She has the best laugh! On Merlin, New Cal., 2010
Hyo is part of our cruising family. She crossed the Pacific with sv IO the same season we did in 2010. Along the way, we shared many anchorages and built some great memories together. IO has since been sold and she’s working and living ashore back in Canada.We are so excited that she decided to come spend a few weeks with in Indonesia (the girls even made up “countdown calendars”). It reminds me that one of the real joys of cruising are the fast friendships that form. It stands in stark contrast to our land based life. why is that?
It’s probably easier to meet people, because as fellow boaters far from home, you immediately have a number of things in common. The usual resources and safety nets aren't necessarily available. Cruisers rely on each other by necessity, which may be why friendships tend to fast-forward. It could also be that paths cross, diverge, and re-cross: so we know we need to make the most of a fleeting moment. We also simply have fewer distractions: we lead lives that are in many ways less cluttered with false priorities, and are able to more readily put time into human relationships.
Whatever the cause, after sharing an anchorage for a few nights we typically know people better than if they’d been our neighbors on land for years. Except with Hyo, it wasn’t an anchorage. It was the freaking Pacific Ocean. We have just a little bit of history.
It is a joyful reunion. We have so much to catch up on: especially, just to be together. Oh, and then there are the goodies... oh my. Chocolate. Courtesy flags (bonus for anyone who can ID the flag on the table!). Cabin fans. And not least: the coveted new TinTins.