Small World

This small world moment came as we entered Port Resolution in Vanuatu. Port Resolution is a community of a few hundred people living simply on the southern tip of Tanna Island. It is approximately 120nm from Port Villa, the capital, on Efata Island, 450nm from Fiji, 200nm from New Caledonia and about 800nm from Australia. Many people email us telling us they don’t know where Vanuatu is. I’m sure even people that do know where Vanuatu is don’t know Port Resolution’s location.

We arrived at Port Resolution at the start of our fourth day on passage from Fiji. It was mid-morning. We were both tired from the passage. We were feeling good but ready to drop the anchor and get some rest.

As we weaved our way between the boats looking for a place to drop the hook, we passed close to a trimaran. A man in a dinghy hung off the back of the trimaran and was talking to the young couple onboard. As we passed, the man in the dinghy read the name of our boat and called over saying, “Ah Cambria. I’ve been told to watch out for you!”

I immediately wondered, “Do we owe someone money and they’ve found us way out here?!”

He said, “Susan and Todd on Freya told us to watch for you and the Keems–Lisa and Nick!”

Shortly after we were anchored, Samuel, the man in the dinghy, came by and filled us in. Sam and his partner, Emma, are sailing their beautiful wooden sloop, Norla, out of Tasmania. (Here’s a link to their YouTube Channel.) They had met Susan and Todd in Fiji.

Hearing from Susan and Todd on SV Freya was not a big surprise as we had met Susan and Todd in Tonga about a year ago and have been crossing paths with them ever since. In fact, we sailed together from New Zealand to Minerva Reef and then on to Fiji.

The small world moment was hearing from Lisa and Nick Keem whom we worked with in Beijing.

We lost track of Lisa and Nick after we all moved away from Beijing. Occasionally, we’d hear through the grapevine where they were and how they were doing but we haven’t seen them since Beijing. In Beijing, Nick had worked with both our kids at various times and in various ways. Also, when our son Brian was in high school, he had taught their son, Zach, guitar lessons.

It turns out that Emma has known Lisa and Nick for years. Lisa had told Emma to watch for us on their travels. Emma, like us, has taught internationally and is familiar with some of the same schools and people as us. It was such a surprise to hear from the Keems. It really is a small world.