Leaving Bermuda

Hi folks:
Well, finally we are leaving Bermuda. It was a nice stay, but everything is very expensive here. $7.00 per gallon for diesel, $3.50 per gallon for bottled water. Anyway, it should be 10-12 days to St. Maarten. Looking forward to getting some boat parts at decent prices. Timmy and Jeff are off exploring awhile I do some online Christmas shopping. We'll probably leave after Herb's 2000Z weather report.

Here's the anchorage at Convict Bay, St. Georges.

The Backside

Well, the backside was only 50kts. The seas were smaller than than the night before and less scary since it was daytime. The were no hard impacts and things were not flying out of the cabinets like hurricane night. There was much less rain which allowed the waves to break alot more.

The height of the camera is 15 ft. When the horizon disappears and a wave blocks it, add that height to 15 ft.

In The Eye

The first part of the Hurricane was over at 6am. We thought the whole thing was over. WRONG. We were only in the eye. Until 9 am the winds were calm but the seas were 25' from every direction. There was absolutely no organization and they were slapping the boat broadside no matter what we did. We tried to motor and may have gone a few miles but then Part II started. The winds picked up and it started all over again.

Hurricane Noel

Hurricane Noel hit us Friday night from 5pm to 6am. This is video of the gale prior to Noel during the day on Friday. The winds are 35-40 kts. with 15' seas. It was a nice warmup to what would follow.