I really enjoyed myself and it was great fun to "rub shoulders" with experienced ocean sailors. Turns out Steve is a vastly experienced sailor and ocean racer who has sailed with/worked for (he's a sailmaker), many sailing greats other 'big names' including America Cup legend Dennis O'Connor and business Tycoon James Dyson. He's also a wonderful racontuer and kept us all entertained with tales of his many sailing and other exploits including his audience with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip when they visited Bermuda in 2009!
Steve and Suzanne run their sail making business in a converted warehouse on the water front at Saint George's. They've turned the ground floor into a beautiful home without losing the original character of the building and the sail loft is upstairs. Drinks were served in their waterfront garden over looking "Convict Bay" where Bonny is anchored and dinner, with lashings of excellent red wine, was served inside. Us yachties all brought our own contributions to the meal, but our hosts produced their own wonderful dishes.
We yarned well into the night before setting off back to our boats with tummies and memories filled to the brim. So, if you're visiting Bermuda and need help with sail repairs or anything else for that matter, look out for Ocean Sails. They're in the orange building at the east end of the water front. You won't find a friendlier welcome. Except that is, in Bermuda, because everyone is so incredibly friendly; from shop assistants through bar staff to complete strangers on the street. It's a bit like walking through an English village in the 1960s when everyone passed the time of day with everyone else.
Unfortunately, I was so busy enjoying myself I forgot to take any photographs!
A couple of days later Gary and I took a hike out to the other end of Saint George's Island.
The red triangle marks Bonny's position at anchor in Convict Bay. Our walk took us from there across to the north coast and down to the south west corner of the island which ends just above Hamilton Parish on Main Island. The island'd about 3 miles long but our walk out and back probably covered 8 miles. Foolishly the only sustance we took with us was a couple of chocalate brownies and a couple of bottles of water!
We followed the old railway cutting along the north coast...
We emerged from the final stretch of cutting which overlooked the remains of the now ruined rail bridge to Hamilton Parish on Main Island...
Everywhere we looked were beautiful views...
...which we soaked up from a conveniently placed seat next to a Martello Tower...
We then headed for a secluded beach for a swim..
... but, disaster! We had both forgotten to bring our swim gear! We were pretty hot and sweaty by this time and looked longingly at the inviting crystal clear water and then at eachother and then a looked around. The place was deserted. To hell with it. We stripped off and waded in - delicious. Then after 10 minutes, voices! A couple hove into view with their dog. Oh that's OK, they'll be carrying on then. They stopped, sat down on the beach. The guy cracked open a beer and the woman took the dog paddling. It was soon very apparent they weren't moving off any time soon. We went for a longer swim and returned 15 minutes later. I was now beginning to feel cold! We hung around in the shallows for another 5 minutes and then determined we would make a run for it. "I think we had better warn them first" I said to Gary. So I called out "Hello, erm, we weren't expecting company and erm so, well, it's like this.." shrieks of good natured laughter followed as they did the decent thing and averted their gaze while we made a dash for our clothes and shelter. We half expected to be scolded, but not a bit of it. We were soon engaged in conversation with, of course, a very friendly couple, and were even invited to join them for a beer!
By the time we got back to Saint George's we were famished. Dinner was combined leftovers from previous meals re-heated on board Symphony. While we were eating Gary asked if I fancied a day's Kayaking. It turned out he carried an inflatable two person Kayak on board.
I jumped at the chance and so two days later we were both up and in his Kayak by 5 am, in time to watch the sun rise over St George's island whilst drifting in the Kayak consuming coffee and breakfast bars..
After sunrise we circumnavigated Smith's Island and inspected the 'Hurricane Hole' there, just in case Symphony needed one later in the summer. Then we headed slowly west through the inner reaches of Saint George's Harbour and in to Stokes Harbour.
By this time we had been paddling on and off for about 4 hours. As you can see there were some significant 'offs' but despite these we were still pretty knackered and so we pulled over to the shore for a break, a pee and elevenses - coffee and more chocolate brownies! This time we had planned ahead and also had sandwiches for lunch later in the day. We happened to land next to the Airport bus stop where a local lady was waiting for the bus and of course she engaged us in friendly and protracted conversation!
We continued on all the way to the end of St George's island and paddled briefly into the Atlantic Ocean to get to the same beach we had discovered on our walk. This time we were properly prepared and could swim without blushing!
After the swim, lunch followed by dozing on the beach wishing we had more chocalate brownies!
Then back in the Kayak for the paddle back to Saint George's.
We broke our passage at the same little beach as on the way up - Gary had mislaid his glasses and hoped he'd left them there. Amazingly he found them. We also couldn't help noticing there was an ice cream parlour across the road and so treated ourselves to rather large helpings of ice cream each, before getting on our way once again.
We arrived back at the boats off Saint George's around 3 p.m.. We were so knackered that an afternoon nap beckoned both of us.
Afterwards, Gary cooked a tasty dinner of bean stew served on toasted raisen bread - very tasty!
Yesterday I continued prepping the boat for the passage north to Nova Scotia. No nasty weather was forecast but I dusted off the storm jib and trysail to make sure everything was in order just in case the unexpected came along.
I also said goodbye to Michael and Sabine a very likeable German couple on their Halberg Rassey 31. They were also bound for Nova Scotia. We first met shortly after I arrived in Bermuda, having been introduced to eachother by Jan and Elli.
Time soon to also say goodbye to Jeff and Melissa on their impressive Catamaran, Tribute. Nick and Jonathan on board Malau left for Chesapeake a few days ago and should be there soon.
Another goodbye beckons too. Mick and I first bumped into Gary in Madeira last August, then we met up again in Gran Canaria a few weeks later and then again in Grenada in February. We've shared a common objective to make Nova Scotia and when he turned up in Bermuda just a week after me, it looked like we could well be sailing there in company. However, his engine problems have thrown a very big spanner in those works. When Mick had to return home from Saint Martin last month and Tom was unable to do the trip in his place, Vincent offered to rearranging his leave to come instead and we agreed a schedule a couple of weeks ago. He arrives tomorrow (Friday 7th June) with only two weeks to play with and so we have to get going. We'll leave ASAP on Saturday. So it will soon be goodbye to Gary too. Hopefully, he'll make it to Nova Scotia later in the summer and we'll meet up again then, or even possibly, next year.
As far as our trip up there is concerned, rather annoyingly, the favourable winds have arrived (already), that's earlier than predicted two days ago and so we're going to miss the first 36 hours of them and will probably face a couple of days of little wind in the middle of next week. Still, that's better than a storm and we should still have plenty of time. Fortunately, I have Starlink and should therefore be able to make decisions about what course to follow and when to use the engine, based on up to date, real-time information.
Next stop, Nova Scotia!
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