Bermuda Run, Part 2

We sailed out past the Bay Bridge Tunnel again but this time had much nicer weather. We had a course laid out with waypoints that would take advantage of the current in the Gulf Stream and it's meanders. The meanders are warm and cold water swirls that can give you an extra boost in speed if you catch them right. Our course took us down to Hatteras, NC where we'd then head east and pick up the Gulf Stream.

All the way out that first day we constantly heard radio transmissions of Navy ships saying they were going to be having firing practice in such and such an area and all vessels were to stand clear. OK, no problem. At 1900, 7pm, we heard this deafening explosion that sounded like it was directly overhead. It was huge, so big it left us both stunned.  We felt like we'd been kicked in the gut.   There were no other boats in the vicinity so I got on the radio, gave our location and said that if anyone was firing guns in our vicinity to please take note of our location. No response. A few minutes later we got a call on the radio from the Coast Guard. They wanted to know exactly what had happened. I asked if there were any Navy vessels nearby and they said no. Hmmm. They asked if we had seen any smoke or fire, could we tell the direction of the explosion, etc. After about 15 minutes of chit chat we saw a Coast Guard helicopter fly by very low over the water. He went a few miles past us and then flew south across our bow. As we sailed on we saw him hovering over a spot about 1.5 miles from where we had been. I don't know what happened but I suspect what we heard was a boat exploding due to a propane leak. Gotta check the Norfolk or maybe even N. Carolina news for more info on this.

The next day was the day we crossed into the Gulf Stream. The water was a nice emerald green, the air was cool, maybe mid 70's, sky was clear and the water was kinda choppy. Off in the distance I could see a line in the water running north and south. As we got closer it became very obvious. It looked like we were coming to an intersection on a road. As we entered the Gulf Stream we picked up speed considerably, at one point reaching 10.4 knots, up from an average 6.5 knots before. Also, the water changed. The color went from emerald green to this beautiful deep, dark blue. Cheri says it's called Circadian Blue in artist's paint. The surface also changed from choppy to fairly smooth with huge rolling swells. Plus the air temperature went up at least 10 degrees. It was really amazing.

We made good time crossing the Gulf Stream. We averaged 8.5 knots, a two knot boost in speed. We saw Portuguese Men of War but at first thought they were plastic bottles. They're about the same size which surprised me because I always thought they were bigger than that. Maybe these are dwarves or something. We also had a pod of dolphins swim around our boat for a while. Pretty cool. About half way across we hove-to for four hours just to take a break and relax, enjoy the beauty around us. We ran the genset and recharged the batteries, had lunch and smoked cigars. This made for a memorable break in the trip.

On our fourth day out we encountered several thunder heads. The first one I easily avoided but the second one outsmarted me and blasted us with 25 knot winds and rain. We managed to sail around the west side of the storm but on the backside we found rough conditions with 20 to 25 knot constant wind and waves that were easily 6 to 10 feet. Worse than that they were coming from three different directions. Our auto pilot was having a difficult time with it so I took over to prevent damaging the drive motor. I ended up steering for 12 hours. The storm dissipated overnight. By the next morning the seas were calmer and the wind was down to about 15 or 20 knots. We were only about 40 miles from Bermuda by first light and were picking up radio calls from Bermuda Radio.

In Bermuda they take navigation in their waters very seriously.  The island was originally discovered in 1609 when a supply ship for Jamestown, VA. ran onto the reef.  Today there are at least 150 known wrecks, possibly as many as 300.   Because of this the reefs and channels are now well marked and Bermuda Radio monitors and guides every ship in and out of the area.

The final day of our trip over, Tuesday, the wind was blowing about 15 knots SE, directly from where we wanted to go. We ran the rest of the way in under power/sail and arrived at Customs around 1300. We dressed up in nice clothes for check-in just for fun. When we finished up the paperwork we went back out to the boat and found Bob, from Starshine, in his dinghy. He had seen us come in and wanted to let us know they were tied up at St. George's Sports and Dinghy Club. We hadn't made any firm plans on where to park the boat so we headed over there. On the way I ran over a sunken paddle wheeler from the 1800's, scraping the fresh paint off the bottom of our keel. Luckily there was no other damage.  We mighta been #301 on the wreck register!  Ya really gotta watch where you're going!

The Dinghy Club has a concrete wall that encloses the slips and protects them from the rougher waters of the harbor.  We tied up alongside the outside of this wall behind Starshine in about eight feet of crystal clear water. We had originally planned to only stay in the marina for a few days while we recovered from the trip over.  Because of our "altered schedule" and the fact that we liked it so much in St. George's we decided to stay the whole time at the marina.  It was pretty cheap there too and I guess that mighta played into it also.  I don't think it was even a half mile walk into town and the view was great along the way.

The town of St. George is the original settlement and has over 40 buildings from the 1600's.  It's clean and quaint and the people are fantastic.  We found the people of Bermuda to be the friendliest of anywhere we've been.  Forgiving too.  I kept stepping out into oncoming traffic because they drive on the wrong side over there (someone should tell them!).  No horns, no getting flipped off and no screaming obscenities.  People would wave and laugh and go out of their way to be nice to us and to each other too.  They may have been thinking "there goes that idiot from the States walking out in traffic again" but they kept it to themselves.

There is no source of fresh water in Bermuda so they collect rainwater from their roof and direct it into a cistern.  Everyone on the East end of the island does this.  On the other end in the city of Hamilton they have a desalination plant for their drinking water.  The picture shows where we tied up to clear Customs when we first arrived.  It also shows the rooftop water collection system (yellow building) and pipes running down to the cistern.  Pretty cool.  And that rust is a real flavor enhancer.

We only spent one day on the other end of the island.  We took the ferry from St. George over to Ireland Island where the old Navy Yard is.  The painting at the top is of the Navy Yard in the 1800's.  It's now a major tourist site with a museum at the old fort and most of the buildings in the Yard have been converted over to a Mall full of great shops, many featuring local artists.  We spent a few hours at the museum, walked around the fort and the Mall and then took another ferry into Hamilton.  We got there at 1800, 6pm, just as they were rolling up the sidewalks.  We walked around for a bit and then caught the bus back to St. George.  The bus ride was all locals going home from work so we got to see the non-tourist side of Bermuda.  In the end we found we really preferred the East end of the island because of it's small town feel, old buildings, narrow streets and smaller crowds.

Another interesting thing we found on the East end....apparently someone is making a killing knitting sweaters for trees and large shrubs.  We saw these all over the place.  We're thinking about having one done for our mast.

So, to finish up Part 2 I'd like to make an observation.  Wind and waves on the Atlantic are very different from wind and waves on the Chesapeake Bay.  You may be sitting there thinking "duh" but what I mean is this.....we've sailed in 40 to 45 knot winds on the Bay and it kicks up these 6' high, short period waves that are really nothing more than a nuisance and they make for an uncomfortable ride.  Out on the Atlantic we saw 25 knot winds with 10' waves on our way out and coming back we had one day with 28 to 35 knot winds and 15' seas.  Maybe bigger.  This was somewhat more than just a nuisance.  It was like being on a roller coaster for 12 hours.  No, it was worse because it required constant attention and hand steering just to get through it safely.  I'll go into more detail in Part 3 but my point is, it's much bigger out there.  25 knot wind on the Chesapeake Bay is when it's just getting interesting on an Island Packet because the boat weighs so much.  25 knot wind on the ocean is a whole different game.  Next time I look at those GRIB files I'll have a whole lot more respect for 2.5 feathers.