best things about sailing is the community of people who share the same love for the adventure. In our four trips back and forth to the Caribbean, we have met a number of wonderful people who have become friends. Like many friends, you may not see them often, but when you do, it is an exciting reconnection. It is fun to hear of their latest adventures and catch up on their travels and learn new techniques for dealing with problems and equipment.

As we shared in an earlier post, we lost the Atlantic Cup Rally from Nanny Cay, Tortola, BVI to Bermuda to an English boat by a slim margin. In fact, if we hadn't forgot that we were "racing", we could have won. We lost a lot of time in the middle of the event looking for some items that went overboard and untangling fishing lines! That is history ...

S/V Trillium crew happy to be in Bermuda

Even though they beat us, we were pleased to host the couple in our home on Lake St. Clair in Michigan! How is that for good sportsmanship! Actually, we had been following Clive and Angie's trip from the Chesapeake Bay up to New York and through the Welland Canal into the Great Lakes. Their goal was to get to Chicago before bad weather sets into the area.

Traveling at 5-8 knots per hour and against the current, you can see this is a long trip. In the meantime, they were flying back and forth to England and Germany for work. Our original plan was for them to arrive here for Labor Day week-end and we would show them some of beautiful Michigan from the land side. Unfortunately Mother Nature and their motor had other plans.



They were able to get into Lake St. Clair and dock at Bayview Yacht Club before dark recently. Dennis picked them up on his way home from work so we had a nice evening with them. I think they appreciated steaks on the grill (which they referred to as an "American thing") and a few other Michigan summer treats. We had good wine and good conversation as well.

Since they were looking at a limited weather window and the need to get to Port Huron on Lake Huron by a specific date so Angie could fly back to Germany for work, they could not stay long. They casted off the next morning. We will stay in touch and probably sail the Great Lakes with them next summer. And they are interested in sailing with us once we start out big adventure! That is what is so wonderful about the sailing community.