Generally, friendships are created quickly between crews, but are just as quickly undone once they leave each other. Sometimes they last for a while, but fade after the inevitable return to shore. However, some of these encounters create strong and lasting friendships.
An unexpected encounter
During our Atlantic tour, six years ago, we met two Canadian sailboats in Greenland. This is not the place where we thought we would meet people. The most extraordinary thing was that these two sailboats were sailing with young children on board, like us! The trip up the East coast of Greenland with these crews was an unforgettable experience.
We were surprised to discover that one of these boats, Blue Hour, was sailing this summer in Norway, and was returning to Scotland to leave the boat in winter. It was quite inconceivable to sail in the same waters and not find ourselves there! The wind played many tricks on us, for us who were going up to meet them and for them who were coming down from Norway against the south-westerly winds.
A missed appointment in the north of Scotland
While we were in Loch Nedd, near the northwestern tip of Scotland, they were waiting in Orkney for an opportunity to join us. However, as the days passed without better weather, Blue Hour reluctantly decided to take the Caledonian Canal. This last one crosses Scotland from East to West, from Inverness to Fort William, far South from our positionâ?¦
And Arthur is blocked by the wind, without possibility to go down. We managed to reach the loch Ewe, where we stayed for a week, suffering the gusts. Blue Hour, on its side, used the canal locks and started to sail up the West coast to meet us. Nevertheless, their sailboat must be near Glasgow at the end of the month, they cannot afford to stay stuck in the North.
An exceptional reunion
Finally, the wind weakens, turns enough to offer us a sailing window! We meet on the North-Western tip of Skye, with the idea of sailing together to the Outer Hebrides. The reunion is extraordinary, at the foot of a ruined castle in a superb anchorage and by a beautiful lull.
In fact, sailing friendships are sometimes as solid as the mooring lines that hold our two sailboats together. The sailings spent together, the joys and sometimes the difficulties experienced together, make them unalterable.
