A large part of the original group of refugees ended up in Melbourne, Australia. Forty years after the rescue they decided to hold a reunion, but then along came the Covid virus. Finally, in 2022 the reunion could take place. Through all their efforts, in particular Thuong Huynh with organising and conducting the ceremony, Tim Huynh with putting the photos together and unearthing some more from the past, and Linh Pham with running the slide show, the event was a great success. And let’s not forget Viet Trí Quách; without his personal efforts to re-establish contact afterwards we would never have come together to begin with. Thank you all!

So here we all are, grown in number 42 years later:



Tan Phuoc Huynh, the skipper of the boat which made it out of Vietnam, under great danger to himself and the others, is sitting on my left, centre row. Only the day before we were celebrating his 90th birthday!

If this feels like a family photo, that’s because it is. With altogether four generations spread across the erstwhile refugees and their descendants and with my own son, his wife and grandchildren, we are now one big family - by mutual consent. The relationships have evolved through many meetings and visits over the years.

That reunion wasn’t just a happy gathering. What made it especially wonderful is the present-day existence of so many people with their descendants all settled and leading accomplished lives.

More photos can be found on the Facebook Mayaroma group https://www.facebook.com/groups/mayaroma.

PS:
Below is a map showing Mayaroma’s overall three-year voyage from Taiwan to Gambia. The map with the waypoints drawn in was put together by Dan Pitman, the current owner. Thank you Dan!



The green icon marks the approximate location in the South China Sea where the rescue took place.

What happened after the yacht got damaged in Gambia in 1982 is interesting in itself.

For that additional information I am indebted to Dan Pitman, Captain, MM, USCG, email Scurvy_Dan[at]pm.me, who contacted me out of the blue in 2017 as he was researching Mayaroma’s history.

At first the vessel was bought by Mark Studd, a British expatriate who repaired it and, it seems, sailed her to the Caribbean. There she was bought by George Morris who replaced the teak decks and put the boat into charter service out of southern Florida. Her systems were put in working order to qualify for the US Coast Guard Inspection, all of which gave her a new lease of life. It also meant her original name was preserved in the records.

An advertisement from that time:



Her fourth owner was Robert Koch. By that time many repairs were needed.

As Dan wrote (in 2017), “Luckily for her [SS Mayaroma] Robert Koch was the Service Manager at River Bend Marina in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Over several years he performed a major refit. The teak decks were removed. The wood masts replaced with aluminum and the rigging was redone. He also removed the generator and water maker from the boat. The fuel tanks leaked and he replaced those as well as rewired the entire vessel. She also was given a new paint job and gray accent stripes. Her Ford Lehman was rebuilt during this time. This work was completed about 15 years ago and she was renamed ‘Island Girl’. The Koch family lived on her and never really took her out very much. She had no electronics on her up until we purchased her 12 years ago.”

And here she is, now named Bruadar by Dan and headed through Norfolk, VA, on the way to the Inter Coastal Waterway:



By the way, “Bruadar” is Scottish Gaelic and means “Our Dream”.

Dan’s video showing Bruadar during the summer of 2017, “Leaving Georgetown Yacht Basin on the Sassafras River and sailing south to the town of Manteo on Roanoke Island”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9eVClARFH4

And another video, “Chesapeake Bay Sailing in March 2018”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2ja6jhUTFs

An Instagram account, run by Dan’s wife Ebeth: https://www.instagram.com/svbruadar/

Quite a story.