Day 7: Arrive in Bermuda

Bermuda Finish Time: 17:47.37, 15 May 2008


I'm sitting at the upper deck of the St. Georges Dinghy and Sports Club, overlooking the bay. The weather is beautiful, 70 degrees with a cool breeze, mostly sunny and best of all, dry.
The passage was remarkably smooth given the weather we encountered. We suffered minor damage to the headsail sailcover, and two tears on the mainsail luff, but otherwise Severance arrived unscathed.

Our last day sailing, the winds calmed to 15-20 knots and the seas subsided to 12 feet. We were able to retire the storm jib, and run a full main and genoa. The wind clocked to northerly, Severance stopped rolling so feverishly, and we had a pleasant sail to the southwest corner of Bermuda.

After rounding the corner, we sailed north for about 10 miles to the entrance to St. Georges. The wind was on the nose, so we got into "race mode" for the finish.
Races often finish to windward, or upwind. This involves tacking back and forth, because it's not possible to sail directly into the wind. With the sails close-hauled, we were sailing 50 degrees off the wind apparent on the port tack, and 20 degrees off the wind to starboard. Perhaps our wind indicator isn't calibrated after all.

The boat felt well-powered with the 150 genoa. We were at a comfortable heel, with the toerail constantly in the water given the reduced waterline. It felt good to be on an upwind tack, after 6 straight days of running and reaching.

Scott steering upwind

Bermuda receives a lot of boat traffic, and these boats are making major passages. Any vessel here has traveled at least 1000 miles of open ocean. Because of this, Bermuda Harbor Radio keeps track of every vessel visiting the island, as well as information about the brand and capacity of any life rafts aboard, type of emergency transponder, number of crew, and assorted other details. They are incredibly helpful in navigating the channels, and coordinate the comings and goings of massive cruise ships.

We radioed Bermuda Harbor when we sighted land. They requested that we radio again when we reached "town cut", a channel that's roughly the size of a cruise ship. It is in your best interest to confirm that the cut is clear before entering: it's like riding a bicycle across a 1-way bridge and encountering a semi-truck going the opposite direction.

We arrived at the cut, radioed Bermuda Harbor for permission to enter, and sailed through the cut to the customs dock. Customs was uneventful. They confiscated our flare gun, and we left for our slip at the dinghy and sports club.

Docking at the club was stressful. It was a stern-in affair between two boats, necessitating a y-turn among a lot of expensive boats. Add current and a moderate breeze, and it's a little more involved than backing up a uhaul trailer. This was the most nervous I'd been on the trip. My father pulled it off with aplomb, hiding his anxiety and projecting confidence.

enroute to customs



I almost fell on my ass when I first stepped on land. I can still feel the hard ground swaying beneath my feet. It's a nice reminder of what we'd accomplished, how our bodies have adapted to our environment with lingering affects.

Today we're straightening up the boat, then heading to town to see what Bermuda is like.