We first met Jim and Eileen in Sausalito back in 2018 – they moored their Nonsuch 30, C.A.T., just a few slips away from Madrone. Just back from our trip to Hawaii, we were preparing to head south to Mexico, and so were Jim and Eileen. So, there was plenty to talk about and we discovered that they were great folks.

Jim and Eileen aboard C.A.T. in Mexico *Photo courtesy of C.A.T.

Fast forward a few years, and C.A.T. carried Jim and Eileen safely down the Baja California coast and north into the Sea of Cortez. There, they had her loaded on to a truck and driven to North Carolina for some east coast cruising.

C.A.T. looking sharp in Baja. Note her unique unstayed carbon mast and wishbone boom *Photo courtesy of C.A.T.

When we arrived in Beaufort, Jim and Eileen contacted us and very kindly offered to loan us their truck for an afternoon. (For car-less boat people, that’s one of the very kindest things to be offered.) They drove over an hour to meet us in Beaufort, and after enjoying lunch together they suggested that we should just keep their truck overnight so that we’d have plenty of time to complete all of our errands. The next day, they got in touch to encourage us to keep the truck for yet another night.

To get from Oriental, NC (where C.A.T. is moored) to Beaufort, NC (where Madrone is sitting at anchor) you have to take a ferry across the Neuse River

We’re hoping that we’ll be able to catch up with Jim and Eileen (& their adorable dog Ellen) again as we get closer to their Pennsylvania home. And maybe someday we’ll be able to do something as nice for them as they did for us.

A highlight of hanging out with Jim and Eileen was getting to meet and spend time with there sweet dog Ellen *Photo courtesy of C.A.T.