Yesterday was sightseeing day. The group climbed on the bus and rode into Hamilton. King rates a city by the number of Marine stores it has. Hamilton has 3 so it was right up there. Of course, we had to visit them all. Ed and Cliff wisely pealed off from us early in the marine store quest. Claire and Bill stuck it out to the end. Exhausted, we arrived at the prearranged meeting point 1 1/2 hrs early. After lounging around the waterfront benches for awhile waiting for Ed and Cliff, I spotted the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. We decided to be a bit bold and see if they would accept our ABYC membership. Bill and I ventured in. Claire and King had decided they didn't want to be embarrassed by us and stayed outside. 5 minutes later we were in the bar ordering drinks! Sweet reward.
We received the following note from a fellow SSCA member who was on the radio the night Herb told us the Coast Guard was searching for us.
"Kingsley just wanted to remind you to NOT have anyone on shore looking for daily /regular position reports from your SPOT device....as they will be disappointed (and could become concerned)
SPOT uses the Globalstar satellites and as such is limited to having only occassional / very sporadic coverage when further than a couple hundred miles offshore.....and NO coverage at all in the middle of the ocean)
This usually works out to be 15-20 mins of coverage during any one hour, max....and/or a few minutes of coverage every 15-20 minutes.....
The BEST that can written about this is on the SPOT website.... http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=109 And, to say that they down-play things is an understatement..."
The same goes for the AIS system. It continues to work very well for us ship to ship but unless there is a transmitter available it will not show up on line. Sorry, wish we could do better.
On a more fun note, today was provisioning day. Instead of traveling by bus I received a generous offer of a ride from a lady we met last night setting at a near by table at dinner. Truly unbelievable. We continue to be blown away by the generosity of the people in Bermuda. To date, I have been shopping in the market in St George. Imagine trying to do your weekly shopping at the 7 Eleven....and then triple the price. Needless to say, I have kept the shopping to a minimum. But today! Oh my, I was in supermarket heaven! We are not talking Publix but maybe a small Winn Dixie. Prices on most items were about a 1/4 to a 1/3 higher. Some higher but considering everything is shipped in, not too bad. And, not only did my new friend take me to and from the grocery but she then insisted that she take Cliff to the airport. I have promised her to play it forward.
So, you'll be hitting SPOT every 15-20 minutes during your shift? It'll give you something to count! ;P
ReplyDeleteI decided it was never too late to respond but I realize 7 years may be a bit much. The answer is ......no. It would interrupt me being ill.
DeleteWhen are you planning to exit Bermuda?
ReplyDeleteI can now say.....Read the next blog
DeleteYou would think instead of responding to old messages I might go back and fix all the typos.
Delete