The remnants of Tropical Storm Mitch passed by Bermuda yesterday, leaving electrical power outages and battering ships at sea in his wake.

Mitch -- downgraded from a tropical storm -- swept into Bermuda waters early yesterday morning, packing gale-force winds throughout the morning.

The strongest wind gust was recorded at 9 a.m., clocking in at 60 knots, the Bermuda Weather Service reported.

Power was going on and off across the Island from 4 a.m. until late last night.

At its worst, more than 6,000 homes were affected by the power cuts. Some were expected to be without power until early today.

Belco spokeswoman Robin McPhee said crews were working all over the Island until late last night.

She said: "We are aware of all the problems. All we can say is that it's not the main lines that are cut, it's the branch lines.'' Travellers were also affected, with all flights leaving and arriving being delayed.

The worst hold-up came for American Airlines customers whose 7 a.m. flight was brought forward to 10 p.m.

Most incoming flights were delayed by up to two hours and departures were held back by around 40 minutes. There were no cancellations.

Carol DeCouto of American Airlines said staff called all but 20 of the passengers due to fly on the morning plane. The remainder left on the next available flight.

In Hamilton, crews were called in to clear debris strewn from the high winds.

Branches from overhanging trees were blown onto cars parked behind the Magistrates' Court.

Belco crews were working until around midnight to restore power to the thousands of homes cut off by the winds, and less than 100 customers were blacked out by 8.30 p.m.

A spokesman said in almost every case winds had brought branches or trees down on to power lines. Nine main lines were down and the rest of the problems were associated with branch lines.

At sea, Harbour Radio were involved in two high-seas rescues from vessels caught up in the storm.

They picked up a distress signal from the 42-foot-sloop Kampesca shortly before 6 a.m. The vessel was approximately 200 miles west of Bermuda and was on its way from Hampton to St. Thomas.

The Bermuda-registered ship Northern Progress diverted from its course and met up with the sloop yesterday afternoon. A US Coast Guard C-130 aircraft was also on station.

It is understood that two people were injured and it was being assessed whether they could be taken off.

Harbour Radio also reported that the German steel-hulled 47-foot-sloop Kiwi called in to report that its bow was damaged and the vessel was experiencing bad weather from the remnants of Mitch. It hoped to get to Bermuda once the winds abated.

High winds overturned a dinghy off the Lower Ferry dock in Hamilton Harbour at around 9 a.m. yesterday. Its passenger clung to the hull of the vessel and was rescued by a boat dispatched from the Red Hole boatyard.

And an 88-foot-schooner was hove to some 20 miles north of the Island. It was on its way from Norfolk to the Island and was waiting for the weather to moderate before it tried to get in.

WHITE WATER -- Waves kicked up by the remnants of tropical storm Mitch turned St. George's Harbour into a boiling sea yesterday morning, Mitch made his presence felt earlier into he morning -- rolling through like a freight train.

by last night, winds had diminished significantly.