Friday, January 26, 2007

WINTER HAS ARRIVED


[Darryls Wharf ( my ferry stop)- No ferry service today as sea is too rough!-picture is from the Royal Gazette]


Well we got our first real taste of Bermuda winter today and I have no idea how I made it through 42 Canadian winters as we are freezing here today.( We have even turned on the heat in our house for the first time as it is bone chilling damp between the wind and the rain. Its 52 degrees out and we are having storm force winds which makes it bloody cold!. The things you learn that you never needed to know. I never knew that storm force winds were more serious than gale force winds or that there are 12 levels of wind from level 1 to 12, 12 being hurricane force winds. Today we are at level 10 which means that the winds are in excess of 45 miles an hour and the seas are high(outside the reef the waves are about 28-30 feet high). At the dockyards they are experiencing hurricane force winds but apparently once you reach hurricane force there is another rating system that comes into play and these would be the low end of the hurricane scale)

They closed the causeway at noon due to the high winds and then about half an hour later the schools were closed as well. Ferries are not running due to the high seas and it was a bit scary for me, not having experienced such high winds before. I am sure to be petrified when hurricane season rolls around as I was nervous today wondering if the windows at the office were going to blow out! I almost got knocked over by a big gust of wind while I was waiting to cross the road and am now tucked away nice and safe at home. We are heading off to our golf club for a theme night tonight ( English pub night- pub grub, darts and trivia- hope its fun) so time to log off and get cleaned up to go.