Bermuda again...Orion feels home

[Jim Walsh]

When do you head back home?

First week in July or thereabouts. I start missing my Vette about then.....

[Jim Walsh]

Very nice Jim. Orion looks magnificent. What is the blue canvas oriented vertically at the base of your mast. I like how your set up your sun awning. Are you happy with it? Is it set up for catching rain water?

Thank you,
Those are just halyard bags with a Velcro closure. Keeps the tails secure (and they are a great place to keep a winch handle secure) and I’ve never had to attend to them when in use.
The awning is fine until the high teens at anchor, then I remove and secure. Primarily to reduce windage. It hasn’t been asked to act as a water catchment system to date. It only takes a couple minutes to set up or douse. It zips to the dodger and has one pole aft. A couple tiedowns and I’m done. I have a couple side panels I can zip on and tie off on the upper lifelines to block that late afternoon sun, but I never use them.

[Jim Walsh]

...It’ll be nice to see you and the Tiara crew.

Jim - let me know if you can make it down to RHADC Sat June 22. I'll put you on the guest list!

John Ring

Sounds great. Thanks, John. I’ll be the guy in the blue blazer and open white shirt with the cravat. Shorts too......honest.

[Capt Hook]

Sounds great. Thanks, John. I’ll be the guy in the blue blazer and open white shirt with the cravat. Shorts too......honest.[/quote]

Bermuda shorts no doubt.

[Capt Hook]

Jim, keep an eye on Andrea.

[John Ring]

...
Jim - let me know if you can make it down to RHADC Sat June 22. I'll put you on the guest list!

Sounds great. Thanks, John. I’ll be the guy in the blue blazer and open white shirt with the cravat. Shorts too......honest.

I’ll put you on the buffet list too - see you there!
(I’m going with a blue blazer & pineapple shorts!)
John Ring

[Joe Myerson]

Orion looks picture-perfect, Jim.
You might run into the manager of the Bermuda airport, whose name and business card I lost. He is from Rhode Island and once owned a CD. He drove us to the supermarket to load up on supplies before we headed home.
Enjoy!

--Joe

[Jim Walsh]

Andrea was kind enough to lose strength before hitting the island. She was helped along the way by another approaching front. We ended up with light rains and winds under 25 knots.
In anticipation I moved Orion to a more secure anchorage so I would be in the lee of the land should it hit as forecast.
This morning the sky is clearing and the winds have clocked to the north-northeast. I have moved back to Convict Bay which offers more protection from the north. Winds are currently 25 knots or more. Good ground tackle is invaluable.

[John Stone]

Very nice Jim. Gorgeous sunrise/sunset. Thanks for sharing.

[Jim Walsh]

Another overcast, rainy, windy day in Bermuda. Just windy enough to keep one apprehensive even though you know you are securely anchored. All day yesterday it was a mixture of clouds and sun with 15 to 25 knot winds. I went ashore for a couple hours while the sun was predominant but I was just as I got aboard the dinghy I was chased back to the boat by a light shower.
Yesterday evening was so cool I almost ( almost....) put on long pants.
The seas outside the reefs have been quite large due to the passing fronts, generally unsettled weather, and strong winds. The seas today are 5 to 9 feet, tomorrow are 8 to 12 feet, Saturday 8 to 12 feet. There’s always an accompanying chop on top of these seas.
I’m looking forward to more settled conditions so I can resume swimming and generally goofing off.....

[Jim Walsh]

5/23 Thursday. This gent at the top of the mast is Michele ( hereafter Mike), an Italian gent who has a business in London which arranges for adventurous vacations, if that’s what you would use to describe a cruise to Iceland or Greenland. His latest cruise was to the Caribbean with a scheduled stopover at Bermuda. He arrived about a week after I did. He had flown his retired father in to spend a few days visiting the island. They had come close to Orion a couple times when headed ashore in their dinghy so I said hello when I saw them ashore. The father spoke no English but had told his son that Orion is what a boat should look like. This coming from a man who was staying on a Hanse 54 with all the latest bells and whistles....a generator, water maker, fridge, freezer, washing machine, dryer. We all laughed when I said perhaps we can make a trade. Mike’s dad was not a sailor and flew home a day before the boat was due to leave.
Mike decided to make one last check by going up the mast before heading to Customs to clear out. He was amazed to find a jib halyard shackle with a crack in it. He had just retrieved the jib from the local sailmaker the day before and raised and furled the repaired jib without noticing the faulty shackle. He was able to immediately replace it from his onboard spares.
An hour later I saw him at Customs and told him I took this photo and would email it to him. He laughed and said he had taken a picture of Orion while he was up there and that he would email it to me when he arrived at the Azores in a couple weeks.

[Jim Walsh]

Monday I had lunch with two of the CDSOA’s finest, Cathy and Bruce. They were vacationing on the island and reached out to me in an email. We were able to meet up for a few hours here in St. George’s where Orion is anchored. We had gorgeous weather and enjoyed a nice lunch at the Wahoo Grill, then we took a walk in the village. We just happened to come across a nice ice cream shop too.
In the attached photo you can just make out Orion over Bruce’s head above his right shoulder. A good time was had by all!

[Jim Walsh]

Tuesday, Phil Richmond, singlehanding his 32 footer Bloodshot, left for the Azores....which is 1,700 miles on the rhumbline.
John Stone had sent me an email several days ago advising me to keep an eye out for Phil, who he had met down in the Virgins. It happens that Phil had snuck in several days ago, then went to Hamilton for a few days. When he returned to St. George’s he spotted me and stopped for a visit. He is just as nice as John had said he was. Very personable, and had lots of long distance experience in his 32 footer. There’s a huge difference in the experiences of a small boat sailer and the cruisers with the larger boats which have all the conveniences of home.
Phil had a novel, given to him by John, to which he added his inscription and handed over to me. I will read it on my return passage, add my inscription, and pass it on to another long distance sailor.
I passed a book on to Phil, which I had read on the run down here, The Cape Horners. It has an inscription wishing Phil luck on his run to the Azores and beyond.

[Cathy Monaghan]

Hi Jim,

We spotted Bloodshot in Hamilton Harbor too.

By the way, ex-CDSOA member Merrie Bergman and crew, aboard Alora, have returned to Bermuda with a ripped mainsail after leaving there for the Azores last Monday. She’ll have the sail repaired there in Bermuda. She decided to cancel her trip to the Azores and will be returning, instead, to Rhode Island. Anyway, look for Alora. She’s a Passport 40+ with a dark blue hull, probably tied up at the dinghy club if not anchored near you.

It was great meeting up with you while we were celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary.

Fair winds,
Cathy Monaghan
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

[Jim Walsh]

Hi Jim,

We spotted Bloodshot in Hamilton Harbor too.

By the way, ex-CDSOA member Merrie Bergman and crew, aboard Alora, have returned to Bermuda with a ripped mainsail after leaving there for the Azores last Monday. She’ll have the sail repaired there in Bermuda. She decided to cancel her trip to the Azores and will be returning, instead, to Rhode Island. Anyway, look for Alora. She’s a Passport 40+ with a dark blue hull, probably tied up at the dinghy club if not anchored near you.

It was great meeting up with you while we were celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary.

Fair winds,
Cathy Monaghan
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

I’ll look for them between showers. We had strong winds, up to 30 knots, and torrential downpours yesterday. Today we have a bit of a reprieve with only intermittent showers. Tomorrow it’s back to heavier rainfall. Free boat wash!