Monday, November 14

Bermuda is crowded with sailboats waiting to go south. Two tropical waves, tropical depressions, huge seas and gathering gales have forced larger boats than ours to wait for a favorable weather window. Life at the marina is a series of chores. Every chore costs $40. Weld the spoke of the steering wheel. Done. $40 please. Cab ride to Hamilton to pick up marine supplies. Done. $40 please. Fix block for the running back stay. Done. $40 please. Get new boat hook. Done. One and one-half times $40 please. Voyager Marine in Essex, Massachusetts has arranged for a new Simrad chartplotter/radar to be flown to us. It is supposed to arrive tomorrow. We are to pick it up at customs, and it will be duty-free because we are a boat in transit. All under warranty. One hundred times $40 avoided. Excellent. If she doesn't abandon this expensive hobby, Donna will make all future electronic purchases at Voyager. That sort of service is definitely worth bragging about. The only real repair outstanding is the autopilot. The two competing repair men in Bermuda referred us to the other in order to get faster service. We have made an appointment with Craig Scott or Scott Craig of Marine Comminications to look at it maybe Wednesday but even more likely sometime Thursday. Island time. Everyone is busy. After the Simrad arrives tomorrow, we will leave with the first favorable forecast, autopilot working or not. We have been encouraged by the wisdom of our friend Admiral Mike, who laughed at the wimps looking to have a machine steer. Plus, we think that the one and one half hour watches will make driving much easier to endure. With large seas, manually steering a sailboat can be very tiring as you manipulate the rudder to prevent the sail from jibing and the boat from pitching. Ann did the provisioning today for the rest of the voyage. Michael has been on top of the weather and has been commiserating with others about the convergence of possible wind and wave action. If we can't leave by Thursday, we may have to keep the boat here for a month so that we can join our spouses in Tortola for Thanksgiving. However, water tanks have been filled, and the diesel jerry cans secured. Jack lines are tighter. The boat has been washed. We are drinking gin and tonics. Life is good.

Welcome III