Georgetown part 2

We had a fantastic sail back to Georgetown, it was mainly a broad reach with 15-20 kts but the waves were quite high as well. With bad weather in the forecast it was a mass exodus of all the boats in the harbour out of Long Island (about 30 in all) heading back to Georgetown. We decided to avoid the crowds again and head into Red Shanks. We really enjoy it in here, as it is far enough away from town so it is quiet yet close enough that you can dinghy there. The beach here is usually deserted and long enough for a nice walk, plus it is very scenic.

      Known as a good place during a blow, there were already a lot of boats there when we got in but we were able to find a well-protected spot in the opening. Once we anchored we were quite pleased with our location… for about 10 minutes…. Another boat decided to anchor between us and the boat beside us.. We were not happy about this and the other boat was determined not to move, meanwhile a big Catamaran came in on the other side of us and the area filled up very quickly from there. Richard and the boat in question came to a mutual understanding but it is still very frustrating when people seem to have no problem being so close especially when they know a storm is coming. Richard dove on our anchor so we felt comfortable with its position.

   Thankfully the weather hit us around noontime vice the usual middle of the night! Winds hit about 33 knots but we were quite protected in our location. We stayed up on deck watching and listening to the radio as there was a lot of activity over at the main beach with numerous boats dragging, a couple running into each other, a large barge dragging and lots of dinghy’s getting away. As we were watching we saw the boat that had anchored to close to us drag, Richard quickly hailed him on the radio as we could see that they were down below, by the time he got up and got his engine on he was precariously close to the rocks. At the same time the cat on the other side let go as well but he was on deck so reacted right away! By evening the winds had died down enough that it wasn’t necessary to keep watch on deck so we had a fairly good night other than both of us keeping one eye on our GPS which we keep by the bed.

     We had planned on leaving on Wednesday or Thursday after the weather passed but no sooner did it pass than another system was forecast, so we decided to play it safe and stay put. Sue from KTen and I spent a morning doing laundry while the guys went to town then we met up with Meant 2B at Cheaters for lunch and had a great meal together. We had Cracked Chicken which is actually fried Chicken and it was very good. We all got together on Meant 2B for Jerk Pork that night and had a fun time. The social aspect of cruising is really a big part of the lifestyle and a great way to meet so many people. We have gotten together with KTen and Meant2B for several meals since this time.

I had tried my hand at basket weaving at a class while Richard was playing Volleyball but found it hard to concentrate with so many people and so much going on around me. Dawn on Zama Dawn is a beautiful weaver so she and her Richard led us on a palm gathering info session on the beach showing us how to gather the materials followed by a weaving session on their boat. The Richards talked water makers, poked around bilges and checked out the turtles. We ended up back on their boat that evening for a really fun night of Mexican Train Dominoes, which was all new to us.

 The time just seems to fly by here, we listen to the radio each morning at 8am to “the Net” which gives us the weather, tides, info from local businesses, general announcements to cruisers, then there is a buy sell or trade time followed by a time for anyone arriving or departing to announce themselves. That finishes by 830-9am so we then run the generator for 40 minutes to charge everything up as we are making water. We make approximately 6 gallons a day that works out well for us. We like to do our reading after this while we finish our tea and then there is always some project to be worked on. At suppertime we run the generator for another 40 minutes again for charging and more water making.

   The rest of the day flies by with any number of activities. In the cove right beside us there are quite a few turtles so we have been going over and checking them out. If we stop our engine and put an anchor out they will come right up to us, they will let you swim with them or feed them by hand but they only like squid. They are about 2 feet in diameter and are beautiful, we were also amazed at how fast they can swim.

   Yesterday while sitting in the cockpit we were greeted by a mother and baby dolphin that swam around the anchorage.            

   This is regatta week in Georgetown, which is a huge event and draws boats back to the area every year it is estimated that there are close to 400 boats here right now. We had no intention of being here for the event so we really hadn’t being paying much attention to what was happening. There are lots of events going on such as sailing races, sports competitions (softball, volleyball, bocce) scavenger hunts, dinghy events and lots of kids events as well. Last night was the opening reception with bands, skits conch blowing competition, food etc so we decided to attend. Unfortunately we are in the middle of a front blowing through so it is very windy here right now and with the wind comes high waves. No one wants to be in a dinghy in these conditions so the only way to get to the events is by a water taxi. It was a slightly damp trip into town as about 12 of us piled into the taxi but we are all used to the windblown look and walking around town with what’s known as dinghy butt (wet bottoms!) We had a fun time, the entertainment was great and it was nice to meet up with a lot of people that we have met along the way. It was also good to see Grant and Donna and we look forward to trying to get together with them before we leave.

    The wind really picked up while we were in town so we were anxious to get back and settle in for the night on the boat. Windy nights mean a night of both of us keeping one eye on the gps watching to see if we drag!

  Our plan is to head out as soon as the weather letup.

Long Island

It was a fantastic day for a sail with a beam reach of 12-15 kts, which of course increased to about 20 kts as we approached our destination of Long Island. Richard had put out a fishing line and it wasn’t long before he caught a fish, unfortunately it was a 3-foot barracuda. Some people do eat barracuda but there is a higher risk for ciguatera so he choose to throw it back.

    There were about 15 boats in the harbour when we arrived, we anchored behind Larry and Sue from KTen and we enjoyed Sundowners on our boat with them that evening. The next morning the four of us hiked around the island for water, diesel and garbage drop off and checked out the tourist bureau, grocery store and a couple of other stores.

