Bermuda - Day 15

I want to thank my kind friends who encouraged me to start this blog. To their credit, it is a fun and convenient way to keep people appraised of my world. Thanks for caring. Many of you are convinced that I can provide a healthy distraction during the long cold months of a New England winter by way of writing about my sunshine warmth filled days, swaying palm trees, pink sand beaches, the art of applying sunscreen and the hazards associated with Bermudas tasty rum drinks. If I am going to do this, I will need to practice writing fiction. But for today, I will speak the truth. Island life (at least for me so far as I live afloat, alone) is not what I expected or wished for. Yes, more often than not the sun does shine, daytime temperatures are in the very comfortable 70s, the water will remain around its current 71 degrees and the blue water makes me smile. So things are far from bad and I've no wish to pack it in, but I am beginning to understand why the locals thought us crazy for not sailing further south. (They have never spent a winter in New England we thought.) Instead of island living, my experience thus far is as though I am exiled off an island. Most days it has been so windy here that it has made living afloat very uncomfortable, even for me. I do not mind the motion, which I think helps me work muscles that normally do not get exercise. It is the howling wind and the inconsistent sloshing and banging of the water against the hull, which is amplified down below. I keep thinking I will get used to it, but my sleep deprivation seems to have put the kibosh on this theory. Today is day 4 of my boat confinement due to high winds 20-40 knots with frequent gusts. (My favorite website is now Weather Bermuda which allows me to easily monitor the marine forecast. I have been impressed with their preciseness.) The winds create choppy waters in the bay that make a wet half-mile dinghy ride into town seem like a pilgrimage. And I lack the faith. On the bright side, I have already read numerous books (none yet worth recommending) and started a blog. So despite my lack of sleep, confinement can be very productive. So when are you coming to visit???

Time for me to go look at the reassuring pretty blue water, again.