A Sunny Day

We were without connectivity yesterday after about noon because of the high winds. Today is a lot calmer, and we have found another unguarded access point that has a better signal. It has a name of Bermuda Yacht Services, so I don’t know when they will start to ask for money for it, but as long as it is free, we will continue to use it. We were seeing 25-30 with gusts to 35+ yesterday afternoon. The seas were quite choppy in the anchorage, and a lot of boats that were med-moored in a nearby marina moved out and anchored. We are really glad we are not tied up against the sea-wall, where there are some large boats rafted two deep. They must really have pounded against one-another yesterday. Our anchor held absolutely, and we put out another snubber to share the load, and we just rocked all day, listening to Dylan and Roy Orbison. There is a nice Alden ~50 next to us, and their bridle parted during the day, and we had to call over to them to tell them about it. It was surprising that they did not feel the change in motion. We also got a good rain-water wash-down yesterday, which was well appreciated. Chick spent a large amount of time in the cockpit, under the enclosure, monitoring our anchor situation. We also figured out a way to tie the emergency tiller to the wheel so that we can use the wheel somewhat to steer. We do not plan to really test this, though, because we plan to stay right here till the quadrant arrives.

Today the dawn broke on a flat calm and we took advantage of the conditions to climb the mast and tie off the SSB antenna to the top of the backstay, and regain use of the topping lift. We also tried to rig a second halliard for the jib, but it appears that our line is too thick. So, we need to buy more line. When we get to France… We also re-organized two of the lazerette lockers, and as I am writing this, Art and Nathalie are off hiking.

We had nachos and partied last nite while starting to watch Stargate-SG1 videos. Nathalie did not like the Goauld “monsters”, but after two episodes she may be willing to admit that the show is not just monsters and special effects. rxc told them to give it some time, and maybe this will become an evening staple for us, at least as long as we are here in Bermuda, and maybe even while we are underway.

We are also trying to find a working link to a webcam in St. Georges Harbor. There is one at the weather office, but it is too wide-angle to see any detail in the harbor.