One thing you can count on when you’re offshore in a small boat is that the vast, empty ocean is hardly that. There are more stars and planets overhead than you’ll ever see on land, all manner of creatures rising unexpectedly from the deep for a quick hit and run and birds appearing hundreds of miles from shore. The clouds can be hypnotic. The weather and sea state offshore are dynamic, ranging from sedate and benign to terrifying and dangerous.
I’ve made three trips to Bermuda from New England by boat over the years. The contrasts among those passages reflect the advancement of equipment—primarily electronics—and my own yachting evolution. The first two were more like camping, knowingly sacrificing comfort for the experience. The most recent was more akin to what has come to be known as “glamping.” Each was unique; all were memorable.
My first trip to the “Onion Patch” was in 1980 on a 56-foot, home-built ferrocement ketch, which, while sturdy and supremely seaworthy, comfortable and beautifully fitted out, was far less sophisticated than my most recent ride. We left Scituate, Massachusetts, that October