Asked to name the vessel that anchors Bermuda’s maritime history most would, justifiably, point to the Sloop, however, the local Pilot Gig was another innovative and uniquely Bermudian craft that played a vital role in Bermuda’s history. While the Sloop gave Bermudians access to the world, it is the Pilot Gig, and the crews that ran them, that allowed the world to come to Bermuda. For centuries, ships approaching Bermuda were met by the sight of several onrushing Pilot Gigs…
Culture
The Consummate Bermudian
The Consummate Bermudian
The History of the Dark ‘n Stormy
The Dark ’n Stormy is the inexorable concoction of Bermuda’s British history, a literal fusion of our merchant and naval traditions. That it is today one of only four internationally trademarked cocktails further reflects Bermudians’ entrepreneurial spirit and legacy of…
June 21, 2020
The Consummate Bermudian
The Bermuda Skink
Bermuda has been assigned a number of notable monikers over the years; “Isle of the Devils”, “Gibraltar of the West” and, more recently, “Risk Capital of the World”. However, these all pale in significance to the title of “Evolutionary Life Raft”.…
June 16, 2020
The Consummate Bermudian
The Bermuda Roof
One of the best things to tell people about Bermuda (and there are lots of them) is that we catch our fresh water from the sky and store it under our homes because we have no natural source of fresh…
June 12, 2020
The Consummate Bermudian
Freedom Movement: The Bermuda Gombeys
Standing at the pinnacle of Bermudian cultural expression and tradition are the Gombeys. Their drumbeat and dance are instantly recognisable and universally accepted, and adored, as a unique representative of our Island’s heritage. They are exotic in a place sometimes…
June 6, 2020
The Consummate Bermudian
Rigged for Success
Photo credit: ‘A Bermuda schooner yacht offshore’, oil on canvas by John Lynn, 1834. National Museum Bermuda. The Bermuda Rig, that innovative sail design that is still, some 400 years after it emerged on local waters, being used on…
May 23, 2020
