Reflecting on Bermuda

It has been 3 months since we updated you and I’m going to blame our increasingly social lifestyle.  It all started last November when we met up with a bunch of Salty Dawgs in Virginia and joined the Ocean Cruising Club.  Ever since then we come across boats we know in every harbor we visit.  

Our friend's ancestral home on Trunk Island

It was no different when we got to Bermuda.  We arrived with several other boats and met lots of new friends in the 6 weeks we were there.  We thought St. George might be packed due to the America’s Cup, and there were a few more boats than usual, but not overly crowded.  There were lots of extra events going on throughout the island though, and we were thrilled to see Bermuda experiencing a surge in tourism.  Oh, and our picture from 10 years ago is still in the Visitors brochure, so we are still famous in the information office.  

New Zealand Team Emirates, the 35th America's Cup winner

Oracle Team USA, the defender

Once we arrived, we figured out we could get an America’s Cup spectator flag for $35, which allowed us to view any of the races from our own boat!  We took Rockhopper and friends to the races several times,  squeezed in amongst the other boats at the edge of the course, and had a blast.  It was also fun to watch with the enthusiastic groups in the restaurants and bars, which we did often, but the ludicrous speed of the boats was so much more remarkable in person. 

The elegant J boats.  Boats like these competed in year's past.

   
We had a lot of time to hike the scenic trails and caves, we experienced Bermuda’s unique glow worm mating ritual, we revisited the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, and we met some local sailors and spent some time on their private island!  As usual we never tired of Bermuda and we look forward to spending a couple of months there next year.  We left Bermuda at the end of June and those beautiful turquoise waters are still clear in our minds.  We’ve been in Canada ever since and we’ll update you on our Canadian experiences soon (really).  

Mindy at a picnic spot on the south side of the island

Reinhart in a park on the north side of island

The Tall Ship regatta was in Bermuda as well

 

Back to Bermuda

North Sound, Virgin Gorda, BVI

The weeks flew by and it is already time to leave the Caribbean.  We spent lots of time in the Virgins, a month in St. Martin, and a few days in St. Barth.  As usual, everything was beautiful and serene.  We are looking forward to getting up to Bermuda, one of our favorite places.  Bermuda is the host of the America’s Cup this year, so we expect that things will be even more colorful than usual. 

We are leaving this week and sailing 900 miles which should take 7 to 9 days.  If you are interested in tracking us, there are a couple of options:

• As usual we have Chuck’s spot tracking us at this link (7day track).

• The Salty Dawgs have a tracking page.  Either enter “Rockhopper" under Name to track us, or enter “SDR” under Group to see the whole Salty Dawg Rally.  Update the dates, using a start date of May 15, and hit View Map. 

We expect to stay in Bermuda about a month and then head to Canada at the end of June or early July.  We’ll make our way into the northeast US and spend August and September in Maine-Rhode Island.  I expect we’ll be in Annapolis for the boat show in October.  We are still trying to make up our minds if we are staying in the US for the winter, or bringing Rockhopper back to the Caribbean.  Whether we stay in the US or head back to the Caribbean, I feel a US road trip coming up this year.   

Nicol in the Virgins

Rockhopper on passage to Caribbean

Mindy and her ice cream

Saba Rock and Gorda Sound

A vacation from our vacation

Back in November, we sailed down to the BVIs with the Salty Dawg Rally.  Lots of boats left on time heading out in front of a strong weather system off the US, but we were part of a pack that stayed behind a few days and followed the storm out.  It was great going south with a rally - we spoke with folks every morning on the SSB radio, and having a weather router knocked 2 days off of our expected time.  We arrived in Virgin Gorda 9 days after we left Hampton, VA.

We spent a couple of weeks in the BVIs, mostly hanging out with the Salty Dawgs, and then we headed over to St. Thomas in the USVI to leave the boat in Red Hook while we went to Austria for the holidays.  Our friends Kristi and Will got us to the airport for our vacation away from our vacation.

We were with family and friends in Austria and Switzerland for 6 weeks this year.  It is a long time to be away from Rockhopper, but it is always so wonderful spending all of that time with Reinhart’s Mom.  It doesn’t matter how long you stay, though, because there are always folks you don’t manage to see.   I expect we’ll be back next year. 

Now we are back in the Virgins.  We left Red Hook and came around the corner to spend a few days in Secret Harbor which we enjoyed so much back in March.  And once again, Kristi and Will have been so generous with their time and home.  We are heading over to St. John tomorrow to stay for a few days, and then we’ll be back to St. Thomas next week to pick up Lori!

We’ve got a few folks coming to visit over the next few weeks in the Virgins, and then we’ll be heading over to St. Martin towards mid-March and trying to decide whether we are going much further south.  We’ll be going back to Bermuda sometime in May and heading up to Canada in June.