We received an email the other day with the subject "Hello from the Niagara 35 next to you". 'Turning Point', hull #8 (we are #56) is anchored quite close to us. Needless to say, we wanted to get to know Laura and Ted, and their boat, better.
After getting the email, I jumped into the dinghy and popped over, while Ken finished the work he was elbow deep in. It is always fun to check out a sister ship and see what the owners have done as home improvements. Ted and Laura have had 'Turning Point' for about 25 years now, and cruised her for 7 years in the early 90's before settling back into "real" life for a while. They have now returned to part time cruising, while splitting their time between New Brunswick, Florida and the boat, wherever she may be.
I invited the crew of 'Turning Point' over for brunch the other morning, to give them the chance to toss-pot on our boat. While the lay out is the same, there are always the multiple differences that one finds in individual boats. And of course, with us being full time liveaboards, we have more "stuff" on board, too. They actually have lockers they aren't using, AND their starboard quarterberth is also used as a bunk... wow. They did liveaboard while cruising, so we got some good ideas to improve our living space as well.
We also had pizza and drinks on board their boat. It was Ken's chance to take a look around their boat, while Laura and I chatted in the cockpit. Of course, when the rain came up, we all bailed for the salon. It was almost like lounging on our own boat.
The visits with Ted and Laura were very nice. Laura and I are both left handed Libras, and Ted and Ken have very similar interests, including Ham radio.
Conversation topics were not hard to come by, and the visits stretched on.
While we are currently going farther north, they will be heading south. Maybe we will catch up to them this year, maybe we won't, but I think we will be keeping in touch. After all, Ken and Ted can set up an SSB sched!
We have also had a "Hamburger Night" at the "Mad Mongoose" - arguably they have one of the best hamburgers in the Eastern Caribbean