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32 degrees 07.2 minutes North
65 degrees 24.5 minutes West
We are less than 100 miles from the British Protectorate of Bermuda and we hope to arrive by late this evening. Jem and her team will take a break from the high seas for a week or so. In addition, we will have a crew change, with Stewart, who will return back to the US, being replaced by James, who is arriving from the UK on Monday.
The last two days have been blissful – clear, sunny days, temperatures in the 70s, a nice 15-20 knot wind off our beam and reasonably calm seas. A dramatic difference from the conditions we were experiencing just a few days ago. In fact, the conditions are so nice, I could even consider going the next leg of 1,900 miles to the Azores (volcanic islands that are part of Portugal).
Thus, not only will we shortly arrive on this British beach head (What else should we call Bermuda, we still are not sure what a protectorate is), but the balance of the team will now be decidedly British (with a 3:1 ratio). It probably was never fair to say this was a joint Anglo-American effort as the final destination is the UK, the Captain swears his loyalty to the Queen and we are on a British registered boat (flying a rare blue Royal Naval ensign no less). We do have tea time several times a day although we have avoided baked beans for breakfast, marmite on toast and warm beer at cocktail hour (at least, so far!).
This does bring up the whole issue of language . . . sometimes we really have had trouble understanding each other. As a result, we have had to come up with a dictionary and I, having spent my fair share of time in the UK, have been pressed into service as a translator.
Some of the differences are well known to all of us – pants versus trousers, rubber versus eraser, pavement versus sidewalk, marquee versus tent, caravan versus trailer but then there are those other words that are better off without a translation:
Left footer
Kip
Tosser
To whinge
Stroppy
Slapper
In addition, we’ve had ongoing discussions of Cockney rhyming slang (a language I’ve been happy to have been taught by James Sheed). Thus, the term Septic for an American is now completely understood amongst the crew (Septic Tank, Yank).
We have also learned some interesting trivia about the English language and its expressions. For example, do you know where the term “white elephant” comes from? It comes from the days of the Raj, in British India. A white elephant (albino) was most sacred in India and, if you owned one, you could not put it to work – you could only look after it. Thus, explains the term “a white elephant”. Do any of you know where the term “Elephant & Castle” comes from?
We have all been avidly reading during our 900 mile jaunt from Florida to Bermuda. For some reason, much of our reading has focused on maritime dramas. Everyone has now read and enjoyed Skeletons on the Zahara, which has some great color on 19th century Connecticut and its sailing merchants (thanks for the recommendation Mary Ann Reed); Into The Heart of the Sea has also been a big hit (about Nantucket whalers and the story leading up to Moby Dick}. The Lone Voyager has been read as has This Old Man and the Sea (not Hemingway’s book).
We hope to send a message tomorrow confirming the time of our safe arrival in Bermuda however we are pushing hard to get to Customs before they close so that we can celebrate both our arrival and Mike’s birthday in the traditional fashion – “tiredness” therefore may influence tomorrow’s report!
We shall be on R&R for a week and hope to be on our way again, weather permitting, on or around Tuesday 15 April – so please don’t forget us!
Before we go though we would all like to say how overwhelmed we have been by the messages of support and encouragement we have received – when you’re tired, hungry and scared it’s nice to know that there are people out there who think you deserve nothing better – keep them coming, they mean a great deal to us and are a lift when spirits are low.
FOR PHOTOS PLEASE CLICK ON http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Yacht.Jem/AtlanticCrossing
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