Dennis and I have made so many good friends with a mutual love of boating – both locally and abroad.  We had some surprise visitors this past week who fit both the local and abroad categories  – Tony and Shannon Morelli.  Some of you probably know Tony as he is a sailmaker, who was located in Ventura for many years.  Even though Dennis and I had Libertad in the Ventura Harbor for 10 years before departing for a retirement sailing adventure, we did not meet this couple until we got to El Salvador in 2011.  

We spent time with them in El Salvador, headed south from there at the same time, and connected up in Costa Rica –enjoying Christmas there together.  After the “green season” (lots of rain and lightning) we both moved on to Panama with several other boats.  But then… we went west, and they went east. 

Fast forward a few years to 2017, we have just arrived from Jamaica to Cayman Brac and are the only boat anchored in the bay.  A few hours later, we hear a call from the vessel Sweetie telling the Port Authority that they were approaching and wanted to check in.  Tony and Shannon anchor Sweetie near us, we enjoy several days in the Caymans, and then sail north to Cuba together.  We offload many pounds of hardbound Mediterranean cruising guides from our boat to theirs.  They have plenty of room as they have a new Sweetie – a catamaran.   Again, we go west and they go east.  

Fast forward to 2023 and they are texting that they are in town with family.  We went out that night for cocktails and had a wonderful time catching up.  Next week they head back to Sweetie which is awaiting them in Turkey.  

Of course we spent some time talking about new tools available to them now such as Starlink.  They mentioned a popular app they are using which was new to me:  Navily.  Anybody using it?