Bermuda
Fleck
Fri 6 Jun 2014 17:28
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Wednesday June 4th 2014
Position 32:22.8N 64:40.25W St Georges Harbour,
Bermuda
Fleck arrived here last Friday, after a good sail
in daylight along the southern shore of this collection of Islands, and then
round the eastern tip, where there was the usual problem of acceleration
zone winds, chop, and the requirement to motor against all this into the 'Town
Cut' a remarkable, narrow blasted channel through the reef leading into the
welcome shelter of St Georges Harbour. Ashore it was all very efficient: Half my
check in was done over the VHF, the rest on the Customs Dock; and then my
usual indecision about the best place to anchor.
There are some unpleasant human truths about
anchoring and anchorages. The first person in an anchorage will park right in
the centre, this then commits the following boats to anchor around 'him',
spaced between each other, and the edge of the anchorage. So far all is fine,
there is no competition for resources, all are welcome, and a club/tribe forms.
However the next boat to arrive will encroach on someones comfort zone, as
whatever they do they will be much closer to at least two of the 'old' boats by
around 50% of the original spacing. They are newcomers, competing for resources.
They even carry flags which proudley declare their newcomer credentials. Woe
betide you if your flag is French, and you are encircled by Stars and
Stripes! Just as bad if you are Dutch, because we all confuse the two
flags. Here there are so many Americans that they always have their own club,
and no longer have need to be especially friendly to anyone, even the
British! If we were truly social in our behaviour we would calculate the
capacity of the anchorage, lay out a grid, and each new entrant would centre
himself in the centre of a grid position, just like in a marked parking lot. Oh,
and then you get folk who throw out 50 metres of anchor chain in a calm
anchorage that is 3 metres deep. This gives them a 'turning' circle of 100
metres diameter, anywhere within which their boat might lie, and they patrol
this in their high powered tenders, glaring at newcomers, informing them of
their precious and unnecessary situation.
Anyway, I parked up OK, what on earth was all that
fuss about!
St Georges is a quaint, utterly picturesque,
carefully preserved early settlement. Very expensive to buy/eat food, but hey,
it's not forever, and there is no daily parking charge. The dinghy dock is safe
and well maintained, and you can walk about St Georges in a day, or use
unlimited buses and ferries for $15 per day to see the rest of the Island. Have
done all these things and still enjoying the situation. So will stay for a few
more days yet, although I have also started to check the weather for a good
window to get started again, plus the Hurricane Season started 1st June! no sign
of trouble yet, and a quiet season is forecast.....!
PS Friday afternoon. Another two days have
drifted past, and only now am I getting around to sending the above.
Have been doing my flower paintings, all morning, and without any satisfactory
results so far, as I seem to have forgotten all my lessons in both drawing and
colouring, I will have one more go. Thinking about leaving next Tuesday. We
shall see.
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