1984 (1) – Atlantic Crossing - First Leg

Escher's Seahorses.  An Art Quilt, 23" x 16"

To go to the beginning of this book, Tropic Moon: Memories, click HERE.

Ed and I spent the 1983-84 winter ashore.  We moved in with my sister, Lynn, and her two young sons, in Arlington, Virginia.  I signed up with Kelly Girls.  They gave me a quickie course in how to use a word processor.  The certificate I was awarded was larger than either of my college diplomas!  I spent a couple months doing clerical work for Naval Supply, commuting daily on the Metro.  I was offered a permanent job, but I turned it down.  I explained that Ed and I would be sailing across the Atlantic that summer. 

Our journey to Europe began when we left the boatyard in Oxford, Maryland, which had been Tropic Moon's home for the winter.  We cruised south down the Chesapeake Bay.  Our jumping-off point was an anchorage in the York River in the southern Chesapeake.  We began our passage, heading east, southeast, on June 5th, and arrived in St. George, Bermuda, on June 11th, six days and 800 miles later.  Our trip to Bermuda was an easy one.  The weather was good through the whole passage, with wind for the first four days.  Then the breeze faded out to a calm.  We motored our last two days, but received sufficient wind at the end of the trip to arrive at Bermuda under full sail, much to Ed's delight. 

The first day of the trip was panic-time for me.  The realization of what one has committed oneself to settles in with uncomfortable insistence; a voyage of endless hours and days looms ahead.  The second day was given over to misery and seasickness as we crossed the Gulf Stream, a river within the ocean, with rough, choppy seas.  My stomach, my fears and my watch-keeping all settled into routine on the third day.  By the fifth day we had difficulty remembering which day it was.  When the passage drew to an end it was with a feeling of, "What?  Over so soon?"

Escher's Seahorses.  Detail.

We spent three lovely weeks in Bermuda.  It was probably the prettiest island we visited in our travels, and will surely always be a favorite.  I refer to it as an island, but Bermuda is actually a collection of some 120 islands and islets, some of which have been joined together by bridges and causeways.  Bermuda's total area is about twenty square miles and the length, by road, from end to end, is only twenty-two miles, at some places less than one-half mile in width.  The highest hill is 260 feet above sea level, so you don't see the island at any great distance when approaching by sea.

Bermuda is a land of colorful flowers - hibiscus, oleander, bougainvillea - and lush, green foliage.  The greenery bordering the islands' roads gives way to glimpses of secluded coves and opens up to panoramas of turquoise-colored bays with the darker-hued sea beyond.  While Bermuda's homes come in every color imaginable, with bright yellows, pinks, and blues predominating, all roofs are, by law, white-washed and similarly rutted in style, as the roofs form the fresh water catchments system for the island.  Visitors cannot rent cars on Bermuda, but can rent bicycles and the very-popular mopeds, or travel by taxi or bus.  Our favorites were the modern pink buses, which could be taken from one end of the island chain to the other for less than one dollar.  We bought a book of bus tickets on our arrival, and made good use of them during our stay.

Surprisingly, we ran into people we already knew.  We met a boat (Rapid) that we’d known in Road Town, Tortola, and another sailboat (Skuld), that we remembered from Bequia, four years before.  The Skuld people were living ashore in North Carolina, and had sailed to Bermuda for their vacation.  They had one child, who had been a baby when we met in Bequia, and now had a second child in diapers, and nursing.  They had sailed to Bermuda with both kids!

We also met a man who was single-handing a 30-foot sailboat from Spain to Long Island.  He had done the leg from the Azores to Bermuda in 24 days.  I’d never seen anyone so eager to talk to people.  He rowed around the harbor visiting boats every night.  He had a wedding to attend in Long Island at the end of the month, and we doubted he was going to make it on time.