By Amy Zahra

There was lively reunion of Nordhavn Atlantic Rally participants and P.A.E. staff on the Dana Point docks recently, as Hal Wyman and his Rally crew, Wayne Almquist and Bob Owens, stopped by in Hal’s custom Seaton 55, Que Linda, on their way up the west coast.  Que Linda was one of three non-Nordhavns that participated in the Rally, and this was the first time that the P.A.E. folks have seen them since the Rally disbanded in July 2004.

Hal, Wayne and Bob met back in 2000 when Hal placed an ad on the Trawler Fest website looking for crew.  Wayne, from Los Angeles, and Bob, who is from Louisiana, did not previously know one another. But they all got along so well that they have been cruising together ever since.

After the Rally, Hal spent some time on the southern coast of Spain, the Balearic Islands and wound up in Barcelona before shipping the boat from Toulon, France to Fort Lauderdale last summer.  Wayne and his wife visited Que Linda while it cruised the Mediterranean. Then last November Hal, Wayne and Bob reunited, along with Bob’s wife Susan, and cruised from Fort Lauderdale to Roatan, Honduras via the Bahama Chain, as well as Jamaica and Grand Cayman Island.  At the end of December, Hal’s crew flew home, but Hal rested in Roatan for a few weeks at Barefoot Cay, the small island resort he co-owns, before flying home to Seattle for the winter.  He returned to Roatan in April, and again reconnected with Bob and Wayne to start their journey to bring Que Linda home.  Their voyage included stops in Panama, Nicaragua, and four stops in Mexico (Marina Chawe in Hualtuco, Marina Barra de Navidad, Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada), as well as San Diego, before arriving in Dana Point.

The trio was last heard from off the coast of Oregon and reported all well aboard the ship. They were expected to arrive last week in Seattle.

What a wonderful way to keep in touch with old friends…