   We made plans with Larry and Sue to rent a car on Thursday morning to see more of the Island. The car wasn’t at the dock where we had arranged to pick it up so we hiked to what we thought was the car rental place only to be directed to the owner’s house. Meanwhile Sue thought that it might have been dropped off at the other dock so she hiked there as we headed for the owners house. After no answer at the house we headed back to the garage as Sue drove up with the car from the other dock…the funny thing was that it was just sitting at the dock with the keys in it and the rental agreement on the seat, no need of a credit card number here…. It was a bit of a mix up but we certainly got to stretch our legs before our drive:)

   Long Island is 80 miles long and about 4 miles wide and since we had started in the middle we headed north first. Our first stop was at Morris Tomb, which is from the plantation days; across from it was a large Blue Hole. Further north we stopped at a marina and then on to Columbus Monument commemorating his arrival here in 1492. It was located at the very end of the island high on a hill the view was spectacular! On the way south we stopped for lunch at Forest Take out and had our first Hamburger and fries in 7 months, it was really good! After lunch we headed for Deans Blue Hole where the World Free Diving Competitions are held each year. It is the first Blue Hole that we have seen which is located adjacent to a beach and it was absolutely beautiful! The hole is literally a hole on the beach with a steep drop off four feet from the waters edge to a depth of 663 feet! The snorkeling was amazing with lots of fish and clear water. We had the place to ourselves but there were two couples on the other side of the beach that were from Canada… we are surprised at how many Canadians we have met here. We continued to the southern most end of the island where we walked along beautiful Gordon’s Beach and passed the salt ponds. We were hoping to hit Cartwright’s caves on the way back but it was too late in the day. We arrived back at the dinghy just before sundown and caught a glimpse of another turtle in the water; they are shy so it’s a treat to see them for any length of time.

   The four of us had decided to head back to the caves for a tour on Friday. It was a good 20 miles from our location but everyone assured us that it was easy to hitch a ride since we didn’t want to rent a car again. Sure enough the first truck that came along picked us up and took us to his destination of about 5 miles down the road. As it was a very hot day we were very happy with our success and figured it would be no time before we reached our destination…wrong…. first off there weren’t very many cars and many were small and there were four of us… After about 3 miles of walking in the heat we finally managed to get a ride from a lovely lady who was a cousin to the man with the caves and she lived next door! The caves were really interesting and much larger than we expected – about 3000 ft. Lots of history and bats! We managed to convince the tour guide to drive us to a restaurant for a small fee. The patrons at Maxs Conch Bar had a chuckle as we disembarked from the Catholic School Bus for lunch. We met another Canadian couple over lunch that were staying at a resort on the north end and had a rental car so after lunch we piled in with them and headed north. We arrived just in time for cruisers happy hour at the restaurant in our bay where we enjoyed meeting other boaters and locals and watching conch racing (no conch were hurt during this event).

   Saturday there was a farmers market happening from 9-12 in Salt Pond so we headed in at 9 looking forward to fresh produce. We arrived there at 920 but were obviously too late as everything was pretty much gone by then so we hiked to the grocery store instead. The rest of our day was pretty laid back on the boat. After lunch Laurie and Francis came over for a visit. Our plan is to head back to Georgetown tomorrow to pick up a part that we are waiting for before heading on to Cat Island.

Georgetown Exumas

Well much to our surprise we ended up spending 20 days here! We came here to meet Todd and Donna and spend a week here with them. Being very dependant on the weather we ended up arriving here on the Wednesday prior to their Friday arrival, which gave us time to get acquainted with the area. On arrival we were quickly greeted by numerous other boats who we have met along the way. Wednesday is the regular night for the dance at Chat and Chill bar on the beach so we followed the masses….wow talk about sensory overload!!! All of a sudden we found ourselves in a very loud very crowded bar after being used to relative calm and quiet for the past few months! People kept telling us how great Georgetown was – just like being in any North American city! I guess Richard and I had a different outlook as our whole desire for being here was to get away from that and enjoy solitude and the beauty which is rather hard to do anchored with 160 other boats!  Our time with Todd and Donna was fantastic as we enjoyed checking out the sights and spots in Georgetown and spending time together on the boat. The weather was either too rough or to calm to go for much of a sail but we did take our boat out to some reefs and the four of us had a great time snorkeling.

Our replacement carburetor finally arrived in for the outboard and guess what – it was for a 5HP and not the 2.5HP that we had! Fortunately the part that we needed was the same so Richard was able to get the new part out and now the outboard is working again! Lehr motors has promised to send us another replacement carburetor for a spare and as I write this it is in Miami waiting for a flight over here.

   We were to leave after this and head further south but the weather was not in our favour. Due to the increased winds and our desire for more solitude we ended up moving to Red Shanks anchorage, which is more protected and quieter. There was an average of about 15 boats here and we enjoyed getting to know some new people and spending time with others who we have met along the way (Zama Dawn, Salt Shaker, KTen) There were fun get togethers both on the beach and on the boats. We  also had a nice visit on Sunset Dreaming with Warren and Diane. We took an excursion with a tour of the island and shared a great lunch with Warren and Diane, Larry and Sue from KTen, and Terry and Joanne from Aquilla.

     We kept hearing about a cave that was close to our location in Red Shanks and we finally found it and had a great time snorkeling on it and seeing a variety of fish. We also headed off with Larry and Sue to a nearby island in search of loyalist ruins which we finally found after a good hike and being told 3 times that it was a private island that we weren’t supposed to be on it……..

    Our time here seemed to go by so fast and we really enjoyed all that the area had to offer from playing volleyball on the beach, basket weaving classes, ladies Bible study, authentic Conch salad, Beach Church, trips in town, visiting and meeting new friends, walks on the beach, snorkeling and swimming but after 20 days we are ready to pull up the anchor and head south for more adventures!

  Today as we headed for Long Island we heard that the latest count is 282 boats in Georgetown harbour!