NOTE TO READERS: Former Clay County, Fla., school board member Wayne

Wayne Bolla is in the middle of a cruise aboard his boat, Pipe Dream, to the Mediterranean Sea. He is writing a series of articles for the Wandering Tourist web site.

Bolla is on a sailing trip to the Mediterranean Sea, along with a couple of friends. He will chronicle his adventures in an occasional article on this web site. This is the second part of his stopover in Bermuda.

By WAYNE BOLLA

While on the island of Bermuda, we either walked or used the bus to get around on land. For about $10 Bermuda you can get a weekly bus ticket from the local internet cafe. The bus is also a great way to get a feel for how the regular folks live on the island. You get the feeling that everything is neat and buttoned down in Bermuda. I did a double take when I noticed a well-dressed, older gentlemen walking toward me on the sidewalk. He was dressed in a blue, buttoned-down dress shirt, blue blazer, reddish school tie and whitish Bermuda shorts, with knee-high blue socks and black dress loafers. I noticed

similar combinations in other parts of the island. I was ready to buy a pair of the shorts and some knee socks but then pictured myself in my old Boy Scout summer uniform . . . in public!

The quest for refrigeration parts, and a new VHF antennas took us to Hamilton, the capital city of Bermuda. It was about a 20-minute bus ride from St. Georges, accessible by boat from St Georges, but only through a fairly complicated series of channel passages best left to the locals.  Getting off the bus we navigated our way to the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce to find out where the best boat store in town was located. I was greeted by a most knowledgeable and friendly woman who bent over backwards to recommend the best of the two possible boat stores on the island, a place for lunch, and a couple of don’t miss sights along our walking route. After marking all the recommendations on the map of beautiful downtown Hamilton she gave us, we were off and running. I asked a ‘chap’ with a distinct British accent at the boat store if I should buy a Bermuda courtesy flag. These are small flags flown from the starboard yardarm (right side midway up the mast) that prove you were courteous enough to at least get through customs.

Continue Reading »