Bermuda is the shape of a fish hook, with the eye at the upper right, the shank 45 degrees down to the left, the hook part curving up to the upper left where the barb would be. The capital is in the middle, the Dockyard and America's Cup Village is at the barb. Where I am, St Georges, is at the eye of the hook. All vessels large and small must enter from the sea at the opening in the reef at St Georges. All small boats, up to about 100 feet long, must go through Town Cut into St Georges Harbour, and check in. Large cruise ships enter at St Georges but go north outside the island but inside the reef to the Dockyard or Hamilton. There is a lot of boat traffic in St Georges and it all goes through the slice in the rock called Town Cut. It is so narrow the Harbour Ops stops all in and out traffic if a big boat is passing. Normandie calls this a boaty place. One day last week it was really boaty. Will and I are part of Rally to the Cup but we left early. The rest of the fleet, 35 boats, arrived Thursday. They were coming in past where we are anchored, at about five an hour. In the middle of this, all the boats in the return leg of the Marian-to-Bermuda 1,2 Race, about 30 boats, had their start in the western end of St Georges and were racing out through the cut, spinnakers flying, or flopping down into the water as the fickle wind in Town Cut would have it. So the racing boats were going out and the cruising boats coming in, and the ferries ploughing through the middle of them, the mega-yachts returning from their race, the pilot boat going and coming, local sport fishing boats, and to top it off, a J-Boat made her stately way in, spent some time in the harbour, then glided back out, pulling an inflatable dinghy of all things, a little inflatable, just like the kind I would have! For a few hours Will and I just gazed at the ever changing spectacle. You want boats? We had boats.
We figured out how to see the Anerica's Cup Races. The challenge was buying the tickets for the ferry and the event, and how to get the tickets, either a paper copy (we have no printer) or an electronic copy. I give Normandie in so many ways for making this trip successful. She had sent with us an ipad tablet, which I had no idea how to operate and Will had some knowledge. Once the Rally to the Cup folks got here we gained access to the Dinghy Club, and with their internet and wifi Will fumbled around enough, with the help of a laptop computer, so we could buy tickets, and taking the tablet with us could show the electronic copy for admission. I go into detail about all this because it was far-an-away the biggest challenge we have had to overcome. Go to americascup.com and see a picture of the village. It is really like that. Masses of people, and they were prepared for it. I think everybody in Bermuda has a part in making everything work. And I think they all have been coached at being nice. Bermuda has exceptionally nice, polite, welcoming people. Something that impressed us is how many children are there. Lots of families. Children everywhere. They have playgrounds set up for the children. Lots of food stalls, even have mist generators like large hoops you can walk through and get cool. If you look at the picture of The Village on the internet you will see that there are tow breakwaters that come to a point. On the far right is where the mega-yachts dock. On the far left is the admittance gate and security (similar to at an airport). About half way between the gate on the left and the point of the breakwaters is the grandstand. For Will's birthday Cotton gave us tickets to the grandstand for the challenge races. The America's Cup grandstand seats are sold out. Look to the right of the grandstand past things that are umbrellas, past a white square building, and there is a space (where the rocks in the water are). That is where Will and I can watch the race. The big building on the point is the official AC Building for special people, and on the outside wall facing us is a really big TV Screen. So we can look at the screen to see what you see on TV (minus the commercials) and look out and see the live action. They move the race course, and the finish line, to suit wind conditions, and the finish line is really much closer than shows in the picture. Ant that is what makes being there and seeing it live such a spectacular experience. The boats come flying across the finish line and have about 50 yards, right in front of us. to wheel about, kill their speed, and miss all the committee and press boats gathered. It is simply jaw dropping! The challenge races were close contests and heart stopping. The AC races between USA and New Zealand have not been close so far, but just the spectacle of those boats in action makes it a once in a lifetime experience. And just because NZ has won the first races doesn't mean USA is out. At the last races in San Francisco New Zealand won the first eight races. They needed one more to win The Cup. Then USA got better and better, and won the next nine races. It an't over till it's over. Normandie said that the races are televised on NBC Saturday and Sunday, 1:00 - 2:30. And I am there!
Last year Normandie bought for me a sunscreen shirt that is like long-underware top, except that, amazingly, it is cool! I wear it and a floppy hat and I am protected from the sun. I can walk through the mist generator, or wet the shirt with my water bottle, and the heat is not a problem. That is a breakthrough in comfort, and safety. All around there are water dispensing booths where you stick your bottle in and a stream of water flows, filling your bottle. I have a hip sack with water, camera and tablet, and I am ready for anything.
Yesterday evening the Rally to the Cup people had a Gosling Rum tasting event at the Dinghy Club where they put a sip of either Gold or Black Seal in a little plastic cup, and you could decide which you like best. And in case you had trouble deciding you could go back and get another sip to make sure. And then when you decided you could get some more to confirm your decision. Great get together! And then we had a display of Bermuda Gombay dancing. And that was also amazing, and totally unexpected! Wild traditional costumes, really tall feathers from their heads, wild dancing to loud drumbeat music. And it was jaw-dropping! All I can say is that I hope what is on the internet gives just a glimpse of what it was like.
On Monday Will's time here came to an end. His airplane was to leave at 3:300. At 1:30 we went to the dinghy dock and said our good byes. I get choked up just trying to write about it. It was a wonderful, absolutely priceless experience. God bless you, Will. I can not express how proud I am of you.
Tuesday I was coming back from the Dinghy Club when a man on a boat motioned me over. His dinghy gasoline was bad and he needed some fresh gasoline. No worries, I buzzed over to the gasoline station and got him 2 gallons (for $18.00) That solved his problem, and I ended up spending the evening with them. I may not get the name right, but they were members of SOS, Singles out Sailing, from somewhere in New England. Will met a woman who is crew on a Canadian boat who knew sigh language. In church, on a previous trip, I met Gillian Outerbridge, who sails a 20' Pacific Seacraft Flicka. She has it shipped to the US and singlehands it up and down the coast, all around New England, the New York lakes, etc. As it turns out she is the Church Administrator so I went by to see her today. She came motoring around the anchorage last week, I waved her over and we became reacquainted. She has written a book about her travels: Going About, a Waterway Adventure. My point is, Ladies, don't let the guys have all the fun. All it takes is saying "Yes".
Will and I were surprized at how cool the water is here. Every evening Will would jump in for a swim before his shower but I did not want the experience. Day before yesterday I dropped a thermometer in so I had a number to write about, and was surprized that it was 82 degrees! Will, you have been holding out on me! So I jumped in and splashed around a bit. (I love it.) I looked at the botom of the boat, and there are barnacles just starting. I am glad I found them before they got big enough to be hard to remove. Yesterday morning the wind was calm so I rigged the hookah air pump that has a scuba mouthpiece, so I could go under the boat and clean the bottom. What I do is take a 3M scratchy pad and rub off the barnacles, and the outer layer of anti-fouling paint that has lost its effectiveness. In doing so the paint is "refreshed", and stops future growth. I start by running six ropes from side to side under the boat. I hang on to these ropes for support, and use them to pull me down deeper under the boat. Yesterday I got the six ropes run, and got about 1/4 of the bottom refreshed. I stopped out of caution because I was exerting a lot of effort and did not want to over do it. The ropes remain in place and the hookah is set up, so when the water settled down I will go down and do some more.
The wind is down and it is not too choppy. I think I will rig the Hookah, get in the water, and have a refreshing swim.
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
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