The End of an Era

We said good-bye to Lady Carolina in early September, because they went to Fiji while we stayed in Tonga. At the time, we had no idea it would be such a permanent good-bye. They were planning to head to New Zealand for cyclone season just like us, but while in Fiji they changed their minds and stayed there. The following is a small tribute I wrote on my cruisingrunner blog page to The End of an Era.

Inherent in the cruising lifestyle is that friends come and go rather quickly. You meet people, hang out for a while, part ways, and then often meet up again down the road at a different anchorage or town. There are always email and SSB nets to help you keep track of people you particularly like, but often it’s the luck of the draw when you will encounter each other again, if at all. Well, that may be the way it typically goes, but that’s not the way it went with Exodus and Lady Carolina. Lady Carolina is our best buddy kid boat, and they have 2 boys near our boys’ ages. We met in June 2014 and spent the summer as the only two kid boats in the northern Sea of Cortez. Through that experience, we basically became inseparable, and we’ve been hanging together ever since, with only a few short breaks from each other. Unfortunately, they recently decided to abandon us and visit Fiji while we stay in Tonga for the rest of the cruising season. Likely, we’ll meet up again in New Zealand for the cyclone season, but even still, it feels like the end of an era.

So, in no particular order, here’s a list of good memories and inside jokes that we shared along the way. Sorry that they will mostly be meaningless to you if you are not Exodus or Lady Carolina, but at least you can get a sense of the good times we have had. Good times, indeed. 

-The plane crash in Agua Verde

-Pocket fish

-Hot wind in Candeleros

-Shirts optional

-Who has the conch (or ketchup bottle)?

-Wahoo, Tuna!

-The Exodus pose

-Any Exodus’s underway wishing to check in?

-SHUSH! (During the Chubasco report)

-crackle-static-“Topolobambo”-static-“So, those of you up in BLA”-crackle-crackle-static-“Any questions?”

-Mitlan. Enough said.

-Joel, the Grand Pubah

-Good fishy. Sleep, sleep.

-No fish here

-Doudou rum

-You left the trash on Geary’s doorstep?

-Clamming and scalloping

-Ho hum, another lobster dinner

-Why is the rum always gone?

-The last carrot

-The paddleboard game

-Stephen, your friendly neighborhood Marquesan

-Double halyard rope swing

-Feeding the puppies

-Australia man!

-You owe me food!

-Don’t worry guys, I’m here.

-Coconut crabs

-Pub crawl

-Should we go to the net?

-Huh

-Jo-el, Ky-le!

-Doorknob

-Bang, Dead.

-Zen

-Tim time or Steve time?

-Suiting up? Diver down.

-Terra forming

-Who cooks popcorn on the stove, I mean, really

And last but certainly not least…

-The mankini!