| At sea. Newport- Bermuda Race: John Roberson reports from on board ‘Pindar AlphaGraphics’ |
|
|
|
| Tuesday, 20 June 2006 | |
|
John Roberson: Do you remember those family holidays as kids, when you all piled into the car to go off to some seaside destination, and no sooner than you were at the end of your street, the youngest member of the family said, "are we nearly there yet Dad?" Well Vasco da Cafarri, our patient naviguesser must think she's going to Bermuda with a boatload of impatient young kids! Everyone who comes up on watch asks the same question - how far to go now? Only in this case it's not the beach and buckets and spades we're impatient to get to, it's the Dark 'n Stormies at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club bar. With the exception of myself and our legendary watchleader Campbell Field, we have a boatload of Bermuda virgins on board, so we keep getting the question, what's it like? Unfortunately they don't quite understand when you just answer, "it's Bermudaful". Well other than the most friendly yacht club in the world, and the Dark 'n Stormies, the things that always remind me that I'm back in Bermuda are the tree frogs, the scooters, the smiling faces, the ferries across Hamilton Harbour, and the islands they go to. When you fly into Bermuda on a sunny day, and look down from the plane, it looks as if some one has emptied a packet of Smarties on the islands, every house is a different colour, I do believe they've used the entire Dulux range. Having always previously arrived by plane, it's going to be fascinating to arrive by boat, and motor in through the Great Sound, and negotiate that narrow entrance to Hamilton Harbour. The past 24 hours has been a continued test of our powers of concentration, with our affable skipper Loz Marriott keeping us motivated to push the boat through the fickle and frustrating winds, he's even been handing out his own personal supply of chewing gum! We've trimmed and re-trimmed the sails, we've filled and emptied the ballast tanks, we've shifted the crew weight from windward to leeward and back again, there are those amongst us who can tell you all the ingredients of all the different freeze dried meals we've eaten. The other subjects we've discussed still aren't fit for public reading. At sunset last night, we could see about 30 other boats around us, and when it came up again this morning there were only four in sight, so we hope the rest are behind us, not in front. We think the nearest boat to us is Moneypenny. So are we nearly there yet? |
|
| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 20 June 2006 ) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|