For almost two weeks we docked at Rodney Bay Marina in St Lucia, with our friends Bill and Maureen on Kalunamoo, our mentors on our first run south in 2012 and now friends and cruising companions for over a decade. Nose to nose across the dock from each other.
We first met Bill and Maureen on the ICW in 2012 on our first run south. Kalunamoo looks the same after all these years.
And, Pandora, our “new Pandora” that replaced our SAGA 43 in 2015, is about to get a major refit in Trinidad, where Bill and Maureen have stored, and lived aboard, Kalunamoo for years now. No paint needed though as she still looks terrific. Well, that’s as long as you ignore a few chips. But, that will be fixed as well.
It is hard to believe that Brenda and I have been cruising winters for more than a decade now and in addition to our runs to the Bahamas, Cuba, for the last 8 seasons we have focused our attention on the eastern Caribbean.
After visiting many of the same harbors so many times, often twice or more in a season as we make our way south and north again, Brenda has been making noise that she doesn’t want to winter in this area any longer, a definite “been there, done that”. Along with the relative roughness of living on a boat, she still suffers from motion sickness and it’s plenty sporty between islands, something that she has never gotten used to.
Facing a decision between “swallowing the anchor” or trying to come up with something new, we have been talking about “what’s next” for much of this season as I am just not ready to give up cruising.
In addition to discomfort on passage for Brenda, both of us would prefer not to be away from family for so long each winter. Going for the entire winter without seeing our growing grandchildren for months at a time is tough even though we “see” them on video calls, it just isn’t the same as being there.
So, what next?
Many years ago, when Brenda and I first headed south to the Bahamas my Dad, now gone for a decade, remarked, “Bob, wouldn’t it be great to take Pandora through Gibraltar?” and that image has stuck with me.
We have quite a friends who have cruised the Med and after speaking to many of them over the years it seems like this is the right time to give it a go. Brenda studied the classics in college and did a semester in Italy and another in Greece we both think that it would be fun to explore the cultures of the Med as a next step.
The plan will be to do an abbreviated run in the Caribbean next winter, perhaps launching Pandora in Trinidad after Brenda’s birthday in January and then working our way north to Antigua. From there, at the end of the season, I would either take Pandora to Bermuda, another place that I haven’t taken my own boat to, and from there meet up with others for a Salty Dawg Rally to The Azores.
As is my custom, when I want to do something I always feel that it is best to involve others and make it an “event”. With that in mind, I proposed to the Salty Dawg Board that we do a trans Atlantic rally, which was greeted with a good deal of enthusiasm, more than I had expected, actually.
Once I arrive in The Azores, Brenda will fly in to join me and we will spend a few weeks to a month exploring the islands before she flies home and I continue on to Portugal where Pandora will be hauled until fall. At that time I will move Pandora into the Mediterranean where Brenda will join me for two months of cruising the coast of Spain. Instead of spending the entire winter away from family, we will spend two months in the spring and again in the fall. By focusing on the “hip seasons” we will avoid the crazy, crowded and expensive summer months and keep us home in CT when the weather is the nicest. Of course, we will also be in CT during the not-so-nice winter months but hey, I’ll take what I can get.
All of this discussion has caused me to reflect on the time we have spent aboard on our first run south so long ago. That along with all the emotion swirling around the terrible tragedy of the murder of Salty Dawg Members, Kathy and Ralph of Simplicity, has given most of us pause for thought as we look to the future with the hope of getting the most out of our lives. For the crew of Pandora, the next chapter will be to head “across the Pond”. Details to come…
I have written many times of our friendship with Bill and Maureen of Kalunamoo and how they mentored us on our first run south. As we ponder this next chapter, it is fitting that we are tied up together in the same marina here in St Lucia. They too are feeling a bit wistful about the past and invited us over to their boat one evening last week for what they called billed as “nostalgia night” where Bill ran through photos that he took during that first season when we “buddy boated” together down the ICW and through Bahamas.
As Bill scrolled through hundreds of photos I couldn’t help but yell “Bill, I need a copy of that one, and that one…”
So here are some of those photos that brought back so many memories, laughter and a few tears…
Yes, I will admit that what follows looks an awful lot like “what I did on my summer vacation” but bear with me.
