I’d rather stay in Bermuda

More than 3 weeks have passed since we arrived in Bermuda, and I haven’t taken any time to write about it.  I’ll try to remember everything that has happened in the past month!   

Our sail north to Bermuda was a different experience every day.  We had fast days that were either uncomfortable or idyllic, we had downwind sails that were miserable or magical, and we had light winds that had us motoring.  We crossed a trough, which promised big winds, big seas, and big rain, but ended up causing us no problems at all.  We had a few problems with our autopilot and wind steering that we’ve had on passages before, and these are things that we’ll continue to troubleshoot. 

We did experience one new predicament – a fouled prop!   One night, the engine rpm suddenly dropped during Reinhart’s watch.  We were both up and about with headlamps trying to figure out what happened.  The engine was thoroughly investigated and then we decided it must be something caught around the propeller.  In the dark, however, there was no way to be sure.  Luckily, the wind was just picking up to something sailable and we set the spinnaker at midnight.

In the morning, we dropped sail so Reinhart could hop into the 16,000’ deep water and look at the prop.  He took all kinds of safety precautions, but I was still terrified.  There was a large green poly net caught around the prop.  Our line cutter on the shaft had done its job cutting all of the lines, so nothing would become hopelessly wrapped around the shaft, but the net managed to stay hooked onto the propeller.  Reinhart could easily pull it off and didn’t have to spend an hour trying to dive down and cut off a tangled mess.  Overall, it was a great first dive on the prop, and much better in the middle of the ocean than in the middle of the Chesapeake.

We arrived in Bermuda at sunset on Sunday May 15, checking in with the friendly and helpful customs and immigration folks in the town of St. George’s, before anchoring for the evening.  Overall, the trip was 878 nm in 151 hours (5.8 kt avg).  It was feast or famine with the winds, and we sailed pretty fast most of the time, but ended up having to motor for 40 hours when the winds died in the middle of the trip. 

We spent one full day on board, cleaning the boat and getting it back into port mode, but since then we’ve been heading into land every day, enjoying Beautiful Bermuda.  When we visited the tourist office we found out that we are famous!  During our trip in 2007, a photographer from Bermuda Tourism took some photos of us in a park with a model, and they are still using one of the pictures in the guidebook.  We were thrilled. 

We started visiting all of those sites that Bermuda is famous for – beaches, forts, churches, and cemeteries.  A few days later we met up with Gary and Chris, our Bermuda experts, and saw some unique beaches and cemeteries that we’d never heard of.  While they were here, Bermuda celebrated its big holiday, Bermuda Day, which acts as the summer kick-off.  The parade in Hamilton was so much fun and had us all feeling like a part of the community.  

A few days later Kevin arrived, and we spent more time visiting beaches, forts, churches, and cemeteries.  We had a great time with Kevin aboard.  The 3 of us visited the Blue Hole Park and Tom Moore’s Jungle.  This was a nice hiking wilderness we visited in 2007 and we thought it would be fun to go back with flashlights.  That decision paid off and we found our way into a large cave.  It was a treat, fumbling around in the slippery salt water cave, blinding each other with our headlamps, steadying ourselves on stalagmites and trying not to bump our heads on pointy stalactites. 

Once Kevin left, we decided to investigate a research vessel, the Atlantic Explorer, which was docked near the airport.  We found out that it is part of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), and once we called, we found out that they give a tour once a month, and that it was happening the next day.  The tour was so much more than we imagined, and we went to 5 different labs where a scientist gave us their background and a presentation on their current research.  It was all so familiar, with scientific posters of krill, tarapods, and urchins.  We ended with a tour of the Atlantic Explorer, which reminded me so much of the LMG and NBP (it even had an isotope van).  It reminded us so much of our time in the Antarctic program that I became downright homesick for Crary or Biolab. 

Since that highlight we’ve been running around seeing more sights, such as the aquarium and Natural History Museum.  We also attended the St. George’s annual Rubber Ducky Race.  It was a big family fair with lots of fun for kids, local crafts, and dance performances.  The Bermudians host such fun celebrations that make everyone feel like a local. 

Our original plan was to stay about 3 weeks, leaving soon after Kevin departed.  However, Tropical Storm Bonnie was making her way across the Atlantic and it wasn’t the right time to head west.  Now we’ve got TS Colin causing all sorts of commotion in the harbor, with gale force winds forecasted over the next 48 hours.  Once Colin has raced by, there are a couple of low-pressure systems coming off North America that are real humdingers.  It looks like we’ll be in Bermuda for another week or two while we wait for the weather to settle down.  We are in a lovely spot to be weathered-in, and will not be bored with Bermuda anytime soon.

"You can go to heaven if you want. I’d rather stay in Bermuda." - Mark Twain