This morning after a delightful swim around the boat followed by a cold shower on the deck we went into town and did some shopping to top up the provisions and get a few things we'd run out of like spinners to attach lures to our line so we can continue to amuse the fish population with our complete lack of aptitude. We took some pictures of one another in the town pillory then booked tickets for a sightseeing train ride to get a better sense of the island and its history. The train turned out to be a sort of truck with two trailers and we were the only passengers. The commentary was quite extraordinary and had obviously been learned completely by rote. "We are going west along Prince Street and to my left is the White Horse which is a very nice place to eat your lunch or dinner. To my right is a pine tree and a wall. On my left now is another pine tree and a very nice view of the Norwegian Majesty". It did include some facts and we saw Tobacco beach, some forts, nice Bermudian houses and over and over this nice view of the cruise ship that as far as we were concerned was blocking a much nicer view of the harbour and our own boat. It turned out that his normal customers all come off the cruise ships and the only variable part of the commentary is to put in the cruise ship name. None the less it was a pleasant diversion for an hour.
I had decided to leave late this afternoon and after getting everything squared away we set off for the fuel dock on the other side of the harbour following a straight route also being used by small boats. About 100 yards before we reached the dock Jim said to me aren't you going to use the channel and pointed to two large pylons sticking out of the water just on our right. The leftmost one had a red top and the right had an indeterminate top that might have been green. Over the years I have learned to trust my judgement but in the second or so I had to make up my mind I decided I must have made a mistake and missed this on the chart so I turned straight between the pylons. Twenty seconds after that a loud scraping sound and judder brought us to a full stop on the reef. Closer inspection showed that the red top pylon had a left arrow painted on it and I should have kept it on my starboard side as I had planned. The other marker was not in fact green but grey and completely irrelevant. I should stress that this was not Jim's fault but mine for not sticking to my guns. As a helpful local pulled us off he consoled us with the fact that we were by no means the first visiting boat who had though this was the channel. At the fuel dock we topped up our diesel and water and I snorkelled under the boat to make sure we hadn't damaged anything important. Fortunately we just knocked a small bit of fibreglass off the back of the keel at its lowest and narrowest point probably as we were being towed. Our keel is solid here so although I will need to patch it up next time we are on the hard to prevent osmosis it isn't going to create a safety or performance problem. We piloted out through the cut and then watched the nice sunset as Bermuda faded into the distance. Bratwurst in hot dog buns with fried onions and a spinach salad for dinner courtesy of Justin, then Louise and Jim turned in as they have the midnight to six am watches.
I am expecting to have to motor all or part of the next 36 hours and am heading North of the rhumb line to get into some wind. After that we will be motoring only if we can't make 5 knots as I want to make the fuel last as long as possible and maintain a reserve of at least 48 hours so we can avoid any severe weather.
I spent a lot of time mentally kicking myself for what happened today. Yes you should stick to a plan but you can't ignore experienced people and you can make mistakes. I think the lesson is to share the plan better even a simple one so other people have a better idea of what you are going to do and what information you have used. As the crew gain experience they are bound to question things and it can be valuable in helping to avoid mistakes particularly as on a long voyage the skipper can get tired - but it only works if they know enough to be able to get it right. As the skipper you can always say no we're doing it my way but once in a while they are going to have a better idea. Gareth, my first mate across the Mediterranean and on the ARC, could be a complete stubborn pain in the ass (and so can I), we argued on many occasions but it kept me on the straight and narrow and as neither of us had the monopoly on being right we could almost always go straight from major argument to sharing a joke without a pause. The wind is starting to flirt with us now so hopefully we will have the sail up by morning.
Fair winds and flat seas to you all.
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