Bermuda Departure day and my Birthday

Spectra
Paul & Norma Russell
Tue 9 Jun 2015 13:16

Bermuda Departure day and my Birthday

32:22.689N 64:40.938W

9th  June 2015

9515 Miles from Ramsgate by log.

 

Bermuda is one of the nicest places we have visited. The people are friendly and polite, the officials efficient and welcoming and the island itself a real jewel in the ocean. I haven’t seen a single bit of graffiti anywhere and less litter than anywhere I can think of, in fact the whole place has a feeling of honest civic pride about it. As you can tell I am impressed and it has been more than worth the upwind slog and days of motoring to get here.

 

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The Customs dock in St Georges and a party on the Quay as we arrive.

 

Day one was spent in St Georges sightseeing and having a very nice meal out on the waterfront.

 

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Crew meal out in St Georges

 

Day two, AM, was spent sorting the boat out. We had a few minor sail repairs to attend to and I swapped my battery chargers around so that the new 80 amp unit is now going into the domestic bank and the old 40 amp unit is now connected to the engine batteries and switched off as it is not usually needed. That should not only reduce our generator run time but also allow me to run the water maker all of the time that the generator is on. Norma and Jen talked the dock master into driving them into town with a mountain of washing and our gas bottles to attempt to get them filled. We all finally met up again at lunchtime with the plan to go into Hamilton. Typically, just as we were about to leave Norma gave the deck wash outlet a quick test and the pipe under the galley ceiling burst again flooding the place, bugger. It really wasn’t that much of a drama, we had it all fixed within half an hour and were again ready to go.

 

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Memorial statue to a slave woman Sarah Bassett valued at 1 pounds and burnt at the stake in 1730 for poisoning her owner. It was an exceptionally hot day when she was executed and still on the Island really hot days are referred to as a real Sally Bassett day.

 

The bus ride into Hamilton was a scenic delight with azure seas and brightly painted houses around every bend. Hamilton itself was a bit busy as a cruise liner had docked but not to be put off Norma went into shopping mode and I dutifully tagged along, showing the required level of interest in each and every trinket that she discovered. The others, mutinous bunch that they are abandoned me and went sightseeing on their own. We all met up again at 5 and jumped on the bus to go back to Spectra. A quick pit stop later found the Famous Five walking through Georgetown on their way to Tobacco Bay for a swim.

History bit: Tobacco bay was the scene of the Bermuda gunpowder plot. During the American war of independence (or the first civil war as I like to call it) the Americans were rather short of gunpowder so a group of intrepid Bermudan entrepreneurs who were sympathetic to the American course (or treacherous dogs depending on your stance I suppose) stole 100 barrels of gunpowder from the royal arsenal in Georgetown and gave it to a group of passing American ships in return for trading rights. That’s it for the history of the bay, as for present day it was a lovely little beach, the sea was warm and the snorkelling good. Later we walked up to Fort St Katherine on the headland and had a very good meal in the restaurant there as the sun went down, no green flash but a fitting final night in this lovely island. Before the meal Norma and Jen went through the female gymnastics required to change out of swim wear and into evening clothes while hiding behind a towel in the car park, classy bunch that we are. Steve was all dry as he had decided not to tale to the waters that day while Adamant and myself just drip dried while we ate.

 

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The Famous Five head out on an adventure in search of lashings and lashings of ginger beer.

 

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No Ginger beer but a great beach.

 

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Lots of little pools to snorkel around

 

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Arty selfy shot at Tobacco bay

 

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The Famous Five ready for another adventure.

 

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And at the end of a pleasant day out we put the women folk to bed for the night all safe and sound.

 

Today is my birthday and we are setting of again, at the grand old age of 52 I must say that life has been very kind to me unfortunately it’s the weekends that are killing me. The morning is given over to personal choice but we have planned to all meet up at the boat again by three O’clock and so we should be good to go by 4. The fuel dock is only 100 meters or so around the corner so while the guys get Spectra all topped up I will clear customs and we should be out of the cut by five all going well. Due to bad planning on my part I am on mother watch tonight and so I will have to make my own birthday dinner, don’t feel too sorry for me though, I am after all sailing on a blue ocean in a lovely boat with a great group of people and a wife I love so life ain’t half bad is it.

 

On that note without the kind permission of Sue Foster I have reproduced her article about Norma from the Royal Temple Yacht Clubs, Temple news letter…see below.

           

 

 

 

IN PRAISE OF MRS RUSSELL

Now, here’s the challenge – plan menus and shop for supplies to feed and water 5-6 people for 5-6 weeks. You cannot pop out to Waitrose if you have missed something in the middle of the Atlantic.

It’s tricky enough to plan for two for a few days. Norma compiled the meal plans and shopping lists to take care of their crew on the return leg of their cruise. Being a shopper of Olympic standard does have its advantages, especially when shopping in the USA – we are, after all, divided by a common language!

Tommy and I have just returned from North Carolina where Norma and Paul were preparing for the journey home to Ramsgate. Spectra was lifted out and scrubbed down and all mechanical/technical items were checked/replaced/mended in readiness. No doubt you have read Paul’s very entertaining blog, so I will not elaborate.

However, it is the logistics of feeding and caring for a crew for an extended voyage that has left me in awe of Norma’s organisation skills. Catering is one of the most important aspects of a long trip that keeps the crew’s morale high. Norma has a freezer full of meat and fish and cupboards full of tins (their record for catching their dinner on the trip is pretty poor so could not be relied upon to supplement the larder!). Also included are umpteen cartons of long life milk, dozens of eggs and large bags of flour for baking fresh bread. Apparently the smell of a freshly baked loaf is very uplifting in mid-ocean. I can only imagine that and have no plans to find out!

Also brought on board was a huge box of wet wipes to prevent smelly bodies in the event the water-maker breaks down and showers are taken off the agenda.

Norma has used her time on this trip to great effect, having decided to teach herself the ukulele (we have noticed a vast improvement since Barbados at Christmas when we were treated to numerous renditions of ‘Jingle Bells’) and her painting has come on in leaps and bounds and she has produced some very creditable impressions of their journey.

We now look forward to seeing them back in the Royal Harbour. They departed America on 31 May and hope to arrive early-mid July, planning to pitch up on a Saturday. We hope to have a party at the club to welcome them so as soon as we have a firm date will let everyone know. In the meantime we wish them a safe journey with kind weather.

Sue Foster

 

 

PS: For Sue and Tommy, Thanks for the T shirt but I’m keeping my old faithful there is years of life in that yet.

 

 

PPS: That’s it for this one next blog in a couple of days hopefully while heading Eastwards at 7 knots.