Small World

As we were leaving Hope Town, we passed a boat named Cheeta that had a hailing port of Houston. Something told me that I might know the owner, so I called them on the VHF radio.

“Cheeta, this is Double Wide. I see that you’re from Houston. The owner wouldn’t happen to be Bill Choice, would he?”

“This is Cheeta. Yes, my name is Bill Choice!”

I met Bill when I was selling Hobie Cats in Houston back in the early 80’s. When he bought a large monohull sailboat and said he wanted to take it to the Caribbean, I introduced him to my Dad, who taught him how to sail big boats across oceans, how to navigate, etc. Dad even captained “First Choice” on several trips for Bill and they became friends.

The last I heard, Bill had completed a circumnavigation on his boat and was building a custom catamaran somewhere in the Caribbean. I’m not sure what made me think that might be him, but I’m glad I asked!