By Nicole
The cruising life definitely has its high points, from swimming in warm, crystal blue water to watching the surreal, phosphorescent lightshow put on by dolphins at night to walking barefoot on beaches with sand as soft as powdered sugar.
Topping the list of high points, though, has to be making new friends. Cruising relationships run the gamut—some people you meet only once, some folks tend to cross your path again and again and a few go on to become lifelong friends.
But with the excitement of making new friends comes the sadness of knowing that not all paths are meant to intertwine forever.
We had to say goodbye to a number of friends this week, both new and old, as we pointed our bow south. We’ll catch up with some of them in the Puerto Vallarta area, but we wanted to say a special farewell to the crews of Eagle and Shannon who plan to stay around the Sea of Cortez (at least for now) – fair winds and thanks for the great times! We hope to have the pleasure of sharing a harbor with you again.
As s/v Estrellita wrote in their post, we said an especially sad goodbye to them recently. After thousands of miles of crisscrossing our way through Canada, the U.S. and Mexico together, our paths are now diverging. Their journey is taking them across the Pacific, to Thailand and beyond, while our journey is taking us farther south down the coast of Mexico and Central America. I have no doubt that we’ll see each other again, though not as soon as we might like. We even talked of buying a catamaran so the four of us could sail away together. (Carol, I forget... Were you guys taking the starboard pontoon or the port?) Goodbye for now, Estrellita. We miss you already.
A poem found in our favorite Sea of Cortez cruising guide captures the cruiser farewell perfectly:
We sail away, we say goodbye
But friendships never end.
Until we meet again someday,
Thanks so much, my friend.
Estrellita and Bella Star – we’ll always be only a few planks away from each other on the Hot Springs Cove, B.C. boardwalk
Now thar be a knarly lookin' crew fur sure! LOL great picture! that must have been post ping pong...?
ReplyDeletePlease sail safe, so that we can indeed meet again soon, in another harbor! Know that while your leaving is incredibly sad to us, we know that when we do meet again, you will that much richer with tales of adventures from those distant ports to share with us!
Tom & Jeanne
SV Eagle
It is sad when you leave friends, but no worry new ones are on the horizon and old ones are always with you.
ReplyDeleteI wish your friends fair winds and a following sea on their trip to Thialand. They must be carefull in the gulf of Thailand, lots of unfriendlies there. If they visit the kong tang Island have them look towards the bottom and see if they can see my old chopter, we lost seven at that Island.Damn those KRs for attempting to take a USS ship on the high seas.
Have fun and be carefull..............
Love DAD
Have a great time in warmer weather! I wish you a safe journey and hope that the wildlife finds a new target!
ReplyDeleteRochelle
SV August Pearl
Tom and Jeanne: Don't you guys break out your eye patches for ping pong games? I'm pretty sure there were too many rum and Cokes that night. :) Take care! We'll be following all your exploits on your blog. Miss you!
ReplyDeleteDad: Thanks! We'll be looking out for new friends over the horizon.
Rochelle: So when we said goodbye to Steve, he gave us the distinct impression that you'd be joining us in La Cruz! I know all plans are written in sand, but we certainly hope you decide to head a bit further south. We had so much fun with you in La Paz... thanks for everything (I looove my bracelet).
-Nicole
Aw shite, now I'm weepy again.
ReplyDeleteSTARBOARD!!!!!!!!!!
Livia