Brenda and I met Bill and Maureen for the first time, in St Marie’s Georgia where the townspeople welcome cruisers for Thanksgiving. A pot luck affair, supplied by cruisers and the locals supplying free turkeys, it was a wonderful experience. I wrote a post about that day in November of 2012, so if you are inspired, follow this link. I don’t know if this tradition is still going on but it was an amazing experience for us, our first thanksgiving away from family.
This is a terrible photo of the event where we met Bill and Maureen and we had no idea at the time that we would still be hanging out together more than a decade later. That’s me and Brenda to the left. Bill was the photographer behind the camera.
We left Pandora in St Mary’s for the holidays that year and when we returned in the new year, continued down the ICW to Florida where we reconnected with Bill and Maureen in Middle River, Ft Lauderdale. There we waited for a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. Sometimes that wait can be weeks long as the easterly trade winds are relentless.
One thing that has always bugged Brenda is being away from family for her birthday, January 15th if you want to mark your calendar, and everyone made a big deal of that special day in 2013. She was more than a little homesick but a cake and celebration improved her mood.
Another couple, Melinda and Harry of Sea Schell, were also a mentor for us that first season, showing us the ropes as we prepared to cross and got our “feet wet” in the Bahamas.
I have always loved this photo of Brenda, surprised but enjoying the attention.
A few days later we planned to leave for the Bahamas. Being anchored in the middle of downtown Ft Lauderdale was a unique experience and every morning we focused on the coming weather reports from Chris Parker, the weather router that we have used for more than a decade. Sadly, nowadays, anchoring is prohibited in most places in Florida as cruisers are lumped in with the derelict boats that cause such an eyesore in the area.
We were anxious and also excited about the crossing to the Bahamas that had been so long in coming.
I can’t even begin to count how many times we have enjoyed sundowners in each other’s boats over the years.
Finally, after an overnight from Florida, Brenda’s first and a bit harrowing with strong winds, squalls and uncertain navigation, we arrived in Nassau and tied up at customs, a rickety dock at best. Of course, our “Pandora” at the time was a SAGA 43.
After that we anchored together to collect ourselves and make plans.
Harry and Melinda lost no time in giving us our first taste of life in the Bahamas. I will say that they, along with Bill and Maureen, are a bit saltier than Brenda and decided to have us anchor on the ocean side of a nearby island. We launched the dink and headed ashore only to be immediately swamped by a wave that broke over the dink, filling it with water and sand and soaking us. Brenda was not amused and uttered something like “I WANT TO GO HOME!” I will admit that we both felt that we were roughing it a bit more than we had anticipated.
Perhaps not the best way to begin our journey of discovery, but everybody was smiling. Getting the wet and sandy dink off of the boat and back to Pandora was a bit damp. Sadly, Harry died suddenly a few years later. He is still missed.
I won’t bore you with a blow by blow of that first winter but if you are curious, the navigation bar to the right sorts posts by month and we were in the Bahamas from mid January through April when Brenda flew home and I ran the boat back to CT. Since that year I have run Pandora north and south most every year and this year marks the first when she will be left south. This year’s plan to have Pandora in Trinidad breaks that tradition and I am looking forward to NOT doing the run to CT for once.
For the next four seasons we headed to the Bahamas and, as always, hung out with Bill, Maureen.
I learned to love rum punch that season at Scorpios. Wow! Really strong.
That first season our sons, Chris and Rob along with Rob’s now wife, Kandice, visited. Chris has been back aboard since then but Rob and Kandice have too busy raising three children.
This is me snorkeling that first season and speaking of our boys, the shorty wetsuit was Rob’s when he was a teenager, and it still fits. Just sayin…
That first season was a blur of first time experiences and adjusting to living aboard in a space about the size of a bathroom. So far, so good although, our “new Pandora” is a bit larger.
For sure, no more landings on beaches where there are waves. Except when it can’t be avoided, of course. And, when that happens, Brenda is still not amused.
The future is looking bight as we contemplate what’s next, and it’s been a lot of fun to think back to that very first run south and meeting
And as we prepared to depart a few days ago. Old friends posed to celebrate our second decade and a nod to what was…
Sure we are all a little worse for wear but it is exciting to ponder what the new chapter may bring.
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