Picture: Sailing community members enjoying the 4th July parade together at Dutch Harbor; From left to right; Rod from S/V "Proximity"; Anika from S/V "Moon"; Jon and Christine from S/V "Liv" with Ted.

Our companion boats came a few days after our arrival in Dutch Harbor. It was a good reunion with S/V "Kea", S/V "Moon" and S/V "Live". We also met S/V "Proximity" from San Francisco whom "Moon" had met in the South Pacific Islands and friends of "Proximity", a German couple from S/V "SueAn", who left Kushiro, Japan a few days before us. The sailing community is quite unique because it is international and we communicate in English, which is lucky for us. Rod from "Proximity" of San Fransisco is the only person born in the US, even his wife, Elizabeth is from Germany. I think it is incredible that all these people of different nationalities and various professional backgrounds have one thing in common - cruising. We share weather forecasts, information on anchorages, chandleries, and general knowledge about anything. Sometimes we help each other with repairs and/or advice. The networking between the cruisers is phenomenal. Some people we meet for only a few hours but it seems like we have known them for years. Most of the husband-wife sailing teams are retired and some of them had been sailing for twenty, thirty or forty years together. Nobody does a formal "goodbye". Sailors never know when they depart - it is always a "maybe". We never know when or where we might meet or not meet; however, the connection is genuine and may develop into a lifelong friendship.