Bermuda for The America's Cup, Part 2
Bermuda for the America’s Cup Monday 15 May – Nanny Cay, Tortola towards Bermuda, 877miles, 146.75 hrs, 6 days 2 hrs 45 mins, 68.7 engine hrs, 6 knots average speed. Total miles since leaving Falmouth in August 2016: 6614.9 We faffed about first thing in the morning trying to listen to the SSB radio net. We were more successful in tuning in than the previous day, however, we were still not being heard when transmitting. We notified the Salty Dawg organisers of this and assured them we could send our twice daily positions by satellite phone instead. Ken went off to pay the marina fees while I got the boat ready to go – prepped the sails, stowed lose items, did the engine checks and double checked the engine racor for unwanted air – which I have now become paranoid! We spent ages trying to register my MOB1 with Falmouth Coast Guard back in the UK – a device fitted to my lifejacket that should I go overboard it alarms the boat and any other vessels within AIS range. Ken’s was still registered from our Atlantic crossing but we weren’t sure mine was so to be on the safe side we re registered it. At last we were ready to go and with the engine behaving cast off at 1130 hrs. It wasn’t long before we were sailing as the wind was a perfect 15 knots from the East; a good direction for us heading due North. We were broad-reaching at a decent 7 knots. We tuned in at 1800 hrs on our SSB radio for Chris Parker’s weather update, then the Salty Dawg net at 2000 hrs where boats gave their position, then discussed any issues, asked advice on equipment breakdown, planned courses to sail etc. We were now receiving loud and clear, however, were still not being heard when transmitting. We contacted a Salty Dawg boat who was within a 10 mile range of us, on our VHF radio and asked them to relay our position to the net controller via their SSB radio. We’d already e-mailed our position via satellite telephone so could be tracked by not only the rally organisers but family and friends too. This would happen twice daily for the remainder of the trip, plus a morning net at 0800 hrs and a woman’s net at 1100 hrs. I enjoyed listening to the ladies chatting, speaking of their experiences during the crossing and I was itching to join in, however, not being able to transmit, I couldn’t. The first night watch was so dark I couldn’t even differentiate between the sky and sea and there wasn’t a star in sight. The moon was very late rising so there was no reflection on the waves. One consolation I suppose, it was too dark to even make imaginary sea monsters out of wave shapes! During the crossing neither of us slept much; the boat is so noisy, creaking and groaning when sailing and the loud hum drum of the engine when motoring. The sailing conditions were good on the whole so we were grateful for that although we did have to motor more than we’d have liked; better that than gale or storm force winds. Conditions between the Caribbean and Bermuda can apparently be horrendous at times! We tried to stick to the following 5 hr shift pattern, give or take the odd hour here and there: Jenny: 2000hrs to midnight/0100 hrs Ken: Midnight/0100 hrs to 0500/0600 hrs Jenny: 0500/0600 hrs to 1100 hrs. Whoever was the most awake: 1100 hrs to 2000 hrs! We experienced a few night squalls where the wind would suddenly rise to 20-25 knots and come from all sorts of directions accompanied by heavy rainfall, but we always went into the night with reduced sail area in preparation for this. We spent time trying to decipher the SSB manual to ascertain if we have microphone or other issues. We read up on Bermuda, listened to pod casts, changed the sails depending on the wind conditions, carried out necessary boat maintenance, completed an hourly log with our position, speed, weather and kept a constant watch for other shipping visually and by AIS and radar. We monitored our chart plotter that showed our course, distance to go, speed etc. and Ken fished, but didn’t actually land anything. We saw the rod bend on several occasions but each time whatever had chomped on our bright orange squid lure managed to escape, apart from, that is, an enormous great lump of seaweed!
