We started to shake off our ties to Bermuda this morning. We awoke at 0600 and fired up the coffee percolator that will mark the beginning of a string of 0600 am coffees to come. We departed the Hamilton Princess dock at 0700. The wind was blowing us onto the dock and not having a working bow thruster I used a trick taught to me by George Boston in my younger years. George was skipper of my dad’s first boat and one of the best sailors I ever met. I was fortunate to have him as a mentor and teacher so young. We set a short spring line from the bow, motored up on it which kicked the stern out and away from the dock allowing us to back out to clear water without hitting the dock. Slick. Thank you George. We motored to the fuel dock a short distance away. We put on about 200 gallons of fuel in our 3 tanks plus another 10 gal of emergence fuel in case we need it. We left the fuel dock for the two hour motor up to St Georges to clear customs. The islands of Bermuda are inside a very large barrier reef that is essentially the remnants of the original volcano that created Bermuda millions of years ago. The only way out of the ring of reefs is a channel leading out of St Georges. I’m sure it was very effective as a defense when pirates roamed these waters. We got lucky and found a space at the broken down customs dock on Ordinance Island just big enough for OL. The crew at customs are the nicest group of officials you ever met. I commented next time we visit we will stay in St Georges and not make the trek to Hamilton. Our customs officer, a very nice lady, took me outside and pointed out the hotel she thought would be lovely for our next visit. We said our good byes and she wished us safe travels to the Azores. We again threw off our dock lines stowed them and the fenders for the 10 to 12 day sail to Horta. We all felt the excitement for the longest leg of our journey. Wade, brother Bob and I have never been to the Azores and Bobby last visited when he was third officer on a tall ship. How cool that must have been. We cleared the barrier reef, hoisted the main to the 1st reef, rolled out the jib, cut the engine and OL settled in at 8kts on starboard tack, on our course of 090 to Horta. The seas were a bit lumpy and confused while we made our 10 nm trip to the edge of shelf where it goes from a depth of 197′ to 2000′ and more in an instant. The current quickly veered behind us and the seas began the take on the steady deep water rhythm that we were looking for. Life is good, that is for sure.
A bit of a recap is in odrer about our stay in Bermuda. It was a busy time. We continued to chase down our refrigeration problems. Cleave Horton the owner of Sea Frost refrigeration sent the replacement parts DHL to meet us while in Bermuda where we would install them and get it running. Sounds like a reasonable plan, right? Well things happen differently on islands, even developed islands like Bermuda. When I contacted DHL by email because you cannot make a phone call to a person to save your life, I entered a familiar space. Email hell. As different as Islands are to the mainland they have somethings in common, texts and emails rule. I personally find it bewildering. I still find it somewhat of a miracle that I can hear someone’s voice as if they are right next to me on a block of plastic and computer chips I hold to my ear. We can converse and exchange information in real time. What can be wrong with that? Anyway, I started emailing with Dannisha allegedly a person on the other end. She explained our package was at customs and once it was released it would go out for delivery by DHL. Encouraging, yes? Not so. I and the crew went about the other tasks we had on our list while time ticked away. I would occasionally email Dannisha enquiring about our package. Same answer, it had not been released by customs yet. The next day my patients had worn, so I took a cab to the DHL terminal. My cab driver was “Charles in Charge” and apparently the unofficial mayor of Hamilton. He honked, waved and talked to every person and car we passed on our way to DHL. He was a hoot and a joy to be with. When we arrived at the DHL office at the desk was this nice young girl Annisha. It turns out that Annisha is Dannisha’s daughter. Ahaaaa! Dannisha is a real person. Now I’m making progress, or am I. After consulting her computer Annisha informed me our package is still in customs, it had been released to be picked up by DHL, however customs was not yet open. My heart sank, but being in a let’s get this job done mode I asked if I could go to customs and talk to someone. Annisha smiled and said they are on the other side of a door in back and I could not get my package until the door opened. Now my head is reeling. You mean to say our package was here all along? Yep. I asked when customs will open the door. She politely said she couldn’t be sure but they usually open at 10am. It was now 9:15. Ok, I said I will wait. 10am arrived and I asked Annisha if she would check to see if the door was open. She did and informed me it was not. This checking of the door went on three more time before at 11:40 the door magically opened! I was confident I was going to get our package any minute now. Annisha checked again and reported back that there were 300 packages that now had to go through the door and she did not know when our package would go through and there was no telling how long it would take. Watching a grown man cry must have pulled at one of her heart strings because she went back out to the warehouse once again, and triumphantly carried our package to the counter. I should have been ecstatic, in stead I was happy and confused all at once. Annisha probably weighed 120 lbs and she carried our package with ease to the desk. Having removed the old compressor last night I know how heavy it was and she should not have been able to carried it as easily as she did. I also had a good idea what the expected size for the package should be and the box Annisha brought out was too small. Something was clearly amiss. I thanked Annisha, after all she was an actual person who helped me. Charles in Charge drove me back to the marina. I thanked him and we wished each other well.
I got back to the boat all the time wishing the box was bigger and slowly convincing myself that it was heavier than it actually was. I opened it and my hopes evaporated into thin air once again. There was no condenser a critical component needed to replace the one we destroyed while removing the compressor from Orions Light. Strangely my disappointment was liberating because now I was resigned to the reality we would be like “the old time sailor men” and use ice to keep our perishable food cold until the ice ran out. Repairing the refrigeration would have to wait till Lisbon and was off the to do list so we could turn our attention the next big thing. The radar.
Andy and Kevin took taxies to the airport to fly home. We had a good time and I will miss them. Andy may meet up with us in Horta and finish the sail to Lisbon. It would be great if he does. Bobby Hall and brother Bob flew in and arrived at the marina around 2:30. they checked in to the hotel came down to OL and started in on coaxing our radar into working. I can report that they struggled mightily running down all possible causes, but they too failed after repeated attempts. We were resigned to the reality that we would depart in the morning without a working refrigerator and radar. We were ok with it. We have a good boat, good weather, wind and a good crew. We will be ok and the trip will be even more of an adventure. I have heard many times the joke about how sailing is cruising to exotic places only to be fixing broken equipment and systems when you get there. Like all good jokes there is an element of truth to it but not this time. We will sail Orion’s Light the way she is and we will enjoy the time and experience all the wonders the open ocean has to offer. No more chasing problems other than the ones Poseidon sends our way. Orion’s Light is ready for the second leg of our voyage, the crews is as well. We are off with fair winds and following seas. Azores here we come!