Seven Seas Cruising Association Gam

This weekend we attended the Seven Seas Cruising Association Gam at Camp Letts on Maryland’s Rhode River just south of Annapolis. 

A gam is a friendly interchange between sailors on vessels at sea.  It was common practice for American whaling ships to heave-to when they met during their voyages to exchange news, mail and socialize.  

About 125 SSCA members attended and enjoyed the comradery.  At every meal we shared a table with one or more couples who crossed as least one ocean or sailed completely around the world.  Needless to say, we asked them to share some information about their experiences.  Surprisingly, they were as interested in learning about our limited cruising experience as we were in hearing of theirs.

  https://www.ssca.org/#/gams/

A highlight of the gam was Lin Pardey receiving the prestigious SSCA Seven Seas Award in recognition of her many achievements as a sailor and SSCA member.  She was overcome by emotion as were many of her friends in the audience.  It was unfortunate her husband Larry was not present due to his poor health.  Lin reminded everyone that she and Larry were a team and neither could have accomplished alone as much as they did together in life.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lin_and_Larry_Pardey

We met many interesting people, learned much and made a few new friends.