January 2010

We know summer has arrived in New Zealand when the Pohutakawa trees put on their Christmas colors.

Dear Friends:


“Well imagine meeting you here,” a lilting Irish voice called as we waited in line to order our dinner at the Opua Cruising Club in the Bay of Islands. We’d just sailed in from a week at Great Barrier Island where we’d joined a large group of international voyager to celebrate the New Year. Now both Larry and I struggled to place the face. Roy Dixon quickly introduced himself and said, “You probably don’t remember me but we met in Howth, Ireland when I was just dreaming of setting of cruising and here I am just sailed in from Fiji!” It took only a few minutes to recall the evenings we’d spent together back in 1997. As we waited for dinner, Roy told us a story that we just have to share.