Steve, Bermuda Radio (they've dropped the "Harbour") does indeed have a cool set up and they do a top notch job controlling traffic into and out of St. George's.
I've spent quite a bit of time on the radio with them in recent years, including being on an 8x daily check in with them for a few days during TS Sean in 2011. Suffice to say, you get to know the dudes after a few days of that. They all seem like nice, and very professional guys. They still do tours of the facility and the island overall is actually much more welcoming of visitors today than it has been in the past. You can leave your boat for an extended period (with permission) and your basic visa can be longer than 21 days (which is what it used to be). One other thing that Bermuda Radio does (unofficially) is watch over boats in St. George's. In 2011, Bojangles was on a mooring while I was back in Toronto. The radio guys have visual over the harbour and noticed a boat tied up alongside mine. They were able to ID the other boat and called its owner to ask WTF he was doing on Bojangles. Turns out the 'perpetrator' was actually a contractor I'd hired to do some work on the boat, but Bermuda Radio didn't know this. When I heard this, I took a lot of comfort in knowing that the guys up in that tower are on the lookout, both on the radar, but also with their eyes. I think the respective Canadian and US authorities could take a few lessons from these guys. Cheers Colin On 1/30/13, Steve Thomas <sthom...@sympatico.ca> wrote: > They also have a 5 dipole VHF radio direction finder that gets a bearing on > you as soon as you key the mike. This verifies that > the information you give is for the correct blip on the radar. I was > fortunate to have been granted a tour of the installation in > 2003. They have a lot of really cool stuff, and it resembles an air traffic > control centre in some respects. It is located on a > needle of rock accessible only by an aluminum foot bridge and surrounded by > ancient guns. There must have been a virtually > impregnable fort there at one time. My guide informed me that I was > fortunate both because there just happened to be enough > officials on duty just then that he could take the time, and also that due > to the creeping 911 paranoia new security rules would > soon ban visitors altogether. I might have been among the last "regular > people" allowed to visit if his prediction came true. > > Steve Thomas > > -----Original Message----- > From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com]On Behalf Of Rick > Brass > Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2013 12:36 AM > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Subject: Re: Stus-List Sextant > > > These days you'd be REALLY far out to sea. You are supposed to check in with > Bermuda Traffic Control when you reach 50 NM from the > island. > > > > Imagine my surprise when we were hailed by Bermuda just after dawn, while > the GPS showed us 45NM west of the island, steering > about 115 true toward a landfall 5nm off the lighthouse on the SW point of > the island. That they could see and track a 39 ft > sailboat, even a steel one, speaks to a kick butt radar. And the VHF must be > really powerful and really high to have a > conversation over that distance. > > > > Rick Brass > > > > From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Della > Barba, Joe > Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2013 2:57 PM > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Subject: Re: Stus-List Sextant > > > > Hint: Don't tell the Sunfish rental guy you were miles out to sea. They get > annoyed for some reason. > > > > Joe Della Barba > > > > From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Andrew > Burton > Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2013 2:29 PM > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Subject: Re: Stus-List Sextant > > > > Nice, Joe. : ) > > The old red lightship with "Nantucket" in big letters on the side is often > anchored outside Newport harbor. I imagine there are > some who are a bit confused by this. > > I've got to try your Jamaica trick, though. That's classic! > > > > Bermuda is harder in some ways. As the many wrecks can attest to, you can > be on the reefs before you see the island. > > We did create some confusion by sailing a Sunfish west from the island > until you couldn't see land and waiting for an incoming > boat. Their expression when we said "Welcome to Jamaica" was priceless. > > > > Joe Della Barba > > > > From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Steve > Thomas > Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2013 12:54 PM > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Subject: Re: Stus-List Sextant > > > > Some people have used jet contrails to find Hawaii. > > > > Steve Thomas > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: CnC-List [ mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com > <mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com> ]On Behalf Of Joel Aronson > Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2013 12:34 PM > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com <mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > Subject: Re: Stus-List Sextant > > Those were the days! > > Joel Aronson > > > > > > On Jan 29, 2013, at 12:30 PM, "Della Barba, Joe" < joe.della.ba...@ssa.gov > <mailto:joe.della.ba...@ssa.gov> > wrote: > > We used a sextant to find Bermuda in 1980 and it was a major PITA. In > rough seas on a small boat getting any accuracy beyond > maybe > +/- 15 miles is doing very well. Just taking the sight and not falling > overboard or dropping the sextant was an accomplishment. > We > ended up running a latitude line north of the island until we picked up > the radio beacon on the RDF and followed that in. > > Joe Della Barba > > Coquina > > _______________________________________________ > This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album > > http://www.cncphotoalbum.com <http://www.cncphotoalbum.com> > CnC-List@cnc-list.com <mailto:CnC-List@cnc-list.com> > > > _______________________________________________ > This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album > http://www.cncphotoalbum.com > CnC-List@cnc-list.com > > > > > -- > Andrew Burton > 61 W Narragansett Ave > Newport, RI > USA 02840 > http://sites.google.com/site/andrewburtonyachtservices/ > phone +401 965 5260 > -- Sent from my mobile device _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com
