Melbourne, FL 28º07.349N | 80º37.793W
I expected in our travels to meet older cruisers who inspire us. I did not expect to be related to them.
When we attended the wedding in Jacksonville last month, we met a cousin of Chip's, on his mother's side, who now lives in Vero Beach and made plans to visit on this plod south.
Going ashore is always a treat, but to be picked up in a car and fed a home cooked meal is reason enough for inspiration, but wait! These folks, Varoujan and Rose, now 80, cruised -- yes, on boats -- for 20 years. Real, honest-to-god cruisers that are related to us!
Over dinner, they told us tales of boats and ports and good times afloat. In the beginning, they invested their entire boat budget in a custom-built sailboat, hovering and nurturing it through the building process until just near completion when the builder declared bankruptcy, and the boat was seized by creditors.
Not to be deterred, they started over with a small boat, then bought a hull and built the rest themselves. For 20 years they cruised, on three different sailboats and two trawlers, exploring beautiful places and meeting the awesome people who live on the water.
Once, taking a break from sailing, they were on a cruise ship in the British Virgin Islands when they heard from a cruising couple, cruising friends, who were also in the area but on their own boat. Varoujan and Rose jumped ship and sailed with their friends back to the U.S.
That other couple called a few years ago to say the house next door to them in Vero Beach was for sale. Rose and Varoujan bought it, sight unseen, and live half the year next door to their enduring and endearing cruising friends, now active members of the local group CLOD (Cruisers Living on Dirt).
Hope in the water. Hope after the water. Happiness in Vero Beach.
Vero Beach, FL 27º39.389N | 80º22.256W
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| Lovely cove on the Eau Gallie River in Melbourne. |
When we attended the wedding in Jacksonville last month, we met a cousin of Chip's, on his mother's side, who now lives in Vero Beach and made plans to visit on this plod south.
Going ashore is always a treat, but to be picked up in a car and fed a home cooked meal is reason enough for inspiration, but wait! These folks, Varoujan and Rose, now 80, cruised -- yes, on boats -- for 20 years. Real, honest-to-god cruisers that are related to us!
Over dinner, they told us tales of boats and ports and good times afloat. In the beginning, they invested their entire boat budget in a custom-built sailboat, hovering and nurturing it through the building process until just near completion when the builder declared bankruptcy, and the boat was seized by creditors.
Not to be deterred, they started over with a small boat, then bought a hull and built the rest themselves. For 20 years they cruised, on three different sailboats and two trawlers, exploring beautiful places and meeting the awesome people who live on the water.
Once, taking a break from sailing, they were on a cruise ship in the British Virgin Islands when they heard from a cruising couple, cruising friends, who were also in the area but on their own boat. Varoujan and Rose jumped ship and sailed with their friends back to the U.S.
That other couple called a few years ago to say the house next door to them in Vero Beach was for sale. Rose and Varoujan bought it, sight unseen, and live half the year next door to their enduring and endearing cruising friends, now active members of the local group CLOD (Cruisers Living on Dirt).
Hope in the water. Hope after the water. Happiness in Vero Beach.
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| Chip, Tammy, Rose & Varoujan |
Wouldn't it be great to think that someday someone might be interested in our adventures?
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