Friends sailed with couple from US before tragic hijacking in Grenada
Newsy
The Sissons, who said they had known the Virginia couple for about eight years, had joined them for atrip from Hampton, Virginia to Antigua.
Pete and Tammy Sisson are left wondering what would have happened if they had still been with their friends Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry when the couple’s catamaran was hijacked in the Caribbean by three escaped prisoners last week.
“I also thought perhaps if there were four people instead of two, maybe these perpetrators would have done something different,” Pete told Scripps News Norfolk.
The Sissons, who said they had known the Hendrys for about eight years, had joined them on their trip aboard their 48-foot yacht “Simplicity” when they sailed from Hampton, Virginia to Antigua in the fall.
“[Kathy] hadn’t done a long passage like that yet, and it’s always good, obviously, to have more people on the boat. So, we said ‘Yes’ right away, because they’re just great people,” explained Tammy.
The trip was part of a boating rally organized by the nonprofit Salty Dawg Sailing Association, which said Hendry and Brandel were "veteran cruisers" and longtime members of the association and described them as "warm-hearted and capable."
