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Larry's LogSome explanantion is needed before reading the rest. I'm writing most of this about a month after we got to St. Martin, so some details may be a little hazy, but the basics are here. Its obvious when some was written, but our laptop died and it was difficult to do email much less update this site, but such is cruising... I also say above "While There", but were we really in Bermuda? I got to see St. Georges a little, but that's all I saw of Bermuda - more later. Anyway, on with the story... We've been in Bermuda for about 4 days. We flew in late on Thursday, 1/4, and after only a 2 hour delay at JFK Airport, we left, arriving at close to midnight. A friend, Tom, who was watching the boat picked us up and took us and our considerable luggage (last minute boat parts, books, etc.) to the boat. We loaded ourselves and the luggage into his Whaler and, in the rain, got on the boat for the first time in 2 months. (Took 2 trips) Tom was kind enough to also bring along some milk, bread (home baked) home made soup, and some other necessities. He also let us use his whaler for the next couple of days. Very Nice guy... The boat was moored in St. George's Harbour, as you might have seen on the Bermuda Tourism webcam, and was fine. Except of course for the things that had to be fixed. The list was quite extensive. We had arranged for 2 extra crew for the passage to St. Martin, but they both had to back out at the last minute. One let us know about 1 month prior to our departure and the other about 1 week before. We did manage to find replacements through the Internet, but we really didn't know them. This is always a dilemma, but we felt we needed help. Since we didn't know anyone who could go we we called a crew-boat "matching" service, the same one we used on the prior passage. We hoped for the best. We had originally planned to be back in Bermuda on December 30, but a storm that dumped 18 inches of snow in the New York area cancelled those plans. So we made more preparations and cleaned up the house some more for our new tenants, scheduled to arrive on the Saturday after we left. Our plans called for us to fix the things on the boat that needed fixing and then see some of Bermuda, which we had not been able to do before we left in November. I had also ordered replacement stanchions for those that bent and asked Tom to arrange for the boom and vang attachment to be fixed, as well as the alternator to be checked. He had arranged for Triangle Rigging, a very nice guy named Charley Loader, to fix the boom and vang, and receive the stanchions from Tops-In-Quality (TIQ), where I had ordered them. January 5, Friday was OK but the boat was a disaster area. The night before, after we got on the boat, we just turned on the refrigerator, dumped the perishables in it (we had brought along a stryrofoam cooler of frozen meat and chicken)and crashed. I woke up and tried to start fixing the watermaker but realized there were some other things to do first. We had to see the tradesmen about the work they had done on the boat while we were gone. So we got in our borrowed "car", found out were they were located, and went down the harbor to the main marine center. There we found Charley (of Triangle Rigging who had fixed the boom and vang attachment, and who had received the new stanchions from the States I had ordered. I introduced myself as the voice from New York, since we had spoken a few times. He had left me a voicemail message at work the day before, but of course, I wasn't there to pick it up. Anyway, he explained the work he had done and it sounded good. Then he explained the problem with the stanchions. While the stanchions had been received there was a problem. Although they were marked "American Yacht Destiny in Transit" because the invoice didn't have this magic phrase on it, there was duty to pay. Never mind that the box and packing slip had it marked on them. Charley said I had to call TIQ to get them to fax a copy of the invoice with this phrase typed on it. I called from Charley's phone (at a cost of $7.50) and asked for this to be done. The voice at TIQ said "No Problem." While waiting, I asked about the electrician who had repaired the alternator, but he had evidently left for the day. So, we went back to the whaler - wouldn't start. Alright, its got gas, the choke is out, the gear in neutral, try again. This went on for about 15 minutes, with me sweating and cursing, and Diane saying "Whats wrong with it???! I finally said it must be flooded by now, so we started to wait before trying again, but then Charley came down to the dock to say the fax came, but without the corrected wording. The magic words were typed on the PACKING SLIP again, not the invoice. So we went back to his shop to get it straightened out. Another call to TIQ and finally the correct paperwork was sent. It was worth it since the duty would have been $80. Seems that even though the package and packing slip were marked "Yacht Destiny in transit", because the customs people only look at the the invoice (that wasn't marked that way) they charged duty. But we had the right paperwork now, and Charley said he would send this to customs to get the duty reversed. While we were waiting though, the electrician drove up to talk with Charley. We spoke and I finally understood what he had done and that the alternator was fine, just needed to be cleaned from its salt water dowsing in the Gulf Stream. With the stanchion invoice now correct, and the electrician paid, we said we would check back on Monday and hopefully the stanchion duty would be reversed. We left the stanchion package with Charley. Saturday found us stuck on the boat the entire day due to a nasty storm that blew all day. It hit 40 - 45 knots and at times, there were recorded gusts to 55! We had one gust that heeled the boat over so far that it toppled everything off the settee. Sunday we moved the boat to the town dock, near the Customs Office, got water at the St. Georges Dinghy Club (at 5 cents a gallon) and had Tom and his girlfriend Tanya over for drinks in the evening. I tried to plan out what needed to get done before the next passage. We had stayed on the mooring for 2 nights after we arrived, and might have stayed longer, but we found out that it cost nothing to tie alongside the seawall near the customs dock, right in the middle of town. So we moved. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing from the southwest, which blew us hard against the wall. Very nerve wracking. I rigged a breast line across the small inlet, but the next day the dockmaster asked that I remove it since there were dinghies that used the "channel" under the bridge between St. Georges and Ordnance Island. Well, about that time, we had met someone who rented the space across from where we were (on Ordnance Island) and he said we could use his spot, which would be much better in a hard southwesterly breeze. And so we moved to the other side, which was much better in terms of privacy and being blown onto the seawall. Monday, after Charley sent the revised paperwork to Customs, I could finally take possession of the stanchions, except I didn't know it yet. So, 2 days after my 2 Friday phone calls and faxes, a delivery van came knocking on the hull. They had seen Destiny tied up alongside when they picked up the TIQ package from Customs. They said they have a package for me. I told them that I'm not expecting anything new. They showed me the package from TIQ, which I had seen at Charley's shop 2 days before. Since I wasn't sure at that time if all the paperwork had been completed, I refused delivery. Particularly since they wanted another $22 for the delivery. Well, I later found out that the paperwork had been done and the delivery people just happened to know that the yacht Destiny was tied alongside the customs dock, so they tried delivering it. Fortunately, after I refused it, they just redelivered it to Triangle Rigging, where I picked it up Tuesday. During that week, we met several local folks. Paul was a salty looking fellow with a long beard, who lived on his small boat out in the bay. He helped us with our lines when we moved and also when we had first come in. He always waved and said hello when he passed. We also saw Alabama, the town drunk who would walk around talking to himself loudly but mostly left everyone alone. We met Bernie, the semi-retired dockmaster who helped out on his motor scooter. And we met Steve, who had a small boat tied up in from of us at the seawall. Steve worked at Ocean Sails, where we had rented the mooring. Everyone (except Alabama) was very friendly and we enjoyed their company. |