One of our favorite joys about cruising is meeting fellow cruisers along the way. It’s fun to listen to their stories as to how they became cruisers, what their goals are, as well as their travel itineraries. We love hearing about their fun and sometime heroic adventures.
Each cruisers has experienced a different life journey. Some people spend years planning to cruise, but after a year or two, they decide it is not the life for them or they have to go back to “real life” to take care of family, etc. Others plan to only sail a few years just for the experiences that cruising life affords, but end up continuing the journey as they find they love it so much! We have met sailors who bought their boat for one particular goal such as to sail around the world in 18 months. Then there are people like us that have no idea what they are doing but living day by day, year by year wondering what is in store next, but without a set plan.
So many people have come in and out of our lives since Jan. 1, 2022, and while this is by no means an all inclusive list, here are some of the cruisers we have met. We have cherished our time with each and every one because they immeasurably enriched our experiences. It is bittersweet when they move on knowing that for some, we may never see them again. While it’s sad to say goodbye, we are excited for them as they continue their onward adventures.
Michel and Karolyne
We spent New Year’s with this French Canadian couple in Florida, Michel and Karolyne on SV Vahine. We had so much fun exploring Marathon and Key West together. After completing their bucket list of sailing for 6 months, they have returned to Canada.
In the Bahamas we hooked up with Andrew and his little dog, Stanley. After we left Spanish Wells, he returned to Florida where he survived both Hurricane Ian and Nicole as he is a fulltime cruiser on his boat SV Reload N Charge.
We have been hopscotching down the coast and through the islands with the crew of SV Change Up since Chesapeake last year. We didn’t have the exact same itineraries, but frequently met up when we could and have kept in touch all along the way. We recently had to say goodbye to this awesome family as they left Grenada for the Pacific and on to Australia.
In Grenada we have met so many people who have enhanced our time here by sharing their friendship as we explored this wonderful island. Many of these guys have left us behind (or are leaving shortly) as they head West to the ABCs and Panama, or North back to the USA or the Bahamas. However, there are a few we hope to see again along our sailing journey this season to Antiqua, or back here in Grenada next hurricane season.
Mark and Vanessa from SV Day One were some of the first people we met in Grenada. They anticipate spending next hurricane season in South America.
Tony and Kathy from SV Skoolz Out have a similar itinerary as we do. So hopefully, we will see them along the way this sailing season.
Heidi, Erik and their dog, Baker from SV Wildest Dreams are headed back to the States to start another chapter in their lives. While we will miss them, we wish them well as they begin their land adventure in the USA where they will be considered CLODs (Cruisers Living on Dirt) until they set sail again.
Amy, Doug, and dog, Crew, from SV Black River are also from Texas. Amy and I walk with Crew most every morning and have forged a wonderful friendship. We hope to see these guys in Grenada next hurricane season, if not along our sailing route this year.
Then just as we are getting close to leaving we met these two newcomers to the cruising world, Troy and Evelyn from SV Know Egrets. We hope to get to know them better when we return to Grenada.
These are a small fraction of the fellow cruisers we have encounter this year. (The ones that were willing for us to use their pictures in the blog –haha). We set sail soon for the 2022-2023 cruising year and look forward to meeting and making many more friends along the way even if it is for only a short time. We are blessed by each person we meet!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! The next post will hopefully be from the water rather than the marina! It’s time to GO!!
Thanks for following along and if you would like to receive email notification of future blogs (and don’t already) feel free to complete the form below. Also we love hearing your comments. So be sure to use the comments box.
