Bermuda
Catacaos
Graham Shaw
Sat 29 May 2010 16:16
What a lovely sail: five and a half days from the BVI to Bermuda. The wind was mostly on the beam or aft, but the sea state was calm, so we were flying along. We managed to break a number of items on the way. On the first day the first reef line broke which we managed to fix, old and worn. Then Gray managed to break a winch handle - what a strong man - fixing the first reefing line. Then a day from Bermuda the wind was getting lighter - in fact we only had three knots of wind - when the main halyard block broke and the mainsail slid down. Because the wind was going to reduce more Gray decided he would not make me go up the mast while at sea, so the last 24 hours we motored to Bermuda - what a nice man. In the middle of the night, actually three in the morning, we had a lightning storm to our port side, then I thought thunder which vibrated right throught the boat, the only trouble was the thunder did not stop - you could say this freaked me out - I dragged Gray out of bed. There was something caught in the port propeller - see photo. Luckily enough we did not damaged the propeller, and we could still motor into Bermuda- struggled to reverse the engine though.
What a lovely place, the people are very friendly the houses are very beautiful and the place is very clean. The island is 20 square miles in total, but it is made of 150 islands joined together with bridges and causeways.
The next day Dragonfly arrived, which we did not realised were on their way, they only took 4 1/2 days, clearly another catermaran, 44 ft Voyager. Then Rusee de Jersey arrived that evening taking 6 1/2 days. A get-together was a must.
Because there was a big depression coming behind us, a number of the other boats turned back. Bravo 2 headed to Puerto Rico, Spruce and Rappau turned back to below 24 North, as per weather guru Herb's advice (????) on the HF radio, as the system was going to be a big one. They should arrive tomorrow making a short passage into a very long passage 13 days out and not a pleasant one either. They left the following day from the BVI, it shows what difference the weather can make in a day, also on the distance you can cover in your boat. We average 160 per day. Oh to have a catamaran!!!! I'm sure Bill and Sandy on Dragonfly would agree.
Back to Bermuda, what a lovely place, I think I said that already, but it is such a breath of fresh air from the Caribbean. The Caribbean is lovely but just not looked after, while Bermuda is just that, they take care of their island. Even the main town/ port is beautiful, the buildings are stunning the parks are clean, everyone is just friendly and nice. The only problem is the water is 24 degrees we have been use to 28 degree in the Caribbean.
We managed to meet up with the local BSAC diving club, who were lovely. We anchored in the bay, which had two lovely beaches and caves to go and search around in.
Because of a weather front that is about, we have been following around Dragonfly and Rusee as they are the Bermuda experts for the good anchorages. They having been showing the sights. We have been having lots of fun with them, it's has been nice to get together for happy hour, and we all take in turns to cook. Bill and Sandy did the best lasagne and lemon meringue pie to die for last night.
Off on the railway walk to Gibb's Hill light house this afternoon.
