 |
| Photo: Frances Howorth |
In years gone by before E-mail, the Internet or even a reliable international postal service, sailors used to rely on the kindness of their colleagues to relay messages home. On a long outward journey mariners would leave a letter ashore in pre-designated spots and homeward bound sailors would pick them up and bring them home for onward forwarding by conventional mail.
Such was the case with those rounding Cape Horn. Mail was left in a huge water barrel and acted as a sorting office. The practise is still carried out more for fun than necessity and passengers rounding the Cape sailing in the yacht like ships of Cruceros Australis often leave mail at Wulaia Bay.
We did just that back in February when we sailed around the Cape on board Via Australis and now our letter has made a 15,000 mile journey and found its way back to us with out it costing a penny in postage.
It turns out that a Canadian lady named Kim saw our postcard in the barrel at Wulaia Bay and recognised the city of Salisbury in our address. Knowing that her father David Letson was about to visit the city on his way to visit the celebrations of the D Day Landings in Normandy she took it home and gave it to her father.
David, kind and generous hearted sole that he is, set up a lunch to meet us and invited long time friends John and Sheila Speirs to join him as he handed over the card and so squared the circle.
Thank you Kim and David