2 for 1 Bermuda Special

I have been trying to keep my blogs positive, which may explain why I do not write as often as I should. With several poor weather days behind me and several yet to go, I am compelled to tell you more about a real Bermuda winter. At this moment I am experiencing the second of back to back storm force weather patterns, which I call 2-for-1 Bermuda Specials. I will spare you the meteorological spiel but know that this is a common occurrence here. As if one storm of this caliber is not enough to cause sleep deprivation and make you beg for mother-natures mercy. By no. 2 you are in an I-can-not believe-this-is-happing-to-me-again fog and fantasizing about things you do not believe in, like mind altering substances or anything that might help you execute a wake-me-when-its-over strategy. Storm no. 1 was rough with frequent gusts into the 50 knot range which emptied the contents of my dinghy, including an external fuel tank. (This is sill too painful to talk about.) But this time storm no. 2 is a doozee. Or should I say doozeer? Anyway, its not pretty and the barometric pressure continues to fall. Like many storms before, I try to sleep but can not because it is like trying to sleep on a carnival ride. Instead I sit at the chart table and watch the instrument panel, my entertainment center, to confirm that the wind IS as bad as it sounds. I try to distract myself from the sloshing noises all around me, the howling in the rigging (it sounds like a tribe of banshees) and the creaking of the cabinetry, and hope. Hope that the weather will improve soon. Hope is a wonderful, powerful thing. I should be grateful that I have internet access and a weather knowledgeable captain (in Boston, the lucky dog) giving me updated reports based on the latest satellite imagery, but sometimes it hurts to hear the truth. Or in my case the forecasted truth, which is always subject to change, or so I hope.