After a rather long journey to get there, I arrived in rainy St. Thomas, USVI at about 8:30 p.m. Only a day later than I was supposed to arrive and in fairly good condition. Though I could whine and whine about the inconsistencies of airline travel (and how stupid I think it is that they can’t get their acts together after being in business for 50+ years), the delay did have its perks. Not only did I get to drop in unexpectedly on the Dallas fam and meet Charlie, the cutest little dachshund ever, but I got upgraded to first class to spend some quality time with my dad. After hours and hours of airports, first class was simply lovely. Even the food was reasonable, if not a bit rubbery. So after a successful and on time flight we arrived in St. Thomas and met up with the motley crew destined to take Matau from her home in the Caribbean to the lovely little speck Bermuda. After a rolly night in the anchorage and some challenging attempts at getting from the tender to the boat without making a splash, we woke bright and early to take on the 900 mile passage.
Matau at sea.
As with all the best things in life, boats tend to adhere to Murphy’s Law, everything that can go wrong will at the worst possible time. So as we scrambled to clear customs and fuel the boat for an early departure, we hardly had time to discover that our navigation computers had somehow lost all of our charts. While we could’ve made it there with paper charts and Captain Virginia’s vast nautical knowledge and experience in Bermuda, technology makes the world go round and we spent most of the day in St. Thomas trying to fix the charts. After several long distance phone calls and some ingenuity on the part of Tom, Jamie and Papisan, we were mostly recovered and decided it was time to head north. Finally.
DAY 1 – May 19
I don’t remember much. After our late departure, the watch schedule got a bit mixed up and given my rookie status I was given a period of adjustment before I was expected to fulfill my duties. I took full advantage of this and slept on and off for hours the first and second day of the trip. It was lovely and much needed rest. Though pretty boring to write about…
DAY 2 – May 20
I had the 8-12 watch this morning. Virginia woke me bright and early and I bundled up, grabbed some cereal and headed to the fly bridge. The watch expectations are prettystraightforward. Watch for boats, watch for land, and make sure the wind/sails/radar/engines/boat look good. Common sense. After learning how to navigate the computer navigation system, I was on my own and in command (but not really). I sat my watch diligently, enjoying the company of my fellow shipmates, until of course it started raining and suddenly everyone disappeared. We had good wind and were able to sail for most of day 1 and part of day 2. I was in charge of keeping the lines neat and making sure they weren’t in the way for future sail changes. I also took in the slack in the line when needed. Otherwise, I wasn’t much of a contributor to the sailing portion of the watch. After my watch was lunchtime, a lovely meal prepared by the ever-talented Merrin. Having spent so much time on boats you would think I’d be used to the creations that come from the tiny galley (kitchen), but the food we had was consistently impressive. Everything was loads better than I could make in a real kitchen, much less in a tiny (though large compared to other boats) galley with 3-5 foot seas. Kudos Mer. After lunch, I kept in the trend of past days and went to sleep. At least I’m consistent eh?
All dressed up and no where to go!
DAY 3 – May 21
Today was my first night watch. The 2 – 5 a.m. shift. Ugh. Good news was I had an entire day off between my watches to rest and prepare for the challenge. After trying to will myself awake, Virginia came to get me just before two and I grabbed my book and a Coke and headed to the helm. I was hoping to see some stars, but the skies were pretty cloudy when I got up there and it only got worse. I spent most of the watch reading my book and trying desperately to stay awake (which I did). I worked out a system where I would read a chapter and then at every break I would double check the instruments and do a visual scan to make sure everything was clear. Of course I got paranoid and checked approx. eight times during each chapter, but all in all my system worked pretty well. I’m reading “In the Garden of Beasts” by Erik Larson. It’s a great story about the U.S. ambassador to Germany and his daughter during Hitler’s rise to power. I love Larson’s work because it is entirely factual, but told in a narrative structure. Its nonfiction, but not boring, which is a pleasant change of pace I think. Another of his books, “Devil in the White City,” is one of my favorites.
Anyways, I passed another watch successfully with only a bit of rain to keep me company and went to wake Bill at 4:45 for his 5 – 8 a.m. watch. Just before that, I watched the sun rise over the ocean. It was a wonderfully peaceful event, watching the waves turn from black to grey to slate to beautiful azure blue as the sun crept over the horizon. Almost amazing enough to make it worth being up so early…but only almost.
DAY 4 – May 22
11-2 watch. THE DAY OF THE KRAKEN.