A lot of the Salty Dawgs heading for US had to divert to Bermuda due to bad weather coming in at around the time they were due to cross the Gulf Stream, which would make for an uncomfortable ride and be potentially dangerous. By Thursday we were faced with the dilemma of whether to motorsail at high revs in order to increase our speed and arrive on Saturday afternoon, or just sail slowly and arrive on Sunday morning. We were both desperate to get into port as were shattered but had been advised that we shouldn’t arrive in darkness as it was our first time visiting, due to various hazards. Running the engine at high revs is noisy thus not relaxing, costly in fuel, wear and tear. We would decide in the morning. Cooking dinner that evening was interesting. The seas were choppy and we were healed over considerably, so simply standing upright was a challenge. For the first time in as long as I can remember I had to use the fiddles on the top of the cooker to stop the pans sliding around and strap myself in with the galley strap! Cooking in a lunge position to counteract the leaning angle – bet Nigella has never had to do that! During my night shift I was reading a book by Guy Grieve called Sea Legs – one family’s year on the ocean. An amazing read and we thought we had issues on our trip. They had worse including being chased by pirates between Trinidad and Grenada. Luckily the seas were rough and they were able to motorsail through the waves where the pirate boat (a Pirogue; a small wooden fishing boat) couldn’t power through them and took on water. The pirates were bailing out furiously and eventually turned back. These pirates thought nothing of killing people in order to rob them. I then get to the part where they are sailing to Bermuda and experiencing massive thunder and lightening storms and squalls, wondering if that’s how boats get lost in the Bermuda Triangle. He describes the storms and squalls showing up on the radar as ‘ghostly green as if they’d been sent up from the graveyard of the Bermuda Triangle to hunt for fresh blood’. Our radar was showing squalls – I decided this was not a good time to be reading this particular book! I really should have listened to myself previously when I’d been driven mad by imaginary whales and decided my next book should be ‘A Year In The Life Of A Yorkshire Shepherdess’. Anyway, we sailed through the squalls and popped out alive and afloat the other side. The following day the sailing conditions were perfect; we had all three sails up and with a good breeze and flat sea we were making a consistent 6 knots. We did however need to average 7 in order to arrive before dark on Saturday but we decided not to put the motor on and delay our arrival until Sunday. This was a good decision as we noticed whilst healed over with water coming up over the toe-rail, we were taking on water. We couldn’t trace it so took our mizzen sail down to reduce sail area, eased off the wind, let our main and genoa out and levelled up. Although this slowed us down, it stopped the water coming in. Something we would need to address once we’d arrived in Bermuda. The wind continued to drop and our speed reduced to 3 knots. At this speed we wouldn’t make landfall by dark on Sunday so we put the motor on. We’d been running the motor periodically during the trip and so far, without wishing to tempt fate, fingers and toes crossed, it had been working fine. The sea was calm enough for us to make water, shower and Ken even shaved! We were surrounded by the most glorious blue ocean and Ken was below decks glued to his laptop, eagerly awaiting e-mail updates from his business partners Paul and Anne, equally as avid Leicester Tigers supporters. It was the semi final of the premiership play off, Wasps V Tigers. I won’t mention the result.
It was getting noticeably colder at night, heading due North. For the first time in months we had to dig out fleeces, long trousers and even shut the side panels of the cockpit. By night six I was wearing thick socks and wrapped in a blanket! Sunday 21 May – Bermuda We timed it perfectly to arrive at the South of the island by sunrise so we could see the East coast perfectly as we headed to St George’s at the North of the Island, the port to check in with Customs and Immigration. We had notified Bermuda Radio 30 miles out, as instructed, of our estimated time of arrival. We hoisted the Bermudan courtesy flag along with the yellow customs flag and we replaced our old, threadbare, embarrassingly tatty blue ensign with our brand new one. Boats were flocking into St George’s and we had to hover for a good hour waiting to go alongside the specified dock to check in. There was a bit of road rage with boats trying to push in ahead of us!!
Blue Ensign Land ahoy!
Once we’d cleared in we decided to motor down the West coast to Hamilton where the America’s Cup was based. We passed the America’s Cup Village and saw the French and NZ Teams practicing; an awesome sight. We made our way into Hamilton Harbour and called Bermuda Radio to ask the best place to anchor. They suggested South West of White’s Island, a tiny Island in the middle of the large harbour right opposite The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. There were a few boats on mooring buoys but no other boats anchored at the time and it took three attempts to get our anchor to hold. Once satisfied we were secure we put the boat away and were able to enjoy our new surroundings. It was a baking hot day, there was music playing, there were some spectacular buildings and equally spectacular yachts in the marina opposite. Instantly we knew we were going to love Bermuda. How chuffed were we to be in Bermuda in our beloved Lady Rebel!
