Tall Ships

When I was 10, I remember my mother taking us to see the Tall Ships in Southampton. I don't remember much except that we just saw a bunch of ships on the water. I don't think we went on any of them, or what they looked like.

Two weekends ago the Atlantic Tall Ships race stopped in Bermuda to celebrate the BDA 400, and let's say that this time was much different – much more of an event.

They started coming in to Hamilton Harbour from about Wednesday. I think that some were late because the week prior had an unusually little amount of wind. The race was actually temporarily stopped when the ships traveled a record low amount of distance covered in a day. So the larger ones continued here on their motors, and the smaller ones followed.

Hamilton traffic was mayhem all of a sudden. Even mid-afternoon was like rush-hour. Front Street was crowded with tourists and sailors. The Russian crew stood out quite a bit with their uniforms and funny hats that they always wore, not to mention the fact that they all looked about 18 years old and under. I think the others probably blended in.

Thursday lunch time I took a walk over to see what the fuss was about and saw that you could go on one of them. It was a replica of the Bounty (as in Mutiny on the Bounty). This particular boat was built in the 60's for the movie. I'm not really a ship person, so my observation of it was that there were lots of ropes and cannons and as you would expect, it was like the deck of an old boat.

However, I don't mean to sound unimpressed. They were all beautiful ships and quite amazing when you think about it. The number of crew that each one requires, a couple of hundred, I think (give or take, I'm sure). The sheer size of them and their sails is something to see.

Saturday morning I had to work in the morning. But once I was done I texted a friend I hadn't seen in a while. He replied that he couldn't do lunch because he was on his boat. Then texted right back asking if I was on my own, and if so, he had room for one more person. I had to meet them by the yacht club in 15 mins. I was completely unprepared for a boat trip, but decided to jump at the chance. We ended up touring all around the water side of the ships, getting a close look. Too bad I'd run out of pictures on my camera.

That evening I had a déja-vu when we did the same tour on a sunset booze cruise. That was a fun evening. Once off the boat we were all feeling quite merry. Most of the crowd was going to the Pickled Onion (a nearby bar). On our way there, my friend and I passed the Uraguay ship where the crew was having a party at the front of the deck. Then we saw the gang-plank on. My friend suggested that we passed the barrier and go on. I thought of a better idea. We went back to stand by the party. Within 10 seconds someone beckoned for us to come on board. We spent the next hour or so partying with them all. However, nobody spoke much English, and I was reminded of the fact that I don't speak ANY Spanish. I tried my best, and asked in earnest if they spoke French. Ahh well. My friend quite liked Carlos, and she knew more of the language, so they were chatting up a storm (or as much as they could). I danced a bit of salsa with someone on their dance floor, but decided it was time to go where I could converse. We all left to join the others at the beer tent. The evening ended with me and a friend ordering junk food from Jor-Jay's chip wagon.

Monday was a holiday, and all the ships were scheduled to start up the next leg of their race. At noon, they were scheduled, to pass along the north shore on their way to the start point at Fort St. Catherine (near St. Georges). I have friends with a balcony with a prime view, and they had invited some of us over. At 11:30 I got a frantic text saying that they had started coming early. I guess they were not on island time! Luckily, I was nearby and ready to go, so hopped on my bike to get there in good time.

This was something to see! The ships paraded past, surrounded by every small-craft owned in Bermuda. There were hundreds of them! The Tall Ships didn't really have their sails up, but it was still amazing to see them sailing by. I even saw a small Canadian one. Didn't know that we even had one there.

So judging by the length of this blog entry, this Tall Ships experience was much more eventful. And it's still continuing as 2 more arrived this past weekend. One from Spain, and one from Portugal. Apparently they're meeting up with the rest when they hit NYC.