Swiss Apéro

sunset in St.George's anchorage

Switzerland has an estimated population of 7.9mio which is roughly 0.1% of the world's population. Around 1'300 high sea yachts are sailing under a Swiss flag. Of course I don't know how many of those are currently cruising in the Caribbean! But the number has to be tiny aswell. Despite this facts we bumped into Swiss boats on almost every island! They have been mostly from the German speaking part - which was a relief as our French unfortunately is very sparse. Most of the Swiss cruisers we've met were very experienced sailors, many had crossed the Atlantic Ocean and have been on the sea for a couple of years already.

You know, English is not our native language and we're sometimes still struggeling to explain boat related stuff in the right words (time to thank all our English speaking friends for their patience!). So to exchange tips and tricks in our mother-tounge is usually a big relief all the more considering the wide experience of our compatriots. Like for example our newest acquaintance, Vreni and Hansruedi on their s/v Verena, a beautiful Amphora 38. Since we got to know them here in Grenada they have been sharing their wealth of experience about sailing and boat maintenance in general and about the Caribbean, especially Grenada in particular. Besides the fact that they're eager to share their boat related knowledge they are very warm people and great to chat with. Which we were able to do again this late afternoon as they'd invited us for an Apéro on their boat. Apéro is how Swiss call an Apéritif or Cocktails. We had some beers and a bottle of Cidre and our hosts pampered us with delicious snacks (bacon wrapped dates and garlic bread). We chatted about everything and anything while the sun went down.
A special Thank You to Vreni & Hansruedi and at this point to ALL the nice people we've met so far during our trip on sea and land for their hospitality!

I'm wondering: do we connect fast with Swiss cruisers because of the language or because we share a similar way of life? Any thoughts?

Apéro in our host's cockpit

From paradise with love

Rahel