Bermuda

white roofs
Originally uploaded by rosailither.

It was an 8-day passage from St Martin to Bermuda. The wind started steady but dropped off throughout the trip and we ended up sailing about half of the 860 miles and motoring the rest. The day before we were due to arrive, we heard a boat trying to get the weather forecast on the SSB radio. He was drifting in light winds and his engine had failed. After making radio contact with the owner, we ended up making a detour of 65 miles (equivalent to a Channel crossing) to pick him up and towed his boat ‘Expresso’ (a 44 foot steel yacht) the final 95 miles to Bermuda. This meant entering St George’s harbour in darkness, through the narrow ‘Town Cut’ channel, which has several unlit buoys – not the ideal first entry to a new harbour.
Otherwise, it was an uneventful passage, with light winds and calm seas. We saw no trace of the infamous Bermuda triangle – no magnetic anomalies, weird fogs or little green men climbing aboard! There was, however, a noticeable drop in temperature the further north we got, we started the trip in shorts and T-shirts and ended it in jeans and jumpers.
We have spent a pleasant few days in Bermuda, the people are very friendly and it is a striking picture-postcard island. Everywhere you look the gardens are immaculate and the houses all freshly painted in various colours. The main thing that stands out are the white roofs. Every household collects its own water from the roof, which by law has to be whitewashed regularly to keep the water supply clean.
The mild but warm weather allowed us to put a couple of coats of varnish on the deck hatches and also to have what may be our last swim for a while. We also explored the island on the fantastic public bus and ferry services and saw magnificent beaches, well-kept old forts and charming scenery.
The only downfall is the high prices – a loaf of bread costs $4.50 (nearly £2.50) so the cost of living here ain’t cheap!
It’s now time to weigh anchor again, next stop Newport, Rhode Island, about 650 miles away and seven more days at sea.

St Martin

It was a pleasant overnight sail from Antigua to our last stop in the Caribbean, St Martin. The island is split in two, half belonging to France and half to the Dutch Antilles. After getting used to the Caribbean currency (EC), we were suddenly faced with euros on the French side, Antillean Guilders on the Dutch side, or American dollars which are widely used on both sides. Thankfully, English is spoken pretty much everywhere.

We anchored inside the shelter of Simpson Bay Lagoon, where the boat was dead still from sea swell. It was not the most tranquil setting, however, being directly under the main international flight path, and lots of building work going on so the constant sound of pile driving.

The water in the lagoon was a bit murky and not very tempting for swimming but it was obviously good for marine life - when Dave checked the bottom of the boat before leaving, he discovered thick growth – all within ten days of being here.

We chose St Martin as we had been told ‘you can get everything there’, which is pretty much true. The island is duty free and Philipsburg (the Dutch capital) specialises in cheap electronics. We have finally got up-to-date with technology and got ourselves a ‘wi-fi’ card, which allows us to get free internet access in many places.

We have caught up with several jobs on board, getting the boat ready for the trip to Bermuda. Most has been routine maintenance, touching up peeling paint and varnish, but also a new set of batteries have been installed and Dave finally has a helm seat to navigate in comfort.

Lots of boats seem to congregate here before heading back to the Azores and Europe, so lots of goodbyes and for some the end of the cruise. We are now ready to sail away from the warm Caribbean waters and prepare ourselves for the cooler temperatures further north.