SV Whatever She Wants: 19 - Getting to know Bermuda

It's been 2 weeks and we're still in Bermuda still waiting for our forestay repair. The weather has been very off and on. We've had gorgeous days and then a lot of rain. As I type this, we're going on over 24 hours of Gale warning winds. The winds are averaging about 30 knots with gusts to 50 knots. Needless to say, the wind is howling and the boat is rocking (the radio reports are 2-4 foot seas behind the reef and here in the harbor and 10-18 foot seas outside of the reef). Pedro "slept" in the cockpit most of the night to watch and make sure our anchor held. About 3am he had to blow the air horn to wake up the guys on the boat in front of us that was dragging towards us as their anchor had apparently lost its hold. Needless to say, no one in the anchorage probably got much sleep after that. So far, we've had 3 boats break free from their anchorages and another derelict boat that was tied to some sort of a mooring also break free and float in between two boats. We lost sight of it but are pretty sure it's currently on the rocks somewhere to the south of us behind an island. We seem to be holding (knocking on wood) and the winds are supposed to abate somewhat by midnight!!!

Anyway, we really have been enjoying the island and have done quite a bit of exploring. The first week here we had a lot of other boats also here from our Rally so we commiserated with them (one broke a starter, one a transmission, another broke both the forestay and the inner stay, another shredded their sail and broke their boom and our good friends had their refrigerator and freezer go out). We weren't looking so bad! Slowly but surely, most of the other boats we know left leaving only us, our friends Alison and Dan on Equus and George and Sue on Julia Max. George and Sue took off to have Thanksgiving with family but Alison and Dan's daughter Katie and her husband Shawn flew in so we invited ourselves over for dinner with all of them.

With the other boats gone, we were finally (yes, it took a week) able to get a spot in the marina for a couple of days so that we could remove our forestay and get the repairs started. We were amazed when we pulled down the halyard (the rope that holds the sails up) off to see the condition. This held the sail up for almost 2 days after the forestay broke until it finally also broke we're sure due to rubbing on the broken metal of the forestay.

Well, for those of you who've never been to Bermuda, it's an adorable place. We are anchored near the town of Saint George's. It's full of history and gorgeous views. Our first Saturday here we got to shore in time for the dunking of the wench. They do this weekly in the harbor. Not sure they got this right because she married to the town drunk and her crime is nagging. It's a pretty cute show, though!!!

As I said, there is history everywhere you look. There are several forts within an easy walking distance from Saint George's and this amazing unfinished church that is about 300 year old and was never finished.

There is even an old cave that at one point housed the gunpowder for the island's defenses. Apparently, during the revolutionary war, some islanders broke into this and smuggled the gunpowder to the states to exchange for much needed food. We thought that was pretty cool as this was said to have been a very crucial event in the war.

We were also amazed to find that they have a beach bar within walking distance that makes an amazing run punch. What are the odds????