Atlantic crossing. Bermuda 6.
Thisbe
Sun 3 Jun 2007 16:03
Oh Bermuda ! All the
epithets used to describe islands filled my brain as we scooted around
yesterday. This place is near perfect. The anchorage at St George is at
the eastern end of the island. Transportation is mostly by scooter and
there are numerous places to hire them. We followed suit and had a great day
exploring. The main City, Hamilton, is about 20 kilometres from St George
along well maintained roads. It has a 'toytown' feel a bit like the
Scillies. Alongside the road are beautifully maintained fruit and vegetable
gardens and very smart houses. Everything is trimmed and
manicured to a very high standard. Passing through small villages and
settlements it is startling to come across modern and old churches
painted in bright colours, pink, sky blue, mauve, you name it. In England
it would be totally out of keeping, but here in the blazing light it works
really well. I found it hard to believe that everyone made the
maintenance effort independently, and have since discovered that is driven by
government legislation, obviously with the tourist industry in mind. People are
constantly painting and cleaning. The streets of Hamilton are a pleasure to walk
on, and best of all from my point of view, no dog mess anywhere, in fact I have
only seen one dog since we arrived. Shiploads of tourists arrive
through Town Cut, the miniscule channel into St Georges harbour, just wide
enough to allow a cruise ship to pass but certainly nothing else at the same
time. Apparently, when a couple of thousand people arrive all at once the
place comes alive, one downside, the hospital is full of people who have had
scooter accidents ! The prices of even the most basic stuff is a joke after St
Lucia. We bought two loaves of bread and paid $7.65 US (about £3.50) The racial
mix is hard to define at first but I'm told its about 50/50 black and white. The
black population appear to have a much higher standard of living than any of the
other islands I have visited. Part of the route back to St George is alongside
one of the many golf courses on the island and has to be seen, its perfect in
every respect. We lingered at a picnic spot beside the road, right beside the
sea. Big brightly coloured fish were drifting over the rocks as the waves lapped
over, some of them several kilos in weight by my estimation, and only 10ft from
where we stood. According to a local who was fishing nearby, the big ones
were Parrot fish and it is illegal to catch them, or indeed many of the
other fish that maintain the reef. This island was uninhabited for many years
until a shipwreck rediscovered it. That wreck is now a much trumpeted part of
island history, we bought a book yesterday to try to learn more about
it.
I would like to mention the
personalities that make up the crew which is now up to five with the arrival of
our skipper Michel. Michel is an Anglicised Frenchman, having lived and
worked in England for many years. His brother in law, Richard,
and HIS childhood friend Joel are the ones I have been rudely
referring to as the French. Richard is a very big man, about 140 kilos (?)
and is hoping to shed some of them on the voyage. He is a larger than life
figure with a powerful personality. He is an ex rugby player and has the
busted up body to prove it, his knees are not good and he has suffered
many broken bones during his career. He has done a bit of sailing, some if
his experienced gained helping Michel to move boats in the past. He
is passionate about food and is a very good cook. Last night (Sat) he treated us
to a leg of lamb al la Francais, with wine he knows well, from his home in
Provence. Joel is a strong man, I was initially concerned that
he would be a liability, no experience and prone to seasickness. In fact he has
the strongest stomach of everyone on board, at one point during the crossing,
when we were rolling around in the gale, he was crawling around on the cabin
sole looking for a piece of his camera. It turned my guts just to watch him. He
is very sweet natured, almost little boyish, and can go on forever without
sleep, in fact, for many years, has only been able to achieve any real sleep
with the aid of medication. Both are ex Gendarmerie. Michel is a vastly
experienced yachtsman, slightly built but very wiry. His dual language
skills has made life much easier for everyone. He has developed a cold,
probably from his recent plane trips. Sue has her usual inexhaustible
enthusiasm, cooking meals in a howling gale just for something to do, and
getting involved in everything that goes on on board. Her attention to detail
tends to wear her down a bit when the going gets a bit tough and I have had to
urge her to let go and await developments. I tend paint life in broad
strokes while she will paint every leaf, its not a case of right or
wrong, just different styles. All in all I think we will make a good team.
Preparations for departure are now afoot, reprovisioning, refueling and
final maintenence jobs for jumpoff on Tuesday weather permitting.
Manny