TOCCOA, Ga. — When Kathy and Bob Pauly talk, they tell a love story.

They tell a story of being in love with the sea, and the people they meet across the world, and with each other.

The Paulys have spent most of the last seven years sailing around the world in their 37-foot sailboat, The Briana.

Bob Pauly was a general surgeon at the Toccoa Clinic for 20 years. When he retired in 1991, he said he took up sailing because he always wanted to try it. After a few years, he met Kathy, who shared his love for long-distance sailing, and then shared his love.

They began in the Bahamas and traveled through the Panama Canal and across the Pacific Ocean, stopping at various islands along the way.

“We spent two years in French Polynesia, then went to the Cook Islands and America Samoa, then Fiji, which was really nice,” Bob said.

Kathy added, “We took a lot of time, so we really got to know the people.”

On their journey along the trade winds, the Paulys met Hindus and Muslims, blue-footed boobies and fierce ocean squalls. They visited orangutans in Borneo, learned to repair their boat single-handedly and made friends who were on similar journeys.

“You find out that people are wonderful everywhere,” Kathy said while reflecting on lessons learned. “We have had wonderful experiences getting to know the people around the world.”

The Paulys said they specifically wanted to pass along a message from the people they met in Indonesia, that the people there would love to have Americans visit them and are welcoming to foreign visitors.

“They treated us like royalty. I’d like people to know that the people in Indonesia love Americans and want us to visit,” Kathy said. “A lot of people consider it’s a Muslim country, but they are very moderate Muslims there, not the fundamentalist type. They really want that word to get out that they want Americans to visit.”

Life on the small boat also has taken the Paulys to places full of exotic animals. They spent three weeks at the Galapagos Islands, where they ventured within feet of blue-footed boobies and watch iguanas dive into the ocean water to hunt. In Borneo the Paulys learned how orangutans have to search for food in an ever-dwindling habitat.

While spending time at their home in Toccoa, Ga., the Paulys already are planning the next leg of their around-the-world adventure. The Briana is in Thailand. It waits for them to return, catch the winds and head out toward the Indian Ocean. From there, the Paulys will turn north into the Red Sea and then to the Mediterranean, where the couple’s next love affair with the sea awaits.

The Paulys are scheduled to present a slideshow about their life on the seas at the Toccoa-Stephens County Public Library, 121 W. Savannah St., Toccoa, on Oct. 30 starting at 7 p.m.