Story and photos by Norrie Hunter
“Why did you ever come back from your idyllic life in the Caribbean to this lousy Scottish weather?” If we’d had an EC dollar for every time we’ve heard that one, well!
Although our departure from our cruising lifestyle (2000–2002) aboard our beloved Freelance, in which we covered over 3,000 nautical miles around God’s cruising ground, was probably the saddest thing we’ve ever done, life this side of the “pond” hasn’t been all that bad — despite the weather!
We never did quite settle down on our return to Scotland, despite calls from family to do so. No, our wanderlust was still to the fore, and the first thing on touchdown was to buy back our Yamaha motorbike from Joan’s brother, then set off on tour around Scotland and southern Ireland.
In late 2003 we decided to do something completely different. We bought ourselves a caravan and went to France, Spain, and Portugal, where we spent seven months.
All this landlubber lark was, however, a far (and sad) cry from the floating paradise we left behind.
As we sat enjoying the Mediterranean sun in the western Algarve area of southern Portugal, many a thought flew back to those exhilarating days sailing from the US Virgin Islands down the chain to Grenada, and of all the friends we made — some we still correspond with to this day. But where indeed have all our sailing buddies gone, what are they doing now; are they still afloat?
Crescent Moon (Henry and Karen); Westwind II (Jane and Steve and their dog Thelma); Coram Deo (Chuck and Micky); Dream Catcher (Gerry and Sam); Knotts Gypsy (Trevor and Ann from Nottingham); Tamarack II (Brian and Debbie and their cats); Dave on Antiquity; Elusive (Gary and Sharon); Nativa (Brian and Ann); Coleen (Bruce MacCampbell and Elaine; and our bagpipe-playing American friend, Bill Seamen, then skipper of the motor-cruiser Hand-the-Line. These and many more make us just that little bit homesick for those glorious times spent on our 43-foot Gulfstar, Freelance.
“Would they ever remember us?” said Joan, as she too wondered if we’d had enough of boating on the other side of the world or whether the lure of those magical nights in American Yacht Harbor, St. Thomas, USVI, watching the sun go down after yet another cocktail session at Duffy’s Love Shack, or snorkelling in St. Lucia, might just tempt us back?
“Hauling a caravan 2,000 miles round Europe is fun but somehow fails to spark the adventure buds in the same way, doesn’t it?” I said as we sat back in our island home (Bute) in Scotland, glass of vino in hand, gazing longingly at the countless photo albums of our Caribbean adventures.
We’d even contemplated buying a boat as part of a consortium (of friends) on the cold, wet and windy west coast of Scotland where we live, but this somehow has again failed to ignite our imagination. No, the Caribbean experience, once sampled, is hard to beat.
And so the chat developed into: “Well, we could have a yacht charter holiday and relive the dream,” I ventured, “and take along a couple of pals for company.”
Freelance was (sadly) sold after our trip up from Grenada, through the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas to Florida, and so a charter boat would have to be the reality.
What would it be? Another well-earned lunch aboard that floating pillar to gastronomic exuberance, the William Thornton (or as it is affectionately known, the Willy T), anchored off Norman Island? Or perhaps down island to Marigot Bay in St. Lucia to dine where Dr. Doolittle’s great Pink Sea Slug slid up on golden sands, or just out with the gang at Mount Hartman Bay in Grenada … memories, oh the memories.
The sight of Gary on Elusive heading off solo to Venezuela to dodge an impending hurricane and return with countless bottles of the best tasting two-dollar rum this side of a classic cocktail (each individually wrapped in his old socks for safety) and skipper Revitt and his partner Shaun aboard their aptly named Free at Last — are they sailing still? Yes, these were just some of the memories we’ll forever cherish.
The everlasting memory for Joan is that of her pulling me out, feet first, from the bilges of Freelance after a small but vital engine component fell into the oily blackness and I got well and truly stuck trying to rescue it. I was extracted like the sound of a cork from a bottle and, covered in oil, I was ordered to stand on some old newspapers as she washed me down with that most magical of Caribbean washing-up liquids, Joy!
Yes, these are some of our memories, but does anyone out there remember us — the two good-time Scottish dreamers? Thoughts are already heading toward booking a charter sailing trip. Look out gang, we may just come sailing over the horizon, so get the rum and coke ready!
If any of these old-time cruisers read this, they can get in touch with Norrie and Joan by e-mail at norriehmedia@yahoo.com — and write us, too. We want to know. Of course, the same goes for new cruisers who want to let them know how much fun they’re missing. Maybe, like the audience clapping for Tinker Bell to show her that they do believe in fairies, we’ll bring that passion back to life, and one of these days our favorite island beach bar will be lighted up by the smiles of two older, but still lively Scots.