Monday 22 May – Hamilton, Bermuda On arrival in Bermuda we’d contacted my brother Peter who was Boat Build Manager for the America’s Cup Japanese SoftBank Team. He lives in New Zealand so we don’t see each other often. We’d arranged to meet for breakfast. We’d also contact Bill and Jade, our Barbados 50 rally friends who’d also sailed to Bermuda. They had stayed anchored up in St Georges so we would meet up with them later. We excitedly went ashore and moored our dinghy at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. The Royal Cornwall Yacht Club, with whom we are members, has a reciprocal arrangement that entitled us to two free weeks membership at the RBYC. All we needed to do was ask Karen at the RCYC to e-mail the secretary at the RBYC to say we were ‘upstanding’ members (and hadn’t robbed the till on our departure) which she did instantly, for which we were very grateful. The RBYC was to become our base over the next six weeks utilising their dinghy dock, showers, laundry, wifi, TV for the America’s Cup and of course, their bar!
It was great to see Peter and hear all about the America’s Cup; preliminary rounds were due to start on Friday 26 May. He was working from midday to midnight and had been for some considerable time so was shattered. We caught the ferry to Docklands, where the America’s Cup village was situated and saw the AC 50’s practising – awesome!
We met up with Bill and Jade and took a trip to see the smallest working drawbridge in the World and the lighthouse built of iron. The taxi took us back to the yacht club where we had the traditional drink, Dark ‘n Stormy (rum and ginger ale) then headed back to the boat in the dinghy. The outboard engine was playing up massively (there is always something); we had a look but couldn’t see anything obvious so hoped it was just a bit of dirt in the line, where the fuel had been shaken up during the crossing.
Wednesday 24 May was a public holiday to celebrate Bermuda Independence from the UK. Hundreds of people lined the streets with chairs, tables piled high with food, under gazebos for shade from the blazing hot sunshine, ready to watch the parade. Usually drinking on the streets is not permitted but the police seemed to turn a blind eye on this day. There were numerous floats, dancers, bands and displays in the parade; it was an amazing spectacle and a fantastic atmosphere.
The following day we, along with other Salty Dawgs, were invited to visit Paddy and Hannah, also Salty Dawg members, who owned Trunk Island. We caught the bus to a dock next to the aquarium where Paddy picked us up in his motor boat and ferried us across to their house on the island. They kindly gave us lunch and lots of the delicious ‘Dark ‘n Stormy’. The island is 7 square miles with a beach and a dock and has been in the family for 200 years. Numerous plant species grow and the Geological Society are currently removing the aggressive plants replanting with more favourable species with the help of the school children.
Saturday 27 May – Hamilton, Bermuda. After a morning of more boat chores we went ashore to purchase carburettor cleaner to replace Zac’s that he’d used on our outboard. Unfortunately not one of the chandlers or Honda dealers had the correct spark plugs that we could buy as spares but we saw a lot of the beautiful town and burned a few calories walking from place to place. The staff couldn’t have been more friendly and helpful in assisting us, ringing around, giving us directions.
We soon discovered that food and drink, infact everything from any type of shop in Bermuda, is ridiculously expensive. After lunching on sushi from a petrol station (slightly cheaper than a restaurant!) we settled in at the yacht club to watch the AC racing on their large TV screen. We wanted Ben Ainslie Racing, UK Team BAR, to come first and Softbank Team Japan to come 2nd (due to brother Peter being Boat Build Manager). BAR had a collision with Softbank and lost to them – not a great start! All the teams won at least one race other than France. Barbados 50 friends Kim, Simon, Ian and Ann from yachts Aura and Tourterelle anchored close by. We’d not seem them since being in Barbados, before Christmas. It was great to see them and hear their stories of the Virgin Islands and Bahamas where we may head for in November, once the hurricane season is over.
We soon got into a routine of boat chores in the mornings and watching the AC racing in the afternoon. Steve and Dee, La Mischief also came to the anchorage in Hamilton. Our battery charger was playing up – energy generated from our solar panels, wind generator and diesel generator was not charging our house batteries or engine batteries. After testing all the wiring Ken discovered (and not an easy discovery) that the fuse had melted, which was almost impossible to get to. At least he had located and could solve the issue. |
AC Village
