Asteroid - Log Wednesday 16th May 2012

Hi all,

Well D-Day mark II has arrived at last. Are we ready - not 100% as there will always be something else you think you need to do or buy but no time now - we are filling up with water and will be leaving the dock in about half an hour. Jack and Ciara are enjoying their last bit of a runaround on land for at least 10 days. Our starting gun is at 1300 and then ourselves and about 17 or so other boats (the fleet of 35 has been divided as it is too big to start altogether) will sail through the St Georges Town Cut. Hopefully plenty of photos will be taken as based on photos of previous years it is quite a sight.

We have enjoyed Bermuda - it is an absolutely stunningly beautiful island. Quite built up as it is a very small island - we didn't see many fields on our travels but with all mainly individual houses up and down the hills with so much greenery - ferns, palms and all the exotics of the botanical gardens. And it is so well maintained - the islanders certainly take pride in their homeland. All the houses have stone roofs which are made from Bermuda stone. The roof is in separate "tiles" which are then joined with morter, cement washed and then finally whitewashed.  These white roofs together with the wonderful colours on the houses - soft pinks, blues, purples and vivid lime greens and reds - paint a very quaint picture on the landscape. The people themselves are so friendly, polite and go out of their way to help you. It is certainly an island I would like to visit again. As I said before they have put a great emphasis on keeping their history alive and this combined with the lovely towns - we visited Hamilton, the capital, and St Georges where we are anchored - plus the wonderful beaches would make a wonderful holiday for anyone.

We visited Hamilton on Monday, taking the bus which was driven at breakneck speed very safely. Hamilton is the capital of Bermuda and is a bigger town with more shops, parks etc. We enjoyed perusing the shops - Brian purchasing some more fish lures for our next fishing competition. I was despatched into the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club to enquire as to whether we could eat lunch there or was it members only. We were made very welcome - although Brian had to purchase a shirt as he was slightly underdressed! The dining area looks out over the sea and we enjoyed a very nice lunch with, again, the most friendly staff to enhance the visit. There we met again our friends Janice and Henry from Cloudy Bay, a Norhavn motor yacht, which they are bringing across the Atlantic to the South Coast of England. We returned to St Georges via the old Royal Navy Dockyard which has been restored but unfortunately we did not leave enough time to enjoy it. And then another ferry ride back to St Georges.

Altogether we have really enjoyed our time here. Nick, Kieran and Lyall from the ARC have done a terrific job of making us all welcome, putting up with our various demands and providing great social activities where we all got to know each other much better. They are a very good advertisement for the World Cruising Club.

Will sign off now but will try to do at least one log while we are on way.

Loretto