20 - It's Bermudaful!!!!

Quick update!  We told you guys about the high winds we had here in the harbor.  Well, we thankfully survived unscathed but cannot say the same for some of our neighboring boats.  Pedro had to help rescue 3 dingihies that broke loose (4 if you count Alison and Dan's dinghy that we rescued a couple of weeks before when we first got here).  Two of the dingies were very badly damaged after beating on the rocks for who knows how long but they managed to at least save the engines and one was undamaged.  As signs of appreciation, we got 2 great bottles of wine (yes, one is gone already) and the promise from the guy who is a diesel mechanic by trade that if we ever needed anything to look him up in St. Martin where he was headed!

















Anyway, it's almost impossible to believe but we've been here almost a month.  We have explored so many places and met so many amazing people.  These people literally invite you into their homes and their lives.

While we had Katie and Shawn here ( daughter of Alison and Dan aboard Equus), we explored the crystal caves of Bermuda.  Truly spectacular and worth the tour.  The animated tour guides were as much fun as the actual caves.  We highly recommend visiting this.  Pay attention to the tide charts if you go.  We arrived at high tide following a full moon and had to wait a few hours as the tidal water floods the caves.  Not a problem, we just explored the nearby park.

Next. we hopped back on the bus and went to the Royal Navy Dockyards.  This is again full of history and had a great restaurant with a microbrewery!  Delicious food and beer.  The Dockyards were also the site where everything was set up for the last America's Cup and still have one of the boats (the AC 45) on display.  We were excited to see yet another America's Cup boat.  This was a completely different type of boat we saw in Newport, RI but still cool to see.





On our way back from The Royal Navy Dockyards, we had to transfer buses in Hamilton.  Well our timing was perfect because we arrived just in time to see their Christmas Parade.  It was so cute and very small town.  Lots of dancing and partying.   Again, such friendly people!

We aren't really sure how we managed it but we also were able to wrangle an invitation to the Mayor of St. George's Christmas party.   Luckily, we'd met Janelle who owns Salt Spray Soap (she makes all of the soap sold) on our bus ride to the big grocery store in Hamilton and decided to have lunch together (yes, we went back to the amazing Indian restaurant - yummmmy).  Anyway, when asked for our invitation to the party, we simply told them that we were meeting Janelle there and we were immediately welcomed.  She laughed when we told her the story!  While we were definitely not locals, we were, none the less welcomed as such. We even met a lady named Mary who invited us over to her house the following Sunday night for an impromptu party just for us so that we could see her 300 year old house complete with a secret garden.  She treated us like royalty (called us her "Yachties") and we spent several hours hearing about her life growing up in Bermuda and her travels as she lived in 38 other cities places prior to coming back to Bermuda.  She offered to take us anywhere we needed but we were fine.  Pedro quickly figured out the bus system which in Bermuda is amazing and you can get anywhere you need to go.

 

 

 

Well, tis the season and no self respecting harbor town can get away for long (well they have for 400 years but who's counting) without having a boat parade.   So St. George's hosted their first annual Christmas boat parade (we chose to believe that it was in our honor).  We didn't participate with the boats but we did add as much moral support and cheer as we could.  We even met up the  partiers back at the local yacht club afterward for dark and stormy's!

 

 

 

We explored just about everywhere we could think to explore. There are several forts nearby and some great old houses.  We fell in love with several of the cats who live nearby.  These two are called Dark and Stormy.  Too sweet!  We also met the "helper" of the guy who was repairing our staysail and rigging. 

 

 

 

Right across the bay from us is the town of St. David’s.  We decided to take the dingy and go explore a gorgeous beach called Clearwater Beach that had a NASA facility that was used up until very recently (we thought that was pretty cool)and the old St. David's lighthouse. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were apparently in Bermuda so long that Pedro and Dan got involved (they said it was their civic duty) twice with the dunking of the wench (supposedly for nagging her husband) that we'd previously told you about.

 

It's not all been play.  We did have to make another trip to Hamilton so Pedro could get some drawings printed out for signing and sealing before shipping to a client.  We were excited that the process was as easy as bus ride and a walk from the printer to the fed ex office.

 

 

Additionally, Alison was given a “new” sail (one of the boats crossing with us blew it out on the ride from VA so they had to get a new one shipped to them) so we had to start cutting it up so she could use it to make her sail bags, etc. (go to www.sailmates.org or look up Sailmates on Facebook to see what she makes).  The stage was still setup in the town square and we found some electrical outlets so, we took to cutting up the sail and starting on the sewing.  Well, so many people came by and asked what we were doing that she ended up selling a couple of bags and taking custom orders for change purses and an I-pad case (seriously you have to check out her site – she ships from anywhere). 

 

 

We stayed a couple of extra days to participate in the annual Christmas Walkabout.  Most of the businesses and many of the old houses (including our friend Mary and the guy who helped us with our boat repairs) opened their shops and houses while also providing snacks and beverages for over a 1000 people (what one house estimated based on her head count).  What a great time we had!

 

With the repairs completed and the walkabout a wonderful memory, we started getting ready to take off.   We pulled up the dock to get refueled and pulled behind a large research vessel.  The captain invited us aboard for a tour.  That was really interesting to see and he was a wealth of information. 

 

 

 The guy we refueled us (his nickname was Turtle) said that the girl we’d met a week or so ago, who sells homemade goodies including the best fudge with chunks of toffee, was his cousin (her nickname was Smitty).  Turtle helped arrange a meeting with Smitty so we could stock up for the passage!

Next, we were told by a local charter boat captain about a wholesale meat and seafood market so we picked up a few things for the trip.  We heard of a farmer’s market that was on the bus route and the driver was also great about letting off right where we needed to go so we stocked up there too.  While in Hamilton, we found the Gosling’s run store and placed our order for duty free rum that would be delivered right to the customs office for us to pick up as soon as we were ready to leave.  Check, check, check! 

The theme of this entire post is that the people of Bermuda really could not be any friendlier or giving.  Literally, everywhere we went we met amazingly wonderful welcoming people.  It’s definitely a fabulous place to be “stuck”!!!!  Until next post!