Bermuda
13 May 2009 | Bermuda
Jane, bit of everything
We are now in Bermuda, what a delightful, but very touristy Island. Due to leave for the Azores hopefully tomorrow, depending on the weather (as always).
Our trip from St. Martin was fantastic; we made good time and completed the voyage in 5 days and 19 hours. We had a bit of everything weather wise, only had to motor for five hours the whole trip and cracked our goal of 200 miles in one day. We did have one rough tough night where we recorded winds at 39 knots and the seas at least 15 feet (it was a bit dark, but in the morning that was what they were). We had rogue waves into the cockpit for the first time, so ended up keeping watch inside which is easy to do with our boats windows. It was a challenge however to sleep and all of us were a bit tired the next day. We enjoyed talking to our buddy boat Yara twice a day on the SSB, a lovely Dutch couple on a 36 foot Dehler (the same boat as Waatea and the first we have met in the Caribbean - a good omen). Kim and Cam were amazing crew; better than we could have ever hoped for and we had a lot of fun together.
We arrived in St. Georges last Friday morning and since then have managed to see a fair bit of the island via bus and ferry. Hamilton has changed a lot since I was last here over 30 years ago, although it has maintained its character on the waterfront. We visited the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and checked out the local fort where we got a great view of the town. We also went to the Royal Naval Dockyards, lots of cruise ship Americans, but another interesting place to check out. There are a lot of forts locally, one of the most amusing is one that was converted into a Club Med about 30 years ago for about 10 years. As we wandered around a derelict one you can imagine our surprise when we came across a large swimming pool, and even a nightclub in the battery!
Jim (from Scotland) and Dick (from Vancouver) arrived on Sunday and Monday and are joining us to the Azores, where Patti (my best friend from England and Jim's partner) is meeting us. Kim and Cam are leaving tomorrow, so it has been a very social boat since we have been here, especially as we had seven people on board for drinks Monday night. Tuesday started a bit slow for all of us!!
Bermuda is gorgeous with lots of lovely little bays and limestone white washed cottages with pretty gardens. It feels a little like Cornwall in England with lots of charm and very pristine. However it is very expensive, we had luckily been forewarned so the boat is well stocked, although as you are not allowed to bring in fruit and vegetables I fear I am going to have a very heavy grocery bill today (bananas the other day were $6 lb - through the islands they were very much part of our diet, do not think they will be for this trip though). The weather has been mostly windy, cool and although sunny it is so damp we have been unable to dry stuff on the boat. I look forward to heading South again.
Have included some more photos in our Gallery, will add more once we get to the Azores. Until then enjoy and thanks for the comments.