America’s Cup, Tall Ships, J Class races, family times and fun with friends

PHOTO LINKS—>>America’s Cup https://goo.gl/photos/KqPG3SoxFg17XNtD6

Tall Ships–>> https://goo.gl/photos/4kNmF1VHCGpg4E4C6

Canada, Ethan’s Graduation —->> https://goo.gl/photos/Jhta8knd5qRpAEbC7

PHOTO LINKS below, 1st J-Class racing, 2nd our 40th anniversary –>>

Bermuda on Aeeshah

When we first arrived in Hamilton Harbour on Aeeshah we were confused/uncertain as to where would be the best spot to keep the boat. We needed an anchorage or mooring, which afforded easy access to the shore and home. So we looked around and decided to anchor up in the islands of the Great Sound, between Nellie’s and Hawkins’s islands, until such spot could be found. For our 1^st weekend the family visited and enjoyed the regular swimming. Gavin had brought his boat and Jae had brought his so we had a boat along each side of us, – that was a 1^st. We had a lovely family day with swimming and early dinner.

The following weekend we moved Aeeshah to an anchorage along the north side of Long Island. Jae, Kate and May came along in our boat while Gavin met us there on his boat. Again the day was enjoyed swimming. Gavin also took a number of the family to Somerset where they enjoyed the sandy, shallows of the King’s Point area. Another early dinner together was enjoyed – an excellent day.

Meanwhile we had secured a mooring off of Hinson’s Island and a private dock along the shoreline of the mainland where we could easily and safely leave the dingy. Plus we had the loan of one of Gavin’s bikes for transport, so we were well set up.

America’s Cup racing

We visited the America’s Cup racing in the Great Sound during the 1^st America’s Cup race-week; this was on the second day of racing. It is amazingly exciting to watch! The AC boats just fly! Literally fly at times, the speeds are amazing! The screech from the forces, the sight of the AC boats up in the air on their foils is incredible! We had gone out on Gavin’s boat with several others, and then Katie and Lily came along later on Will and Kathleen’s boat. However the races were quite boring for the little ones being not even 2 years old and so afterwards we went to the islands to swim. It was an exciting day out for the adults.

The following week we were out again on board Gavin’s boat, to watch the races, this time our friends John and Kay off Bad Bunny and their friends Michele and Randy came along. This day was extremely windy, it was doubtful if the boats would race, but they did…. And what exciting races they had too. It was during one of the races that Emerities pitch-poled, yep right in front of us was the turn marker and around they came and over they went. It was quite incredible to see. Oracle won that race.

Meanwhile back at the boat, John and I were heading to the house each day to do chores, mainly maintenance, John patching leaks in the roof, painting etc. I was doing cleaning, clearing and organizing, helping Chrissie who is expecting a baby boy in September. Plus we had regular appointments and such to catch up on. So it was very handy having the boat off the shoreline of Darrel’s Warf and just riding down Harbour Road and home when necessary.

We visited the America’s Cup Village during one of the first weeks of the racing. We went with our son Gavin, wife Katie, her Dad, Uncle, aunt and sons.

What and incredible set up! It really was worthwhile as we were able to wander around and appreciate the technology close up. The set up is just incredible, as my daughter Kate said, “it’s not even like being in Bermuda” To get there we caught the America’s Cup ferry and we had lunch in the Gosling’s enclosure which looked out over the finish line. However the wind died that day, so we did watch the boats practicing, but the races never happened as by then the wind was under 6 knots. Afterwards we walked to Dockyard and caught the regular ferry back to Hamilton. Another excellent day!

The Tall Ships

The Tall Ships arrived in Bermuda and were docked in Hamilton. We went to the Harbour Nights street festival where they were along side. Our daughter Chrissie, – Island Fusion – was also set up as one of the vendors selling her fused glass jewelry. We walked the length of Front Street looking at all the stalls and of course at the tall ships. It was a fun evening.

When the Tall Ships left Hamilton there was a parade of sail along the North shore. John and I first had a close up look at the Tall Ships by taking a dingy ride in Hamilton Harbour. Then we went with Gavin on his boat, along with our daughter Chrissie, friends Kay and John off Bad Bunny and Gavin’s fellow photographer Becky to follow, photograph and watch the parade of sail along the North shore. It was a wonderful day, the weather was just perfect, these Tall Ships under sail are magnificent! Again an excellent day out on the water!

Ethan’s graduation

The time arrived for me to travel with Gavin, Katie, (son and daughter in law) Lily and Rhianna, (Granddaughters) to Canada to attend, (Grandson) Ethan’s Graduation from Pickering College in Ontario, Canada. We flew out on the Thursday, had 2 cars, as there were a few of us and plenty of baby gear and stayed in a large rental house.

On arriving Gavin, Rhianna and I quickly got ready to attend a reception for the graduate’s families. We were a bit late arriving, which was fine as we only missed the drinks and snacks. However we were in time for the special presentation and awards. All of which was very entertaining and really helped with understanding the atmosphere of Pickering. The school was founded by Quakers and is still run on the Quaker principles.

The following day we had to be ready for an 11:00 start to the graduation. It was held in the school auditorium and we were lucky to get seats halfway from the front. There was the processional with all the faculty filing in, followed by the graduates. After which there were various speeches, the award of certificates of graduation, the valedictorian speech, which was excellent, further speeches and the school hymn. Overall it was an excellent ceremony, which lasted 3 hours, but really was very interesting.

Following the graduation there was the throwing of hats on the front stairs and refreshments in the cafeteria. I must say the refreshments were excellent!

That evening we all went out to dinner to an excellent Oriental restaurant, which served a huge buffet of amazing foods.

Our final day was Katie’s birthday. We went to Newmarket, which was the small town where the school was located. There we had an excellent breakfast and then wandered around. It is a lovely town and it just happened to have a Gay Pride march on, plus a farmer’s market and an artisans market. We spent the morning meandering the markets, pond side and pathways. The weather was excellent and we had a wonderful morning.

On the Sunday we were back to Bermuda arriving on Father’s Day. It had been arranged to have a Father’s Day/Birthday celebration at Gavin’s that later afternoon. There we all had a very nice evening together.

J Class racing

It was really the final week of all the sailing that followed. We went to the J Class races off of the North shore. Off in Gavin’s boat we went along with our friends John and Kay again. Watching the J Class sailboats was thrilling. They are just amazingly huge classic sailboats that are so very elegant when under full sail. It was a lovely day watching the races and quite nerve racking when the boats were hard under sail and crossing each other’s way when tacking.

The final week the Red Bull races concluded, Bermuda did very well as the beginners! Plus the America’s Cup was battled out between Oracle and Emirates teams. We did see some of the finals from a distance, but with Emirates way ahead it was a foregone conclusion that they would win. The really amazing spectacle was all of the hundreds of spectator boats including mega yachts across the Great Sound watching the racing.

40th Anniversary celebration

Katie and Gavin held a 40^th Wedding anniversary celebration for John and I at their house. It was for just family and our close friends. Again an excellent evening! They had organized our favourite Indian restaurant to supply curries, our daughter Chrissie did decorations and the weather was perfect. Everybody had a fun relaxing time.

Meanwhile John and I have completed just about every chore we had been challenged with during our time on island. And our time was just about over as July was looming which meant time to move on to the East coast of the USA.