22nd April - Bermuda 32:22.805N 064:40.407W
Whisper
Noel Dilly
Tue 23 Apr 2013 14:08
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"22nd April - St George's Bay"
We have arrived in Bermuda! What a great
passage we have had, the last 90 miles was a little slower but as we wanted to
arrive at this reef bound island in day light it was no hardship! The
sight of Bermuda as a lume in the sky was very satisfying! To find a
tiny dot in the great Atlantic Ocean is quite something, even though it has been
done by millions of sailors millions of times before - we have done it with the
aid of our antique chart, GPS and the skippers excellent seamanship!
As we approached Bermuda, when we were just
beginning to prepare for our landfall, looking for buoys on the
horizon, taking sails down, finding warps, fenders etc as well
as keeping a keen eye out for any fishing floats (Note 4 on our chart), we
were called up on the radio Channel 16 by Bermuda Harbour Radio,
as vessel in position, giving our Lat and Long within 3 decimal places and
asking us to identify ourselves. We replied and then found
ourselves under a barrage of questions, had we been to Bermuda before,
vessel size, length, breadth, hull colour, engine size, radio type,
MMSI number., Satellite telephone no. registration of port, registration
number, tonnage, life raft details, EPIRB number. etc etc. The
chart table and chart was covered with numerous ships papers as we endeavoured
to provide all the details. My heart was sinking as I began to wonder
if we would be allowed in, that is if we didn't hit the reef first whilst we
were being diverted from navigating. This bright sounding efficient young
man, who no doubt had just come on watch after a good nights sleep, seemed
totally unaware that we had just traveled for six days to get here and were a
tad tired after irregular sleep patterns. Eventually, we were free to go
about our business of entering the narrow channel into the harbour and made
aware that another vessel was leaving at the same time but that it was safe to
proceed.
As we approached the Customs and Immigration wharf
we were greeted by several people on the quay side welcoming us to Bermuda and
helping with our lines, their wharf is designed for much larger ships than ours
and it was impossible to jump up onto the quay, once tied up we had to stand on
the stantion post to get off Whisper.
We had decided to take a berth for a few nights,
but when we discovered that it was $40 (US) per night and that for our
money we had to lie alongside a concrete jetty with no water or electricity and
a life taking risk of getting off Whisper to go ashore, the option to anchor in
the harbour seemed far more favourable. So here we are at anchor with
everybody else and about to enjoy a long long sleep with satisfying thoughts
that we have made it and dreams of a week or two of R&R (Rest &
Recreation) whilst we wait for young Sandro to join us for the next passage to
the Azores!
Passage making is tough but the rewards of getting
to ones destination is more than satisfying! Good-night
everyone!!
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