With each man being involved in seafaring during their lives Peter, Leonard and Jim agree that it was extremely easy to make friends with each other during their days at Enliven’s Kāpiti Day Programme.
“We drifted in on the tide a couple of years ago,” says Leonard, whose love of the sea was fueled by messing about in boats he built and his time with Sea Scouts and Venturer Scouts.
Jim, who spent years sailing around the world as a Mercantile Marine and then skipper of the Anchor Shipping Company, misses his old mates but has enjoyed making new ones.
“My shipmates have all passed,” says Jim who lives by himself. “I need connection with new people. Peter and Len and I have a lot in common.”
Peter, whose father’s Compulsory Military Training in the Navy kindled his fondness for large yachts, sailed a 47-footer yacht in the Wellington to Lyttleton Yacht Race in 1951.
“I like to talk about those days spent sailing,” he says. “It’s great to have someone who knows what I’m talking about. My daughter always comments that she can tell when I’ve been to Kāpiti Cottage and spent time with Jim and Len. I’m a lot more buoyant.”
And it is not just a love of things nautical that brings these three together.
During Covid-19 Level 4 lockdown when Kāpiti Day Programme had to temporarily close, recreation officer Robyn Lindsay received calls from the men who wanted to contact their mates to see how they were doing.
“It was great to know they all wanted to get in touch and that their relationship has extended outside visits here,” she says. “With their permission I shared their phone numbers and they kept up with each other’s lives during lockdown and kept loneliness at bay.”
To learn more about Enliven’s Kāpiti Day Programme call 04 298 8060
