Story - Still in Bermuda
Still
in Bermuda 20th May 2011 We
are still in Bermuda although we should have left with the ARC Europe fleet on
Wednesday. It was disappointing to
see them go without us. We
belatedly discovered three failed shrouds with several strands broken. These were not evident at an earlier
deck check en route which raises questions as to why several wires of three
shrouds (which hold the mast up) should go so suddenly. Bill thinks it wasn’t suddenly but that
the strain on them during the crossing could have stretched them and revealed
the breaks. I feel lucky that we
are safely in port and are able to deal with it. I must say that Discovery Yachts have
responded immediately and have got riggers in the UK to make up four
replacements. They are being
shipped today but because of the weekend and the fact they have to transit
through the US (goodness knows why the shippers can’t send direct to Bermuda) it
means they won’t be here till Sunday, then we have to clear them out of customs
Monday and with luck and no holdups along the way, the riggers Ocean Sails in St
George can put them in place for us to leave on Tuesday night – almost one week
behind the rest of the fleet. We
have people coming out to Azores to meet us but I am afraid there may be some
hanging around. I feel sure
(although Dick is not) that we will be there in time for his return flight to UK
which is on the same day our third lot of crew come out for the last leg. At least Dick and Bill have hoisted the
repaired genoa which is good news. We
also visited Bermuda Radio which monitors and handles all the shipping within a
50 mile radius and saw their set up there.
We were shown round by Aidan (with Danny on duty) who is an ex mariner
and North Sea wind farm construction worker from Sunderland. Aidan says this is by far the best gig
he has had in his career.
Technology is a marvellous thing but Danny still gets out of his seat to
look through the powerful telescope to check his sightings. Danny came out 25 years ago and has
developed a Bermudian accent. There
are six of them on rotation. A
programme for training up Bermudians for the job is now in place which involves
mariner training.
I
have had time to visit Hamilton with neighbours Keith and Stella of the Oyster
Ananda. Bermudan business suits for those want to get away from the
chinos and blazer uniform is Bermudan shorts two inches above the knee – the
colour way is, darker socks than the shorts, which can be any colour (red seems
quite popular) and the shirt must be lighter than the shorts and a blazer over
that. I
already said what a small world this is.
I met a sailor called John who was coming round looking for book
swaps. He runs a small chartering
business in Croabh. It being near
Ardfern, he knew one of my old bosses who retired there. A
Dutch boat called Fred looks like it
heads the fleet. You can view
progress on the Tracker through this web site. I
am including photos of Bermudan a business suit and one of Paul who assists
Steve Hollis of Ocean Sails. Check
out all the tin badges he has sewn onto his hat. He is a character with a great sense of
humour. General
info on St George for yachties.
Anchoring is free in the bay (the holding is good in sand) but you can
moor up to the Dinghy and Sailing Club (just on your right once you come through
the cut) for water and electricity or on the town quay but there is no water
there. You have to check in with
customs and they are also situated by the town quay. They are really welcoming. Bermuda Radio will monitor your entrance
and will talk you through if you are nervous about coming in at night. They will most likely hail you at a
distance of 20 miles or so but you should certainly be in radio contact with
them before approaching the reefs which surround the
island. |