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Oriental-Falklands Connections
July 26, 2016

T

he other day, TownDock.net published a Shipping News about Andrez Short buying a boat – sight-unseen – here in Oriental, a boat he is now sailing home to the Falkland Islands. With a population around 3,000 and no one for another 300 miles (on the South American mainland) the Falklands can be accurately described as remote. Perhaps not to the same degree (and with more boats than sheep) Oriental is also off the beaten path. Given the remoteness of both, the chance for those two worlds meeting would seem slim. But that doesn’t take into account the Oriental Zero Degrees Of Separation Factor. One example appeared in the Shipping News. Reader Sam/Dave Bacon provides another:

Good Morning,

Here is some additional interesting stuff about your Falklands story.

My wife Linda and I enjoy cruises, so a few years back we decided (no I decided, Linda hates cold weather) to take a cruise aboard the Holland America cruise ship Zaandam around Cape Horn about 500 miles from Antarctica.

About a month before we were to leave I was able to contact Bob Mcleod (ham radio call sign VP8LP) via ham radio. Amatuer radio is one of my many passions.
I mentioned to Bob that there was the possibility to meet him in person as the ship was tentatively scheduled to stop at Port Stanley. The stop is only available based on good weather conditions. Bob suggested that if we do get to stop there that we go to the visitors center and as Bob put it,“ring me up”.

We start the cruise in Buenos Aries, traveled to Montevideo, Uruguay and after we left Uruguay the ships Captain announced over the public address system that we are changing plans, and we are going to the Falklands. Well, I was thrilled.

We had the opportunity to meet Bob who gave us a personal tour of Stanley and invited us to his home to meet his wife. What a great experience.

So, fast forward a couple of years and I’m working at the hardware store and the two gentleman in your story come in for some needed hardware and one is wearing a Stanley shirt. I asked him, “Are you by any chance from the Falklands?”. He answered yes. “How do you know about the Falklands?” he said.

I was there, I told him. I said, “Do you know Bob Mcleod?” He did. In fact, went to school with Bob.

The world sure is a very small place.

Sam “Sam/Dave” Bacon Oriental 7/25/16

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