Author: Leni
Date: 05.03.2023
Position: St. George’s Harbour
Nautical Position: 23° 24.8 N 064° 29.9 W
Etmal: 10271 NM
Ship: Pelican of London

After Two Weeks in Bermuda

We have been here in Bermuda for nearly two weeks and the town of St. George’s got really familiar to us. By now we know all the nice places to hang out, where we can get internet and what the wifi passwords of all restaurants around the place are. We start to meet the same people twice, the frozen yogurt shop got our second home and our credit cards start to bleed whenever we enter the supermarket, because we have all spent too much money in the last days.

All in all, Bermuda is unquestionably one of the nicest stops on our journey. The countryside is beautiful with its wonderful beaches, fantastic reefs and the stunning turquoise colour of the water. But what makes this place really special and kind of magic are the people who live here. Here in Bermuda and especially in this tiny village St. George’s there is a heart-warming common sense of interest in other people and their history and happiness to meet and also help others.

People we meet

We talked to many people, who were mostly really friendly and open to us. Therefor we learned a lot about the island and the life on it. We met a woman who told us how hard it is to cope with the high prices in Bermuda. Another man told us something about Bermudian culture and lifestyle. Yesterday we met an archaeology professor in the bus to Hamilton. He was really interested in our exciting story of sailing half around the world. Afterwards he asked us, whether we want to meet and have an exchange with his group of young archeology students. One of the great things of travelling with a tall ship and not with huge groups of other tourists in the main season of tourism is, that you see many hidden faces of the destinations you visit and that the people have time and nerves for you. Additionally, you have some stories to tell and the exchange with others will never get boring.

Resignation

Although we like Bermuda, we were happy about the message that we will leave today. We were happy until there was rumbling in the engine room. A rumbling followed by a brain destroying, terrible silence. A quietness louder than the reliable sound of the generators and the slight vibration of our messroom tables. The generator, we named it trouble, was out and our departure was sad history.

We all were frustrated, some more, others less. It feels hard because we are all looking forward to the Azores and to Dartmouth and as well to our homes and these never-ending delays on our way back home are tiring. Those, who are homesick had to fight against tears because home just isn’t coming closer. The mood on Pelican is getting worse. There is a little green beast sitting in all our minds and eating at our nerves, making conflicts more likely.

Our old beloved Peli

But as always, we will manage it as a team and make the best out of the situation. At this point I want to pay respect to Patrik, our engineer and to the rest of the professional crew. They are working day after day very hard to make our departure possible. Pelican is a tall ship and tall ships are known for needing lots of work. But Pelican is our home, she has a soul, a wonderful history and is beloved by many trainees and professional sailors. She is worthy of being taken care of. Hence we put work and energy into maintenance to hopefully give her a long live. We will stay positive, that we get everything fixed. While we waited today, our teachers came up with a great entertaining programe.

A productive morning and emotional reunions with long time missed items

In the morning we were allowed to work at our exercises from home or just chill and do what we want. It was Sunday and some students wished to go to the church in St. Georges, so before midday the church going group left the ship. After lunch we had a meeting with the voyage crew containing a little lost and found box fashion show. The box was overfilled with masses of our crap flying around the ship.

Tamsin announced the new rule, that we have to answer a question to the topics out of our blue book to get our lost items back. Everything that wasn’t claimed at the end of the day went to the bosun’s department ending up as a rag. Some people where really happy to get their stuff back. For example, it’s not funny and connected with a few problems containing heads bumping against doors to live two weeks without a headlamp on a ship with broken generators!

Workshops and some questionable Power Point Presentations

In the afternoon we collected some ideas for workshops offered by everyone who had some ideas for a cool group activity. Afterwards we could decide whether we want to go to the sports ground or to Tobacco Bay. At the Bay Hanna taught us some professional swimming techniques. There will maybe be some other workshops tomorrow. In the evening the archaeology professor and his students visited our ship and tomorrow we will have a look at their excavation.

A big highlight of the day was the Power Point karaoke after dinner. It was Manuel’s workshop in which the participants each got a funny topic and had to present it in front of all crewmembers. We were given some information about the Cold War in the old cabin 6 where Theo and Hannes fought against the Dodo Army. Other presentations talked about the trend of second haircuts, the Dog Kennels or the best ways to die on Peli. The last two very creative Power Points gave us an overview over „Nasalverkehr“ and the art of comparing human heads with Pelican heads (toilets).

It was a pleasure and great fun to listen to those impressively silly presentations. In fact, this evening of laughing lifted our mood and was exactly what we needed to go on in good spirit, enjoying our stay and all the fantastic experiences in Bermuda, even if it is longer than expected.

Leni: Liebe Grüße an meine Familie, Amaia und die Philos. Ich vermisse euch und freue mich euch, bald wieder zu sehen.