Dinner with the Nilsens

Last Monday night, as I sat reading a book, I heard a tapping on the deck of the boat and a hearty, “Hello!” It was Bengt and Stefania Nilsen who had come to ask me over to their boat for some chips and conversation. I was the start of a great “sailor in far flung places” experience. They own a Dufour Classic 38 built in 2002, one year later than Remedios and they were anxious to compare notes. For this lonely boat guy, the answer was an easy, “You betcha!” I told them I had to freshen up and I would be right over. I changed out of my day shirt and shorts, grabbed a bottle of chilled Vino Verde and off I went. It was the first of three special evenings spent with them and their children, Martin, who I met the first night, and Cathrine who flew in to Lisbon to join them for part of their trip.

The first night we sat in the cockpit of their Dufour, learning about each other and talking about sailing. They were on their way to the Canary Islands for the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, which will leave in late November from the Los Palmas on Grand Canarias sailing to Rodney Bay in St. Lucia. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
We share the same start but different destinations. Bengt is a retired police officer who met Stefania in Italy while he was there questioning “persons of interest” in one of his investigations. She was serving as the interpreter and I asked if he made up a lot of unnecessary questions so he could spend more time with her. His response was, “Not while working, but later, maybe.” Stefania is a writer who works for a power management technology firm and also writes articles for Norwegian sailing magazines. Both of them have a lot of sailing experience, but I thought it was neat that Bengt’s first sail across a large body of water was when he sailed their brand new Dufour from Belgium across the North Sea to their home in Norway in 2004. Stefania has actually sailed the Atlantic Rally before on a catamaran with an all woman crew.

After we had finished the wine, I got a tour of their boat and we had a great time comparing notes on the quirks we had found in our boats and the modifications we had made. As the happy hour wrapped up, we agreed to meet at Remedios the next evening for a repeat.

During our happy hour the next night on Remedios we spent more time talking about our families, work, and homes and I gave a full tour above and below decks. Before it was done I had an invitation for a third night, dinner at the Nilsens!

The finale came on that third evening. We had a lovely dinner of “Fisherman’s Risotto” prepared by Stefania with fresh cut parsley they had growing aboard, and a lovely wine to complement the dish. Cathrine and Martin even made a run to the local patisserie to get some sweet baked goods for dessert, which we had with some coffee and aguardiente, the Portuguese version of Brandy. Cathrine and Martin capped off the evening by showing photo montages, set to music, each made of their sailing experience this summer. It was a real treat and left me a little homesick. The evening was great fun with all of us speaking English(except for an occasional flourish of Norwegian) with Minnesotan, Norwegian, and Italo-Norwegian accents. I will not forget the Nilsens and the time I shared with them. In case anyone is wondering, they definitely got one of our gifts of Minnesota grown wild rice and Shakers vodka, also from Minnesota. When we get to the Canary Islands we will try to reconnect with them for dinner or happy hour again before we both head west across the Atlantic.

Cathrine, I wish you good luck with that new job. Martin, don’t break too many hearts. Bengt and Stefania, thanks for showing me a wonderful time with your great family. Have a safe adventure!

The first picture below shows Stefania and Bengt seated at the dining table in Remedios. The next two pictures show the Nilsen family in their boat the next night. A quick look at the background shows how similar the two boats are inside.