Good To See Old Friends

Yesterday we had one of those days that when you go to bed you tell yourself “I’m glad today happened”. A few days ago we got a facebook message from an old friend, that we met our first year out sailing, telling us that he was going to be in PR checking up on their boat that they have docked in a port further along the coast. It was a quick in and out trip to the island, but since he had a car he offered to drive to where ever we were and stop in and say hi. We were totally excited for the reminiscing and the catching up.
Three years ago, when we decided we were going to be liveaboards, we returned to our 33ft boat that had been waiting for us in a well protected hurricane hole (hole 3) for a couple of years. Since she had been left there to fall to pieces while we were away she was in need of some dire work and clean up. We decided, since we had baby Arias at the time, and the boat was going to be a disaster for at least a month that we would rent an apartment in the heart of Gergetown. This way everything would be easily accessible on foot, it wasn’t hard for Eben to get back and forth to the boat, and baby and I did not have to live in a war zone of tools and grease. This fell right around the time of the Cruisers’ regatta in Georgetown, as well as Junkanoo and Christmas.
This is when we met Andy and Lance, sailing their 35ft Yolo. The two bearded sailors were quite intriguing to us as they were doing the same type of trip that Eben had done a couple of years prior with his buddy Jordan. Just two guys, out on the water, enjoying life, and learning to sail as they went. It makes for great stories and crazy adventures. Since we had an apartment, with a hot shower, they came by for a couple of visits, and some proper cleaning up.
I remember the jealousy and envy that Eben and I felt towards these guys and the sailing posse that they had amasdt while in Georgetown. Here was a group of about 8 boats, all in their mid 20’s, sailing down island together and having a blast. We desperately wanted to take off with these guys and join those crazy adventures, but our boat just wasn’t up to par yet, no matter how much we debated “just going”, it just wasn’t safe, especially with baby. So the sadness snuck in as the regatta wrapped up and this floatilla of rarities (its quite unusual to find such a large pack of “young sailors”) sailed away, leaving us in their wake. tear.
Fast forward to three years later and half of the duo, Andy, was coming here on our new-to-us boat, which he had never seen. He got to meet our newest daughter, and see what it looks like to be living aboard for 4 years with babies in tow (a little toy cluttered but manageable). The awkward “we haven’t seen eachother in three years” moment faded real quick and it was like old times again, swapping sailing horror stories and misadventures. Andy also got to participate in a boaters’ potluck on the beach and taste some of our freshest catch as Eben made wahoo sushi for us. He even almost killed Eben, seriously, with a hilarious story about one of Yolo’s first time mooring outside of Key West. Eben laughed so hard he chocked on gooey chocolate saliva.
It was sad that Andy couldn’t stay with us longer, he had to get back to his boat, lock it up, and head to San Juan for a flight, as he is among those people that have to WORK normally. We were glad the visit happened, no matter how short. Our boat is always open to you buddy. And to everyone else out there, we love having visitors, just make sure you thoroughly read through “What to expect when we’re expecting you” before you commit.