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!