Being out on the water is one of life’s great pleasures. Boating offers a wealth of different experiences and like much in life we cherry pick the ones that suit us best. Many people enjoy power boating, others prefer ‘wind and string’. Some folks like to sail long distances, and a growing number charter a boat for a vacation. Racers travel the world in search of exciting regattas, their yachts often arriving at an event having been transported there on a specially designed cargo ship. Although boats are as varied as the people who man them, sailors have one thing in common – they all say a lot of hellos and goodbyes. I doubt there is another occupation or pastime where this is such a factor. Cruisers sail to an anchorage, meet new people, strike up a friendship with other cruisers and then haul anchor and leave. Race boat crews are the same. You might crew on a boat, share the pain, drama and perhaps glory of a four day regatta, socialize like you are friends for life, and then sign off, never to sail with that crew again. Guests on charter boats come and go as do crew. During my time on the water many people have sailed in and out of my life. Some made a lasting impression (not always for the right reasons) and some became friends. And it’s always rewarding – unless you owe them money – to bump into a stranger at the bar who, it turns out, isn’t a stranger at all but someone you crossed tacks with 20-years ago in another place, another ocean.
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