With a second day busy with arrivals it was time to relax and have a Gosling's Dark n'Stormy at the Dinghy Club bar, which has the best views of St George's harbour and all of the visiting yachts. This is a busy time of year for Bermuda as many yachts pass through on their way to the Azores and also back to the US east coast and so the anchorage is busy. The Dinghy Club is reserved only for rally boats and it's great to see so many boats stern to the dock, and the rally also takes over the Town Docks.
Tonight's party was a pirate costume theme and everyone certainly got into the spirit of it and let their hair down after the 5-6 day trip up from the BVI. There was a delicious BBQ cooking up in the corner of the terrace that was all in support of the 'Relay for Life' a local charity and the DJ kept everyone entertained with some great music. 'Allegro' arrived during the middle of all this and as they passed the Club they got a rousing cheer from all the pirates at the Club.
Many crews have been out and about exploring the islands of Bermuda on scooters, as there are no rental cars, making it down to the city of Hamilton and some as far as the Dockyard to check out the preparations for the Americas Cup next year.
For many this is their first time here in Bermuda and they are all pleasantly surprised by this gem of a place in the middle of the Atlantic! It is an interesting mix of american and english, tropical and temperate and some of the most well mannered people you will meet. Bermuda is very civilised and very welcoming to everyone, cars will stop and ask if you are lost, people will say good afternoon to everyone in the store when they walk in - it's just a neat place!
Looking ahead there is a chance for boats to take on duty free fuel tomorrow, which will be a long day but well worth saving just shy of $2 per gallon. The leg was a little light for the last 2 days so we are seeing some high engine hours so there will be plenty of savings being made at the pump. It will be interesting to see how the motoring effects the results which will all be announced at the Prizegiving on Sunday night.