June 18, 2004
After clearing in with customs and immigration Tuesday morning, June 8, we re-anchored in the yacht anchorage adjacent to the town of St. George. The harbor water, a beautiful turquoise in color, was amazingly clear. We could see our anchor in 30 feet. Two cruise ships were in when we arrived. Since we had been up most of Monday night, we spent much of Tuesday sleeping.
Before arriving in Bermuda, we had not realized the extent of tourism and the cruise ship industry on the local economy. It was their main source of income with the Bermuda dollar at par with the U.S. dollar. During the cruise ship season from April to November, four cruise ships (and sometimes five) made weekly round trips from the northeast coast of the United States (New York, Philadelphia, and Boston) to Bermuda. They started arriving on Monday and then all, except one, rotated during the week between St. George�s and Hamilton (the main city), and sometimes the Royal Naval Dockyard. The last cruise ship left St. George�s at midday Friday. Then, all was quiet until the cruise ships started arriving again on Monday.
Our stay in Bermuda was full of many memories. Everywhere we looked, white rooftops dotted the landscape. Up close, these quarry limestone rooftops were terraced to catch the rainwater. This was the source of water for most people. To keep the roofs clean, they were whitewashed and periodically treated with Clorox. The month before we arrived there had been little rain, and the limited water supply was noticeable upon our arrival.
While in Bermuda we always felt safe walking the streets. In the evening, the sounds of the tree frogs could be heard as we walked along, their noise usually coming from peoples� planter boxes. We found thoroughly enjoyable the �genuine� friendliness of the people. Presently, the population of Bermuda was around 62,000 people, 70% black and 30% white. Like in Britain, people in Bermuda drove on the left side of the road, but unlike in Britain, there weren�t many British accents. �Bermuda� shorts were worn by everyone. Food and fuel were expensive in Bermuda, often 50% to 100% more expensive than the same items in the United States. |
