Atlantic crossing. Bermuda 2
Thisbe
Sun 27 May 2007 17:19
strange boat has kept me from the computer. The owner and skipper of a 50
ft Hallberg Rassy were unable to do the leg from BVI to Bermuda so have
asked me to skipper her. We were joined in the BVI by two charming
Frenchmen, Richard and Joel who I mentioned briefly in the last episode. We
weighed anchor in Beef Island, BVI on Thursday morning 24 May admittedly
with a little trepidation of suddenly finding myself in charge of a much
bigger and unfamiliar boat. As the anchor came up we discovered that
someone had crossed us during the night so it was a bit of a struggle
disentangling their rope from our anchor. We managed successfully with the
new French muscle and set off down the channel. Half way down I was very
alarmed to see a yacht close behind in our wake and for some minutes
wondered if we were still entangled. All was well and we cleared the
islands due north headed for Bermuda. Unexpectedly light winds meant we had
to motor for 2 days after which we finally picked up a light north easterly.
Joel one of our French crew is a very keen fisherman and arrived with enough
gear to go long lining on the Dogger Bank. My fishing jinx has followed me
and to date we have had 2 hookings and 2 losses.
As I write, Sunday 27 May, we are making 5 knots in a 15 knot north-easter,
hard on the wind and 5 degrees west of our course. 400 miles behind us and
450 more to go. Our 2 French companions have turned out to be excellent
company. I called Joel to task over the T Punch after noticing that half a
bottle had gone into 4 drinks, his reply "je n'avais pas mon lunettes"
(glasses). We are getting to grips with all the systems on the boat and are
pleased to say all is going well. We had a nice chat this morning with an
officer of the luxury liner 'Crown Princess'., he expects to be in Bermuda
tomorrow morning, we expect to be there in 4-5 days.
I hope other Nicholson 32 owners will forgive me for defecting to a much
more luxurious mode of transportation, but my heart still lies with dear old
Thisbe, at present languishing in the St Lucian boatyard. More updates and
detail to follow as my improving condition allows. Au revoir et a bientot
for now
Manny