Steaming Bermuda to Kingston

G.W.S…
Monday
We are now nearing Jamaica, and should arrive tomorrow morning about 8am. It is really getting hot now, 80°, the sea is smooth, and we are gliding along nice and easy.

I’m afraid I haven’t been too well. I must have caught a chill coming back to the ship on the tender from Bermuda. It was a very cold wind. Anyway I couldn’t play last Saturday night; I had diarrhoea, and vomiting.

Yesterday I had the flu feeling, bones aching etc, the Doctor gave me some medicine and told me only to drink liquids. I don’t feel so bad today, but still get those rotten headaches.

Ashore in Bermuda

G.W.S…
Bermuda is a lovely place. We had the strangest feeling when we stepped ashore. After the continual motion of the ship, couldn’t seem to walk properly. The goods in the shops were very expensive, and everything is marked in dollars, although English money is accepted

While walking along we met a passenger, a young woman who had come out to join her husband in Bermuda, so she invited us along to her house for a drink, all 8 of us! We had rum and ginger ale, and were given a bottle of rum to take back with us.

She was very nice, and when we were leaving she started to cry, as naturally she was feeling homesick, and we were the only people she knew, I expect she will settle down.

Local Insights

G.W.S…
The locals are happy go lucky and very pleasant. They ride about on motor assisted bicycles with all sorts of gadgets attached. One thing that puzzled me was a piece of cane sticking up from the pillion seat, with an animal's tail tied to it.

Most of the bikes had this, so I asked one of the riders what it was and he replied “Super Decoration” - Very proudly! White people also use these bikes, the wife riding sidesaddle on the pillion with her shopping bag on her lap.

We watched some local workmen building a house. They use Coral stone and they demonstrated how they cut it, with a huge saw similar to that used in tree felling. One man holds the block and the other saws. Even the roof tiles are made from the same stone.

All the houses are distempered in various colours, with pink being the most popular (similar to the Riviera) and the roofs are white.

There are a large number of ancient horse drawn taxi-cabs, the horses have long thin legs and look most ungainly. In direct contrast there are modern taxis, all open of course.

Entering the Caribbean

G.W.S…
I sent you and mum a card from Bermuda which you may have received before you get this. I'll do this at each place we visit, so you will have some idea of the place.

Since I started this letter the weather has been getting steadily hotter and is about 90° now. We have passed through the Windward Passage with Hispaniola on our Left and Cuba on our Right and are now in the Caribbean Sea.

It is a lovely night but very humid. We will wear our white jackets tonight for the first time, thank goodness. All officers and seamen are now in “whites”.

A Nice Little Earner

G.W.S…
We have been doing very well in tips. Reg is treasurer and will hold the cash until we get to New York. At the moment it's over £2 (US$6) each; we also have 2 hours overtime, so are not doing too bad.

One of the passengers (a friend of Lizbeth Webb) who is a dancer is having a birthday party next Wednesday and has asked for the band, so she will pay us, which is also extra cash.