Well, that was the voyage from hell and I’m glad it’s over and done.
We’re sitting nicely in the St George Dinghy and Sports Club marina in
St George, Bermuda.

What was supposed to take us 7 days actually took us 10 days, with three
storms and then no wind in between. The first storm was the longest –
while the weather forecasting clowns were showing wind out of the East
at 18 knots, we were hanging on to the wheel at 36-38 knots with gusts
to 44 knots for 15 hours. One would assume you could see something like
that but perhaps you can’t.

The final storm, on the second last day, was a ripper. Padraig actually
got flattened in a squall with him hanging on to one side of the wheel
and me holding the other side telling him that it was a sailboat and
that eventually it would come back upright. The last reading I saw
before all the drama took off was 55 knots over the deck. I don’t know
how you can be a NOAA weather forecaster and put your hand out for your
pay once a fortnight. Still..

Well, we are here now and this is a wonderful harbor and country. It
has only 60,000 people in total. We have spent the last two days doing
all those little boat jobs that mount up. Padraig went up the mast
today first to untangle the Radar reflector and second to install the
Lightning dissipater. Hard work and the second one was beyond where I
could lift myself. Main is off having some repairs done and the
Genoa is ripped along the foot and also being repaired.

We had a group dinner tonight followed by a rum tasting put on by
Goslings, the oldest business in Bermuda - 1806.

We are all leaving here on Wednesday morning for the Azores, all 37
boats. We’ve already made plans to visit the owner of the other
Catalina 42 in the Rally, who has bought an apartment in Turkey, and to
cruise in company with some Danes through the bottom of the Med.

Hoges out of the eye of the storm.