Everything was rather calm as we started the fourth day of our journey. After two days of almost no wind and solid motoring on our part, the wind had finally picked itself up. The only problem was that it was blowing square on our nose and bringing 3-5 foot waves with it. Though this doesn’t seem like much, it gets pretty uncomfortable pounding into waves one after the other for days on end. Unfortunately, that was our only option. So we hunkered down and weathered the wind shift like pros. Unfortunately, we didn’t get off that easy. Early in the afternoon we came across a pretty significant squall. Though these aren’t uncommon (in fact they’re very regular), we could tell this one was different. In a matter of minutes the wind picked up to 30+ knots, the skies darkened and we were subjected to a freezing, driving rain. As the more experienced sailors handled things on deck, those of us inside worked frantically to secure everything in preparation for big waves or lightning strikes. After we finished, we climbed up near the windows and watched the grey clouds crawl across the horizon, lightning streaking down around us. I’ve always loved thunderstorms and being at sea in one is no exception. Though it was a bit scary to be so entirely at the mercy of the weather, it was incredible. Everything was so much more intense, with no land or buildings to muffle the sounds or impede its path. It was awesome. When I was little I used to stand on our porch and clap for the thunderstorms as they rolled through the Texas hill country. This was definitely a storm worthy of applause. And just as quickly as it came, it dissipated and we were once again making our way into the waves towards clear blue skies.
After several hours of uncomfortable but monotonous travel, we came upon our epic adventure. THE KRAKEN. Now that may sound a bit unbelievable, but remember – we were traveling near the Bermuda Triangle, a location steeped in mystery. Early in the afternoon (and far before my watch I’d like point out), we realized something wasn’t right with the engines. The boat had slowed significantly down from our intended speed and the engine was causing the boat to shudder. After an exchange of quizzical looks, we all dashed outside to see what the problem was. Looking over the port side, we saw a giant orange line drifting around our stern. Giant is probably an understatement. It was monstrous. After a few attempts by the men of the crew to pull the Kraken tentacle free, we realized it was wrapped around our propeller and there to stay. Jamie braved the open ocean and jumped in with a mask to check it out. The line (read: tentacle) was several yards long and about six inches thick, a massive tug line used to pull barges out to sea. With some fancy maneuvering, we finally freed ourselves from the Kraken’s grasp and headed on our way, bringing the tentacle with us for proof (and to ensure it didn’t snag someone else). I think Jamie and Virginia are taking it back to Maine for its final resting place. I kept a small piece of the Kraken as my own form of proof. Of course the pictures help too…
The Kraken.
My watch went off without a hitch. The skies were finally clear and I used a really great iPad app to find all the constellations. I think I’ve decided that Cassiopeia is my favorite. But only because I can always find it…
DAY 5 – May 23
After such an eventful day yesterday, the 8 to 11 watch was a breeze. After having late night watches it was really nice to be awake at normal hours with everyone else. The company was infinitely better and I spent my watch listening to good music and enjoying the clear night sky. Still no land, but we’re getting close! We crossed the 200-mile mark from Bermuda earlier and we’ve started to hear radio traffic from the island. All good signs!
DAY 6 – May 24
We made it! Bermuda really does exist. At about seven this morning we made our way towards the tiny isolated island with all the excitement we could muster. After so many days at sea, land was a welcome relief and the brightly colored houses and miles of pink beaches beckoned us to come explore. Bermuda is a cluster of 21 islands, the largest eight of which are connected by bridges. This creates a fishhook shape about 21 miles long and only 1.5 miles across at the widest part. A volcano, which is now extinct, created the islands and the isolated location makes Bermuda a hotspot for marine life. Bermuda is ringed by extensive coral reefs, littered with shipwrecks to prove how treacherous they can be to navigate. The only cut in the reef is off the Northeast point of the island, near the port of St. George’s. After maneuvering through the cut in the reef, we headed through an even narrower passage through two smaller islands called Town Cut. This is the main entrance to St. George’s harbor and is just barely wide enough to accommodate Matau. As we slowly made our way through, the rocky shoreline seemed just feet away on either side. Apparently they bring cruise ships in the same way, though I have no idea how they could possibly fit.
Once we made it through Town Cut safely, we headed to the customs dock to clear in to Bermuda. After some forms and passport inspection, we were officially welcomed to Bermuda and moved down the shoreline to another large dock. The dock was surrounded by waterfront restaurants and shops and was a perfect home base for the next few days. Being primarily industrial, it was strewn with large tires intended to fend boats off the rough concrete edges. To prevent awful black marks on the side the boat, we strung our own fenders up between the hull and the tires, making for a rather challenging disembarkation. To get off the boat, we have to climb over the railing, hop over our fender to a smaller tire, then step up on to a bigger tire and finally on to the burning concrete of the dock. After a few rough attempts, we got the hang of it and headed down the shoreline for lunch. Being the good Texans we are, we immediately zoned in on a restaurant promising nacho appetizers. Though they were nothing like real Tex-Mex nachos, they were enough to satisfy our craving and we demolished the pile quickly.
We spent the rest of the day cleaning the boat and getting it in shape for the rest of its passage to Connecticut, but not before Merrin and Kylie thoroughly photo-documented our arrival in Bermuda.
